The Most Comprehensive and Intimate Portrait of Mandela's Life Ever Published

On February 11, 1990, a dignified elderly man walked out of prison, hand-in-hand with the wife from whom he had been forced to live apart for nearly three decades, and into history. It is a date and an image the world will never forget: The day Nelson Mandela was freed.

From that day on, Nelson Mandela, with immense courage and personal moral authority, moved out of the shadows of his prison cell to stand as a beacon of hope, first to a bitterly divided nation and then to the whole world. Mandela: The Authorized Portrait (Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, $50.00) celebrates the courage, determination, and remarkable humanity of a great man, and in a richly designed combination of words and images, chronicles his extraordinary contribution to mankind. Personally authorized by Mandela, it is the most intimate and complete portrait of his life ever produced.

Created by a team of award-winning writers, photographers and researchers in collaboration with Mandela's closest living comrades from Robben Island, Mac Maharaj and Ahmed Kathrada, this comprehensive volume provides a vivid, inspirational and moving tribute to one of the most significant leaders of our time.

As told through the words of those closest to him—family members, close friends, and many of the world's leading figures in politics and entertainment—Mandela: The Authorized Portrait is truly exceptional. From the foreword by former President Bill Clinton to the introduction by Archbishop Desmond Tutu through the sixty original and extensive interviews, 250 images, and material derived from private collections as well as the Nelson Mandela Foundation archive, readers come away with a knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of Nelson Mandela as never before. Truly unique, many of the images in Mandela: The Authorized Portrait are published for the first time in this volume.

Mandela: The Authorized Portrait features artifacts and facsimiles of Mandela's voluminous writings and correspondence—written records of his negotiations with prison authorities, intimate letters to his family and friends during his imprisonment, and material from Mandela's personal diaries and calendars. Contributors include Muhammad Ali, Kofi Annan, Richard Attenborough, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bono, President Clinton, Nadine Gordimer, Sir Sidney Poitier, and Archbishop Tutu, among many others. A full narrative biography from Mandela's childhood to the present, as well as an extensive conversation with Nelson Mandela, is included as well.

What Nelson Mandela has contributed to our time can never be quantified. The comprehensive Mandela: The Authorized Portrait provides an indication of the personal and lasting impression he has made on those around him, and around the world.

About Mac Maharaj

Sentenced to twelve years on Robben Island in 1964, Mac Maharaj has played a key role in the anti-apartheid struggle both inside and outside South Africa. On his release from prison he escaped into exile and was appointed to maintain the underground African National Congress within South Africa. In 1988 he returned in secret as the overall commander of Operation Vula and was arrested, despite having been granted immunity in 1990. After his release in 1991 he became joint secretary of the negotiating process. He was appointed minister of transport in the first democratic government and retired from Parliament in 1999. He is a member of the board of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

About Ahmed Kathrada

As a leading member of the ANC and a dedicated political activist, Ahmed Kathrada was among the accused in both the Treason Trial and Rivonia Trial, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He spent eighteen years on Robben Island before moving, with Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu among others, to Pollsmoor Prison for seven additional years. He was released in 1989 and elected an MP in the first democratic government, serving as parliamentary counselor in the office of the president. In 1997 he was elected chair of the Robben Island Council. He is also a member of the Nelson Mandela Foundation Executive Committee.

About Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC

Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC (AMP), a division of Andrews McMeel Universal, is a leading publisher of general nonfiction trade books, gift books, and humor books, publishing more than 300 new titles annually. New York Times best-sellers from AMP include The Complete Calvin and Hobbes and It's a Magical World: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection by Bill Watterson; The Complete Far Side and Last Chapter and Worse: A Far Side Collection by Gary Larson; The Blue Day Book, Tomorrow, The Meaning of Life, and Dear Mom by Bradley Trevor Greive; Miracle by Anne Geddes and Celine Dion; Reflections of a Peacemaker and Just Peace by Mattie J.T. Stepanek; Stay Tuned: Television's Unforgettable Moments and Now Showing: Unforgettable Moments from the Movies by Joe Garner; The Millionaire Mind by Dr. Thomas Stanley; America: What Went Wrong? by the Pulitzer Prize-winning team of journalists Donald Barlett and James Steele; and Forever, Erma by Erma Bombeck.

AMP is also the nation's premier calendar publisher, annually producing calendars based on many top-selling properties such as The Far Side®, Dilbert™, Jeff Foxworthy, Mary Engelbreit, and the new sensation Sudoku, among other characters and titles.

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