When Nelson Mandela was released from prison, he invited Ismail Meer to be his traveling companion and speechwriter on his trips abroad. Meer is one of the unsung heroes of South African history. A prominent Indian activist, he helped convince the young Mandela, decades earlier, to broaden his vision beyond Africans only. In this autobiography, Meer vividly describes the journey from his childhood world of the 1920s to his political involvement in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond. the book takes the reader back to conversations with figures such as Albert Luthuli, paints a picture of Nelson Mandela and other political leaders as young men, and give little known details about Joe Slovo and Ruth First. With its elegant writing style, its vivid recreation of past times and its touches of humor, this is a substantial history, in the tradition of "Long Walk to Freedom and "Rivonia's Children.
She says she wants a teddy bear as big as Yakub.* Yakub is huge, almost as big
as herself. At Stillers, there were two huge teddy bears lying on their backs on a
top shelf. I thought she would never see them and tried to direct her attention to ...
