In late 2007 the original edition of The Dream Deferred was published to extraordinary acclaim. The Times Literary Supplement of London described it as ‘probably the finest piece of non-fiction to come out of South Africa since the end of apartheid’, and it duly went on to win South Africa’s most prestigious literary prize, The Alan Paton Award, in July 2007.

Now Jonathan Ball Publishers is releasing the Updated and Abridged International Edition, in conjunction with Palgrave McMillan in the United States and United Kingdom. This shortened version – it is fewer than 400 pages - will expose a whole new readership to the writing of Mark Gevisser and the extraordinary story of Thabo Mbeki. Much has taken place since the release of the original edition, including the firing of President Thabo Mbeki. The new edition is completely updated to include the dramatic events that followed the ANC’s Polokwane conference in late 2007.

This book is a story about home and exile. It is a story, too, of political intrigue; of a revolutionary movement struggling first to defeat and then to seduce a powerful and callous enemy, of the battle between unity and discord, and the dogged rise to power of a quiet, clever, diligent but unpopular man who seemed to take little joy in power but have much need for it.’

About the author
Mark Gevisser was born in Johannesburg in 1964 and educated in the United States, at Yale University. His journalism has appeared in many publications and he has published two books. He is currently working on a new book The Second Transition, due for release in South Africa in October 2009.

R175 ♦ ISBN-13: 9781868423507 ♦ April 2009 ♦ Trade Paperback 372 pages ♦ Southern African ♦ Category: Biography