The critics on Young Mandela

Australian Women’s Weekly

Much has been written about Nelson Mandela, but for the first time this biography offers a tangible perspective on the real man behind the political struggle. More importantly, it focuses on the troubled lives of his families, especially with first wife Evelyn and second wife Winnie. The price paid for Mandela’s inspirational commitment to change the world was immense. With unique access to his relatives and colleagues, Smith throws a tantalising spotlight on the domestic side of Mandela’s life before his arrest and imprisonment, revealing a dapper dandy of a man with an eye for the ladies, who then put the fight for political freedom above everything else in his life.

NEWS AND EVENTS

Latest News

  • The Sleep Of Reason – The James Bulger Case by David James Smith:
    Faber Finds edition with new preface, available September 15th, 2011.

  • Young Mandela the movie – in development.

    From The Guardian
    Read the article

    In the Diary column of The Independent, April 13th, 2011

    More on my previously unsubstantiated claim that the writer-director Peter Kosminsky, creator of The Promise, is working on a drama about Nelson Mandela. I’ve now learnt that the project is a feature film, in development with Film 4, about the young Mandela. Kosminsky is currently at work on the script and, given the complaints about the anti-Jewish bias of The Promise, it is unlikely to be a standard bland portrait of the former South African president.

Latest Review

    New York Times – J. M. Ledgard

  • Nelson Mandela was circumcised as a 16-year-old boy alongside a flowing river in the Eastern Cape. The ceremony was similar to those of other Bantu peoples. An elder moved through the line making ring-like cuts, and foreskins fell away. The boys could not so much as blink; it was a rite of passage that took you beyond pain. read full review

See David James Smith…

Jon Venables: What Went Wrong
BBC 1, 10.35
Thursday, April 21st, 2011