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Rabble-Rouser for Peace
John Allen
The Authorized Biography of Desmond Tutu
Free Press
October 2006
On Sale: October 3, 2006
Featuring: Desmond Tutu
495 pages
ISBN: 0743269373
EAN: 9780743269377
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Biography
To be a rabble-rouser for peace may seem to be a
contradiction in terms. And yet it is the perfect
description for Desmond Tutu, Nobel laureate and spiritual
father of a democratic South Africa. Tutu understood that
justice -- a genuine regard for human rights -- is the only
real foundation for peace. And so he stirred up trouble,
courageously engaging in heated face-to-face confrontations
with South Africa's leaders; he stirred up trouble in the
streets, leading peaceful demonstrations amid the barely
controlled fury of police battalions; he stirred up trouble
on the world stage, seeking international disinvestment in
the apartheid economy. Tutu has led one of the great lives of the late twentieth
and early twenty-first centuries, and to read his story in
full is to be reminded of the power of one inspired man to
change history. In this authorized biography, written by
John Allen, a distinguished journalist and longtime
associate of Tutu, we are witnesses to courage, stirring
oratory, and a demonstration of the power of faith to
transform the seemingly intransigent. We know in retrospect that the apartheid resistance movement
was successful and that South Africa, though not without its
problems, today faces an infinitely brighter future than it
might if it had not been for the efforts of Desmond Tutu,
Nelson Mandela, and other leaders. But no such outcome was ever a certainty. Through the
author's personal experiences, total access to the Tutu
family and their papers, and considerable research,
including the use of new archival material, Allen tells the
story of a barefoot schoolboy from a deprived black township
who became an international symbol of the democratic spirit
and of religious faith. Allen personally observed how Tutu, at genuine risk to his
own safety, repeatedly intervened between armed soldiers and
stone-throwing students to keep the peace, how he faced
constant death threats and angrily stood up to the leaders
of the cruel apartheid system. Using his own faith as a
cudgel, Tutu asked those officials to confront their own
Christian background and made them reconcile their actions
with their own professions of belief. Often through the sheer power of moral example and with a
lyrical command of the English language, Tutu was able to
appeal to the conscience of the world and to the emotions of
an angry crowd in the streets. And then, when the battle for
South African rights was finally won, it was Tutu who
insisted on finding a path to forgive the former oppressors
by strongly backing and serving on the unprecedented Truth
and Reconciliation Commission. Today, the archbishop continues to appeal to the world's
conscience by opposing the continuance of war and the
inadequacy of the international response to the AIDS/HIV
crisis sweeping Africa. He has led a life of commitment, one
that continues to matter. John Allen has movingly captured the flavor and details of
that life and marshaled them into a commanding story, one
that sheds light on the struggles and triumphs of our times.
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