Notes

Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's antiapartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. He is revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality. Long Walk to Freedom is his moving autobiography, Here, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela tells the extraordinary story of his life - an epic of struggle, setback, renewed hope, and ultimate triumph, which has, until now, been virtually unknown to most of the world. The foster son of a Thembu chief, Mandela was raised in the traditional, tribal culture of his ancestors, but at an early age learned the modern, inescapable reality of what came to be called apartheid, one of the most powerful and effective systems of oppression ever conceived. In engrossing prose, he tells of his early years as an impoverished student and law clerk in Johannesburg, of his slow political awakening, and of his pivotal role in the rebirth of a stagnant ANC and the formation of its Youth League in the 1950s. He describes the struggle to reconcile his political activity with his devotion to his family, the anguished breakup of his first marriage, and the painful separations from his children. He also brings to life the escalating political warfare in the 1950s between the ANC and the government, culminating in his dramatic escapades as an underground leader and the notorious Rivonia Trial of 1964, at which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He recounts the surprisingly eventful 27 years in prison and the complex, delicate negotiations that led both to his freedom and to the beginning of the end of apartheid. Finally, he provides the inside account of the unforgettable events since his release that produced at last a free, multiracial democracy in South Africa.

NZ Review: 'A tale of anger and sorrow, love and joy, grace and elegance' DAILY NEWS 'Indispensable ... [a] unique life-story' Anthony Sampson 'A truly stunning account of his extraordinary life ... A vivid testimony to an unusual mixture of courage, persistence, tolerance, and forgiveness' Sir David Steel ** 'One of the most life- affirming books you'll read' GQ
UK Review: South Africa's first black President, who personifies the struggle for human rights and racial equality, recounts his life. It is an epic tale with a triumphant ending that would scarcely have been credible just a few years ago: from a traditional Tembu childhood, through political activism, the founding of the African National Congress, life imprisonment for treason and violent conspiracy, 27 years behind bars, to release in 1990 and the first multi-racial elections in 1994. Mandela is clear, eloquent and inspiring in this deeply moving testament to idealism, charity and hope. (Kirkus UK)
US Review: In 1918 Nelson Mandela was born, the son of a tribal chief in the Xhosa nation. In 1994 has was elected the first black president of a South Africa newly free of apartheid. In the 76 intervening years, Mandela's path was the path of his pepole and his country: painful, obstacle-ridden, often seemingly impassable. Here the leader of black South Africans' fight for freedom details each step of that journey. He writes with respect and affection of the traditional culture in which he was raised, even of his ritual circumcision at the age of 16; and he describes with dispassion the events that aided his growing politicization, such as the failed miners' strike of 1946; his quest for dignity even while imprisoned on Robben Island; and the dramatic negotiations with then president F.W. De Klerk that culminated in a peaceful revolution in South Africa. This memoir is remarkably free of polemics, self-pity, and self-aggrandizement It is the work ofo a man who has led by action and example - a man who is one of the few genuine heroes we have. (Kirkus Reviews)