Also published as Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred
First published in 2007 and then fully updated after Thabo Mbeki’s fall from power in 2008, Mark’s award-winning biography was hailed in the Times Literary Supplement as “probably the finest piece of non-fiction to come out of South Africa since the end of apartheid.”
In South Africa the prosperous Mbeki clan lost everything to apartheid. Yet the family saw its favourite son, Thabo, come to lead the country’s first democratic government alongside Nelson Mandela and dominate its politics. Mbeki vowed to create “a better life for all” when he became president in 1999.
A decade later, Mbeki was ousted by his own party and his legacy is bitterly contested – particularly over his handling of the AIDS epidemic and the crisis in Zimbabwe.Through the story of the Mbeki family, award-wining journalist Mark Gevisser tells the gripping tale of the last tumultuous century of South Africa life, following the family’s path to make sense of the liberation struggle and the future that South Africa has inherited. At the center of the story is Mbeki himself, a visionary yet tragic figure who led South Africa to freedom but was not able to overcome the difficulties of his own own dislocated life. With unprecedented access to South Africa’s political leaders, Gevisser offers fascinating new perspectives on such iconic figures as Joe Slovo, Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela, and sheds much-needed light on the rivalry between Mbeki and his successor, Jacob Zuma. – a man who was once his closest comrade. Gevisser provides vital insight to the political crisis that has torn the ruling ANC apart, and assesses the prospects of South Africa under Zuma’s leadership.
A gripping social history of South Africa's past and future and beautifully narrated by one of Africa's most esteemed journalists, From Struggle to Liberation sheds light on the future of the nation under a new regime. With unprecedented access to Thabo Mbeki and the top brass in the African National Congress, Mark Gevisser weaves a nuanced portrait of the black experience under apartheid.
Reviews.
"probably the finest piece of non-fiction to come out of South Africa since the end of apartheid”
- Martin Plaut, Times Literary Supplement
“A Legacy of Liberation is memorable and definitive. Accompanying Mbeki on his life journey, Gevisser is both informative and moving, passionate and dispassionate... Obviously we cannot be brought to pardon or sympathise with Mbeki's estrangement from Mandela and his stance on Aids or on Zimbabwe, but Gevisser helps us to understand where they come from, and how – and why – he has developed such seemingly monstrous attitudes...Few books in recent years have managed to bring the reader to such a deep and disquieting understanding of Paton's ‘beloved country'.”
- Andre Brink, Daily Telegraph
“The best [of four new books about South Africa], Mark Gevisser's A Legacy of Liberation: Thabo Mbeki and the Future of the South African Dream seeks to understand how a man who came to power with so much goodwill behind him is today regarded with hostility... Gevisser carefully listens to his subject and those around him before artfully dissecting his thinking.”
- Chris McGreal, The Observer
“…essential reading for anyone intrigued by South Africa's complex philosopher-king.”
- The Economist
“An impressive feat of journalism...Gevisser writes well, particularly when he is witness to an event, when his narrative leaps off the page…offers some intriguing insights.”
- Suzanne Daley, New York Times Book Review
“An epic biography”
- Matthew Kaminski, The Wall Street Journal
“Gevisser, calling on a vast amount of research, is able to assemble a compelling explanation of this most impenetrable persona.”