The Barrel of a Gun: Political Power in Africa and the Coup d'Etat

The classic study of coups d’état in post-colonial Africa, with incisive new foreword

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.

'In her cruelly abbreviated life, Ruth First courageously grappled with a range of political conditions and mentalities. In The Barrel of a Gun, she transmuted her intimate experience of political adversity into lucid and unsparing insight into postcolonial realities and possibilities. No one interested in the past, present or future of Asia and Africa can afford to miss reading it.' Pankaj Mishra, author of The World After Gaza