South Africa: Mandela A Critical Life by Tom Lodge

Oxford University Press (New York) Posted to the web 10 October 2008 Striking in appearance--six foot four and physically imposing--with an aristocratic bearing and incredible charm and self-assurance, Nelson Mandela is the greatest African leader in modern history, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and an iconic figure the world over. Now, in this new and highly revealing biography, Tom Lodge draws on a wide range of original sources to uncover a host of fresh insights about the shaping of Mandela's personality and public persona, from his childhood days and early activism, through his twenty-seven years of imprisonment, to his presidency of the new South Africa. The book follows Mandela from his education at two elite Methodist boarding schools, Clarkebury and Healdtown, to his law career in Johannesburg and Soweto, to... [read full story]