Conversations with Myself [Hardcover]

Nelson Mandela (Author), Barack Obama (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: October 11, 2010

Nelson Mandela is widely considered to be one of the most inspiring and iconic figures of our age. Now, after a lifetime of taking pen to paper to record thoughts and events, hardships and victories, he has bestowed his entire extant personal papers, which offer an unprecedented insight into his remarkable life.

A singular international publishing event, Conversations with Myself draws on Mandela’s personal archive of never-before-seen materials to offer unique access to the private world of an incomparable world leader. Journals kept on the run during the anti-apartheid struggle of the early 1960s; diaries and draft letters written in Robben Island and other South African prisons during his twenty-seven years of incarceration; notebooks from the postapartheid transition; private recorded conversations; speeches and correspondence written during his presidency—a historic collection of documents archived at the Nelson Mandela Foundation is brought together into a sweeping narrative of great immediacy and stunning power. An intimate journey from Mandela’s first stirrings of political consciousness to his galvanizing role on the world stage, Conversations with Myself illuminates a heroic life forged on the front lines of the struggle for freedom and justice.

While other books have recounted Mandela’s life from the vantage of the present, Conversations with Myself allows, for the first time, unhindered insight into the human side of the icon.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The South African statesman and former political prisoner bares his mind and soul in this inspiring collection of writings and interviews. Culled from Mandela's letters, notebooks, taped conversations, prison diaries, calendars, and an unfinished autobiography, the material includes reminiscences of the antiapartheid movement, lessons in revolutionary theory gleaned from his guerrilla training, vignettes of prison life, seething protests to authorities, tender missives to loved ones, canny political strategizing and quiet philosophical reflections. The entries recall moments of high drama, days of dreary routine and interludes of random strangeness, including a prison screening of Revenge of the Nerds. Mandela registers his anger at the humiliations and hardships imposed on him by apartheid, and his anguish over his long separation from his family (officials even denied his requests to attend his mother's and son's funerals). But what comes through most strongly is his steadfast resolve--"the knowledge that in your day you did your duty and lived up to the expectations of your fellow man is in itself a reward"--and a shrewd, ebullient humanity that finds and embraces the good even in his prison guards. The result is a moving account of Mandela's struggle and a testament to his triumph. Photos. (Oct.)
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From Booklist

He has been called the most famous person in the world. Certainly for 27 years he was the most famous prisoner until his release in 1990 and then his election in 1994 as the first president of a democratic South Africa. He was welcomed by the pope, the queen, and world leaders everywhere. But even with the shelves of books by and about him, this volume of personal papers, published worldwide in 21 editions and languages, adds much that has never been said before about Nelson Mandela, including diary entries from his time in the underground, debates about passive resistance and guerrilla warfare, letters from prison, and recorded reminiscences with former fellow prisoners. Mandela knew that his letters, even those to his young daughters, might not get past the prison censors, so he kept copies in a journal that was always with him. Now official archivists have arranged this material chronologically, including some facsimiles in Mandela’s own handwriting. Yes, readers will skip some of the bits and pieces, but not much. He is as eloquent about the personal, such as his two-year “honeymoon” with his wife, Winnie (“We kept warning each other we were living on borrowed time”), as he is about the universal (his letter from Robben Island to the authorities about the rights of prisoners). Sure to spark debate is Mandela’s answer to the famous criticism that he hurt his family to help the nation: he had to do it because “hundreds, millions, in our country are suffering.” With a foreword by Barack Obama, this insightful volume includes a time line, map, and detailed notes on related people, places, and events. --Hazel Rochman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 454 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1ST edition (October 11, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374128952
• ISBN-13: 978-0374128951
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #357,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nelson Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa, on 18 July 1918. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies after 1948 before being arrested in August 1962. In November 1962 he was sentenced to five years in prison and started serving his sentence at Robben Island Prison in 1963 before being returned to Pretoria, where he was to later stand in the Rivonia Trial. From 1964 to 1982, he was again incarcerated at Robben Island Prison and then later moved to Pollsmoor Prison, during which his reputation as a potent symbol of resistance to the anti-apartheid movement grew steadily.

Released from prison in 1990, Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was inaugurated as the first democratically elected president of South Africa in 1994. He is the author of the international bestsellers Long Walk to Freedom and Conversations with Myself.

© Nelson R. Mandela and the Nelson Mandela Foundation / PQ Blackwell Ltd

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Mandela The Man October 14, 2010

By Cory Geurts

Format:Hardcover

"Conversations With Myself" is a unique book. It is an intuitively organized compilation of excerpts from the notebooks and diaries Mandela kept while imprisoned for 27 years, personal files, correspondence, presidential speeches, interview transcripts, and the unpublished sequel to his autobiography. It is a snapshot in time, beginning before his incarceration in 1963 and ending after the post-apartheid transition period of the 1990's.

The intimacy provided by these most personal of documents is truly special. Readers will connect with Mandela not only on an intellectual basis but also on a deeply emotional level. This is Mandela the prisoner, the parent, the husband, and the president.

It is important to keep in mind that this book is an archive. It may seem somewhat disjointed if compared to narrative books. There are some draft letters, incomplete outlines, thought fragments, and journal snippets. This is the nature of an archive, and though it is well-edited, this book may take some getting used to.

Instead of one or two sections of photos in the middle of the book, readers will find copies of some of the actual source documents, mostly written in Mandela's own hand, every few pages. Several useful appendices are included: a timeline, maps, a list of abbreviations, and list of "People, Places, and Events" which I found to be indispensable.

The publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, offers a brief reading group guide on their website at fsgbooks (dot com). Even readers who are unable to participate in a group discussion like myself are likely to find this resource to be quite helpful.

"Conversations With Myself" is the perfect companion volume to Mandela's critically-acclaimed 1994 autobiography, "Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela : With Connections (HRW Library)" Those studying Mandela may want to start with "Long Walk To Freedom" since it begins with his childhood and covers his life up until the time he became president.

For casual readers, no prerequisite reading is necessary to enjoy this book. This is a story born out of confinement but never lonely; a tale of some sorrow but not despair; a message not of apathy but of hope. Mandela's amazing resiliency is one of the constant factors in this story.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Nelson Mandela Declares He Is No Saint". October 16, 2010

By M. Mariba TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

This is a rather very interesting & personal book, composed of Nelson Mandela's vast archive material in the form of letters, papers, conversations, interviews & speeches/recordings he made/written while in Robben Island as a prisoner, after his release from prison & when he was the first democratic elected President of South Africa and the book is titled "Conversations With Myself". It has been put together by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, dedicated to his grand-daughter who died in a car accident in June this year during Fifa Soccer World Cup 2010 & is foreworded by President Barack Obama.

The book outlines Nelson Mandela's views among others on leadership & as well as his fallability as a human being : he was quite 'anxious/uncomfortable' while in Robben Island that he was being regarded/portrayed as a Saint by some followers/quarters. He does not however regard himself as a Saint even though his definition of a "Saint is a sinner who keeps on trying/repenting"!

This book is an excellent read because of a diversity of material contained : it's not like a story with a plot or narrative thread. Thus this book can be studied in bits/chunks as you wish with ease without loosing 'the flow' of the book. Some of his letters/speeches reflected/presented in this book are in Nelson Mandela's own handwriting, making this book rather very personal & special (collectable). This book, "Nelson Mandela : Conversations With Myself", is a highly recommended reading from one of the most famous prisoners in the world, known for his fight for human rights (Nobel Peace Prize Winner), reconciliation & a humble personality (and hence his declaration as no Saint).

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Different but well put together November 12, 2010

By Wayne Chan

Format:Hardcover

I have never read an autobiography before but is not one.It is put together by notes he made,letters he wrote and interviews.From all these bits and pieces there is a great flow and easy to read.It brings to the reader his great thoughts and views on specific events that happened to him during his life.

If you cant meet the man,see the man or get close to the man this is an alternative to get a chance to reach out to him though this book of personal letters and notes.

I recommend this to anyone to sit back and change from the trash that is pumped out from authors every day and think and feel what this great man is feeling.