Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against ra...
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Dec 12, 2011
NG
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من أحلى كتب السير الذاتية التي قرأتها، وأكثرها صلة بنضالنا في العالم العربي من أجل الحرية والديمقراطية. تبدأ مع طفولة المتناضل الأفريقي الأشهر نيلسون مانديلا، وتنتهي بتوليه الرئاسة في بلده، لكن نهاية الكتاب هي في الحقيقية بداية، فهي وعد باستكمال طريق النضال الطويل نحو الحرية..
لن أتحدث طويلا عن الكتاب، لكني سأنقل بعض العبارات والمقاطع منه التي أراها الاهم، أو الأشد صلة بواقعنا العربي، أو -وهو الأغلب- المقاطع التي تحمل افكارا استغربت أن تصدر عن مناضل مثله، وعلى سبيل المثال خلافه مع بعض More...
لن أتحدث طويلا عن الكتاب، لكني سأنقل بعض العبارات والمقاطع منه التي أراها الاهم، أو الأشد صلة بواقعنا العربي، أو -وهو الأغلب- المقاطع التي تحمل افكارا استغربت أن تصدر عن مناضل مثله، وعلى سبيل المثال خلافه مع بعض More...
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Oct 07, 2011
Amanda
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Jul 16, 2010
Kimberly
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I bought this book in January and didn't get around to reading it until March. I was at a Goodwill 50% off sale the day I got this and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it.
As someone who has strong roots in South Africa but has never been there I am always eager to learn more about the country my father and his family were born in particularly because my father and his family left South Africa in the 40's to escape the apartheid even though they were "coloured" and not " More...
As someone who has strong roots in South Africa but has never been there I am always eager to learn more about the country my father and his family were born in particularly because my father and his family left South Africa in the 40's to escape the apartheid even though they were "coloured" and not " More...
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Nov 01, 2007
Sarah
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It was an interesting read. Sorry, that's a bit of an understatement and the dry tone in my head doesn't really translate. Mandela is a good, clear writer, but not creative or inventive. One can see the methodical planning that made him such an effective political leader and innovator, but as the author of a 625 page book, his style is a little stiff. The first half of the book is about his upbringing and path into politics. The problem I was having was that there was no way to tell from his for
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Dec 16, 2009
Tonya
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What do I really have to say? :-) I read this before the first time I went to South Africa and fell in love with the country...hence two return trips! I had some amazing experiences during the pr days and one was a private tour of Robben Island with Ahmed Kathrada while in SA. He was imprisoned with and a close friend of Mandela's (one of eight sentenced to life imprisonment during the Rivonia Trial). Anyway, obviously it was amazing since he knew EVERYTHING about the time and place (he was
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May 27, 2008
Laura
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I learned (as if I didn't already know) that I am one slack m*^&rf&*ker, and this is the perfect book to read if you need some motivation to get off your ass and/or get over yourself.
There are also a lot of fascinating things about his story that i didn't know -he grew up literally barefoot in the bush, bailed on being a tribal councilor and ran away from home, and a lot of interesting ins and outs of how african consciousness developed in SA the 60s and 70s, plus tips on how to kee More...
There are also a lot of fascinating things about his story that i didn't know -he grew up literally barefoot in the bush, bailed on being a tribal councilor and ran away from home, and a lot of interesting ins and outs of how african consciousness developed in SA the 60s and 70s, plus tips on how to kee More...
Dec 22, 2007
Missy
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First of all let me say that Nelson Mandela is an amazing man who has been through more trials than I could ever imagine, and he faced them with such class and strength. I am glad I know more about his history and his life as a "freedom fighter," and this book gave me greater appreciation for black South Africans. However, it was a long, long, long, long walk to freedom. I guess I like books that are written in story form, which shows some lack of intelligence on my part, unfortunat
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Aug 08, 2011
I read the illustrated version of Mandela’s autobiography. Growing up among his village tribe, a series of fortunate turns moved Mandela to city life at Johannesburg. Here he confronted the discrimination of ‘apartheid’ and gradually a law-abiding, family man and an attorney turned into a militant, an activist and a forced ‘monk’.
The story of Mandela’s life is one of amazing struggle, privation, incarceration for three decades and, above all, forgiveness and reconciliation. His stay in prison to More...
The story of Mandela’s life is one of amazing struggle, privation, incarceration for three decades and, above all, forgiveness and reconciliation. His stay in prison to More...
Feb 01, 2012
Ningerbil
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"Wow" best sums up my thoughts after finishing this long but very moving, very captivating story of Nelson Mandela (Madiba), from his early days in rural South Africa to his taking the reins of a nation newly freed from apartheid. I get the impression of a very intelligent, pragmatic man who is willing to listen to others opinions, even if he doesn't agree with him. His story is told very well, and is easy to follow. I learned a lot about Mandela and South Africa from his autobiography
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Dec 11, 2011
Matthew
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As a student at Duke University Divinity School in the early 00's, I had the privilege of studying under Bishop Peter Storey, former General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches (pre-Tutu) and staffer of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He chose Archbishop Tutu to lead the TRC. In mid 2003, Bishop Storey took me to Cape Town, South Africa for three months where I worked with Burundian and Congolese refugees in connection with Woodstock Methodist Church. This experience work
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Nov 11, 2011
Bill
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As I closed this book, I felt awe for this man Mandela. Volume 2 takes the reader through the famous Rivonia trial, through 27 years of trials in prison, and through years of negotiation with the apartheid enforcers to culminate in a new and hopeful beginning as president of South Africa.
How he avoided cynicism and despair by seeking the good in everyone and clinging to hope even in dark times was inspiring. How he was able to negotiate with the apartheid rulers with persistence and willi More...
How he avoided cynicism and despair by seeking the good in everyone and clinging to hope even in dark times was inspiring. How he was able to negotiate with the apartheid rulers with persistence and willi More...
Oct 27, 2011
I read an audio edition produced by Hachtte audio not listed among the 57 editions listed. Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela, Narrated by Michael Boatman, Produced by Hachette hettehettehette Audio, Downloaded from audible.com.
This is a partial autobiography of Mandela’s life-partial because it ends with his election as president after his release from prison, and much has happened since that time, almost 20 years ago now. Mandela served over 27 years in prison in South Afric More...
This is a partial autobiography of Mandela’s life-partial because it ends with his election as president after his release from prison, and much has happened since that time, almost 20 years ago now. Mandela served over 27 years in prison in South Afric More...
Oct 02, 2011
Joel
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I read Long Walk to Freedom while staying at the Botha House, a beautiful bed and breakfast overlooking the Indian Ocean in South Africa. P.W. Botha was President of South Africa near the end of apartheid and is credited with allowing access to the incarcerated Nelson Mandela. With this small connection to South African history, I was ready to learn about the man South Africans fondly call "Madiba", or father.
The world would be well-served if everyone knew the story of Nelson More...
The world would be well-served if everyone knew the story of Nelson More...
Sep 05, 2011
Ahmed " Lio "
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يمكنني أن أقول - آي أم نوت إمبريسد - بالطبع أذهلني إصراره ودأبه لكن كثير من مواقفه السياسية وقرارته لم تكن "مريحة" بالنسبة لي، موقفه من البي سي آي وعداءه المستمر لهم وتركيزه على أنهم مجرد شباب أرعن وخلافه ينفي بالضرورة دورهم في عدّة انتفاضات أيقظت الحياة الثوريية كانت فيه تراجع ورجعية المؤتمر خصوصاً مواقف مانديللا واضحة جداً.
قرارات مانديللا الفردية بعيداً عن الهيئة العليا ومفاجأة زملائبه بها في نظري لم تكن مثمرة فعلاً بل وإنها كانت محض انطفاء لثورية هذا المناضل - العظيم بالطبع - More...
قرارات مانديللا الفردية بعيداً عن الهيئة العليا ومفاجأة زملائبه بها في نظري لم تكن مثمرة فعلاً بل وإنها كانت محض انطفاء لثورية هذا المناضل - العظيم بالطبع - More...
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Jun 05, 2011
Wesley
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The book, THE LONG WALK TO FREEDOM by Nelson Mandela is a very interesting very touching story about the life if a man who made the best out of the situation he was in and never lost hope. President Nelson Mandela is a great man who lead South Africa out of a time when it was at war with itself by keeping a level head and understanding the South African people and what they wanted. I think that Nelson Mandela is a great man and I am glad that I read this book to learn more about him. Some of
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Mar 03, 2011
Terry
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This excellent autobiography details the struggles against apartheid in South Africa spanning almost 80 years. It is hard to believe that the first non-racial, one-person, one-vote election in South Africa took place as recently as April 27, 1994. Nelson Mandela chronicles the hardship and sacrifice that he and many, many others made to ensure the existence of that election and the subsequent establishment of true democracy in that country. My motivation in reading this book was to understand
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Sep 28, 2010
Joe
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May 17, 2010
Breanna
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A lot of biographies can be dry or be overwhelming with minute details. Mandela's autobiography managed to be informative, inspiring, and entertaining all at once. It is the first autobiography I have been unable to put down. He tells his story with enough personal information to give the reader an emotional connection and to get a sense of how he came to be the man he is. He also gives great analyses of the social-political climate as it changes, and of the views of different allies in the stru
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Feb 04, 2010
Nelson Mandela was imprisoned by the South African government at the age of 46. After 27 years, he was released at the age of 73. As Mandela’s autobiography unfolds, it becomes clear that one is peering into only a part of this great man’s life - the clouded window (deliberate or otherwise) of self-remembering. Beneath the seeming serenity, steadfastness, humility, and strength, one senses a deep personal pain, which breaks the surface whenever Mandela discusses his family. He does make it a po
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May 17, 2009
Catherine
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On February 11, 1990, I sat with my family watching the BBC, waiting for Nelson Mandela to come into view of the TV cameras. I remember there was a long, dusty road (or drive way) between Mandela and the assembled journalists; I remember watching every tiny movement on the screen in case it was him, appearing in the distance. When he finally came into view it didn't seem real - Nelson Mandela was finally free.
Nineteen years later, I've finally read his autobiography, and I have n More...
Nineteen years later, I've finally read his autobiography, and I have n More...
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Dec 26, 2011
Quintin
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I am proudly South African and truly believe in not having any divide or system of discrimination. I was lucky to have been born after a lot of the events spoken of in the book and I learnt a lot about the history of our ruling party.
With this said, the book embellishes some facts and omits some very relevant events and detail leading up to events; one example being Sharpeville. I did not believe the full story that my grandparents told me but i also fail to see how the story in the book More...
With this said, the book embellishes some facts and omits some very relevant events and detail leading up to events; one example being Sharpeville. I did not believe the full story that my grandparents told me but i also fail to see how the story in the book More...
Oct 21, 2011
adri
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não gosto de política, e por isso nunca me teria passado pela cabeça ler a autobiografia do mandela, não fosse um amigo querido elogiar o livro. pois o livro é surpreendente! aliás, a história do mandela é por si só muito incrível, né? ele conta tudo de uma forma calma e sem drama -- onde passou a infância, como foi educado, como se tornou um ativista pela liberdade, como passou quase 30 anos na cadeia, e como depois de sair da prisão continuou lutando ativamente pela liberdade de seu povo. é um
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Sep 29, 2011
Hossam
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ملهمة جداً .. مسيرة جنوب أفريقيا نحو الحرية.
في مثل هذا الوقت والظروف الحرجة التي تمر بها الثورة المصرية جاءت قرائتي لمسيرة نيلسون مانديلا وجنوب أفريقيا نحو التحرر من النظام العنصري بمثابة وقود فكري لحالة الجمود والخوف والقلق على مستقبل الثورة ومسارها التي أعيشها.
ألهمتني كثيراً مواقف حزب المؤتمر الوطني الأفريقي على الصعيد السياسي، فهم واجهوا نظام قمعي عنصري يتشابه كثيراً مع النظام السابق والحالي في العند والمكابرة وتعمد سياسية التفريق بين الأطياف المختلفة ليستمر في السيادة وإستخ More...
في مثل هذا الوقت والظروف الحرجة التي تمر بها الثورة المصرية جاءت قرائتي لمسيرة نيلسون مانديلا وجنوب أفريقيا نحو التحرر من النظام العنصري بمثابة وقود فكري لحالة الجمود والخوف والقلق على مستقبل الثورة ومسارها التي أعيشها.
ألهمتني كثيراً مواقف حزب المؤتمر الوطني الأفريقي على الصعيد السياسي، فهم واجهوا نظام قمعي عنصري يتشابه كثيراً مع النظام السابق والحالي في العند والمكابرة وتعمد سياسية التفريق بين الأطياف المختلفة ليستمر في السيادة وإستخ More...
Sep 27, 2010
Eleanor
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Dec 02, 2010
Doug
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It's a pretty long book and dragged a little at times, but overall, certain sections in the book, especially near the end, were truly inspiring and make it worth reading.
I saw that it was not just my freedom that was curtailed, but the freedom of everyone who looked like I did. That is when I joined the African National Congress, and that is when the hunger for my own freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of my people. It was this desire for the freedom of my people to liMore...
Sep 16, 2011
Huda
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النضال, الأمل , الإصرار , مفردات توجز سيرة نلسون مانديلا من المعتقل إلى سدة الحكم, سوداوية الواقع لم تكن لتثنيه عن المطالبة بمايؤمن به من إقامة وطن للجميع تتلاشى فيه الفروق العنصرية التي ظلت جنوب أفريقيا واقعة تحت وطأتها سنواتٍ عدة.
يمثل الكتاب سيرة ذاتية لمانديلا زعيم حزب المؤتمر الوطني الأفريقي, ويتألف من (11) فصلاً
الفصل الأول : طفولة في الريف
الفصل الثاني : جوهانسبيرج
الفصل الثالث : ميلاد مناضل من أجل الحرية
الفصل الرابع : النضال حياتي
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يمثل الكتاب سيرة ذاتية لمانديلا زعيم حزب المؤتمر الوطني الأفريقي, ويتألف من (11) فصلاً
الفصل الأول : طفولة في الريف
الفصل الثاني : جوهانسبيرج
الفصل الثالث : ميلاد مناضل من أجل الحرية
الفصل الرابع : النضال حياتي
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May 11, 2010
Jamon
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It is a long walk, as an autobiography this has been very honest and humble. This was one of those Biographies that are being used in business schools now, with that strange agenda to have non-business books be part of the business cirrculum.
Mandela shows a gift of interpreting political climates and seeing the big picture. At the elections he was the only leader without baggage (not communist, not really a terrorist, held to ideals while in prison), and who had some honor...his stuture More...
Mandela shows a gift of interpreting political climates and seeing the big picture. At the elections he was the only leader without baggage (not communist, not really a terrorist, held to ideals while in prison), and who had some honor...his stuture More...
Jul 03, 2011
Molly
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This is another one that I didn't finish, but only because it is really long and our book club had agreed to get to the half way point for our meeting. Since I am a slow reader, once one book club meeting is done I have to take all my available time to read the next selection in time, so I did not continue on with it.
In reading what I did, though, I realized that I knew next to nothing about South Africa and the history of apartheid, so I learned a lot. It also brought up some interes More...
In reading what I did, though, I realized that I knew next to nothing about South Africa and the history of apartheid, so I learned a lot. It also brought up some interes More...
Apr 20, 2009
Jay
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What an amazing book! It is a testament to the durability and sustainability of the human spirit.
Mandela went through hell on earth during his 27 years in apartheid South Africa's prisons. It helped me to know how the story was going to turn out: that he was released and subsequently elected to the office of President of South Africa.
Mandela is an excellent writer and story-teller. He always stays true to his convictions and goals: a South Africa in which all humans, rega More...
Mandela went through hell on earth during his 27 years in apartheid South Africa's prisons. It helped me to know how the story was going to turn out: that he was released and subsequently elected to the office of President of South Africa.
Mandela is an excellent writer and story-teller. He always stays true to his convictions and goals: a South Africa in which all humans, rega More...
Aug 02, 2011
Marichee
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Excellent EXCELLENT book by a man who really did shape history. Nelson Mandela became my hero and someone I always look up to when I read this book.
Madiba's simplistic way of telling his story only highlighted the events he influenced in history, and also emphasized a certain humility that only a sincere revolutionist can embody. Some of his stories are sad and heartbreaking, some are achingly joyous, but all have something in them worth reading about.
This book will giv More...
Madiba's simplistic way of telling his story only highlighted the events he influenced in history, and also emphasized a certain humility that only a sincere revolutionist can embody. Some of his stories are sad and heartbreaking, some are achingly joyous, but all have something in them worth reading about.
This book will giv More...
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