This is a dramatic and intimate biography, which draws on letters and reminiscences from Mandela himself and from his close family. Fatima Meer, a friend of Mandela"s for many years and a professor of sociology, has provided a meticulously researched and compassionately written account of a man who, ore than almost anyone, can claim to have made African history. Merr presents a picture of an ordinary man who sacrificed his personal life and a promising career as an attorney to become a living symbol of his cause. These recollections are woven together to provide the unique voice of Mandela: It is a human and personal portrait that fully complements the political one already known.