Customer Reviews

Mandela: The Authorized Portrait

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4 star:		(1)
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This wonderful book gives a well-rounded view of Nelson Mandela, his country and times. There is a chronological biography, many pictures including copies of letters, etc. plus remembrances from people in his life so you can see Mandela from a variety of viewpoints and often glimpse personal moments that go so far to make up a real individual. I came away richer in understanding Mandela and his impact on the world, clearer in my knowledge of South Africa and amazed at the difference one courageous person can make. The size and weight of the book made me savor it rather than racing through it.

I didn't know much about Nelson Mandela when I started this book only, of course, what I'd heard through the media. I now feel like I really know the man - and I respect and admire him tremendously.

This book covers his life beautifully from his family heritage and Nelson's beginnings in a tribal village where he lived in a tent, to his determination and success at becoming a lawyer. Nelson could never ignore the struggles of others and, in his attempt to right injustice, sacrificed his own life with great and never wavering dignity.

Beyond the vast amount of information in this book are the amazing photographs and documents that show his life as it happened. Even the horrible ones from his unnecessary years as a political prisoner at Robben Island.

This book is a physical beauty and would powerfully grace any home or coffee table.

I'm from brazil and I bought this book because here we dont have a book like this of Mandela.
It's the finnest book of pictures of this great man, Mandela.

For those who likes his history I recommend, it's a picture book that tells all the passion of him from his causes.
All his history is well photographed with very well captured expressions.

PROS: The author spent a great deal of time collecting data in a perfectionist manner. Although this book was a bit over my head, I must admit I was highly impressed with the author's acute attention to detail. No stone was left unturned, so to speak. Scanned photocopies of handwritten letters from Mandela himself.

If you're studying Mandela for research purposes, then this is probably the most comprehensive tell-all guide ever made.

CONS: The extensive vocabulary was over my head. The background history felt textbookish. I didn't feel like I got to know Mr. Mandela at all. And yet, this contains almost everything there is to know about the man. I suppose it's my fault for not having a stronger reading comprehension, but many pages throughout the book were so hard to read that I skimmed over most of it. Mr. Mandela's handwriting was almost impossible for me to read.

All in all, I personally consider this more of a REFERENCE guide rather than an autobiography. This is great if one enjoys finding treasure within obscure details within Mr. Mandela's own handwritten letters.

Nelson Mandela stands as a Beacon in South Africa, Africa, and the rest of the world as an example of what a political leader should be. Not only was he largely responsible for the 'one person one vote' changes in South Africa, but then after he was elected president he served one term and retired. This is very un-politician like. Especially in the third world politicians seem to stay in office until they die. Then again, there was FDR in this country.

This is a splendid book. It is profusely illustrated, and not quite a biography so much as a tribute. There are dozens of comments, interviews, documents from the time, historical reports and so on that record his struggle.

Mandela did marvelous things, great things. I wonder though what will be the story of South Africa after he and his legacy are gone. There are political movements afoot there who preach that the whites should all be kicked out, that their property should be confiscated, and that South Africa will be like the rest of Africa in poverty and misery.

unfortunately i have never received this order to date. I was actually refunded the money. The rating does not reflect the product rate per say but the fact that i did not receive my order