A Long Walk to Freedom

Nelson Mandela, former South African president, Nobel Laureate, and icon of the anti-apartheid movement, died December 5 at the age of 95. There has been much written about the man who the current South African president Jacob Zuma called the country's "greatest son," and we've compiled a brief look at just a few of the books on Mandela (including his own).

"This fluid memoir matches South African President Mandela's stately grace with wise reflection on his life and the freedom struggle that defined it."

Conversations with Myself, Nelson Mandela

"The South African statesman and former political prisoner bares his mind and soul in this inspiring collection of writings and interviews. Culled from Mandela's letters, notebooks, taped conversations, prison diaries, calendars, and an unfinished autobiography, the material includes reminiscences of the antiapartheid movement, lessons in revolutionary theory gleaned from his guerrilla training, vignettes of prison life, seething protests to authorities, tender missives to loved ones, canny political strategizing and quiet philosophical reflections."

Nelson Mandela, Kadir Nelson

"Nelson’s large, luminous, and almost photographic paintings make this an extremely powerful picture-book biography of South Africa’s first black president."

In the Words of Nelson Mandela, edited by Jennifer Crwys-Williams

"This brief book is a collection of quotes from one of the great political, social, and humanitarian figures in history."

Nelson Mandela: A Life in Photographs, John D. Battersby, Text by (Art/Photo Books), David Elliot Cohen

"With beautiful color photos and well-chosen text, including contributions from South African journalist Battersby and six of Nelson Mandela's seminal speeches, this enlightening coffee table tour covers all stages of Mandela's career: a young and passionate activist, an eloquent spokesman for his oppressed countrymen, a political prisoner of 27 years, a transformative president, a larger-than-life international figure of peace, and an eternally charming elder statesman."

Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book, The Nelson Mandela Foundation, with Umlando Wezithombe

"This is an authorized, approved biography created in a format to attract the attention of younger people, those who might not have been alive during the decade when “Free Nelson Mandela” was a politically important chant."

Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation, John Carlin

"Carlin offers the final dramatic chapters of how then president Nelson Mandela and his wily strategy of using a sporting event—the Sprinkboks rugby team in the 1995 World Cup—to mend South Africa."

Other Books of Note:

Reflections on Nelson Mandela, Antoinette Haselhorst

Mandela: A Biography, Martin Meredith

Knowing Mandela: A Personal Portrait, John Carlin

Madiba A-Z: The Many Faces of Nelson Mandela, Danny Schechter