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Mandela: An Audio History
Recognized as one of the most comprehensive oral histories of apartheid ever broadcast (NPR, BBC, CBC, SABC), " Mandela: An Audio History" tells the story of the struggle against apartheid through rare sound recordings. The series weaves together more than 50 first-person interviews with an unprecedented collection of archival sound: a rare recording of the 1964 trial that resulted in Mandela s life sentence; a visit between Mandela and his family secretly taped by a prison guard; marching songs of guerilla soldiers; government propaganda films; and pirate radio broadcasts from the African National Congress (ANC). Once thought lost forever, Radio Diaries producer Joe Richman unearthed a treasure trove of these historic recordings in the basement archive of the South African Broadcasting Corporation. Ultimately, over 50 hours of archival recordings and many more hours of contemporary interviews with the living witnesses to South Africa s turbulent history have gone into the creation of one of the most moving audio documentaries ever produced.
Includes a commemorative 32-page booklet featuring historic photos and a complete transcript of the audio program."
Includes a commemorative 32-page booklet featuring historic photos and a complete transcript of the audio program."
2 pages, Audio CD
First published February 19, 2014
1 person is currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Desmond Tutu
266 books532 followersDesmond Mpilo Tutu was a South African cleric and activist who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. In 1984, Tutu became the second South African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Tutu was the first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa). Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and is currently the chairman of The Elders. Tutu was vocal in his defense of human rights and used his high profile to campaign for the oppressed. Tutu also campaigned to fight AIDS, homophobia, poverty and racism.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Tutu has also compiled several books of his speeches and sayings.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Tutu has also compiled several books of his speeches and sayings.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
January 11, 2016
Read Harder Challenge 2016:
9. Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award
21. Read a book about politics, in your country or another (fiction or non-fiction)
What intrigued me: In 2015 Mandela: An Audio History won the Audio Book of the Year and Original Work Audie Awards. Why not go with the best?
What I liked: Listening to these original interviews and recordings is amazingly powerful. I also really liked how the music was tied into the story telling, and the overlapping audio gave the interviews a stronger sense of the emotional weight.
What I didn't like: This book is only 1 hour and 17 minutes. I've never been one to complain about a work being too short, but could have listened for ages. I think that with a little more time they could have introduced the speakers more, and provided a more cohesive narrative.
Favorite quote: "You can't really be proud of yourself if you don't know your history."
9. Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award
21. Read a book about politics, in your country or another (fiction or non-fiction)
What intrigued me: In 2015 Mandela: An Audio History won the Audio Book of the Year and Original Work Audie Awards. Why not go with the best?
What I liked: Listening to these original interviews and recordings is amazingly powerful. I also really liked how the music was tied into the story telling, and the overlapping audio gave the interviews a stronger sense of the emotional weight.
What I didn't like: This book is only 1 hour and 17 minutes. I've never been one to complain about a work being too short, but could have listened for ages. I think that with a little more time they could have introduced the speakers more, and provided a more cohesive narrative.
Favorite quote: "You can't really be proud of yourself if you don't know your history."
September 13, 2018
Audible. Very cool audio documentary with speeches, newscasts, and interviews from pre and post Apartheid. Hearing Nelson Mandela in trial before his impending 27 year imprisonment was incredible—especially as he states his willingness to die for the ideas of freedom & democracy.
December 3, 2020
After finishing Born a crime i was inspired to learn more about South African history, and stumbled upon this audiobook. It was short, but you could grasp the idea of apartheid, and how it came to crumble. It is very tragic to learn that school kids demonstrating in peace to protest the use of only Afrikaans language at school, were met with violent opposition from the apartheid government. Hundreds injured, many dead, but this was the trigger for more determined than ever generation/youth to fight for their human rights and freedom. Standing ovation to school kids and their bold and brave ambition to be the owners of their own land!
April 4, 2018
3-3.5 stars
More depth & details would've been appreciated.
More depth & details would've been appreciated.
April 8, 2014
Mandela: An Audio History is a brief overview of Mandela's freedom fight. For those who are not familiar with Mandela's story this audio is a very brief overview (1 hour, 15 minutes). It highlights moments and events that can whet the appetite and give a glimpse into the history of South Africa. I would recommend this piece to teens, young adults, and adults. It would be a great accompanying piece for a unit study on South Africa, Mandela, or apartheid.
What I enjoyed most about this commemorative edition was the depth of audio achieved in an hour and fifteen minutes. The layers are astounding! In just over an hour, listeners can hear interviews, speeches, radio and television reports, and singing. I can only imagine the length of time editing this CD.
Another interesting side feature was investigating "Radio Diaries" on the back of the CD case. Are there more diaries available? Who do they include? Did HighBridge publish them all? What an amazing find! I would encourage you to check out www.radiodiaries.org. Radio Diaries are "Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary Life" and the creators have collected all sorts of stories that can be heard (for free) online! I cannot wait to explore more Radio Diaries!
Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, HighBridge Audio!
What I enjoyed most about this commemorative edition was the depth of audio achieved in an hour and fifteen minutes. The layers are astounding! In just over an hour, listeners can hear interviews, speeches, radio and television reports, and singing. I can only imagine the length of time editing this CD.
Another interesting side feature was investigating "Radio Diaries" on the back of the CD case. Are there more diaries available? Who do they include? Did HighBridge publish them all? What an amazing find! I would encourage you to check out www.radiodiaries.org. Radio Diaries are "Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary Life" and the creators have collected all sorts of stories that can be heard (for free) online! I cannot wait to explore more Radio Diaries!
Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, HighBridge Audio!
April 1, 2016
This is a well put together audio history, involving the voices of those who lived at this time and the music inspired by the movement. It includes many audio primary sources of speeches and events. My only complaint is that it was too short. As both a student and a teacher of African history, I wanted to go more in-depth into this story. At just over an hour, it is a great primer for anyone wanting to learn more about the struggle against Apartheid. This is a quality production.
August 31, 2015
Só tem um defeito: é demasiado pequeno. De resto, vale cada uma das 5 estreluscas.
August 2, 2016
An audio recording, not a book. Great information!
August 6, 2016
Very short (one hour 15 minutes to listen to it), but this audiobook captures invaluable first hand accounts of the anti-apartheid movement. Really amazing stuff.
September 26, 2020
i rated this 5 stars because it was educational & concise, but had i known more about south africa & its apartheid then it would've been 4 stars give or take 1 star because the description doesn't match the content. it's a starter's guide basically, uses a lot of media clippings, probably was a tv program originally. they talk over mandela's bit at the very beginning, which sucks. however, i've barely known anything, so this educated me a lot.
i'm pretty sure at least 1 or 2 people in my family would've known about mandela & the horrors he was fighting. this was only an hour long without any speed-ups. the south african accent i struggled to understand so i had to slow it down closer to 1x speed a lot.
learning about apartheid is probably a must for usamericans because it helps explain anti-racism activism, tactics, & what kinds of hell the white nationalists/supremacists/separatists coalition have in store against us.
apartheid makes kent state look like child's play, it makes these protests look like child's play. makes horror movies like the hunger games & the purge etc look like child's play. there are usamerican precedents such as sunset towns & pogroms against black people & first nations. seriously, listening to the white nationalist bias in reporting on non-white south africans was like hearing shit from breitbart etc. if you want to learn what dogwhistles the white-racism-coalition uses, then i highly recommend studying south africa, because omg they were brazen.
in fact, it makes the idea of inevitability look like a fantasy. you gotta get shit done. it should make you feel very wary of people who take progress for granted. this book however doesn't cover the movement under mandela except for parts that got media coverage. however, it says that mandela did organizing thru the quarry prison camps.
another thing i learned is that entire classes of children failed when the apatheid country switched to an afrikaans only language instruction. this partly explains why they have 11 official languages.
it also says that the judge gave mercy from the death penalty, and the rejoicement shown in the audiobook was shocking & horrifying because apparently the people understood life in prison to be mundane, like the base level of what their everyday lives were. so i need to investigate what political pressures the judge was responding to.
also that being said, mandela's post-prison feeling feels like the betrayal of obama & south africa is still severely white supremacist if not white nationalist. the whites still got the riches, the media, the jobs. so yeah, apartheid is an important thing to study.
i'm pretty sure at least 1 or 2 people in my family would've known about mandela & the horrors he was fighting. this was only an hour long without any speed-ups. the south african accent i struggled to understand so i had to slow it down closer to 1x speed a lot.
learning about apartheid is probably a must for usamericans because it helps explain anti-racism activism, tactics, & what kinds of hell the white nationalists/supremacists/separatists coalition have in store against us.
apartheid makes kent state look like child's play, it makes these protests look like child's play. makes horror movies like the hunger games & the purge etc look like child's play. there are usamerican precedents such as sunset towns & pogroms against black people & first nations. seriously, listening to the white nationalist bias in reporting on non-white south africans was like hearing shit from breitbart etc. if you want to learn what dogwhistles the white-racism-coalition uses, then i highly recommend studying south africa, because omg they were brazen.
in fact, it makes the idea of inevitability look like a fantasy. you gotta get shit done. it should make you feel very wary of people who take progress for granted. this book however doesn't cover the movement under mandela except for parts that got media coverage. however, it says that mandela did organizing thru the quarry prison camps.
another thing i learned is that entire classes of children failed when the apatheid country switched to an afrikaans only language instruction. this partly explains why they have 11 official languages.
it also says that the judge gave mercy from the death penalty, and the rejoicement shown in the audiobook was shocking & horrifying because apparently the people understood life in prison to be mundane, like the base level of what their everyday lives were. so i need to investigate what political pressures the judge was responding to.
also that being said, mandela's post-prison feeling feels like the betrayal of obama & south africa is still severely white supremacist if not white nationalist. the whites still got the riches, the media, the jobs. so yeah, apartheid is an important thing to study.
November 11, 2025
This fits on one audio CD, so it's pretty short. What makes it kind of cool is that it's an assembled collection of one hundred plus audio clips, consisting of interviews, news broadcasts, testimonies, and so on. The thing it tries to do is educate those with only a cursory knowledge of the fight against apartheid. It begins when Mandela was a young lawyer, covers his incarceration, and eventually his release and election. I've had some experience in news radio, and I still remember long afternoons of editing the morning's interviews into clips and soundbites. I can only imagine how long it must have taken to put this whole thing together. I found what Bishop Tutu said enlightening. In fact, unless you've already read up on the topic, I think there's a good chance you'll learn something new. While it can be intense and angering, it should be safe for kids in middle school and older.
August 2, 2017
from Audible a year ago?
This was a cool piece of history. Real life interviews and recordings from apartheid really brought the story/history to life. It wasn't very long but the stories shared were poignant and moving.
Summary: One of the most comprehensive oral histories of apartheid, 'Mandela: An Audio History' tells the story of the struggle against apartheid. It weaves together more than 50 first-person interviews with an unprecedented collection of archival sound: a rare recording of the 1964 trial that resulted in Mandela's life sentence; a visit between Mandela and his family secretly taped by a prison guard; and pirate radio broadcasts from the African National Congress.
This was a cool piece of history. Real life interviews and recordings from apartheid really brought the story/history to life. It wasn't very long but the stories shared were poignant and moving.
Summary: One of the most comprehensive oral histories of apartheid, 'Mandela: An Audio History' tells the story of the struggle against apartheid. It weaves together more than 50 first-person interviews with an unprecedented collection of archival sound: a rare recording of the 1964 trial that resulted in Mandela's life sentence; a visit between Mandela and his family secretly taped by a prison guard; and pirate radio broadcasts from the African National Congress.
September 2, 2018
I had very little knowledge about the South African Apartheid prior to listening to this moving, thoughtful, and concise history. It is rare for me to so highly rate something that has no aspect of comedy about it, but it would not be fitting for this to be comedic, and it is fantastic without it. This is one of those stories that makes you reflect on what our world is and what we need to do to improve.
At this time in my life, I only have time for 3 sentence or less reviews! Better 3 sentences than nothing though, which is the alternative.
At this time in my life, I only have time for 3 sentence or less reviews! Better 3 sentences than nothing though, which is the alternative.
March 16, 2018
Thank you AudioBookSync.com for giving this Audio book away for free during your YA Summer program.
This recording was amazing with original recorded conversations from history summarizing Mandela's life and the political struggles of South Africa...
Powerful and Emotional...
Definitely recommended - Happy Listening.
This recording was amazing with original recorded conversations from history summarizing Mandela's life and the political struggles of South Africa...
Powerful and Emotional...
Definitely recommended - Happy Listening.
July 14, 2018
A wonderful audio documentary that allows the listener to feel more present to the historic battle of Nelson Mandela and the ANC against South Africa's racist apartheid policies. While short and perhaps a bit confusing if you do not already know the outlines of this history, it is nonetheless moving and inspiring.
December 19, 2020
This collection of speeches, radio interviews, and court recordings from the early days of apartheid resistance through Nelson’s Mandela’s inauguration is a treasure. It’s very quick, but provides a nice intro/overview to apartheid’s rise and fall, in the recorded words of the people who lived it. Definitely makes me want to read more.
July 30, 2022
This was a very good history of South Africa and their president Nelson Mandela. Some of the recordings were a little had to understand. Many recording were destroyed so the story tellers used what they could. This should be a warning to us all of the danger of Chistian nationalism. Christians must remember the words of Christ, His kingdom is not of this world.
August 7, 2018
The first that I heard of Nelson Mandela was on The Cosby Show when the twins were named Nelson and Winnie. That was 30 some years ago. This quickie (the electricity had gone off and I was able to listen to this then) brought me up-to-date.
August 3, 2017
Super interesting and great way to share history. Would make a good introduction for HS.
September 7, 2017
Mandala's speeches, interlinked with South African music and commentary by Desmond Tutu, are inspiring , to say the least. It's only a bit over an hour long, so you can easily listen in one setting!
November 17, 2017
A well narrated introduction to Apartheid and Mandela's role in the struggle to end it. Only 75 minutes, it is well worth your time.
January 30, 2018
The combination of commentary, recordings, and reflections about Nelson Mandela brought his life and times alive to me.
July 28, 2018
Excellent short narrative.
December 16, 2018
It was a nice short history of Apartheid. I learned some new things.
January 11, 2019
If I could give it more stars, I would! Excellent audio history. My only criticism is that it should be longer!
January 4, 2021
Mandela was what everyone thought he was, truly great Madiba. Worthy of respect in every way.
Ps: People of South Africa called him Madiba which means father of nation in Xhosa tribial language .
Ps: People of South Africa called him Madiba which means father of nation in Xhosa tribial language .
February 23, 2021
Breaking down this already fairly short audiobook into chapters help made this very accessible even for younger readers.
August 27, 2021
Too short to be rated higher, but a well-produced introduction.
March 31, 2022
Short yet immersive history of apartheid and Mandela's role in breaking it. Good overview of both sides
July 29, 2022
Nicely produced.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews