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Title details for Mandela--My Prisoner, My Friend by Christo Brand - Available

Mandela--My Prisoner, My Friend

by Christo Brand
Barbara Jones
ebook
6 of 6 copies available
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6 of 6 copies available
Christo Brand was a South African farm boy, born into the Afrikaans culture which had created apartheid, a racial system designed to persecute black people while claiming superiority for white people. Nelson Mandela, the black son of a tribal chief, also raised in a rural village, trained as a lawyer to take up the fight against apartheid on behalf of a whole nation. Their opposing worlds collided when Christo, a raw recruit from the country's prison service, was sent to Robben Island to guard the notoriously dangerous terrorists; Mandela was their undisputed leader.The two of them, a boy of 19 and a long-suffering freedom fighter then aged 60, should have become bitter enemies. Instead they formed an extraordinary friendship through small human kindnesses; Christo, a gentle young man who valued ordinary decency and courtesy, struck a chord with the wise and resilient freedom fighter - a man who was prepared to die if necessary to liberate his people.As an African tribesman family was a priority for Mandela and he knew that his life imprisonment meant that he might never be able to live with them again. When his mother died he was refused permission to go to her funeral - as the eldest son, Mandela held a great responsibility towards her, and he wept with shame and despair. Christo was witness to that despair many times during his years as Mandela's personal prison warder. He knew the heartbreak he suffered at never being able to see his children. So, when Winnie secretly brought their tiny granddaughter to Robben Island it was Christo who risked his own freedom to put the baby in Mandela's arms for a few moments.Their friendship was sealed by many such shared moments; sometimes merely a gesture or a smile, at other times an act of generosity which could have cost Christo his job. This bond of trust endured between the two men long after Mandela was freed. As President of South Africa he invited Christo into his home, advised his son Riaan on his career and gave Christo a job in the Constitutional Assembly in Parliament, drawing up the country's new laws. Shortly before passing away he called for Christo again for the final time - to say goodbye. In this book Christo tells, for the first time, the incredible and moving story of their unlikely friendship.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 17, 2014

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781782198123

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781782198123
      • File size: 3263 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 18, 2014
      In June 1964, Nelson Mandela arrived at South Africa's Robben Island Prison, convicted of sabotage and given a life sentence. Fourteen years later, Brand, a relatively apolitical 18-year-old Afrikaner, arrived as a new guard. When, in 1982, Mandela was moved to Pollsmoor Prison, chance placed Brand there as well. This memoir is an account of the bond that formed slowly between the two over the course of three decades. Brand begins by reporting the advice he received from his father, who "would not tolerate disrespecting older people of any colour." By the end, Mandela is the one giving Brand stern but compassionate fatherly advice. Brand's position on the opposite side of the bars from his famous charge gives him a fascinating perspective on an oft-told story. He paints a vivid picture of prison life in South Africa at the time, with its racial discriminationâno bread was given to black prisonersâand the guards' own isolation from news of the outside world. The central focus of this extraordinary book, however, is a remarkable friendship that bridged age, race, and politics, as Mandela went from prisoner to secret negotiator, and eventually became a revered president.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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