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April 20 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
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A Virtual Evening with Justice Malala
Books & Books presents…
A Virtual Evening with
JUSTICE MALALA
in conversation with
Jonathan Eig
discussing
The Plot to Save South Africa: The Week Mandela Averted Civil War and Forged a New Nation
(Simon & Schuster, $28.99)
Thursday, April 20th, 2023, 7 PM ET
REGISTER HERE
Books & Books is thrilled to present an evening with Justice Malala and Jonathan Eig discussing The Plot to Save South Africa: The Week Mandela Averted Civil War and Forged a New Nation (Simon & Schuster, 28.99).
About the Book:
A riveting, kaleidoscopic account of nine days in the life of a country on the edge, as the assassination of Nelson Mandela’s protégé by a white supremacist threatens to derail South Africa’s democratic transition and plunge the nation into civil war. Acclaimed South African journalist Justice Malala recounts this gripping story, as the government and Mandela’s ANC seek desperately to restore the peace and root out just how far up into the country’s leadership the far-right plot goes. Told from the points of view of over a dozen characters on all sides of the conflict, Malala offers an illuminating look at successful leadership in action and a terrifying reminder of just how close a country we think of today as a model for racial reconciliation came to civil war.
A PERSONAL CONNECTION: Justice Malala was a twenty-two-year-old intern at South Africa’s largest paper on the day Chris Hani was killed–and with his bosses all away for the Easter holiday, he was the one who rushed to the crime scene. In The Plot to Save South Africa, he combines original reporting with key figures on all sides of the conflict, archival research, and his own memories into a thrilling, definitive story timed to the 30th anniversary of the assassination.
A MASTERCLASS IN LEADERSHIP: With polarization at an all-time high, this revelatory look at how fierce rivals Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk came together to lead their country through a devastating crisis could not be more timely. And with a member of parliament ultimately jailed for his role in plotting the assassination, The Plot to Save South Africa offers an alarming peek into just how far members of government might be willing to go to destroy democracy.
“This is a dramatic work of history, prodigiously reported and beautifully crafted. Justice Malala is a first-rate storyteller, deftly weaving history with a narrative that reads like a novel. I couldn’t put it down.”
—Jonathan Eig, New York Times bestselling author of Ali: A Life
“Fast-paced, gripping, and expertly crafted, this book reads like a political thriller. A brilliant, moving, and extraordinary account of nine days that shaped a country and a continent, with the entire world looking on.”
—Toluse Olorunnipa, coauthor of His Name Is George Floyd
BUY THE BOOK
About the Author:
Justice Malala is one of South Africa’s foremost political commentators and the author of the #1 bestseller We Have Now Begun Our Descent: How to Stop South Africa Losing its Way. A longtime weekly columnist for The Times (South Africa), his work has also appeared in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and Financial Times, among other outlets. The former publisher of The Sowetan and Sunday World, he now lives in Los Angeles.
About the Moderator:
Jonathan Eig is the best-selling author of Ali: A Life, which won a PEN Literary Award, as well as five other books. His new book, King: A Life, which will be released in May, has been hailed by The New York Times as a “landmark biography” and a “monumental work” that presents Martin Luther King Jr. “as a complex, humane figure.”