Table of Contents

1: Childhood and Upbringing
2: Becoming a Notable
3: Volunteer-in-Chief
4: Making a Messiah
5: Trials
6: Prisoner 466/64
7: Leading from Prison
8: Messianic Politics and the Transition to Democracy
9: Embodying the Nation

About the Author

Tom Lodge was a member of the Department of Political Studies at the University of Witwatersrand between 1978 and 2005. He is now Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Limerick University in Ireland. He has also worked in the United States as Director of the Africa Program at the Social Science Research Council. He is the author of five other books on South African politics, including an authoritative history text on the post-Second World War history of black
resistance.

Reviews

`The best overall assessment of Mandela to date... Readers who want to understand Mandela's symbolic and actual achievements - and what he failed to accomplish during his presidency - will find more information, insight, and judgment in this slim volume than in the many weightier titles devoted to this protean figure.

'
The Atlantic
`Mr Lodge's elegant biography will be essential reading for anyone wishing to look behind the myth. He has a strong feel for South Africa's history. His anecdotes are well chosen and insightful, and serve to remind the reader that Mr Mandela, although an exceptional figure, still remains all too human.'
The Economist
`In this illuminating biography....Lodge makes an important contribution with his argument that Mandela's appeal rests in his ability to personify his political beliefs.'
Publishers Weekly
`[a] thoughtful and educated appraisal'
Rodger Hutchinson, The Scotsman
`Lodge tells the story at a cracking pace...The strength of this book is that it tells its extraordinary tale with clarity, narrative focus and analytical shrewdness, teasing out the man from the encrusted myth'
Bryan Roston, Tribune
`Unquestionably the most analytically incisive and discerning of the Nelson Mandela biographies.
'
Bill Nasson, University of Cape Town
`Authoritative and fair-minded... Deserves to be read widely.
'
Adam Roberts, The Economist
`A fascinating, indeed riveting, and plausible as well as persuasive examination of why Nelson Mandela should have acquired a world following and can remain as he does an iconic figure even in the 21st century. It is certain to provoke much heated debate.'
Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Lodge has written a great biography. Not only has he consulted earlier studies of Mandela, as well as Mandela's own Long Walk to Freedom, but he has delved into diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, and other sources to write a thorough, engaging, and exemplary history of one of the world's great leaders. Lodge details the early years of the South African statesman, showing how his upbringing instilled in him the civility, pride, compassion, and honor he revealed throughout his public life and during his imprisonment from 1962 to1990. As Lodge demonstrates, Mandela views his worldly, heroic status with ambivalence (he is most at ease with children present), and his love for former wife Winnie Mandela, from whom he separated in 1992, evidently endures to this day. Lodge's definitive study examines the genesis of Mandela's public and private character and credos as well as his mythic effect upon African and 20th-century history. The book, which includes maps, photos (not seen), a chronology, and an abbreviations list, has a literate style that makes it suitable for academic as well as all public libraries. Highly recommended.-James Thorsen, Madison Cty. Schs., Weaverville, NC Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

`The best overall assessment of Mandela to date... Readers who want to understand Mandela's symbolic and actual achievements - and what he failed to accomplish during his presidency - will find more information, insight, and judgment in this slim volume than in the many weightier titles devoted to this protean figure. ' The Atlantic `Mr Lodge's elegant biography will be essential reading for anyone wishing to look behind the myth. He has a strong feel for South Africa's history. His anecdotes are well chosen and insightful, and serve to remind the reader that Mr Mandela, although an exceptional figure, still remains all too human.' The Economist `In this illuminating biography....Lodge makes an important contribution with his argument that Mandela's appeal rests in his ability to personify his political beliefs.' Publishers Weekly `[a] thoughtful and educated appraisal' Rodger Hutchinson, The Scotsman `Lodge tells the story at a cracking pace...The strength of this book is that it tells its extraordinary tale with clarity, narrative focus and analytical shrewdness, teasing out the man from the encrusted myth' Bryan Roston, Tribune `Unquestionably the most analytically incisive and discerning of the Nelson Mandela biographies. ' Bill Nasson, University of Cape Town `Authoritative and fair-minded... Deserves to be read widely. ' Adam Roberts, The Economist `A fascinating, indeed riveting, and plausible as well as persuasive examination of why Nelson Mandela should have acquired a world following and can remain as he does an iconic figure even in the 21st century. It is certain to provoke much heated debate.' Archbishop Desmond Tutu