Great Lives in Graphics: Mandela

Great Lives in Graphics has been created by Button Books' team of writers, editors, specialist historians and designers, who have collectively worked across a wide range of media including: books, magazines, newspaper, TV and radio. The design team have also worked for worldwide brands including: Nickelodeon, Penguin Books, Renault, MTV, Virgin and Levis.

• Introduction 2Timeline 4Story of South Africa 6Child Born to Rule 8Lifelong Learner 10Johannesberg 12Revolution 16 Freedom v Terrorist 18 Undercover 20Prison 22Invisible Ink 24Allies 26 Free at Last 28Did Next 30 Glossary 32

Books in graphic form are very popular so to have a biography of Nelson Mandela in this format, in this series, is most welcome. This book has over 250 facts about Mandela from his birth in 1918 to his death in 2013. It includes lesser-known facts, e.g. Nelson and his step-brother ran away to avoid arranged marriages, and whilst leader of the ANC Nelson operated undercover for 17 months even coming to London in disguise.As well as the biographical, this book also gives information on other revolutions and revolutionaries. There is also a double-page spread considering whether Mandela was a Freedom Fighter or a Terrorist, which could be the basis for an interesting discussion. There is a timeline of his life, and also the timetable of a typical day in prison. The variety of layouts, typographic styles and illustrations will make this very appealing to many readers.  It is a great book for browsing, but the lack of a contents’ or index page makes searching for specific information quite difficult. I recommend this book for upper KS2 and KS3, (age 9+).