Pan Mac to publish sequel to Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom

Pan Macmillan is publishing Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years by Nelson Mandela and Mandla Langa on 19th October 2017.

The book, incuding a prologue by Mandela’s widow, Graça Machel, tells the story of Nelson Mandela’s presidency from 1994-1999.

It will draw heavily on the sequel to Long Walk to Freedom, which Mandela began writing in the last days of his presidency but was unable to finish. 

Pan Macmillan acquired the manuscript Mandela had been working on in 2015, at which time Machel said Mandela had wanted the book to be "a natural progression" from his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom (Abacus). 

South African writer Mandla Langa has written the book using this unfinished draft in conjunction with detailed notes that Mandela made as events were unfolding and a wealth of previously unseen archival material. According to Pan Macmillan, the result is "a vivid and inspirational account of Mandela’s presidency, a country in flux and the creation of a new democracy". It will tell the story of the transition from decades of apartheid rule and the challenges Mandela overcame to make a reality of his vision for a liberated South Africa.

The name of the book, Dare Not Linger, is derived from an extract in Long Walk to Freedom: "I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended."

The book will be published simultaneously in the United States by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and the agent is Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown. Translation rights have been sold to Rosinante in Denmark, Editions Plon in France, Quadriga in Germany, Feltrinelli in Italy, Uitgeverij Atlas Contact in The Netherlands, FYM Forlag in Norway, Marcador in Portugal, Aguilar in Spain and Volante in Sweden