Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (Paperback)

by Nelson Mandela (Author) "APART FROM LIFE, a strong constitution, and an abiding connection to the Thembu royal house, the only thing my father bestowed upon me at birth..." (more)
Key Phrases: accused number one, black pimpernel, defiance campaign, South Africa, Robben Island, Cape Town (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The famously taciturn South African president reveals much of himself in Long Walk to Freedom. A good deal of this autobiography was written secretly while Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years on Robben Island by South Africa's apartheid regime. Among the book's interesting revelations is Mandela's ambivalence toward his lifetime of devotion to public works. It cost him two marriages and kept him distant from a family life he might otherwise have cherished. Long Walk to Freedom also discloses a strong and generous spirit that refused to be broken under the most trying circumstances--a spirit in which just about everybody can find something to admire.

From Publishers Weekly
Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and the first democratically elected president of South Africa, Mandela began his autobiography during the course of his 27 years in prison.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 656 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books; 1st Paperback Ed edition (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316548189
• ISBN-13: 978-0316548182
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (138 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,027 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #5 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( M ) > Mandela, Nelson
  #10 in	Books > History > Africa > South Africa
  #18 in	Books > Nonfiction > Politics > Human Rights

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He is like every one of us afterall, June 16, 1999

By A Customer

I spent the whole of last weekend reading 'Long Walk to freedom'. For two days I didnot leave the world Nelson had trapped me in. As I finished the book and took a walk outside, I stopped seeing people as Hausas or Yorubas, Northerners or Southerners(ethnic groups in Nigeria). All I saw were brothers who could bury the hatchets of ethnicity and forge a country of love and peace. Before I read the book I saw Mandela as a super human with no flaws at all. In the book he painted himself in true colours; accepting his flaws and proclaiming his successes. He is afterall human. I have always believed that life is worth nothing if one can not stand up for what one believes in. I have always advocated to the Marcus Garvey/ Malcolm X forms of freedom fighting. I always thought that peaceful protests were for the spineless. Why would I like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., watch while the enemy unleashes violence on my people? Nelson in the book took me through the intricacies of peaceful civil disturbance and I have come to realise that this form of protest is even more demanding than sheer brute force. 'Long walk...' is a must-read for any one who still has humanity in his being... If you want to share more on 'Long Walk to Freedom' or the struggle of African progressives against oppresive governments, you can reach me at [e-mail]

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is not a book about a man, but a Manuscript for Life, December 20, 1999

By	Andrew Mullins (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

Please allow yourself a moment to Think before you turn the first page of this manuscript: Think about your name; Think about your family; Think about the warmth of sunlight on your skin; Think about the gift you have to think; Think about things you love and tastes you cherish most; Think about someone you would never wish to live without;and then Think for just a moment, about the cause for which you'd be willing to sacrifice all of the above and so much more for a period of indescribable sufference of spirit-breaking duress. Such strength of mind is perhaps too rare for most of us to even contemplate, however welcome now to the mind that could.

This manuscript is one of the most important pieces of literature ever laid to ink - cherish it and use it to make your own world a little wiser.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Polit thriller, January 16, 2007

By	H. Schneider "Hermit" (window seat) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Despite due respect for a great leader, I did not really expect to like this autobiography very much. Mandela is no great speaker, his TV presence is rather flat, his English apparently not masterful. The life story in summary does not seem to have that much interest either, considering the long jail time and the fact that most of the "hot action" of the anti-apartheid movement happened while he was on Robben Island.
All wrong. The writing is surprisingly fluent, the story telling surprisingly efficient and free of waste as well as redundancies. Also free of sentimentality and exaggerated pathos.
If there is anything that I wished to be more detailed it is the period of his childhood and youth. This period is described in a rather remote way and with a sometimes irritating lack of explanation or reflection. I realized that may have happened due to the conditions under which the book was written: in jail. Also I could imagine that editors suggested some shortening: after all the book is still quite hefty.
If there is one negative comment that I have to make, it refers to NM's insistence that all trouble between black groups, such as the Inkatha violence problems, or tribal conflicts, have been caused by the perfidy of the whites. As much as I can understand the psychology behind this wishful thinking, I do not think it is a realistic approach.
Despite this comment and despite the book's size, it is never boring. Highly recommendable.