Book of the Month August 2013

 

Mr Cobham has written a personal and unvarnished account of his memorable flight from London to Cape Town and back. This is illustrated almost entirely from photographs taken by members of the expedition.

As a survey of the possibilities of great intermediate air routes throughout Africa, in its commercial significance, and as a contribution to our national and imperial prestige the flight was of the first importance. There is good reason, therefore, that everyone should be enabled to possess the record of this modern Elizabethan adventurer.

     

Book of the Month July 2013

Mandela : the authorized portrait : editorial consultants Mac Maharaj and Ahmed Kathrada, narrative : Mike Nicol ; interviews ; Tim Couzens, Rosalind Coward and Mina Frense.

On February 11, 1990, a dignified elderly man walked hand-in-hand with the wife from whom he had been forced to live apart for twenty-seven years out of prison and into history. It is a date and an image the world will never forget: the day Nelson Mandela was freed.

From that day on, Nelson Mandela's immense courage and personal moral authority moved out of the shadows of his prison cell to stand as beacons of hope first to a bittterly divided nation and then to the whole world. Other images have followed: a smiling Mandela casting his vote in his country's first general election, a solemn Mandela at his inauguration as the first president of a democratic South Africa. Mandela with world leaders, with celebrities, with his wife Graca Machel and his family, in the midst of the crowds of children who are drawn to him wherever he goes.

Nelson Mandela occupies a unique place in our world. In Mandela: The Authorized Portrait the narrative of his epic journey to freedom is accompanied by the most complete collection of images ever assembled and by more than sixty specially commissioned interviews. World leaders, friends, and associates ranging from President Bill Clinton to Tony Blair, from Bono to President Thabo Mbeki, from his comrades in the South African struggle against apartheid to Muhammad Ali have all contributed their individual stories to build a compelling picture of this inspirational man through the eyes of those closest to him.

Source : Mandela the authorized portrait : editorial consultants Mac Maharaj and Ahmed Kathrada.