Mandela: The Authorized Biography
Mandela: The Authorized Biography by Anthony Sampson shows Mandela from the beginning of his life to the end of his life, plus some. It dives deep into who Mandela was and how he becomes just that. It is an inspirational story of hardship, great courage and excellent leadership skills and how all these attributes made him one of the most influential people in the world. The book is a long, detailed story that is broken into sections based on different sections of his life, before he was imprisoned, while he was imprisoned, and after he was imprisoned. Part one tells the reader who Mandela was and why he believes so strongly of what he believes. He fought for all people to have the same rights and freedom no matter what color you are and how this can be done without any violence. As an anti-apartheid activist and a leader of ANC (African National Congress) Mandela was seen as a threat to his local government. ANC was a party that fought to give democracy to all and freedom for all. The second section of the book is a detailed description of how Mandela spent his time in prison. It was the time when he began to learn about himself, overcome the bad and develop the good within himself and how to truly influence others, being a role model for other prisoners and by being an official in exile. Being in prison put major stress on his family life needless to say, but at the time his ever devoted wife would keep him current on events and was his life to the outside world. Nearing the end of his time in prison, his wife began acting in violence and promoting violent acts. This is also the time when he wrote his personal diary, which this book bases a lot its information from. The third section of the book discusses his release from jail and his life there on out. It tells how he continued his quest for what he believed in and how he had the ability to forgive the people who betrayed him in the past 30 years.
This book would be a good edition to add to the Beyond War library because it supports the core principles. The first principle is supported in this book by showing that throughout Mandela’s life he believed the anti-apartheid movement and all situations involving conflict could be done without violence and was activist to make sure this did not happen. The second principle, We are one on this planet, is supported by the fact that Mandela was a character whom believed all people should have equal rights. Mandela believed what he did and acted as he did because what he was taught when he was a young boy. It was set in his core at a young age that there were no poor, no rich and no exploitation of man by man; we were all one, all equal. The third principle, The means are the ends in the making, was supported because his actions were about supporting the outcomes. He continued to support antiviolence ways to fight apartheid in South Africa. When he was released from prison and elected as President he made sure that he forgave so many that betrayed him throughout his life. He maintained an attitude of goodwill and did not preoccupy himself with the enemy. He used it to become a better leader and powerful influence all over the world.
1) How do you think Mandela was able to forgive so many who betrayed him and ultimately took majority of his life away from him?
2) How do you feel about the fact that Mandela had his freedom taken from him, for nearly 30 years, when he devoted his life to making sure that people had their right to freedom?
This book would be a good edition to add to the Beyond War library because it supports the core principles. The first principle is supported in this book by showing that throughout Mandela’s life he believed the anti-apartheid movement and all situations involving conflict could be done without violence and was activist to make sure this did not happen. The second principle, We are one on this planet, is supported by the fact that Mandela was a character whom believed all people should have equal rights. Mandela believed what he did and acted as he did because what he was taught when he was a young boy. It was set in his core at a young age that there were no poor, no rich and no exploitation of man by man; we were all one, all equal. The third principle, The means are the ends in the making, was supported because his actions were about supporting the outcomes. He continued to support antiviolence ways to fight apartheid in South Africa. When he was released from prison and elected as President he made sure that he forgave so many that betrayed him throughout his life. He maintained an attitude of goodwill and did not preoccupy himself with the enemy. He used it to become a better leader and powerful influence all over the world.
1) How do you think Mandela was able to forgive so many who betrayed him and ultimately took majority of his life away from him?
2) How do you feel about the fact that Mandela had his freedom taken from him, for nearly 30 years, when he devoted his life to making sure that people had their right to freedom?
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