Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Joshua Hammer Reviews "Young Mandela: The Revolutionary Years"

Joshua Hammer Reviews "Young Mandela: The Revolutionary Years" | The New Republic:

Nelson Mandela. Via The New Republic.

There is an almost unbearable poignancy in watching Madiba—as he was affectionately known to his inner circle, and later, to the entire country—return from a fundraising and guerrilla training trip through Africa, in July 1962 (with a stop in London), fully aware that he was heading back to certain arrest—and, at the very least, a long separation from the family that loved and depended on him. Smith reminds us of the contradictions that often exist between the public and private lives of famous men, and forces us to reckon with costs of greatness. Young Mandela is a portrait that is likely to rankle some of those closest to Mandela, but Mandela is in no need of more hagiography, and Smith’s account performs the great service of making the hero more fully human.
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