Rating: 
Summary: Great Topic, but Something is missing
Review: I enjoyed the amazing scope of Desmond Tutu's thought process and his ability to commit it to paper; but sometimes I found exploring one thought from so many angles a little unnecessary. I also had trouble with the absence of enough Aparthied history to ensure complete comprehension by all readers of all ages. I longed for more explanation to help me get through this book and really appreciate what happened during Aparthied and in the aftermath for which the commission Tutu was a member was formed.
Rating: 
Summary: A message in morality for the next century.
Review: I interviewed Desmond Tutu in Atlanta just before the release of the book, which he wrote at the rate of one chapter a week; towards the end of the interview I asked him if he thought his prostate cancer had been either caused by or accelerated by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. So much horror, surely, needs an outlet? "Oh, yes," he said, as the warm rain cascaded down outside the studio, "it's had its effect all right. But I am still full of wonder. And I am so grateful that I have lived through it all." By this he means living through apartheid, preventing a necklacing-in-progress, welcoming Nelson Mandela on his first day out of 27 years' of incarceration, being one of the clerics to swear in South Africa's first democratically elected President - and marrying the 80 year-old man on his birthday. Tutu is a humble man, although he calls himself vain; the book displays little vanity. What it displays is a shining, unequivocal message for the next century: we need to search for a new worldwide morality, a new sense of ethics. If we don't, be sure that somewhere, another South Africa will emerge. He spares few people in this sometimes horrifying book: white South Africans who have not responded with generosity to the changes in the country, Nobel Peace Prize winner FW de Klerk, who instigated the change in South Africa; the generals of the past, the mean and the miserly. He sheds light on the behind the scenes tensions of the TRC, surely a microcosm of the new South Africa as it seeks to integrate. He reveals that he nearly resigned at one point; he explains his rage when the final report of the TRC was placed in jeopardy within hours of its release; how he fought to subdue his tears as horror story followed upon horror story. Of these, there are mercifully few in this book, although the voice of the victims shines through on page after page. They want so little, he explains, perhaps just a son's bones so they can be buried with honour. The book is one of massive integrity and a moral message for the future which is upon us.
Rating:
Summary: Walking the Road of Reconciliation
Review: No Future Without Forgiveness chronicles the path that South Africa walked after the election of Nelson Mandela and the end of the systematic apartheid. It was a time when so many people did not even know what had become of their loved ones, and they struggled with how to deal with their grief. They struggled with forgiveness, and they struggled with the connection between confession and truth and forgiveness and reconciliation. Yet in their terrible grief, they did not set up a war tribunal to prosecute, judge and punish those who committed these acts. Instead, they recognized a higher authority. They built a model based on the Christian principles of truth, confession and reconciliation. "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The government formed a Truth and Reconciliation Committee and said to those who committed these horrible acts, "Come and tell us the truth, and we will grant you amnesty and we will be reconciled so that we can heal."..."You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." Quite remarkable, right? This is an entire country carrying out the Christian model in the midst of horrendous grief.In his book, Desmond Tutu talks about this walk with the commission that he led. It's a remarkable story about a remarkable Christian witness. In my opinion, it's one of the most important books of the past century and one that everyone should read
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