Mandela: My Prisoner, My Friend - Couverture rigide

Brand, Christo

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1250055261 ISBN 13 : 9781250055262

Editeur : Thomas Dunne Books, 2014

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Christo Brand was a South African farm boy, born into the Afrikaans culture which had created apartheid to persecute black people and claim superiority for whites. Nelson Mandela, also raised in a rural village, was the black son of a tribal chief. He trained as a lawyer to take up the fight against apartheid on behalf of a whole nation. Their opposing worlds collided when Christo, a raw recruit from the country's prison service, was sent to Robben Island to guard the notoriously dangerous terrorists there. Mandela was their undisputed leader. The two of them, a boy of 18 and a long-suffering freedom fighter then aged 60, could well have become bitter enemies. Instead, they formed an extraordinary friendship through small human kindnesses. Christo, a gentle young man who valued ordinary decency and courtesy, struck a chord with the wise and resilient old freedom fighter who was prepared to die to liberate his people. The African tribesman in Mandela meant that family was a priority for him, yet he had been sentenced to life imprisonment. When his mother died, he was refused permission to go to her funeral. Mandela, the oldest son whose responsibility was written in blood, wept with shame and despair. Christo was to witness that despair many times during his years as Mandela's prison warder. When Winnie secretly brought their tiny granddaughter to Robben Island it was Christo who risked his own freedom to put the baby in Mandela's arms. Their friendship was sealed by many such shared moments. And the bond of trust between the two men extended beyond Mandela's prison years. As President of South Africa, he called for Christo and gave him a job in the archives department in Parliament. He invited Christo and his family into his home and advised his two sons on their careers. A few weeks before his death, Mandela made another call, to say goodbye. This book tells the story of their friendship in Christo's words for the first time.

Biographie de l'auteur

Christo Brand was an 18-year-old recruit to the South African prison service when he was sent to work at the Robben Island prison. He was assigned to guard Nelson Mandela, and over the coming decades the two would form a long-lasting freindship. Brand would later return to Robben Island after the prison's closure to work at the museum, and works alongside former political prisoners from the apartheid era.

Rupert Joel Degas is an English actor, voice actor and impressionist. He is best known for his voice work in animation, specifically in Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, The Amazing World of Gumball and in video games and advertising. He is also a critically acclaimed audiobook narrator and has narrated over 150 audio books by authors such as Peter Carey, Haruki Murakami, Andy McNab, Rose Tremain, Bram Stoker and Anthony Horowitz.

Barbara Jones is the Africa Correspondent for the Mail on Sunday newspaper. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa and has covered Nelson Mandela since 2000.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Thomas Dunne Books
• Date d'édition: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1250055261
• ISBN 13: 9781250055262
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 272