The Barrel of a Gun

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.