THE BOOK "Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela" is an autobiographical work written by Nelson Mandela himself. In the book illustrated by photographs, Mandela profiles his early life, young days, education, activism and 27 years in prison during the apartheid era in South Africa.
The book reveals that Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment for sabotage in the "Rivonia Trial," by Justice Dr. Quartus de Wet, instead of a possible death sentence which many white men expected.
Published by
Back Bay Books, the book is dedicated by Mandela to his children and provides a griping narrative of his life that was full of struggle, ups and downs, ultimate triumph and political rise.
Mandela, in his 656-page book dwells on the political and social aspects of apartheid in
South Africa and his battle against it. Despite its being a fat big book, the writing is straight and fluent, and at the same time free of sentimentalities and pathos.
To me, it is a must-read for everyone since it is the story of a spirited person who refused to be broken under the most trying circumstances and stood for social justice and non-racism. I had got and read this book in late nineties during my visit to SA for an educational conference and found it very inspiring.