July 24, 2010
The phenomenon that is the Nelson Mandela publishing industry had an unpromising start. When the great man was encouraged by comrades to write his memoirs during his long nights imprisoned on Robben Island, they had to beg him to include any details about his personal life. (more…)
July 22, 2010
In June 1964, when Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment for acts of sabotage against the apartheid government of South Africa, he was, as photographs reveal, a burly, blackhaired man, with a handsome, pugnacious grin. By the time he was released in 1990, his hair was grey and his features gaunt. (more…)
July 19, 2010
The Sunday newspapers played it hard and straight. Nelson Mandela’s son Makgatho had died of Aids, and a young grandchild and a young lover were allegedly enmeshed in the scandal. Despite our growing national ethos not to sensationalise Aids, that was how the story was drawn – as a scandal. (more…)
July 19, 2010
Much has been written about Nelson Mandela, but for the first time this biography offers a tangible perspective on the real man behind the political struggle. (more…)
July 19, 2010
Much has been written about Nelson Mandela’s rise from freedom-fighting prisoner to the first black president of liberated South Africa. But little has been dedicated to his formative years. (more…)
July 19, 2010
TWO foreigners, two books on Nelson Mandela, two entirely different approaches. (more…)
July 11, 2010
Tuesday was not a normal day for ordinary visitors, so the visiting room at HMP Full Sutton, a high-security prison just outside York, was deserted as the door opened at the far end of the room and a lone prisoner entered. I had been offered any seat in the house, but had already decided we would sit in the private conference room just off the main area, with the low table and the chairs – all bolted to the floor.
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On the cover of The Sunday Times Magazine…
The Sleep Of Reason – The James Bulger Case by David James Smith:
Faber Finds edition with new preface, available September 15th, 2011.
Young Mandela the movie – in development.
From The Guardian
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In the Diary column of The Independent, April 13th, 2011
More on my previously unsubstantiated claim that the writer-director Peter Kosminsky, creator of The Promise, is working on a drama about Nelson Mandela. I’ve now learnt that the project is a feature film, in development with Film 4, about the young Mandela. Kosminsky is currently at work on the script and, given the complaints about the anti-Jewish bias of The Promise, it is unlikely to be a standard bland portrait of the former South African president.
Nelson Mandela was circumcised as a 16-year-old boy alongside a flowing river in the Eastern Cape. The ceremony was similar to those of other Bantu peoples. An elder moved through the line making ring-like cuts, and foreskins fell away. The boys could not so much as blink; it was a rite of passage that took you beyond pain. read full review
Jon Venables: What Went Wrong
BBC 1, 10.35
Thursday, April 21st, 2011
