The State vs. Nelson Mandela

The Trial that Changed South Africa

On July 11, 1963, a seemingly harmless dry cleaning van drew up outside a rural farm near Johannesburg, South Africa. Within seconds, heavily armed police had burst out and arrested the entire high command of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). Together with the already imprisoned Nelson Mandela, they were put on trial and charged with conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government by violent revolution. Their expected punishment was death. In this compelling book, their defense attorney, Joel Joffe, gives a blow-by-blow account of the most important trial in South Africa’s history, vividly portraying the characters of those involved and exposing the astonishing bigotry and rampant discrimination faced by the accused, as well as showing their incredible courage under fire.