Jomo Kenyatta written for Malinowski's class and published them as "Facing Mount Kenya" in 1938. Malinowski wrote an introduction for the book, while the jacket cover featured an image of Kenyatta in traditional dress, wearing a skin cloak over one shoulder and carrying a spear. The book was published under the name "Jomo Kenyatta", the first time that he had done so; the term "Jomo" was close to a Kikuyu word describing the removal of a sword from its scabbard. "Facing Mount Kenya" was a commercial failure, selling only 517 copies, but was generally well received; an exception was among white Kenyans,
Jomo Kenyatta insisted that it was necessary; in a March 1961 speech, he described Kenyatta an "African leader to darkness and death" and stated that if he were released, violence would erupt. This indefinite detention was widely interpreted internationally as a reflection of the cruelties of British imperialism. Calls for his release came from the Chinese government, India's Nehru, and Tanganyika's Prime Minister Julius Nyerere. Ghana's President Nkrumah personally raised the issue with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and other UK officials, with the Ghanaian government offering Kenyatta asylum in the event of his release. Resolutions calling for his release were produced