Long Walk to Freedom

The autobiography of Nelson Mandela is riveting, both a brilliant description of an evil system and a testament to the power of the spirit to transcend it. Nelson Mandela was one of the great human rights icons of his time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the liberation of South African blacks won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. After his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela was at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's antiapartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving that nation toward racial reconciliation and majority rule. His name is still revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights.