"We came out demonstrating on a cold, wintry morning. But the authorities wouldn't have it. They set police dogs on us. They panel-beat us with batons. They sprayed us with teargas. They came out shooting. Army tanks roared down the streets like angry hippos. The contest was too uneven. We retreated in panic, leaving the ground strewn with casualties from both sides. We couldn't match them stone to bullet."

This important historical novel, first published in 1982 and later banned by the apartheid regime, is now available for literature study at school. It tells, with piercing authenticity, the story of the 1976 Soweto uprising.

Mzamane has created a set of characters whose courage, humour and imperfections fi ll the pages of this book and carry the reader forward on the rising tide of resistance. The novel is accompanied by notes and classroom activities.