Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Mar 2010
688 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
Nelson Mandela stands out as one of the most admired political figures of the twentieth century. It was his leadership and moral courage above all that helped to deliver a peaceful end to apartheid in South Africa after years of racial division and violence and to establish a fledgling democracy there.
Martin Meredith’s vivid portrayal of this towering leader was originally acclaimed as “an exemplary work of biography: instructive, illuminating, as well as felicitously written” (Kirkus Reviews), providing “new insights on the man and his time” (Washington Post). Now Meredith has revisited and significantly updated his biography to incorporate a decade of additional perspective and hindsight on the man and his legacy and to examine how far his hopes for the new South Africa have been realised.
Published as South Africa celebrates 100 years since its founding and hosts the 2010 World Cup, Nelson Mandela is the most thorough and up-to-date account available of the life of its most revered hero.
"This biography may prove to be less interpretive than future ones, but Meredith rightly praises Mandela for laying the foundations for a new society in a land riven by poverty. " - Publishers Weekly
"This biography, written with Mandela's cooperation, is an invaluable resource for Mandela scholars and other readers interested in South African history." - Library Journal
"Not only a moving record of a man whose courage and conviction was so splendidly vindicated by events, but an exemplary work of biography: instructive, illuminating, as well as felicitously written." - Kirkus Reviews
"[R]evealing insights, particularly into the contrast between the disciplined Mandela who emerged from prison and the impetuous figure of the late 1940's and early 1950's." - The New York Times Book Review
"It provides new perspective and insights into the man and his times....[Meredith] is particularly good in recounting the parallel rise and inevitable clash of white Afrikaner and black African nationalism in this century..." - The Washington Post
"In his spry account, Meredith carefully avoids adulation while tracing the course of Mandela's remarkable career...[He] skillfully depicts Mandela's complex relationships [and] writes vividly but unsentimentally..." - L.A. Times
"Using personal interviews and the writing of some of Mandela's closest friends and family, Meredith paints an insider's canvas of recent South African history as well as an epic tale of a freedom fighter." - San Francisco Chronicle
This information about Mandela was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Martin Meredith is a journalist, biographer and historian who has written extensively on Africa and its recent history. He is the author of many books including Diamonds, Gold and War; The Fate of Africa; Mugabe, and Elephant Destiny. He lives near Oxford, England.
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