- Hardcover: 704 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins (27 May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0002558297
- ISBN-13: 978-0002558297
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.2 x 6.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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- #91 in Books > History > Countries & Regions > Africa > 20th Century
Mandela: The Authorised Biography
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Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1975, imprisoned for life on Robben Island, Nelson Mandela covertly wrote his autobiography. After painstaking months the text was smuggled out--and was promptly quashed by the African National Congress. In his later Long Walk to Freedom Mandela politely expresses "surprise" at this. Sampson reveals that Joe Slovo suppressed the book for not giving enough prominence to Communists. This revelation is remarkable--the ANC could have made much mileage from the book at a time of low fortune--yet Sampson does not follow up. There is too often a sense of eggshells lightly walked upon.
Mandela improves as the prisoner's release approaches. Sampson sharply exposes the machinations of those undermining the ANC's struggle. The CIA knew of the Third Force years before the ANC, yet said nothing. Right-wing governments attacked "Mandela the Communist", preferring to promote Inkhata's Buthelezi, at that time secretly and violently colluding with de Klerk's apartheid regime. Against the small-minded figures of Reagan, Thatcher and Kohl it is Mandela who emerges here a giant. South Africa won her freedom through Mandela: his strength of character and willingness to forgive helped push a country into an alternative future, avoiding the racial civil war almost all predicted. Yet he and his kin paid an awful price. Sampson draws a painful, clear picture of a disintegrating family: dislocation from children; the terrible effects of the war on Winnie, and her increasingly erratic, later murderous behaviour; Mandela's own aching loneliness. It is in capturing Madiba, the ultimate public figure, at his most intense and private, that Sampson's Mandela succeeds best. --Chris Woods
Review
In his authorized biography of Nelson Mandela, Sampson set himself the task of penetrating the myth, of writing of the man and not the icon. He succeeds and produces a lucid, often moving and always readable book. Born in the Transkei in 1918, a minor member of the Tembu royal house, Mandela ran away to Johannesburg in 1941. There he encountered the humiliations of racism that helped him outgrow his purely Xhosa perspectives and met Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo, who together formed a unique association that would eventually overthrow white rule. Sampson charts Mandela's growing political sophistication against the background of his two marriages and the coming to power of the Afrikaner nation. The steps he took led him, in 1964, to life imprisonment. In the second section of the book, Sampson draws a convincing picture of Mandela's imprisonment and the process that led to his emerging from prison more myth than man. And yet, describing Mandela's masterly statesmanship during negotiations along with his personal sadness, Sampson never forgets that Mandela's great strength is his very humanity. This book does indeed transcend the icon. Review by GILLIAN SLOVO Editor's note: Gillian Slovo's anti-apartheid activist mother, Ruth First, was killed by a letter bomb in 1982. To piece together the reasons behind the murder, Slovo returned to her South African homeland and wrote the autobiographical Every Secret Thing. (Kirkus UK)
A comprehensive treatment of the life of the South African political prisoner, martyr, and president by journalist Sampson (Company Man: The Rise and Fall of Corporate Life, 1995, etc.), a long-time acquaintance and admirer. Adhering to a strict chronology, this biography follows Mandela from his boyhood in remote villages (where his father was a hereditary chief with four wives) to his miraculous transformation into an "overwhelming global icon." Mandela benefits from Sampson's thorough research and from his intimate knowledge of South Africa and of the myriad personalities who formed the cast for one of history's most compelling dramas of personal sacrifice and redemption. Sampson reveals that Mandela at 16 endured a painful circumcision in a tribal rite of passage; he portrayed John Wilkes Booth in a college play; he was a skilled boxer; for 18 of his 27 years in prison, he lived in an eight-food-by-seven-foot cell and slept on a straw mat; and he once acknowledged that his second wife, Winnie (there have been two other spouses), kindled "a thousand fires in me." Sampson enjoyed the full cooperation of Mandela, who not only granted access to his personal letters and other papers but also read and corrected drafts of Mandela. Although Sampson assures readers that he was "free to make . . . [his] own judgments and criticisms," there are in this lengthy work very few places where Mandela emerges as anything other than a secular saint. Sampson concedes only that Mandela's oratory is "far from thrilling" and that his devotion to the destruction of apartheid forced him to neglect his family. Winnie Mandela, by contrast, comes off poorly. She earns high marks for her pulchritude and panache, low marks for candor, probity, and, ultimately, sanity. A richly detailed political history, a generous portrayal of a consummate politician, and a true profile in courage - a courage both unimaginably immense and stunningly rare. (Kirkus Reviews)
A comprehensive treatment of the life of the South African political prisoner, martyr, and president by journalist Sampson (Company Man: The Rise and Fall of Corporate Life, 1995, etc.), a long-time acquaintance and admirer. Adhering to a strict chronology, this biography follows Mandela from his boyhood in remote villages (where his father was a hereditary chief with four wives) to his miraculous transformation into an "overwhelming global icon." Mandela benefits from Sampson's thorough research and from his intimate knowledge of South Africa and of the myriad personalities who formed the cast for one of history's most compelling dramas of personal sacrifice and redemption. Sampson reveals that Mandela at 16 endured a painful circumcision in a tribal rite of passage; he portrayed John Wilkes Booth in a college play; he was a skilled boxer; for 18 of his 27 years in prison, he lived in an eight-food-by-seven-foot cell and slept on a straw mat; and he once acknowledged that his second wife, Winnie (there have been two other spouses), kindled "a thousand fires in me." Sampson enjoyed the full cooperation of Mandela, who not only granted access to his personal letters and other papers but also read and corrected drafts of Mandela. Although Sampson assures readers that he was "free to make . . . [his] own judgments and criticisms," there are in this lengthy work very few places where Mandela emerges as anything other than a secular saint. Sampson concedes only that Mandela's oratory is "far from thrilling" and that his devotion to the destruction of apartheid forced him to neglect his family. Winnie Mandela, by contrast, comes off poorly. She earns high marks for her pulchritude and panache, low marks for candor, probity, and, ultimately, sanity. A richly detailed political history, a generous portrayal of a consummate politician, and a true profile in courage - a courage both unimaginably immense and stunningly rare. (Kirkus Reviews)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gripping account of S. Africa's history and Mandela's life,
By A Customer
This review is from: Mandela: The Authorised Biography (Paperback)
In this book Anthony Sampson has produced a thoroughly detailed account, not just of Mandela's life but of the history of the ANC. Having read "The Long Walk to Freedom", the reservations I had with that book are fully resolved here. Firstly Mandela writes little of the activities of the ANC whilst he was in prison; Sampson has provided an excellent coverage of both life within the prison and the activities without. Secondly, and understandably, Mandela writes little of the accusations against Winnie and the gradual deterioration of her status as a legitimate freedom fighter; Sampson discusses in great detail Winnie's role in the disturbances during the eighties and her lack of remorse as shown in her testemony to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee.Sampson pays great attention to detail, covering each event thoroughly. This has been helped by the large amount of research he has done and the documentation he has been privy to. He has had access to all letters sent and received by the inmates on Robben Island, to the prison reports, to British and American diplomatic correspondance and to intelligence reports within South Africa, Britain and America. He has also interviewed many key figures on all sides. Finally this book has the advantage of having been written after Nelson Mandela retired as President. As such we are provided with a fine analysis of his years in office, which previous biographies have lacked. Throughout this book Sampson also pays particular attention to discussing the views of the international community, at the time, of the situation in South Africa. This is an excellent book and I would strongly recommend it to anyone.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The authoritative biography of an extraordinary man by one who knew him well,
By Mark Meynell "quaesitor" (London, UK) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Mandela: The Authorised Biography (Paperback)
Sampson first met Mandela in the early days - he saw him as a firebrand who would be a help for the cause, but was perhaps too impetuous and rash to have a lasting impact. Little did he know! But this early acquaintance combined with a deep understanding of South Africa mean that Sampson is able to trace both Mandela's development and his place in the big picture. This is no hagiography and Sampson is not one to gloss over the flaws and mistakes. But having these articulated makes for a much more powerful and credible life story - the man who did more than anyone to prevent a blood-bath and national carnage in 1994 comes across all the more remarkably.
A wonderful and gripping book - probably the best and most authoritative of contemporary biographies that will provide an invaluable resource for generations.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Different to the autobiography and equally great,
By
This review is from: Mandela: The Authorised Biography (Paperback)
I read it while in Cape town and visiting Robben Island and it helped me understand. Sampson is sympathetic but seems to give the full story and continues after Long Walk to Freedom ends. A great book.
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