Mandela : the authorized biography
Title:
Mandela : the authorized biography
JLCTITLE245:
Anthony Sampson.
Personal Author:
Edition:
First American edition
Publication Information:
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., [1999}
Physical Description:
xxvi, 672 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
ISBN:
9780375400193
Abstract:
"The Life of Nelson Mandela is one of the most extraordinary epics of the twentieth century. An almost-forgotten prisoner on Robben Island twenty years ago, apparently doomed to a helpless existence as a victim of apartheid, he not only survived but almost single-handedly saved South Africa from potential chaos, to become one of the most widely admired leaders in the world. Mandela's myth is dazzling; in this biography Anthony Sampson penetrates it to show us the man himself."--Jacket.
"Mandela is filled with new insights and information. We see how prison, which he and his fellow inmates turned into a kind of unofficial university, gradually transformed Mandela from a headstrong activist into a reflective and consummately skilled statesman. We learn how British and American diplomats cold-shouldered him when support was desperately needed, and about the political infighting, sometimes vicious, that went on between anti-apartheid factions. Particularly fascinating is Sampson's narrative of the incredible negotiations leading to Mandela's release from prison and the eventual collapse of the white regime, when his colleagues feared that he was selling out to the government."--Jacket.
"At every turn, this book sheds fresh light on the moral dilemmas that Mandela was forced to face again and again in his personal and public lives. In the struggle for freedom for South African blacks, he paid a tragic price, becoming alienated from his wife and remote from his children. Yet he famously retained his humanity, and while Sampson does not conceal Mandela's failings - his stubbornness, his fixed loyalties, his princely manners and detachment - the man who emerges is authentically heroic."--Jacket.
Program Information:
Accelerated Reader Grades 9-12 11.2 51 Quiz 43141 English non-fiction.
Bibliography Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 579-649) and index.
Contents:
Map: Apartheid South Africa -- Prologue: The Last Hero -- Country Boy: 1918-1934 -- Mission Boy: 1934-1940 -- Big City: 1941-1945 -- Afrikaners vs. Africans: 1946-1949 -- Nationalists vs. Communists: 1950-1951 -- Defiance: 1952 -- Lawyer and Revolutionary: 1952-1954 -- The Meaning of Freedom: 1953-1956 -- Treason and Winnie: 1956-1957 -- Dazzling Contender: 1957-1959 -- The Revolution That Wasn't: 1960 -- Violence: 1961 -- Last Fling: 1962 -- Crime and Punishment: 1963-1964 -- Master of My Fate: 1964-1971 -- Steeled and Hardened: 1971-1976 -- Lady into Amazon: 1962-1976 -- The Shadowy Presence: 1964-1976 -- Black Consciousness: 1976-1978 -- Prison Charisma: 1976-1982 -- A Family Apart: 1977-1980 -- Prison Within a Prison: 1978-1982 -- Insurrection: 1982-1985 -- Ungovernability: 1986-1988 -- The Lost Leader: 1983-1988 -- "Something Horribly Wrong": 1987-1989 -- Prisoner vs. President: 1989-1990 -- Myth and Man -- Revolution to Cooperation -- Third Force -- Exit Winnie -- Negotiating -- Election -- Governing -- The Glorified Perch -- Forgiving -- Withdrawing -- Graca -- Mandela's World -- Mandela's Country -- Image and Reality.