Nelson Mandela

On Sunday February 1990, Nelson Mandela, the world’s most famous political prisoner, was released.

‘During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society… It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if need be it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die’ – Nelson Mandela

Imprisoned for twenty-seven years, Nelson Mandela has become a legend in his own lifetime; the embodiment of the struggle for liberation in South Africa and a vital symbol of a new society. In this timely and absorbing biography, Mary Benson describes Mandela’s life, work and ideas from his childhood in the royal family of the Thembu people to his membership and eventual leadership of the African National Congress. Her book sheds an illuminating light on the man whose release is widely regarded as the essential first step towards averting catastrophe in that tragic land.