After serving 27 years of a lifetime sentence for conspiring to overthrow South Africa's apartheid government, Nelson Mandela emerged to become both the catalyst and the symbol of post-apartheid South Africa. He served as the country's first black president and has since been internationally acclaimed as a powerful and vigilant humanitarian. A personal tribute to one of the iconic figures of our time, 'Knowing Mandela' is written by the John Carlin, the acclaimed South African correspondent and author.