THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE, towards participatory Democracy in South Africa

xxxiv + 155 pp., gift inscription in blue pen on verso of front cover, mild foxing on verso of front cover & back cover, paperback, edges creased, spine sunned, Ravan Press, Johannesburg, (1972) 1980

With a biographical introduction by Tony Morphet.

From the back cover:

On 8 January 1978, just weeks before his banning order was set to expire, Dr Richard Turner was assassinated at his home by an unidentified assailant. This edition is dedicated to his memory.

From the introduction:

In 1976, Dr Turner appeared as an expert witness called by the defence during the trial of nine leaders of the Black Consciousness movement under the Terrorism Act. During cross-examination, the state prosecutor aimed to establish that the fundamental concepts of Turner’s book were shared by the accused and had influenced their thinking. Any assessment of the book’s impact must therefore consider it within the broader context of oppositional thought.

Published by Ravan Press, an anti-apartheid publishing house founded in 1972 by Peter Ralph Randall, Danie van Zyl, and Beyers Naudé.

PUBLISHING AGAINST APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA, a case study of Ravan Press