Cutting Through the Mountain - Interviews with South African Jewish Activists - Edited by Immanuel Suttner
Cutting Through the Mountain: Interviews with South African Jewish Activists
A Monumental Oral History Archive Documenting the Defiance, Sacrifice, and Leadership of Jewish Dissidents in the Anti-Apartheid Struggle
A Monumental Oral History Archive Documenting the Defiance, Sacrifice, and Leadership of Jewish Dissidents in the Anti-Apartheid Struggle
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Cutting Through the Mountain: Interviews with South African Jewish Activists
- Editor: Immanuel Suttner
- Publisher: Viking (An Imprint of Penguin Books South Africa), Johannesburg
- Publication Date: 1997
- ISBN-13: 9780670870790 (ISBN-10: 067087079X)
- Edition Details: First Edition, First Printing.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium black cloth-covered boards with bold gilt-stamped typography along the spine; complete with original illustrated dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 634 pages. Richly enhanced with independent monochrome photographic portraits accompanying each comprehensive oral testimony.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+) / Excellent Condition
- Exterior / Boards: The original black cloth boards are in exceptional physical condition—remarkably rigid, flat, and square. The gilt lettering along the spine is completely untarnished and brilliant. The corners are razor-sharp with no trace of edge friction or bumping. The spine panel remains perfect, upright, and structurally flawless, firmly securing the substantial 634-page text block.
- Interior: The text block is robustly bound, tight, and clean. The internal pages and historical photographic portraits remain crisp, immaculate, and bright white, entirely free of foxing, reader notes, annotations, highlights, or dog-ears.
- Provenance: Clean archival state; entirely free of previous owner signatures, institutional library stamps, or dealer pencil notations.
- Protection: Safely enclosed and beautifully preserved within an archival-grade protective cellophane sleeve.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Condition: Bright and complete. Displays only very limited, superficial signs of minor handling and trace storage friction at the extreme edge tips, entirely consistent with careful collection preservation. Free of deep tears, heavy chipping, or sun-fading.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published by Viking in 1997, Cutting Through the Mountain is widely recognized as a monumental masterpiece of political oral history and an invaluable historical archive of the liberation struggle. Compiled and edited by Immanuel Suttner, this expansive 634-page volume documents a series of deep, uncompromised interviews with prominent South African Jews who broke ranks with the white establishment to play foundational roles in the underground and overt resistance against the apartheid regime.
Suttner's work serves as a definitive visual and narrative record of activists spanning the political spectrum, from the African National Congress (ANC) and the trade union movement to the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the judiciary. The text captures the unique moral, theological, and secular motivations that drove these individuals to cross racial boundaries against formidable odds. Comprehensive testimonies include Rivonia Trialist Denis Goldberg, SACP leader Joe Slovo, intelligence chief Ronnie Kasrils, Constitutional Court justices Albie Sachs and Arthur Chaskalson, parliamentary champion Helen Suzman, anti-apartheid musical pioneer Johnny Clegg, Nobel laureate novelist Nadine Gordimer, human rights defenders the Coleman family, and radical rabbi Ben Isaacson, among others. This classic, beautifully protected first edition remains an indispensable cornerstone reference work for serious collectors of political Africana, human rights history, and South African Jewish heritage studies.
Editor Profile: Immanuel Suttner
Immanuel Suttner is a highly regarded South African journalist, poet, oral historian, and social commentator. Born into a lineage of profound political consciousness, his academic and literary work focuses heavily on tracking down hidden social histories and exploring the complex intersections of identity, ethical responsibility, and political activism. His rigorous interview methodology is widely praised by academics for its ability to balance sharp, investigative questioning with deep empathy, allowing subjects to reveal their authentic vulnerabilities and historical contributions.
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