Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

-- Absorbing accounts of the men and women whose ideas and actions have changed the course of history
-- Examines each person's life within the context of the politics of the time
-- Photographs, engravings, and maps enhance each book

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 7-9-- As in other ``World Leaders'' biographies, the emphasis is political history. The chronological story of black activism is South Africa is told through a narrative of events focusing on the African National Congress and its policies, from its organization in 1912 through the emergence of Nelson Mandela as its most charismatic leader in the 1950s and '60s, through to Winnie Mandela's role as spokesperson for her husband in recent years. Vail has used the wealth of previously published biographical and autobiographical material about and by the Mandelas to weave their personal stories into the political narrative and to explain how each has come to symbolize the aims and hopes of African blacks. The author is sympathetic to the anti-apartheid movement and tends to emphasize the idealistic public image and heroic role of his subjects. The complexity of the South African political scene and the role in opposing the government of white liberal groups and black factions other than the ANC are not part of his story. However, Vail succeeds in chronicling in a clear and coherent fashion, the history of the African National Congress, and the role of the Mandelas in symbolizing the movement and awakening international support for its goals of black equality. For more information on the persons and private histories of Nelson and Winnie Mandela, readers would be better served by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler's Nelson and Winnie Mandela (Watts, 1987) or Jim Haskin's Winnie Mandela (Putnam, 1988). --Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, N.J. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Like several recent books about the Mandelas, including Haskins' Winnie Mandela [BKL My 1 88] and the Hooblers' Nelson and Winnie Mandela [Ap 15 87], this is as much a history of the contemporary struggle against apartheid as it is a biography of the South African couple who are revered for their leadership of that fight. Vail is unequivocal in his support for their cause, and he draws on the best adult sources for his informed, readable account. In a history of the last 40 years, he begins with the early passive- resistance campaigns and Nelson's reluctant support of sabotage, his trial, and his 25 years in prison; then the account focuses on Winnie's spirited leadership, despite her continual banning, banishment, and arrest. Finally the author discusses the current situation and the Mandelas' call for sanctions and divestment. Part of the World Leaders series, the treatment suffers from the usual lack of documentation, and the color painting on the cover is poor. Includes index, chronology, good bibliography, and, on nearly every page, photographs of the Mandelas and of conditions under apartheid. Gr. 7-12. HR.