4 results for "Biography"

Mandela's way: lessons in life

Stengel, Richard
Written by the co-author of international bestseller Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela's Way presents fifteen powerful lessons on life and leadership based on the life and work of Nelson Mandela, whose fight against apartheid in South Africa has become an enduring example of resistance against injustice and oppression. A recipient of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, Mandela is a man who truly changed the course of world history and is arguably the most inspirational figure of the past century.The result of many hours of discussion between the author Richard Stengel and Mandela, Mandela's Way features a series of essential lessons, such as 'Nothing is black and white' and 'Courage is not the absence of fear - it's inspiring others to move beyond it'. Stengel spent two years with Mandela working on his bestselling autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, and through that process became a close friend.Written with the blessing of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, to which the author will donate a percentage of his royalties, Mandela's Way is an inspirational book of wisdom that will encourage people of all ages to look within themselves to improve their lives, to reconsider the things they take for granted, and to think about the legacy they leave behind.
Virgin 2010 243 pages

Mandela's way: lessons in life

Stengel, Richard
We long for heroes but have too few. Nelson Mandela is perhaps the last pure hero on the planet. For nearly three years Time magazine editor Richard Stengel collaborated with Mandela on his autobiography and travelled with him everywhere. Eating with him, watching him campaign, hearing him think out loud, Stengel came to know all the different sides of this complex man. He became a cherished friend and colleague. Now he has distilled countless hours of intimate conversation with Mandela into fifteen essential life lessons. In Mandela's Way , he recounts the moments in which 'the grandfather of South Africa' was tested and shares the wisdom he learned: why we should keep our rivals close, why courage is more than the absence of fear, and why the answer is not always either/or but often 'both'. Woven into these life lessons are remarkable stories - of Mandela's childhood as the prot�g� of a tribal king, of his early days as a freedom fighter, of the twenty-seven-year imprisonment that could not break him, and of his new and fulfilling marriage at the age of eighty. This profoundly inspiring book captures the spirit of this extraordinary man - warrior, martyr, husband, statesman, and moral leader - and spurs us to look within ourselves, reconsider the things we take for granted, and contemplate the legacy we'll leave behind.
Virgin 2010 243 pages

The strange alchemy of life and law

Sachs, Albie
From a young age Albie Sachs played a prominent part in the struggle for justice in South Africa. As a result he was detained in solitary confinement, tortured by sleep deprivation and eventually blown up by a car bomb which cost him his right arm and the sight of an eye. His experiences provoked an outpouring of creative thought on the role of law as a protector of human dignity in the modern world, and a lifelong commitment to seeing a new era of justice established in South Africa. After playing an important role in drafting South Africa's post-apartheid Constitution, he was appointed by Nelson Mandela to be a member of the country's first Constitutional Court. Over the course of his fifteen year term on the Court he has grappled with the major issues confronting modern South Africa, and the challenges posed to the fledgling democracy as it sought to overcome the injustices of the apartheid regime. As his term on the Court approaches its end, Sachs here conveys in intimate fashion what it has been like to be a judge in these unique circumstances, how his extraordinary life has influenced his approach to the cases before him, and his views on the nature of justice and its achievement through law. The book provides unique access to an insider's perspective on modern South Africa, and a rare glimpse into the working of a judicial mind. By juxtaposing life experiences and extracts from judgments, Sachs enables the reader to see the complex and surprising ways in which legal culture transforms subjective experience into objectively reasoned decisions. With rare candour he tells of the difficulties he has when preparing a judgment, of how every judgment is a lie. Rejecting purely formal notions of the judicial role he shows how both reason and passion (concern for protecting human dignity) are required for law to work in the service of justice.
Oxford University Press 2011-03-10 306 pages