Book title: Cry Freedom 

Author: John Briley

John Briley’s Cry Freedom is an inspiring book about people who fought the apartheid regime in South Africa and the tragedy that befell them. It is based on the true life story of Steve Biko, a black South African lawyer, who fought against racism and apartheid.

The story opens with a news story about a demolition in a slum in East London, South Africa. The editor of the Daily Dispatch, Donald Woods seeking more information about the incident, he ventures off to meet black activist Steve Biko outside the white zone.

Biko has been officially banned by the South African government and he is not allowed to leave his defined banning area at King William’s town. Woods is formally against Biko’s banning but remains critical of his political views about black consciousness.

Biko invites Woods to visit a black township to see the impoverished conditions and to witness the effect of government imposed restrictions which make up the apartheid system. Woods begins to agree with Biko’s desire for a South Africa, where blacks have the same opportunities as those enjoyed by the white population. As Woods comes to understand Biko’s point of view, a friendship slowly starts to develop.

Later, Biko decides to travel to Cape Town to speak at a student run meeting en route security forces stop his car and arrest him. He is severely beaten, causing a severe brain injury. A doctor recommends a specialist but the police refuse, fearing that Biko could escape.

He is thrown in the back of a vehicle and driven to a prison hospital on a very bumpy road and this rough journey aggravates his already bad situation and he dies on the way to hospital. Woods then works to expose the police’s complicity in Biko’s death. He attempts to expose photographs of Biko’s body which contradict the theory that he died of a hunger strike.

However, Woods is banned by the police from leaving South Africa and his family is harassed, but he manages to escape over the border and leaves for England where he exposes the corrupt and racist regime.

This novel is a moving story of friendship and compassion between two people of different races and it also conveys a message of hope in difficult situations.