Nelson Mandela

Prisoner to President

This is the story of the life of the pre-eminent figures of the twentieth century, Nelson Mandela, up until his release after 27 years of prison. It takes us from boyhood with roots firmly embedded in the soil of Africa, through his political training with the African National Congress into the years of repression. Deeply involved with all the great anti-apartheid activities - the Defiance Campaign, the Freedom Charter, the Treason Trial, boycotts and strikes - Mandela was finally betrayed and sentenced to life imprisonment.

But even in prison on Robben Island, seemingly completely isolated, he was able to win recognition in the outside world as a figure of supreme moral authority, until international mobilization against the apartheid regime forced his release in 1990.