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Article: 'Tis in few words, but spacious in effect.(FEATURES)(BOOKS)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- November 7, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Thomas D'Evelyn
During his years in prison on Robben Island, Nelson Mandela and his fellow prisoners found a common ground in Shakespeare. One of them kept a copy of the Bard's works on his shelf disguised by Indian religious pictures. He circulated it and asked the inmates to autograph favorite passages.
In December, 1977, Mandela wrote his name in the margin next Julius Caesar's speech: "Cowards die many times before their deaths;/ The valiant never taste of death but once."
That's one of the many priceless things in John Gross's unique new anthology, "After Shakespeare."
"No writer has served as such a powerful source of ...