In 1977, Ngugi wa Thiong'o's new play, I Will Marry When I Want, opened in his home village of Kamiriithu, Kenya. It caused a political furore. Six weeks later, it was shut down by the Kenyan regime and he was detained without trial. In this books he describes the degradation and humiliation of political prisoners, the neglect and casual cruelty that undermined their health, and the debilitating blend of tension and tedium that marked each day.