In this memoir of these dramatic events, Bob Hepple throws fresh light on the character of Mandela and other leaders and on the controversies surrounding the emergence of the South African Communist Party and its ‘secret’ resolution in December 1960 to begin the armed freedom struggle. There is a first-hand account of Mandela’s period as the ‘Black Pimpernel’, his 1962 trial for incitement, and of the Rivonia raid in 1963. He gives a graphic account of the psychological effects of interrogation in solitary detention without trial, and of the difficult personal choices he had to make. Bob Hepple tells his story against the background of the experiences of his childhood and youth in a racist society. These experiences led him – described by a pro-government newspaper as ‘a young man with a red tie’ – to play a role as a student activist against racial segregation in the universities, an adviser and assistant to the virtually illegal multi-racial trade unions, a lawyer defending political
