Rivonia's Children : Three Families and the Price of Freedom in South Africa - Hardcover

This is the story of Hilda and Rusty Bernstein, longtime Communists so committed to the cause that even the threat of life imprisonment did not stop them; of Ruth First, a fiery activist held for months without charge; and of AnnMarie Wolpe, an innocent bystander sucked into the maelstrom, who had to decide whether or not to risk her own freedom and the life of her sick infant by helping her activist husband escape from prison. It was at their underground headquarters in Rivonia, a Johannesburg suburb, that their fantasy of revolution was shattered after a police raid in 1963.

Nelson Mandela, Rusty Bernstein and eight of their comrades were tried for treason; the Rivonia raid not only destroyed an old order of benign radicalism but also thrust radicals into a new, dangerous world of action. The regime turned a corner as well, plunging headlong into an era of grotesque oppression and brutality. A searing tale of soaring hopes and ideals betrayed, RIVONIA'S CHILDREN tells the gripping and extremely moving story of the impact of political activism on the lives of three families.

Glenn Frankel was bureau chief in South Africa for The Washington Post in 1983 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for international reporting.

His previous book, about Israel, received outstanding reviews:

‘The superior merit of BEYOND THE PROMISED LAND is that it gives one of the most vivid, tormenting and candid portraits of the Israeli occupation that has ever appeared in print.’ Abba Eban, Washington Post

‘Steeped in thoughtful commentary and deftly written with a reporter’s eye for detail, this comprehensive history is a jewel.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘This superb, gripping piece of reportage is a pivotal account of a new Israel struggling to be born.’ Publishers Weekly

‘You reach the end of his narrative as if emerging form a dark tunnel into a landscape that has been radically transformed.’ Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

REVIEWS

‘A superb recounting of one of the less well-known parts of the battle against apartheid.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘The story is propelled by [Glenn Frankel's] own cogent assessments, by his deep respect for these activists and by his ruminations on the extraordinarily charged moral choices these people made and what their decisions cost them.’ Publishers Weekly