Christo Brand was Nelson Mandela’s prison guard — first during his 13-year confinement at the infamous Robben Island and then at Pollsmoor prison. Such was Mandela’s charm that Brand started to regard his prisoner in a ‘fatherly light’. For the Afrikaner administration in South Africa, Mandela was the face of the enemy. Yet, it was hard not to succumb to his charms. This book is, in large part, about Mandela the charming manipulator. Like Brand, many fell for his infectious charm.
(This story appears in the 19 March, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)