Launch of 'Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC’S Armed Struggle'

WiSER and Penguin Random House invite you to the launch of

Thula Simpson’s new book

UMKHONTO WE SIZWE
The ANC’S Armed Struggle

Thula Simpson (University of Pretoria) will be in conversation with Ian Macqueen (University of Pretoria) and Barry Gilder (Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection). Chaired by Noor Nieftagodien (South African Research Chair: Local Histories, Present Realities; History Workshop).

Wednesday, 20th April, 5:30pm - 7:00pm  

WiSER Seminar Room, 6th Floor, Richard Ward Building, East Campus, Wits University  

Drinks will be served. 

RSVP: Najibha.Deshmukh@wits.ac.za

*Copies of the book will be on sale at the event for R350*

The book draws closely from writings and testimonies by the men and women who fought the armed struggle, recreating the drama, heroism and tragedy of their experiences. It tells the story of men like Nelson Mandela, Chris Hani, Joe Slovo, Oliver Tambo and Jacob Zuma, whose reputations were forged in the crucible of the armed struggle, but it is also a tale of martyrs such as Looksmart Ngudle, Ashley Kriel and Phila Ndwandwe, and the story of the tragedy of MK soldiers such as Bartholomew Hlapane, Leonard Nkosi, Glory Sedibe and many others. Written in a fresh, immediate style, Umkhonto we Sizwe is an honest account of the armed struggle. It does not seek to glorify or to whitewash, but rather to chronicle a fascinating series of events from the beginning of the struggle to the negotiated settlement of the 1990s.

Thula Simpson is a senior lecturer in the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies at the University of Pretoria. He has spent a decade researching and writing on the history of the ANC’s liberation struggle. His research has been conducted in Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, the United Kingdom and most extensively in South Africa. His writing has been published in a number of scholarly journals, including the Journal of Southern African Studies, African Studies, the South African Historical Journal, Social Dynamics and the African Historical Review, as well as in edited book collections published by Wits University Press, and the Uni­versity of Cape Town Press. Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC’s Armed Struggle is his first single-authored book.