Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17526 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-15
• Binding: Paperback
• 704 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1975, imprisoned for life on Robben Island, Nelson Mandela covertly wrote his autobiography. After painstaking months the text was smuggled out--and was promptly quashed by the African National Congress. In his later Long Walk to Freedom Mandela politely expresses "surprise" at this. Sampson reveals that Joe Slovo suppressed the book for not giving enough prominence to Communists. This revelation is remarkable--the ANC could have made much mileage from the book at a time of low fortune--yet Sampson does not follow up. There is too often a sense of eggshells lightly walked upon.

Mandela improves as the prisoner's release approaches. Sampson sharply exposes the machinations of those undermining the ANC's struggle. The CIA knew of the Third Force years before the ANC, yet said nothing. Right-wing governments attacked "Mandela the Communist", preferring to promote Inkhata's Buthelezi, at that time secretly and violently colluding with de Klerk's apartheid regime. Against the small-minded figures of Reagan, Thatcher and Kohl it is Mandela who emerges here a giant. South Africa won her freedom through Mandela: his strength of character and willingness to forgive helped push a country into an alternative future, avoiding the racial civil war almost all predicted. Yet he and his kin paid an awful price. Sampson draws a painful, clear picture of a disintegrating family: dislocation from children; the terrible effects of the war on Winnie, and her increasingly erratic, later murderous behaviour; Mandela's own aching loneliness. It is in capturing Madiba, the ultimate public figure, at his most intense and private, that Sampson's Mandela succeeds best. --Chris Woods

Synopsis
The author has known Mandela since the 1950s, and has been given complete access to all his personal papers, to Mandela himself, and to his friends and political associates, to write the full story of Mandela's life. In addition to covering his years before, during and after his incarceration, the author assesses Mandela's impact as President on South Africa and the world. He also reveals many features of the apartheid system that have hitherto been hidden, and describes the changing attitudes of big business to the ANC and to Mandela himself. The result is an authoritative biography of one of the greatest men of the 20th century.

About the Author
Anthony Sampson has been keenly interested in South African affairs since 1951 when, after leaving Oxford, he first went to South Africa to become editor of the black magazine Drum in Johannesburg. He met Nelson Mandela that year in Soweto as Mandela was preparing for the Defiance Campaign against apartheid, which Drum covered extensively.

In 1956 Anthony Sampson published his first book - a hugely entertaining account of his four years as editor (Drum: an African Adventure) - and frequently revisited South Africa thereafter. Subsequently he wrote a book about the treason titles in 1958 and reported Mandela's own trial before he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964.

In London Sampson worked for the Observer for six years before publishing (in 1962) his groundbreaking, bestselling Anatomy of Britain (later updated four times and read by Mandela in prison). He followed it with a succession of major books about international business, including Seven Sisters, The Arms Bazaar, Black and Gold (an account of the relations between business and apartheid) and Company Man.

He has been chairman of the Society of Authors and a member of the Scott Trust, which owns the Guardian and Observer.

Customer Reviews

The authoritative biography of an extraordinary man by one who knew him well
Sampson first met Mandela in the early days - he saw him as a firebrand who would be a help for the cause, but was perhaps too impetuous and rash to have a lasting impact. Little did he know! But this early acquaintance combined with a deep understanding of South Africa mean that Sampson is able to trace both Mandela's development and his place in the big picture. This is no hagiography and Sampson is not one to gloss over the flaws and mistakes. But having these articulated makes for a much more powerful and credible life story - the man who did more than anyone to prevent a blood-bath and national carnage in 1994 comes across all the more remarkably.

A wonderful and gripping book - probably the best and most authoritative of contemporary biographies that will provide an invaluable resource for generations.

An excellent political autobiography
This is potentially one of the best (if not the best) autobiographies written about Nelson Mandela. The focus is on his political activities, with special emphasis on events during his prison years. This book is a great buy for anyone interested in South African politics, Mandela's vision for SA, and the events that led to the end of Apartheid.

Probably the definitive biography
This hugely detailed biography is recommended for anyone wanting to know more about Mandela (the icon and politician), the ANC and the political transformation of South Africa. But if you want to know about Mandela the man then you may be just a little disappointed. I suspect though that this will be the definitive biography for many years to come.