He collaborated on Mandela's memoirs and offers here an insightful analysis
of the traits of character that are rooted in Mandela's "royal" upbringing. He
also discusses the shock and affront of apartheid Johannesburg for the young
Mandela when he first arrived in that city. And he describes how Mandela was
both a country bumpkin and a dandy in those early years.
He describes his happy boyhood in the village of Qunu and its life of
custom, ritual and taboo. Those who have studied his life feel Mandela's
grounded sense of himself comes from this African heritage; that his
relationship to power today can be traced to these roots in a traditional
society and his understanding of tribal leadership.
The old Madiba chiefs still remember Mandela as a young boy whose values
and attitudes were shaped by tradition and royal prerogative.
A longtime friend and ANC associate, Matthews recounts his early
impressions of the tall, strikingly well-dressed, young Mandela at the
University College of Fort Hare.
| 
