Young Mandela

Journalist and true crime author Smith (www.davidjamessmith.net) recounts the early life of the titular first black president of South Africa, carefully and skillfully weaving together evidence of Mandela's all-too-human flaws with accounts of his political acumen and revolutionary struggle against apartheid. Narrator Allyson Johnson's (www.allysonvoice.com) pronunciations of the numerous names and locales are flawless, though the account's often nonlinear progression makes it at times difficult to follow the many characters and their actions. Young Mandela will appeal to anyone wanting to learn more about the real man behind the legend, though some listeners may get a bit bogged down in all the minutiae. ["Not a hagiography but a detailed and multidimensional portrait," read the review of the Little, Brown hc, LJ Xpress Reviews, 12/17/10.—Ed.]—Valerie Piechocki, Prince George's Cty. Lib., Largo, MD