A Prisoner In The Garden

In 1977 the South African prison authorities allowed a number of journalists to visit Robben Island. On their tour, the journalists encountered a tall, then man dressed neatly in prison clothes and leaning on a spade. The expression on his face was intensely hostile and his hearing was more that of prince than prisoner. The man Nelson Mandela, in his 13th year of incarceration on Robben Island. Today the photograph, captioned 'A Prisoner Working in the Garden' by the prison authorities, forms the centrepiece of the Mandela Prison Archive which, when viewed as a whole, constitutes a living record of Mandel's more than 27 years in prison. It includes rare photographs and video footage, Mandela's handwritten letters to family, friends and the authorities, his personal diaries and notes, official records, medical records and legal documents. Together they form an extraordinary picture of prison life but, even more remarkably, of a man who, together with his close comrades, never gave up the fight for freedom and the vision of a liberated country. The Nelson Mandela Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded by Nelson Mandela and dedicated to promoting its founder's legacy. The Foundation, through its Centre of Memory, develops and integrated information resource on the life and times of Nelson Mandela and convenes dialogues on critical social issues. The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory was launched by Mr Mandela in 2004. Its vision is of a society which remembers its past, listens to all of its voices, and pursues social justice. A Prisoner Working in the Gardenwas the first of a series of publications dedicated to enriching social memory through the opening and dissemination of unique archival materials. 'Anyone who has explored the world of archives will know that it is a treasure house, one that is full of surprises, crossing paths, dead ends, painful reminders and unanswered questions . . . The experience of looking at my prison archive has been a personal one for me. Readers are invited to share in it.' Nelson Mandela

A visual documentary of Mandela's twenty-seven years in prison on Robben Island, using images, documents, and diary and letter extracts.

This extraordinary, visual journey documents Nelson Mandela's 27 years in prison on Robben Island and contains previously unpublished images, documents, and diary and letter excerpts, as well as some original notes from the writing of Mandela's bestselling autobiography, "A Long Walk to Freedom."

This is the first comprehensive guide to in-prison and post-release horticultural training programs. James Jiler combines an engaging personal account of running a highly successful horticultural vocation program at the largest jail complex in the United States with a practical guide to starting and managing prison and re-entry gardening programs. James Jiler directs the Greenhouse Project for male and female inmates at New York City's Rikers Island jail system. He also directs the GreenTeam of ex-offenders, who work on landscape-related projects throughout New York State. Jiler's humor and heartfelt stories about prison community and clear explanations of what works broaden this book's appeal to social activists, educators, and those involved with at-risk populations and community gardens.

“Heartbreaking and inspiring,” Nelson Mandela’s Prison Letters reveals his evolution “into one of the great moral heroes of our time” (New York Times). First published to mark the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela sparked celebrations around the globe for one of the “greatest warriors of all time” (O, The Oprah Magazine). Featuring 94 letters selected from that landmark collection, as well as six new letters that have never been published, this historic paperback provides an essential political history of the late twentieth century and illustrates how Mandela maintained his inner spirit while imprisoned. Whether they’re longing love letters to his wife, Winnie; heartrending notes to his beloved children; or articulations of a human-rights philosophy that resonates today, these letters reveal the heroism of a man who refused to compromise his moral values in the face of extraordinary human punishment, invoking a “story beyond their own words” (New York Times). This new paperback edition—essential for any literature lover, political activist, and student—positions Mandela among the most inspiring historical figures of the twentieth century.

The book that inspired the major new motion picture Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's antiapartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. He is revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality. LONG WALK TO FREEDOM is his moving and exhilarating autobiography, destined to take its place among the finest memoirs of history's greatest figures. Here for the first time, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela tells the extraordinary story of his life--an epic of struggle, setback, renewed hope, and ultimate triumph.

This “elegant and haunting novel of war, art and memory" (The Independent) award-winning novel from the acclaimed author of The Gift of Rain follows the only Malaysian survivor of a Japanese wartime camp as she begins working for an exiled former gardener of the Emporer. Malaya, 1951. Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice "until the monsoon comes." Then she can design a garden for herself. As the months pass, Yun Ling finds herself intimately drawn to the gardener and his art, while all around them a communist guerilla war rages. But the Garden of Evening Mists remains a place of mystery. Who is Aritomo and how did he come to leave Japan? And is the real story of how Yun Ling managed to survive the war perhaps the darkest secret of all?

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