Slog Tipper Tyler wants to make sure that we all know about this Penguin reissue of 117 Days: An Account of Confinement and Interrogation Under the South African 90-Day Detention Law by Ruth First. Tyler learned about it by reading this essay that explains why the book is so important:

What energizes this narrative is not the singularity of her experience—First was a white woman—but her dedication to the cause and her stoic clarity in moments of uncertainty and terror. Released after ninety days and allowed to walk out of jail, she was immediately rearrested and subjected to intensified interrogations. Afraid she would say something revealing, First wrote a farewell note to her family, swallowed a vial of pills, and was surprised when she woke up. Throughout her experience, she occupied herself with thoughts of what “was going on outside the prisons, in the streets, the townships, the secret meetings. . . . In prison you see only the moves of the enemy. Prison is the hardest place to fight a battle.”

And we should all take a moment to appreciate the book's new cover: Simple, explanatory, and striking. Previous covers for 117 Days were good (click on the small black and red cover to enlarge a previous edition's book cover), but this new cover is a lovely bit of restraint that will hopefully draw new readers in to the book.