Mandela

His Life and Legacy for South Africa and the World

By: Bob Crew

Narrated by: Kevin Free

Nelson Mandela is known worldwide as a great moral and political leader, the first democratically elected South African president, the recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize, and a beacon of interracial goodwill. In Mandela, former foreign correspondent Bob Crew demystifies the icon and his legacy. After over a decade of travels in South Africa, Crew seeks truth in the unexpected details of the lives of Mandela and current South African president Jacob Zuma, comparing them to other world icons in order to bring a new understanding of their legacies to Western listeners. Mandela presents a wealth of information, including character studies of Mandela and Zuma, the historical social background of South Africa, and the effect Zuma has had on the racially divided country. Crew uses his own reflections and insights as well as interviews with many South Africans to color his analysis of historical and current events. This audiobook is a seasoned view of the history and politics of a country that produced one of the most iconic leaders of the world, who wished more than anything else for peace.

©2013 Bob Crew (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Not What I Expected

The book was very interesting. However I thought it was all about Nelson Mandela. The first few chapters were but then although he was often mentioned the remainder of the book was about South African government and politics.

Disappointing

Some very useful data and historical facts.

Very annacdotal and Eurocentric.

The author betrays his own deep rooted racism by referring to Black people in stereotypical way and as a generalised group. One "nice Zulu taxi driver" is NOT the typical Black South African.

I read this book to the end, to be clear I know all of the content of this very below average dilution of Mandela's legacy.

As a Black South African I am very clear that you can give this book a skip!!!!

Rurik McKaiser - 9 January 2021

Sadly presumptuous and a judgemental gaze

The author tries to keep the book balanced, fair & objective without much success. He seems to lack the depth, context and complexity to make insightful connections or make sense of the nuances from all the rich information he gathered for the book.

He desperately tries to find parallels and claims credit for all that is great about Mandela or SA to all that is British.

Interesting takes but eish...

Feels like a "This is why English people are better than Afrikaaners" title. Unfair takes to be honest.

book shouldn't have been named Mandela

i see this more as an overview of South troubles, then a book on Mandela. the author spend so much time on issues in South and highlighted Mandela legacy less.

i am a little disappointed.. it left me feeling scary to travel to South Africa.

Disappointingly Opportunistic

You do think Bob Crew was writing in praise of the British & not about the great Madiba. Disappointingly Opportunistic on so many levels.

Nice indeed.

It's not a superb piece of art, but its good enough to familiarize with South Africa's history and Mandela's determination to change the country's fate in the hands of the Dutch Afrikaners who had subjected the country to the ominous apartheid.

Mandela

Book title was misleading as only a portion of the book dealt directly with Mandela’s life - too much time was spent by author discussing other aspects of the post Mandela years

Interesting subject but weak author.

Author has a dozen points the alludes to repeatedly. Result is you are annoyed by the author but still interested in the subject. Not one I would recommend since there are other books on the subject.

Couldn’t finish as it was so bad

The title is misleading
It is extremely repetitive
I thought the views are extremely biased
The reading is ok but his voice got on my nerves, probably because the constant repetition of the same issue was so annoying
A few interesting ideas
The only thing I’m thankful for is that I am more interested in Mandela to find out more about him