100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Overnight NZ-wide delivery on in-stock orders πŸš€

Mandela

His Essential Life
3.79 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 58 ratings, 12 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Mandela by Peter Hain is a compelling biography that details the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. It explores his journey from being a young lawyer to becoming a global symbol of resistance against apartheid, capturing his dedication to justice, equality, and reconciliation. The book provides insightful analysis into Mandela's political strategies and personal challenges, highlighting the impact of his leadership on both South Africa and the wider world.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of Mandela. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you are interested in learning about influential historical figures and the struggle for freedom and equality. Peter Hain offers a compelling insight into the life of one of the world's most revered leaders, exploring his journey from prisoner to president. This biography may appeal to those who appreciate stories of resilience, leadership, and the impact of activism on global politics.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Mandela: His Essential Life is the only short, popular and accessible book that tells Mandela's entire and remarkable story.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Mandela: His Essential Life chronicles the life and legacy of one of the twentieth century's most influential and admired statesmen. Charting his development from remote rural roots to city lawyer, freedom fighter, and then political leader, Peter Hain takes an in-depth look at Mandela's rise through the ranks of the African National Congress (ANC) and subsequent 27 years imprisonment on Robben Island, as increasingly vocal protests against the injustices of Apartheid brought his struggle against overwhelming prejudice and oppression to the eyes of the world.

This book encompasses Mandela’s inauguration as South Africa's first democratically elected president, his "retirement" campaigns for human rights, a solution to AIDS and poverty. It goes on to chronicle his later years and death. Throughout, the humanity and compassion of this extraordinary world leader shine through.

The author concludes with a critical analysis of his and the ANC’s achievements, its leadership’s subsequent slide into corruption, and whether under new direction South Africa can reclaim the values and legacy of Mandela, and the β€˜rainbow nation’ he created and led to such global acclaim.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Described as passionate and engaging by Jon Snow and highly readable and inspirational by Desmond Tutu, Mandela by Peter Hain is acknowledged for its succinct and compelling portrayal of Nelson Mandela’s life. Hain, an accomplished anti-apartheid activist, offers a condensed yet insightful biography, blending personal encounters with an honest account of Mandela’s virtues and shortcomings. The book stands out for its powerful final chapter examining the betrayal of Mandela’s legacy, offering a relevant perspective on modern-day South Africa.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781786607584

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 18 September 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield International

Illustration: 11 BW Photos

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 13.0mm

Width: 151.0mm

Height: 231.0mm

Weight: 322g

Pages: 232

About the Author

Peter Hain is well known for a lifetime of anti-apartheid campaigning. Born to anti-apartheid activists with links to Mandela going back to the 1950s, he grew up in South Africa where his parents were jailed, then banned and finally exiled to Britain by the regime. The effectiveness of Hain's fervent campaigning in the 1970s made him a target of the regime's security services. Subsequently a Labour MP and government minister, Peter Hain served in several prominent Cabinet positions including Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and Leader of the House of Commons. He is now a member of the House of Lords. A regular contributor to the daily nationals, he is also the author of 20 books including Don't Play with Apartheid, Mistaken Identity, A Putney Plot?, Sing the Beloved Country and his memoirs Outside In.

Also by Peter Hain

View all
  • Pitch Battles
    β€œThere will be a black Springbok over my dead body.”— Dr Danie Craven, President of the South African Rugby Board, 1969 Just a year after the controversial D’Oliveira affair, the organised disruption of the all-white 1969/70 South African rugby and cricket tours to Britain represented a significant challenge to apartheid politics. Led by future cabinet minister Peter Hain, the β€˜Stop...
    Hardback
    $8015
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Pitch Battles
    β€œThere will be a black Springbok over my dead body.”— Dr Danie Craven, President of the South African Rugby Board, 1969 Just a year after the controversial D’Oliveira affair, the organised disruption of the all-white 1969/70 South African rugby and cricket tours to Britain represented a significant challenge to apartheid politics. Led by future cabinet minister Peter Hain, the β€˜Stop...
    Paperback
    $4832
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Elephant Conspiracy
    Having thwarted murderous poachers in The Rhino Conspiracy, the Veteran, Thandi, and Mkhize are back in a new fight – battling to save elephant herds from being callously killed for their ivory, whilst trying to block wholesale political corruption and money laundering in contemporary South Africa. Will dwindling elephant numbers be reversed? Will the forces of good triumph over the...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Liberation and Corruption
    Why are liberation and independence movements often betrayed when their leaders get into government? This question has haunted Peter Hain for decades. A lifelong activist and politician, Hain has over 50 years' experience of battling corruption, from his early days as a freedom fighter against apartheid to his time as a UK Labour MP, cabinet minister, and sitting member of...
    Hardback
    $4799
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • The Lion Conspiracy
    From South Africa to Zanzibar, from Kenya to Britain, activists are battling to save lion prides, today more threatened by extinction than rhinos and elephants, as a result of illegal wildlife trading. Having thwarted murderous poachers in The Elephant Conspiracy, the Veteran, Thandi and Mkhize are back battling to save lion prides from being killed for their claws, teeth and...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Lion Conspiracy
    From South Africa to Zanzibar, from Kenya to Britain, activists are battling to save lion prides, today more threatened by extinction than rhinos and elephants, as a result of illegal wildlife trading. Having thwarted murderous poachers in The Elephant Conspiracy, the Veteran, Thandi and Mkhize are back, battling to save lion prides from being killed for their claws, teeth, and...
    Paperback
    $4499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Fallout
    When a mild-mannered scientist accidentally uncovers a web of international espionage during a routine visit to Beijing, he's thrust into a deadly game of cat and mouse. His only ally? A magnetic anti-apartheid activist who may have secrets of her own. As they race to expose the truth, a veteran South African intelligence operative moves through the streets of newly-independent...
    Paperback
    $3699
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from Biography & Memoir

View all
  • This Angry Pen of Mine
    This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...
    Hardback
    $7299
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Famesick
    Chronicling the tumultuous decade between the premiere of Girls to her 2021 shotgunΒ wedding (minus the baby, because she has no uterus), Lena Dunham takes us through herΒ journey with her trademark mix of humor, unsparing honesty, and keen eye for detail. We peek behind the scenes - of her work, her family, her relationships, and her battle to reclaim her body...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Dogs, Boys and Other Things I've Cried About
    From the social media superstar behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee--known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue--comes an utterly winning memoir about a twentysomething woman's search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it. A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Signed Copy
    New Release
    Stakes
    Read our interview with author Noelle McCarthy! A darkly funny, sparkling follow-up to the author’s bestselling memoirΒ Grand. You have to invite him in. You have to want the vampire’s badness in the house with you. Growing up in Catholic Ireland, Noelle McCarthy is captivated by Bram Stoker’sΒ Dracula. The vampire is a risk-free fantasy, a suave alternative to the fraught realities...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Built for This
    Raised among strong women, butcher's benches, and hard ideas about what men are meant to be, Brad Poulter grows up knowing he's different long before he has the words for it. But in late '90s small-town New Zealand, 'different' isn't discussed, it's managed. Joining the Royal New Zealand Navy offers escape, certainty, and belonging. The rules are clear, the uniform...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Even the Good Girls Will Cry
    Thanks to a thrown beer bottle and a fan letter to a P.O. box, Melissa Auf der Maur's first band scored an opening slot for the Smashing Pumpkins in her bohemian home town, Montreal. Sensing Melissa's talent, Billy Corgan recommended her to Courtney Love. Whisked from her local scene, Melissa joined Hole just after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    An Ocean and a Day
    An utterly riveting, moving and poignant memoir of grief and loss that will speak to anyone who's ever lost someone they love. An Ocean and a Day is Hannah Richell's personal account of losing her husband, Matt, in a surfing accident on Tamarama beach in 2014. It is the story of the grief journey she travelled over the first two...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    A Place to Stand
    A Place to Stand by Clare Ward is a profound memoir that delves into the life of a country doctor living and working in the Hokianga Harbour area in the far north of Aotearoa New Zealand. This region is sparsely populated and poses numerous health challenges. This thoughtful account details Clare’s thirty-year career, highlighting the people she works with and...
    Hardback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Rory
    TheΒ New York TimesΒ bestseller The #1Β Irish TimesΒ bestseller The definitive biography of Rory McIlroy, the most important, popular and confounding player of the post-Tiger era. Rory McIlroy contains multitudes. The child of a working-class family from a small town in a war-torn homeland now commutes to work in his own private jet and counts billionaires as confidants. He can overwhelm a golf...
    Paperback
    $3699
    Elsewhere:
    $4199
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Te Kaikaukau | The Swimmer
    Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera – author of Pounamu, Pounamu and The Whale Rider – decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full-time at Te Wānanga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo Māori. This book tells the story of this kaikaukau, this swimmer, and his year...
    Paperback
    $3500
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    This Is Me: A Reckoning
    This is a searingly honest and moving memoir from double Golden Globe-nominatedactress Hayden Panettiere. Hayden Panettiere has been in front of the camera since before she could talk. She roseto stardom typecasted as Hollywood's blonde girl next door. As a young celebrity,naysayers were certain she would crash and burn. Not one to disappoint, she did.Hayden Panettiere's irreverent memoir satisfies our...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Beyond Life and Death
    From martial arts icon and global film star Jet Li comes a revelatory, profound and inspiring guide to self-mastery and spiritual wisdom, distilled into 10 essential life lessons. Martial arts legend and international movie star Jet Li distils 10 powerful insights from his iconic career, his personal life and philosophies, and his 30-year Buddhist practice. Jet Li's story defies legend....
    By Jet Li
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.