Mandela: An Illustrated Autobiography (Hardcover)

~ (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: preparatory examination, defence team, general prisoners, South Africa, Robben Island, Cape Town (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This handsome 91/4" x 103/8" book abridges South African leader Mandela's acclaimed 1994 autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, and adds some 200 photographs. It also contains a substantial amount of text, making it a suitable introduction for those without the time to read the longer work. The photos, from a variety of archives and journalistic sources, ably illustrate Mandela and, even more so, the South Africa around him. While photos of protests and trials predominate, there are images of the rural areas of Mandela's youth, of the smoky segregated townships of his lawyer days in Johannesburg, and of Mandela's family and African National Congress comrades. The photos taken after Mandela's release from prison and South Africa's democratic election capture historic scenes. For most public libraries, especially where interest in Mandela has been high.?Norman Oder, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Adapted from the best-selling memoir, Long Walk to Freedom (1994), this handsomely designed, large-size volume with 200 photographs is sure to become most readers' first choice for reading about Mandela. The text has been cut, but not that much; there's still an extraordinary amount of detail about his personal life and the history and politics of the antiapartheid struggle, about his years underground, his 27 years in prison, and his triumphant election as president of South Africa's first democracy. In the original autobiography, there were some good photos, but they were small and clumped together. This book, with thick paper and lots of white space, has a high-quality photo on almost every page. The pictures don't just illustrate the historical account, they extend it. South Africa's great photographers, including Peter Magubane, Jurgen Schadeburg, and many more, document the events in their country. They capture the daily and the cataclysmic: what it has been like for those who live there, blacks and whites, separate and unequal for so long. The famous images are here (children carrying the body of Hector Peterson after the 1976 Soweto uprising; Mandela with his arm raised in triumph on his release from prison), but some pictures are new, published here for the first time. With its compelling cover portrait, full captions, and many sidebar quotes, this book will grab browsers, who will then find it hard to stop reading the amazing story. Hazel Rochman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st Edition. edition (November 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316550388
• ISBN-13: 978-0316550383
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 9.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #588,997 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #29 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( M ) > Mandela, Nelson
  #64 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > Race Relations > Apartheid

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mandela: a portrait of integrity, April 10, 2008

By	Joseph E. C. Rogers (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book recounts the life of Nelson Mandela beginning in childhood up to the present age. It is written by Mandela himself - it's honest, straightforward style seems to be an honest attempt by Mandela to portray himself objectively, avoiding the tendency to be self-serving.

A fascinating book. It begins with Mandela in his young childhood living in a pre-industrial society of native Africans in the countryside of South Africa where white settlers have dominated industrialized society. It is an engaging society, - perhaps more advanced than our own - as one must reconsider what it means to live in harmony and in cooperation; A true democracy, based on the ideals that all are equal.

Mandela undergoes culture shock when he runs away from his traditional homeland to seek his fortunes in the big city of Johannesberg. Here is encounters white society up close, and is mortified at the inequity that exists between the native blacks, and the immigrant whites that make every attempt to dominate their country and exploit its indigenous peoples.

Mandela encounters a small group of educated, free-thinking educated blacks, and joins the African National Congress. Here he encounters several other oppressed peoples: Indians, Communists, and liberal whites. He slowly makes his life's objective to be a freedom fighter. A fighter for civil rights for all people. A life of struggle, where one must be willing to pay the ultimate price. And he nearly does.

He becomes the inspiration for downtrodden average black citizen, nearly enslaved within their own country. He willingly faces grave danger, is tried several times for his political ideals, denounced as "treason" and is eventually sent to prison "for life."

Mandela's life in prison is austere. But he and his colleagues never yield in their commitment to freedom for all South Africans. His wife, Winnie is an example of true dedication - equally a woman of integrity and worthy of the highest praise. She undergoes severe hardships being married to a "freedom fighter."

Mandela avoids the tendency to give up in the face of severe conditions, showing true mettle as he remains dedicated to the rights for all people to live free in racist South Africa. 27 years later having risked his life and surviving harsh prison conditions, he emerges a national hero.

A must read for anyone - Mandela is history in the making.