Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

While helping me make arrangements and connecting me with the mission in Johannesburg where I will volunteer, my uncle Doug sent me a list of recommended reading before traveling to South Africa. He recommended three books: A Mile in My Shoes by Trevor Hudson, No Future Without Forgiveness by Bishop Tutu, and A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. I immediately knew I wanted to read Nelson Mandela's autobiography despite it's hefty 600+ pages. He is one of the most powerful world leaders of the 20th century and I knew his story would be fascinating. After attending some of the finest schools in South Africa, Nelson Mandela ran away to Johannesburg to escape an arranged marriage in the late 1930s. Despite his education, he learned that what you learn in school doesn't always translate to the real world:

"In Johannesburg, I moved in circles where common sense and practical experience were more important than high academic qualifications. Even as I was receiving my degree, I realized that hardly anything I had learned at university seemed relevant in my new environment. At the university, teachers had shied away from topics like racial oppression, lack of opportunities for Africans, and the nest of laws and regulations that subjugate the black man. But in my life in Johannesburg, I confronted these things every day. No one had ever suggested to me how to go about removing the evils of racial prejudice, and I had to learn by trial and error."

Certainly, his trial and error paid off when he was released from prison in 1990 after spending 27 years, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and then being elected to President of South African in 1994. Truly an inspirational and amazing man!!