Book review: External mission: the ANC in exile 1960-1990

"External Mission: The ANC in Exile 1960-1990." Stephen Ellis. Hurst & Company. November 2012. --- Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in February 1990 was one of the most memorable moments of recent decades. It came a few days after the removal of the ban on the African National Congress; founded a century ago and outlawed in 1960, it had transferred its headquarters abroad and opened what it termed an External Mission. For the thirty years following its banning, the ANC had fought relentlessly against the apartheid state. Finally voted into office in 1994, the ANC today regards its armed struggle as the central plank of its legitimacy. Emma Lundin is impressed by External Mission‘s study of the ANC’s period in exile.