Synopses & Reviews
Nelson Mandela is widely considered to be one of the most inspiring and iconic figures of our age. Now, after a lifetime of taking pen to paper to record thoughts and events, hardships and victories, he has bestowed his entire extant personal papers, which offer an unprecedented insight into his remarkable life.
A singular international publishing event, Conversations with Myself draws on Mandelas personal archive of never-before-seen materials to offer unique access to the private world of an incomparable world leader. Journals kept on the run during the anti-apartheid struggle of the early 1960s; diaries and draft letters written in Robben Island and other South African prisons during his twenty-seven years of incarceration; notebooks from the postapartheid transition; private recorded conversations; speeches and correspondence written during his presidency—a historic collection of documents archived at the Nelson Mandela Foundation is brought together into a sweeping narrative of great immediacy and stunning power. An intimate journey from Mandelas first stirrings of political consciousness to his galvanizing role on the world stage, Conversations with Myself illuminates a heroic life forged on the front lines of the struggle for freedom and justice.
While other books have recounted Mandelas life from the vantage of the present, Conversations with Myself allows, for the first time, unhindered insight into the human side of the icon.
Review
“What emerges from these extraordinary fragments is a sort of scrapbook that offers a rare portrait of the real man behind the legend and visionary leader … John Kani, whose voice and delivery is uncannily close to Mandelas own, reads, making this Mandela mosaic come alive.” - BookPage
“…Kani reads with accented English that sounds similar to Mandelas own voice (heard in bonus interviews). Kani effectively makes transcribed interviews seem spontaneous as he appropriately interjects pauses and inflections…Choral and instrumental music from the Soweto region separate sections” -Booklist
“…the writings reveal a man thinking himself into the great statesman he became. His intellect, humor, and drive shine from his words.” - AudioFile
Review
“This book will reduce the reader to both rapture and tears.” —Alec Russell, Financial Times “Outstanding for what it offers. . . Its collection of letters and meditations, together with its thorough index and appendix, belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in the nature of power and resistance.”—J.M. Ledgard, The New York Times Review of Books
Review
“A prisoner became a free man; a liberation figure became a passionate voice for reconciliation; a party leader became a president who advanced democracy….He has done so much to change his country, and the world, that it is hard to imagine the history of the last several decades without him.” —from the foreword by President Barack Obama
“A literary album…Intensely moving, raw, and unmediated…Provides the fullest picture yet of Nelson Mandela…A necessary book.” —Peter Godwin, The Observer (London)
“There are fascinating glimpses of the inner man, and flashes of his celebrated humor….Conversations presents a Mandela more people may feel they can emulate.” —Chicago Tribune
“This book will reduce the reader to both rapture and tears....Deeply moving.” —Financial Times (London)
“A truly unprecedented moment in publishing…Stunning…Nothing short of a monumental historical document.” —The Daily Beast
“This book will reduce the reader to both rapture and tears.” —Alec Russell, Financial Times “Outstanding for what it offers. . . Its collection of letters and meditations, together with its thorough index and appendix, belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in the nature of power and resistance.” —J.M. Ledgard, The New York Times Review of Books
Synopsis
Nelson Mandela is widely considered to be one of the most inspiring and iconic figures of our age. Now, after a lifetime of taking pen to paper to record thoughts and events, hardships and victories, he has bestowed his entire extant personal papers, which offer an unprecedented insight into his remarkable life.
A singular international publishing event, Conversations with Myself draws on Mandela's personal archive of never-before-seen materials to offer unique access to the private world of an incomparable world leader. Journals kept on the run during the anti-apartheid struggle of the early 1960s; diaries and draft letters written in Robben Island and other South African prisons during his twenty-seven years of incarceration; notebooks from the post-apartheid transition; private recorded conversations; speeches and correspondence written during his presidency a historic collection of documents archived at the Nelson Mandela Foundation is brought together into a sweeping narrative of great immediacy and stunning power. An intimate journey from Mandela's first stirrings of political consciousness to his galvanizing role on the world stage, Conversations with Myself illuminates a heroic life forged on the front lines of the struggle for freedom and justice.
While other books have recounted Mandela's life from the vantage of the present, Conversations with Myself allows, for the first time, unhindered insight into the human side of the icon.
Synopsis
After a lifetime of taking pen to paper to record thoughts and events, hardships and victories, Mandela offers his entire extant personal papers, which offer an unprecedented insight into his remarkable life.
Synopsis
Conversations with Myself draws on Mandelas personal archive of never-before-seen materials to offer unique access to the private world of an incomparable world leader
Synopsis
“[Nelson Mandela] has done so much to change his country, and the world, that it is hard to imagine the history of the last several decades without him.” —from the foreword by President Barack Obama
Foreword by President Barack Obama
Nelson Mandela is one of the most inspiring and iconic figures of our age. Now, after a lifetime of recording thoughts and events, hardships and victories, he has opened his personal archive, which offers unprecedented insight into his remarkable autobiography.
From letters written in the darkest hours of his twenty-seven years of imprisonment to the draft of an unfinished sequel to Long Walk to Freedom, Conversations with Myself gives readers access to the private man behind the public figure. Here he is making notes and even doodling during meetings, or transcribing troubled dreams on the desk calendar in his prison cell on Robben Island; writing journals while on the run during the anti-apartheid struggle in the early 1960s, and conversing with friends in almost seventy hours of recorded conversations. Here he is neither icon nor saint.
An intimate journey from the first stirrings of political consciousness to his galvanizing role on the world stage, Conversations with Myself is a rare chance to spend time with Nelson Mandela the man, in his own voice: direct, clear, private.
Synopsis
Nelson Mandela is widely considered to be one of the most inspiring and iconic figures of our age. Now, after a lifetime of taking pen to paper to record thoughts and events, hardships and victories, he has bestowed his entire extant personal papers, which offer an unprecedented insight into his remarkable life.
A singular international publishing event, Conversations with Myself draws on Mandelas personal archive of never-before-seen materials to offer unique access to the private world of an incomparable world leader. Journals kept on the run during the anti-apartheid struggle of the early 1960s; diaries and draft letters written in Robben Island and other South African prisons during his twenty-seven years of incarceration; notebooks from the postapartheid transition; private recorded conversations; speeches and correspondence written during his presidency—a historic collection of documents archived at the Nelson Mandela Foundation is brought together into a sweeping narrative of great immediacy and stunning power. An intimate journey from Mandelas first stirrings of political consciousness to his galvanizing role on the world stage, Conversations with Myself illuminates a heroic life forged on the front lines of the struggle for freedom and justice.
While other books have recounted Mandelas life from the vantage of the present, Conversations with Myself allows, for the first time, unhindered insight into the human side of the icon.
About the Author
Nelson Mandela was a former President of South Africa, the first to be elected in fully representative democratic elections. He was born in Transkei, South Africa, in 1918. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress. In 1964, he was convicted of crimes including sabotage committed in the struggle against apartheid. He was imprisoned for 27 years at Robben Island prison and Pollsmoor prison. During his incarceration, his reputation as a potent symbol of resistance to apartheid grew steadily. Released from prison in 1990, Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was inaugurated as President of South Africa in 1994. He is the author of the internationally bestselling autobiography Long Walk to Freedom and Conversations with Myself. Mandela died in December 2013.
Reading Group Guide
1. In the books epigraph, Nelson Mandela writes to Winnie and describes the benefits of regular self-assessment, reminding her that “a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.” How did this mindset foster success for Mandela and his followers? How could this epigraph help you in your own endeavors for change in your community?
2. As Mandela reflected on childhood, what aspects of his education surprised you? How was he shaped by his varied role models, including tribal elders (the paramount chief in particular), traditional classroom teachers, and Christian leaders such as Reverend Matyolo? As a multilingual child, what insight was Rolihlahla Mandela (as his parents named him) able to gain?
3. Discuss the books title. In diaries, notebooks, and other “conversations” on the page, what has Mandela told himself throughout his life? What inner conflicts has he struggled with continually?
4. Though Mandela originally advocated non-violent civil disobedience, by the early 1960s he stated that the government was giving the ANC no choice but to arm itself. How did Mandelas definition of a successful revolution evolve throughout the pages of Conversations with Myself? How did the ANCs tactics compare with those of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and other figures in Americas civil rights movement?
5. What do Mandelas draft letters reveal about his leadership style? Why was it important to him that ANC leaders not be his puppets? How did he inspire himself to overcome discouragement, even as Bothas cruelty escalated?
6. How did you react to reading archival material? What is the benefit of seeing Mandelas handwriting and unedited words, written for a variety of audiences? What does an archive teach us that other forms of historical research cannot? Are diaries and notebooks more reliable than an interview transcript (the conversations with Richard Stengel, in this case) or a polished memoir?
7. Mandelas writings allude to the history of South Africas complex, brutal Anglo-Boer wars, in which the English suppressed uprisings on the part of Dutch, German, Flemish, and French settlers (collectively known as Boers, the Dutch word for farmer). What sense of national identity did Mandela have in the aftermath of this history?
8. Mandela describes the effects of the proliferating apartheid laws during the 1940s and 1950s. From his point of view, what enabled the descendants of Europeans, who were in the minority in South Africa, to hold such power and apply such crushing legislation to those with African ancestry, who were in the majority? What social and psychological tactics did Mandela experience in the courtroom, at home, and in other facets of his life as the government attempted to subdue non-whites? How did these tactics ultimately lead to the National Partys downfall?
9. Conversations with Myself captures the authors vast knowledge of literature, particularly Greek tragedy (Antigone) and Shakespeare. How does Mandela bridge his love for European literary lions and his desire to preserve African cultural history? What does this say about the universal power of storytelling and literature?
10. What portraits of Mandelas life as a husband and father emerge in Conversations with Myself? What transitions in his sense of self are reflected in his first marriage (to Evelyn Mase), his later marriage to Winnie, and eventually life without her? What did it take for him to sustain a relationship with his family despite being confined to a cell, even when they faced the death of the familys youngest members?
11. The books project leader, Verne Harris, tells us in his introduction that the form of Conversations with Myself is “inspired most directly by Marcus Aureliuss Meditations.” What milestones are reflected in the books four-part structure: “Pastoral,” “Drama,” “Epic,” “Tragicomedy”?
12. Ultimately, what was Mandela fighting for, beyond the end of apartheid? Were the roots of racism in South Africa purely economic?
13. Does reading about Mandelas experience as a political prisoner help you define human rights in a new way? What details of Mandelas imprisonment will be the hardest for you to forget?
14. In many ways, Mandelas international fame, leading to calls for businesses, universities, and other organizations around the world to divest from South Africa, helped lead F. W. de Klerk to free Mandela and end apartheid. What did you discover about Mandelas fame while reading the names of his many visitors? What price has Mandela paid for being “imprisoned by fame” in the years after his release?
15. Discuss the significance of the books foreword. Does President Barack Obama echo former president Nelson Mandela, or does he represent a very new perspective on human rights in the twenty-first century?