One hundred and seventeen days

the long version

An unforgettable account of defiance against political terror by one of South Africas pioneering anti-apartheid activistsAn invaluable testimonial of the excesses of the apartheid system, 117 Days presents the harrowing chronicle of journalist Ruth Firsts isolation and abuse at the hands of South African interrogators after her arrest in 1963. Upon her arrest, she was detained in solitary confinement under South Africas notorious ninety-day detention law. This is the story of the war of nerves that ensued between First and her Special Branch captorsa work that remains a classic portrait of oppression and the dignity of the human spirit.