Awards

• Commended for Benjamin Franklin Award (Graphic Novel) 2019

Overview

Will the freedom struggle end in a bloodbath? Only two men can avert it. Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid hero and first leader of the new South Africa, is an international symbol of the power of a popular movement to fight structural racism. But that nonviolent struggle for equality and justice very nearly spiraled into an all-out race war that would have only ended in 'the peace of graveyards.' As the first post-apartheid elections approach in 1994, with South African blacks poised to take power, the nation's whites fear reprisal. White nationalist militias claiming 50,000 well-armed former soldiers stand ready to fight to the death to defend their cause. They need someone who can lead and unite them. That man is General Constand Viljoen, former chief of apartheid South Africa's military. Mandela knows that he can't avert a bloodbath on his own. He will have to count on his archenemy. Throughout those historic months, the two men meet in secret. Can they trust each other? Can they keep their followers and radical fringe elements from acts of violence? The mettle of these two men will determine the future of a nation. The drama of this contest and the history that pivoted on it comes vividly to life in visual form. Veteran British journalist John Carlin teams up with Catalan artist Oriol Malet to create a historically and artistically rich graphic novel with obvious relevance to today's polarized politics.

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Reviews

What you wrote and the way in which you carried out your task in this country was absolutely magnificent . . . it was absolutely inspiring. You have been very courageous, saying things which many journalists would never say. --Nelson Mandela on the author's reporting in South Africa

John Carlin takes a novel approach to the true history of South Africa's struggles to end apartheid through the narrative of Constand Viljoen - general of the opposition to Nelson Mandela. It's an uncomfortable perspective to view an altruistic icon of change like Mandela through, but the overarching theme of this graphic novel is humanization. It's something people forget during conflict, but Carlin is unflinching in examining the truth and deftly uses his subject as the avatar of introspective change for a nation. A must-read in our current era of cultural conflict, Mandela and the General reminds us of what can be achieved when we view each other as human. --Kwanza Osajyefo, author of Black Comic books aren't just frivolous entertainment, but can be educational as well. The art by Oriol Malet has so much energy and beauty that it drew me in immediately; the scratchiness of his line work belies his skills as a master draftsman and storyteller. The story is incredibly engaging and well worth your time. --Jamal Igle, Molly Danger and Black What you wrote and the way in which you carried out your task in this country was absolutely magnificent . . . it was absolutely inspiring. You have been very courageous, saying things which many journalists would never say. --Nelson Mandela on the author's reporting in South Africa

Author Information

British journalist John Carlin is the author of Knowing Mandela and Playing the Enemy, which became the Clint Eastwood film Invictus with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. He is also the author of Chase Your Shadow: The Trials of Oscar Pistorius; Rafa: My Story, with Raphael Nadal; and White Angels: Beckham, Real Madrid, and the New Football. John Carlin was South Africa bureau chief for the Independent from 1989 to 1995. In a 1998 interview, Nelson Mandela said of Carlin’s journalism: “What you wrote and the way in which you carried out your task in this country was absolutely magnificent…it was absolutely inspiring. You have been very courageous, saying things which many journalists would never say.” Carlin has also written for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Times of London, Financial Times, Toronto Star, El Pais, Daily Telegraph, Observer; New Statesman, Wired, Spin, Conde Nast Traveler, Punch, New Statesman, New Republic, Time, and has reported for BBC, ABC, PBS, and CBS. Oriol Malet, a professional illustrator and musician, trained at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. His work has appeared in La Vanguardia, Jot Down, and Time Out.

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