Nelson Mandela

As well as being a remarkable statesman and one of the world's longest-detained political prisoners, Nelson Mandela has become an exemplary figure of non-racialism and democracy, a moral giant. Once a man with an unknown face, he became after his 1994 release one of the most internationally recognizable images of our time. Set within a biographical frame, this Very Short Introduction explores the reasons why his story is so important to us in the world at large today, and what his achievements signify. It shows how our picture of Mandela is a great deal more complicated than the legend suggests: quality of character is combined with his talents as a performer, his maverick ability to absorb transnational influences, his proximity to outstanding colleagues, his steely survival skills, and his postmodern ease with media image. It shows how many different interconnected stories, histories, values, and symbols combine in the famous name Nelson Mandela.

ISBN 0192803018   Pages 224 ISBN13 9780192803016 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Oxford University Press   Weight (grammes) 181 Imprint Oxford University Press   Published in Oxford Format Paperback   Series title Very Short Introductions Publication date 17 Jul 2008   Height (mm) 174 Library of Congress 2008297965   Width (mm) 111 DEWEY 968.065092   Spine width (mm) 12 DEWEY edition DC21   Academic level General

		List of illustrations
		Map of South Africa during apartheid
1		Mandela: story and symbol		1
2		Scripting a life: the early years		17
3		Growth of a national icon: later years		51
4		Influences and interactions		82
5		Sophiatown sophisticate		110
6		Masculine performer		123
7		Spectres in the prison garden		149
8		Mandala's ethical legacy		170
		Further reading		182
		Chronology		190
		Index		197

An excellent overview of his career...[and] much more than just a "Very Short Introduction". Independent.

 Be the first to write a customer review

Watch a video interview with Elleke Boehmer