Let This Preview of Mandela and the General Inspire You to Political Action

In case you somehow haven’t had your fill of politics today from stress-following the United States midterm elections, Paste has a special look at John Carlin and Oriol Malet’s Mandela and the General, a historical graphic novel from Plough Publishing about a narrowly avoided race war on the eve of South Africa’s first post-apartheid elections in 1994. Carlin is an acclaimed journalist—his book on Mandela was made into the film Invictus—and Malet perfectly captures the tension of the era with the studied eye of a political cartoonist or courtroom sketch artist. The concept of a racially divided nation on the brink of chaos right before an election is…timely, to say the least. The idea that men in power might actually work together for the greater good is, unfortunately, more difficult to believe in 2018. Still, students of history should appreciate this carefully considered snapshot of Mandela’s incredible life, which boasts praise from the likes of Jon Lee Anderson (Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life) and Andrew Aydin (March). Check out an exclusive preview of Malet’s interior art below, and be sure to pick up Mandela and the General this week.

Mandela and the General Cover Art by Oriol Malet

Mandela and the General
Writer: John Carlin
Artist: Oriol Malet
Publisher: Plough Publishing
(W) John Carlin (A) Oriol Malet
Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid hero and first leader of the new South Africa, is an international symbol of the power of a popular movement to fight structural racism. But that nonviolent struggle for equality very nearly spiraled into an all-out race war. As the first post-apartheid elections approach in 1994, with South African blacks poised to take power, the nation’s whites fear reprisal. White nationalist militias stand ready to fight to the death to defend their cause. They need someone who can lead and unite them. That man is General Constand Viljoen, former chief of apartheid South Africa’s military. Mandela knows that he can’t avert a bloodbath on his own. He will have to count on his archenemy. Can they trust each other? Can they keep their followers and radical fringe elements from acts of violence? The mettle of these two men will determine the future of a nation.

Mandela and the General Interior Art by Oriol Malet

Mandela and the General Interior Art by Oriol Malet

Mandela and the General Interior Art by Oriol Malet