The end of apartheid

This is an insider's blow-by-blow account of the release of Nelson Mandela and the dismantling of apartheid. As British ambassador to South Africa, Robin Renwick was in the midst of these seismic events in world history. Appointed to South Africa as Margaret Thatcher's envoy, Renwick became a personal friend of Nelson Mandela, F.W. de Klerk and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, acting as a trusted intermediary between the three parties. He paints a vivid portrait of Mandela - far wilier and a bit less saintly than others have portrayed him - describing his meetings with him immediately after his release, inviting him to his first meal in a restaurant in Johannesburg for 27 years, and rehearsing him for his meeting with Margaret Thatcher.