The Code Vault

Everybody knows who Nelson Mandela is or has at least heard about him or his achievements in South Africa. I, like everybody else, have grown up with that information. Information coming from magazines, newspapers, TV or simply gossip.

History of struggle has always been an interest of mine, and even more so the struggle in Africa. So this book, Long Walk to Freedom, has been on my "to read" list for the past 6 years. First because its about the struggle in South Africa(and indeed several others in the African continent as they are all related) and second because i found out that although everybody knows who Nelson Mandela is, they don't seem to know what he did and the corresponding context.

At the beginning, i started out reading this book very carefully and slowly. I was in awe of his persona and rightfully so since he is indeed a great person.

This autobiography takes you through all the stages of Mandela's life; from the childhood fields in Qunu in the Transkei region all the way to the fall of the apartheid system and his election as president of South Africa. This long journey passes through his adolescent years of studying at college to his career as a lawyer and later on his freedom fighting years and then incarceration for 3 decades.

Throughout the narration, Mandela is keen on passing along several messages about democracy and governance and his overall thoughts on struggle and freedom. So if nothing else, every so called "leader" should have this book as required reading material. Simply because Nelson Mandela was able to resolve the most difficult dispute known to man;that of racism.

I call it dispute simply for a lack of a better word. The problem with racism is that it doesn't really correspond to any logical facts. In its simplest form, it is a matter of one race assuming superiority. While in its most organized form, it would take the shape of apartheid.

Apartheid. An interesting word that means segregation. Apartheid was the method used by the white South African's to put a legal face on racism and thus made it even more horrible. And this autobiography aims to describe the South African struggle against apartheid by describe the life of Nelson Mandela.

A review wouldn't be complete with mentioning some negative points and i feel that i should address them.

The strongest point against the book is that for a life of a freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela didn't suffer that much. I mean he did spend 27 years in jail which certainly qualifies as suffering. However, i know of a lot of freedom fighters that suffered way more than that. One example is that he was never tortured or harmed and that even though they were in a strict prison, they were able to reach a system of compromise regarding demands.

Another point is that being an autobiography, Mandela can only describe the struggle as it related to him from inside prison bars. So anybody who is interested in more details regarding the struggle, especially the military aspect, will be disappointed

Everything considered, this is a great book and certainly a must-read. It does not qualify to my "stuck on an island" list but its certainly a book that one should read during his lifetime.