South Africa, World, General 

Robben Island – best known as the place where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for eighteen years – has been a place of harshness and brutality; its history steeped in the suffering of those banished there. Yet it has also become a universal symbol of hope, forgiveness, and triumph. With a storyteller’s sensibility, combined with rigorous research, Charlene Smith charts the evolution of the Island’s political and social history, from mail station, place of exile, and military defence post to maximum security prison and World Heritage Site. Fully revised, this new edition of Robben Island provides absorbing accounts of daring escapes, maritime disasters, lepers ostracized from mainland society, the fates of the great Xhosa chiefs of the nineteenth century, and the unique bonds of friendship and compassion forged among the political prisoners confined on the Island during the apartheid era. Today Robben Island is recognized for both its environmental riches and its cultural significance. More than just a geographical location or a tourist attraction, it is an enduring tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. Sobering and uplifting, Robben Island is an essential read for anyone interested in South Africa’s turbulent journey to democracy and the people who made it possible.REVIEWS Robben Island by Charlene Smith, who is a renowned writer and documenter of South Africa and other countries, is an inspiring story of this place of horrible imprisonment which became a symbol of hope after Nelson Mandela was released. This South African island, where Mandela was imprisoned for eighteen years, has been a mail station, a place of exile, a military defence post, and a maximum security prison and is now a World Heritage Site. The author has the gift of a story teller and she documents the sordid history of this once dreaded, brutal, and horrible place in stories of its inmates and how education helped transform them into successful citizens and world famous figures and leaders ultimately. It is a very inspiring and readable book, but it shows how cruel man can be to man. It also shows how the human spirit can rise above all things the body endures.Bonnie Neely, Amazon Top Reviewer, 2014/04/20 - from Amzon