A01=Ruth First
activism
ANC
anti-apartheid
assassination
Author_Ruth First
Category=JBSL1
Category=JPA
Category=JPFC
Category=JPHC
Category=JPL
Category=NHH
cesaire
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
fanon
feminism
forthcoming
liberation
marxist
Mozambique
politics
postcolonial
postcolonialism
revolution
revolutionary
SACP
struggle
sub-saharan
theory
Product details
- ISBN 9781804299449
- Weight: 597g
- Dimensions: 153 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 18 Aug 2026
- Publisher: Verso Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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A committed communist and anti-apartheid activist, Ruth First dedicated her life to African liberation struggles until her assassination by South Africa's Special Branch in 1982. The Barrel of a Gun establishes First's position in the canon of post-colonial revolutionary thought.
Ruth First was an internationally known anti-apartheid activist who was a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the African National Congress (ANC). In 1982, she was assassinated in Maputo, Mozambique, by a mail bomb sent by the apartheid government.
Christopher J. Lee is a historian who has written or edited thirteen previous books on different aspects of decolonization, global history, and the South African Left. He has held academic appointments at universities in Africa, Asia, and North America. As Co-General Editor, he is currently completing the five-volume Cambridge History of Colonialism and Decolonization.
Christopher J. Lee is a historian who has written or edited thirteen previous books on different aspects of decolonization, global history, and the South African Left. He has held academic appointments at universities in Africa, Asia, and North America. As Co-General Editor, he is currently completing the five-volume Cambridge History of Colonialism and Decolonization.
