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Young Mandela  By  cover art

Young Mandela

By: David James Smith
Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
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Publisher's summary

Nelson Mandela is well known throughout the world as a heroic leader who symbolizes freedom and moral authority. He is fixed in the public mind as the world’s elder statesman - the gray-haired man with a kindly smile who spent 27 years in prison before becoming the first Black president of South Africa.

But Nelson Mandela was not always elderly or benign. In Young Mandela, David James Smith takes us deep into the heart of racist South Africa to paint a portrait of the Mandela that many have forgotten: the committed revolutionary who left his family behind to live on the run, adopting false names, and organizing the first strikes to overthrow the apartheid state. Young Mandela lifts the curtain on an icon’s first steps to greatness.

©2010 David James Smith (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc., and Buck 50 Productions, LLC

What listeners say about Young Mandela

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Some good details

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would suggest Long Walk first because it is Mandela's story, but then this if they are still curious because it includes some other points of view, especially the first marriage.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have described more context about South Africa

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I always find Audible books a little slow and wish there was a feature for 1.1 speed, not just 1.5.

What else would you have wanted to know about David James Smith’s life?

wrong question!

Any additional comments?

I would love an audible biography of Desmond Tutu.

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