For many of us, Nelson Mandela will always be the iconic elder statesman whose perseverance earned him the name "the Father of the Nation." David James Smith takes us deep into the heart of racist South Africa to paint a portrait of the Mandela that many have forgotten: the committed young revolutionary who left his family behind to live on the run, adopting false names and disguises and organizing the first strikes to overthrow the apartheid state.

"A vivid picture of South Africa under apartheid…. Mandela's flaws make him more fascinating, and his movement's ambiguities and conflicts map the crooked, hard-fought road that every freedom struggle must travel."—Boston Globe