My Neighbour Madiba - And Others - Drysdale, Andrew

In the author's extensive career in journalism he's seen momentous events close up u and knows the people behind them. This title tells their story, and his own. An anecdotal journey, from cadet newspaper reporter to editor (Pretoria News and The Argus, Cape Town), it traverses brutal repression and violent upheaval to inspirational leadership, from the apartheid years to the new South Africa. It also has countless lighter engagements, and dollops of humour at the author's expense. Mostly it's about people. Big, important people. And small, equally important people. The remarkable Nelson "Madiba" Mandela has pride of place. Share his poignant thoughts in prison isolation, and joyous memories of a boyhood roaming riverbanks and wooded countryside in his beloved Transkei. Join Madiba's epic return to freedom, and shrink at the danger on the very day of his release. That and many other asides to the prisoner who became president, and icon to the world. Here, too, presidents P W Botha and F W de Klerk, captives of a draconian state of their making, play the end game. Intrigue and power plays between two powerful but beleaguered leaders is compelling stuff.

Softcover. English. Lion's head Publishers. 2007. ISBN: 9780620384087. 310 pp. Fair/good, first page wavy. Book No: 2504714