Eight Days in September is a riveting, behind-the-scenes account of the turbulent eight-day period in September 2008 that led to the removal of Thabo Mbeki as president of South Africa.

As secretary of the cabinet and head (director-general) of the presidency at the time, Frank Chikane was directly responsible for managing the transition from Mbeki to Kgalema Motlanthe, and then on to Jacob Zuma, and was one of only a few who had a front-row seat to the unfolding drama.

Eight Days in September builds substantially on the so-called Chikane Files, a series of controversial articles Chikane published with Independent Newspapers in July 2010, to provide an insider's perspective on this key period in South Africa's recent history, and to explore Thabo Mbeki's legacy.

In No life of my own, Frank Chikane, one of the leading figures in the Christian resistance to apartheid, recounts his life – beginning with his childhood, growing up black under apartheid, and continuing through his call to the Christian ministry. He tells of his family's increasing involvement in the struggle against apartheid and of disapproval and suspension from his own church. He relates a harrowing story of harassment, detention and firebombing, torture and exile – and his return, despite death threats and further detention, to South Africa to continue the fight. Through it all, one thing is clear: he is a man whose faith compels and sustains him in a courageous and selfless journey toward freedom.