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Communism, Peoples & Cultures - Biography, Political Biography, African Politics, African Politics & Government, Southern African History, Africana - Africa, Discrimination & Prejudice
Bram Fischer: Afrikaner Revolutionary by Stephen Clingman β€” book cover

Bram Fischer: Afrikaner Revolutionary

by Stephen Clingman
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Overview

In 1964 Bram Fischer led the defence of Nelson Mandela in the Rivonia Trial. In 1966 Fischer was himself sentenced to life imprisonment in South Africa for his political activities against the policies of apartheid. Before his sentencing he had spent nine months underground, in disguise, evading a nationwide manhunt. He was South Africa's most wanted man, his cause recognised and celebrated around the world. What had brought him to these circumstances? And what led to his untimely death after nine years in prison? This biography follows a fascinating journey of conscience and personal transformation. Fischer was born into one of the most prominent Afrikaner nationalist families, yet came to understand that to be a South African in the fullest sense he had to identify with all of South Africa's people. A Rhodes Scholar and distinguished lawyer, endowed with gifts of intelligence, charisma, and integrity, he abandoned the temptations of power and prestige to ensure human rights and justice for all. Drawn to communism in order to solve problems of race, he offered revised versions and visions of both. Covering more than one hundred years of South African history, the book ranges from the stories of Fischer and his wife, Molly, to the courtroom drama of South Africa's great political trials, to the political intrigue of the 1960s and beyond.

About the Author, Stephen Clingman

STEPHEN CLINGMAN is the author of The Novels of Nadine Gordimer: History from the Inside and editor of Nadine Gordimer’s The Essential Gesture: Writing, Politics and Places. Born in South Africa, he is Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

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Editorials

Book World Washington Post

"Stephen Clingman's passionate study of Afrikaner dissident Bram Fischer brings to light a little-known figures who was one of the founding fathers of the liberation struggle."

Book Details

Published
April 15, 1998
Publisher
University of Massachusetts Press
Pages
512
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781558491359

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