Long Walk to Freedom
First published in 1994, Long Walk to Freedom is Nelson Mandela's autobiography, covering his life from his birth in 1918 into the Thembu royal family through his election as South Africa's first democratically chosen president. Mandela traces his early years in the Eastern Cape, his legal training in Johannesburg, his radicalization in the African National Congress, and the long fight against apartheid that led to his arrest and life sentence on Robben Island. He wrote much of the first draft in secret during his imprisonment, with later sections completed after his release in 1990. The book moves between the personal and the political, recording prison routines, friendships, and the careful negotiation strategy that helped end apartheid without civil war. It stands as one of the central political memoirs of the twentieth century and the foundational document of post apartheid South African memory.
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What you might want to know about Long Walk to Freedom
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Nelson Mandela's autobiography, from his rural childhood through twenty-seven years in prison to the South African presidency.
He drafted much of it himself in prison and afterward, with editorial help from writer Richard Stengel for the final book.
It runs roughly 600 pages and covers more than seventy years of his life.
Long Walk to Freedom was written by Nelson Mandela, published in 1994 by Grand Central Publishing.
Long Walk to Freedom is 643 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Long Walk to Freedom takes most readers 10 to 14 hours to finish.
Long Walk to Freedom is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.