Mandela: The Authorised Biography

by Anthony Sampson (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2011

  $4.24

  Widely considered to be the most important biography of Nelson Mandela, Antony Sampson's remarkable book has been updated with an afterword by acclaimed South African journalist, John Battersby. Long after his presidency of South Africa, Nelson Mandela remained an inspirational figure to millions - both in his homeland and far beyond. He has been, without doubt, one of the most important figures in global history. His death, on 5 December 2013 at the age of 95, resonated around the world. Mandela's opposition to apartheid and his 27 year incarceration at the hands of South Africa's all-white regime are familiar to most. In this utterly compelling book, eminent biographer Anthony Sampson draws on a fifty year-long relationship to reveal the man who rocked a continent - and changed its future. With unprecedented access to the former South African president - the letters he wrote in prison, his unpublished jail autobiography, extensive conversations, and interviews with hundreds of colleagues, friends, and family - Sampson depicts the realities of Mandela's private and public life, and the tragic tension between them. Updated after Sampson's death with a new afterword by distinguished South African journalist John Battersby, this is the ultimate biography of one of the twentieth century's greatest statesmen.

• Used

  Paperback
  2000

  $3.28

  'A magisterial, detailed and invaluable account of one of this century's greatest figures ! it is hard to believe that a better biography will ever be written.' Justin Cartwright, Sunday Telegraph The life of Nelson Mandela, from the personal and the global perspective, is one of the epic stories of the twentieth century. It is also one of the most inspiring. Twenty years ago, Mandela was an almost forgotten figure languishing in jail on Robben Island; today, as he leaves office as President of South Africa, he is one of the most widely admired leaders on earth. The book provides many new insights into Mandela's story and sheds new light at every turn on the moral dilemmas and personal choices of both Mandela's private and public life. Anthony Sampson has known Mandela from the early 1950s, and conducted hundreds of interviews with colleagues, family and friends as well as prison warders and Afrikaner ex-cabinet ministers, and he is the first person to have examined prison archives in South Africa and diplomatic papers in Great Britain, the United States and South Africa. He was given unprecedented access to 27 years' worth of unpublished correspondence from prison, as well as to other unpublished writings including Mandela's original, suppressed, autobiography.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1999

  $4.04

  The author has known Mandela since the 1950s, and has been given complete access to all his personal papers, to Mandela himself, his friends and political associates, to write the full story of Mandela's life. In addition to covering his years before, during and after his incarceration, the author assesses Mandela's impact as President on South Africa and the world. He also reveals many features of the apartheid system that have hitherto been hidden, and describes the changing attitudes of big business to the ANC and to Mandela himself. The result is an authoritative biography of one of the greatest men of the 20th century.

• New

  Paperback
  2011

  $18.30

  Widely considered to be the most important biography of Nelson Mandela, Antony Sampson's remarkable book has been updated with an afterword by acclaimed South African journalist, John Battersby. Long after his presidency of South Africa, Nelson Mandela remained an inspirational figure to millions - both in his homeland and far beyond. He has been, without doubt, one of the most important figures in global history. His death, on 5 December 2013 at the age of 95, resonated around the world. Mandela's opposition to apartheid and his 27 year incarceration at the hands of South Africa's all-white regime are familiar to most. In this utterly compelling book, eminent biographer Anthony Sampson draws on a fifty year-long relationship to reveal the man who rocked a continent - and changed its future. With unprecedented access to the former South African president - the letters he wrote in prison, his unpublished jail autobiography, extensive conversations, and interviews with hundreds of colleagues, friends, and family - Sampson depicts the realities of Mandela's private and public life, and the tragic tension between them. Updated after Sampson's death with a new afterword by distinguished South African journalist John Battersby, this is the ultimate biography of one of the twentieth century's greatest statesmen.