The State vs. Nelson Mandela: The Trial that Changed South Africa - Softcover

Joffe, Joel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 178074580X ISBN 13: 9781780745800

Publisher: Oneworld Publications, 2014

Synopsis

The only account of this seminal trial, written by Mandela’s defence lawyer and with a new foreword by Denis Goldberg, accused alongside Mandela and sentenced to life imprisonment.

On 11 July 1963, police raided Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia near Johannesburg, arresting alleged members of the high command of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). Together with the already imprisoned Nelson Mandela, they were put on trial and charged with conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government by violent revolution. Their expected punishment was death. In this compelling book, their defence attorney, Joel Joffe, gives a blow-by-blow account of the most important trial in South Africa’s history, vividly portraying the characters of those involved, and exposing the astonishing bigotry and rampant discrimination faced by the accused, as well as showing their incredible courage under fire.

About this title

About the Author

Lord Joel Joffe CBE is a crossbench peer in the House of Lords. He has previously served as Chairperson of Oxfam and worked as a human-rights lawyer.

From the Back Cover

Back Cover:

"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die"
Nelson Mandela, The Rivonia Trial, 1964

"A remarkable piece of contemporary historical writing that will serve as one of the most reliable sources for understanding what happened at that trial and how we came to live to see democracy triumph in South Africa."
Nelson Mandela – Nobel Prize winner and former president of South Africa

"Everyone interested in Nelson Mandela’s life and South Africa’s transition to democracy should read this book."
Arthur Chaskalson – Chief Justice of South Africa, 2001-2005

"A hard-hitting and compulsively readable account of one of the great state trials of the 20th century."
Sir Sydney Kentridge QC – former acting judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and recipient of the "Lifetime Achievement" award at the UK Chambers Bar Awards 2006.


Inside Left (Front) Flap:

On 11 July 1963, police raided Lilisleaf farm at Rivonia near Johannesburg, arresting alleged members of the high command of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). Together with the already imprisoned Nelson Mandela, they were put on trial and charged with conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government by violent revolution. Their expected punishment was death.

In this compelling book, their defence attorney, Joel Joffe, gives a blow-by-blow account of the most important trial in South Africa’s history, vividly portraying the characters of those involved, and exposing the astonishing bigotry and rampant discrimination faced by the accused, as well as showing their incredible courage under fire.

Inside Right Flap (Back):

Lord Joel Joffe CBE is a crossbench peer in the House of Lords. He has previously served as Chairperson of Oxfam and worked as a human-rights lawyer in South Africa.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oneworld Publications
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 178074580X
• ISBN 13: 9781780745800
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 312