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the prison letters
of
nelson mandela
sahm venter
liveright
by paulo sérgio Gomes
A
s Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter Zamaswazi
asks himself, “how could he survive twenty-
seven years in prison?” Through the reading of
this compilation of Mandela’s letters, written during his
time in prison, we can better understand what helped him
carry on. Throughout that time, Mandela made a copy
of every letter he sent in his notebooks, leaving us with
a precious collection now available in this new edition.
The reading of these letters leads
the reader here and there throughout
the menacing Robben Island prison,
where there were no white inmates;
28 ISSUE #9
where food rations were limited
and mediocre, and where climate
conditions were extreme. Its system
of forced labor was brutal, and the