Duty and Dynamite: A Life of Activism traces the life story of Laloo 'Isu' Chiba. The son of Gujarati immigrants to South Africa, he shows little interest in politics in his early life, instead associating with the notorious Fordsburg gangster, Sharif Khan His gradual politicisation in 1950s Johannesburg leads to his recruitment into the first generation of Umkhonto we Sizwe freedom fighters, where he displays resourcefulness and bravery in equal measure. That earns him torture, detention and ultimately eighteen years in prison on Robben Island. He is devastated by his separation from his wife and three young daughters for nearly two decades.

On the Island alongside Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Kathrada, he excels as one of the transcribers of Mandela's autobiography, as a key communications operative, and originator of the prisoners' garden.....

This autobiography, published posthumously, talks to a life of duty to the cause of freedom.