If the Mandelas were the generals in the fight for black liberation, the Mashininis were the foot soldiers. Theirs is a story of exile, imprisonment, torture and loss, but also of dignity, courage and strength in the face of appalling adversity. Originally published in the UK and USA to critical acclaim, A Burning Hunger tells a deeply moving human story and stands as one of the seminal books about the struggle against apartheid.

On 16 June 1976, the youth of Soweto rose up in protest against a new rule making Afrikaans, the language of their oppressors, the medium of instruction in their schools. Tsietsi Mashinini, a charismatic seventeen-year-old high school student, led them in demonstrations that quickly became the most significant uprising in South Africa’s history. His actions that day set in motion a chain of events that would forever change South Africa, define his family and transform their lives.

Joseph and Nomkhitha Mashinini and their twelve other children were drawn into the struggle, becoming immersed in almost every facet of the fight for liberation, from guerrilla warfare to urban insurrection. Although Joseph and Nomkhitha were peaceful citizens who had never been involved in politics, five of their sons became leaders in the anti-apartheid movement. Each member of the family paid a price, whether through imprisonment, torture, exile or separation. Together, they embodied the courage of a generation that refused to accept the world as it was given to them.

This is an extraordinary story of a family that became a symbol of resistance; a tale of unimaginable adversity met with dignity and defiance and an example of what ordinary people are capable of when injustice becomes intolerable. Basing her narrative on extensive research and interviews, Lynda Schuster richly portrays The Mashininis and in so doing reveals black South Africa during a time of momentous change.

This is also a story for right now. Fifty years after the Soweto Uprising, South Africa’s hard-won freedoms are not guaranteed. Every generation must decide, for itself, what it is willing to stand for and what it is willing to stand up against. A Burning Hunger is a gripping human drama and an essential piece of South African history, as urgent, alive and necessary as the moment it chronicles.