Woods, Donald - Biko ( Signed Presentation Copy )

Published by Paddington Press, Ltd., London & New York, 1978. 1st Edition. A near fine copy bound in brown, textured cloth and stamped brightly in gilt on the spine. Very clean and tight throughout, apparently unread. Inscribed by the author: "To David with best wishes Donald Woods 19/4/1978" on the front endpaper. In a very good plus dustjacket printed in brown and black against a white background. With a drawing of Steve Biko on the front panel of the jacket, and a photo of Donald Woods featured on the rear panel. The original price of £5.95 is at the top of the inside front flap.

A very handsome and collectible copy, uncommon signed and inscribed.

Donald James Woods, CBE (December 15, 1933 August 19, 2001) was a white South African journalist and anti-apartheid activist. As editor of the Daily Dispatch from 1965 to 1977, he befriended Steve Biko, leader of the anti-apartheid Black Consciousness Movement, and was banned by the government soon after Biko's death, which had been caused by serious head injuries, sustained while in police custody.

Woods fled to London, where he continued to foster opposition to apartheid. In 1978, he became the first private citizen to address the United Nations Security Council. Soon after Biko's death, Woods was himself placed under a five-year ban. He was stripped of his editorship, and was not allowed to speak publicly, write, travel or even work for the duration of his ban. Over the next year, he was subjected to increasing harassment, and his phone was tapped. The final straw came when his six-year-old daughter was severely burned by an acid-laced T-shirt. Convinced that the government was trying to have him killed, Woods decided to flee South Africa.