Long Walk to Freedom
By Nelson Mandela

This story of Mandela's life is incredibly engrossing. As he recounts those 27 years in prison on Robben Island, what struck me is how someone can go through all this and maintain a sense of peace and equanimity even toward the people who put him there. One passage in the last chapter shocked me: "My commitment to my people, to the millions of South Africans I would never know or meet, was at the expense of the people I knew best and loved most." Despite all the great things he did, he's aware of his own failings—that he was not the father he should have been. I think we are blessed to live during the time that he is alive.