The inside story of South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, told through the experiences of one of its unsung heroes, with an introduction by Nelson Mandela
A South African of Indian descent, Mac Maharaj was a potent force in the Communist Party and African National Congress for nearly four decades. Tortured by South African security forces, he served twelve years in prison with Nelson Mandela and was able to smuggle out a painstakingly miniaturized copy of Mandela’s autobiography. He continued to play a key role in the movement and participated in the negotiations that ultimately led to a free South Africa in 1994. In Mandela’s new government, he served as minister of transport. Drawing on extensive interviews with Maharaj over the last eleven years, Padraig O’Malley vividly captures the experiences of this South African freedom fighter. By telling Maharaj’s story, O’Malley sheds new light on the decades-long battle against apartheid as well as the more recent struggle to build a free South Africa.
“[Shades of Difference] is exactly what O’Malley set out to achieve: ‘a portrait of Mac and of South Africa.’ It is a striking success.” —The New York Times Book Review
“[O’Malley] is knowledgeable and sure-footed as he recounts this story . . . making a complex narrative on the whole quite clear.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“A groundbreaking biography of a central figure in the fight to end South African apartheid.” —Publishers Weekly
