There is little doubt in my mind that history will record the great good men of this century with a list headed by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Caesar Chavez and Nelson Mendela.

It is Mandela with whom I am now absorbed, having read Anthony Sampson's memorizing, illuminating and fascinating biography, simply titled MANDELA, published by Knopf.

First, let me note that if you are looking for a holiday gift for someone with a passion for history and/or justice, you will succeed with Sampson's MANDELA, a biography thats very content captures the scope of this century.

Let me give you some perspectives about this man and his authorized biography. While reading it, I was reminded of some criticism he and his political party, the African National Congress, received on these shores while he was enduring nearly three decades of imprisonment for his tenacious opposition to apartheid. I reflect on how we smugly appoint heroic status on our forefathers, who revolted violently against British oppression. That Mandela and the ANC achieved a political transition without armed revolution against one of the most oppressive regimes in history is miraculous.

Arrogant white supremacists could never imagine what would take place. Margaret Thatcher, in the early 1990s, is quoted as saying "Anyone who thought the ANC was ever going to form the government of South Africa was living in cloud cuckoo land." Mrs. Thatcher and her opposition to the ANC - America's Ronald Reagan pathetically trailing on her heels - was a political miscalculation formed on blatant racism.

Mr. Sampson's book reveals how pathetic the media was in covering South Africa's development. For example, we were well aware of protest violence, but there was virtually no information about the training and supply of arms to some Zulu groups, provided by Afrikaner government agents, which gave the impetus for armed conflicts.

Winnie Mandela's transgressions, political and personal, were reported with Winchell-like enthusiasm here, but I never knew that Minster F.W. DeKlerk fell in love with a friend's wife and divorced his own spouse at the same time Mandela's home life was being blatantly chronicled.

The media focused enormous attention on the Nobel Prize being awarded jointly, and foolishly, to DeKlerk and Mandela. The ceremonial folly received world wide attention, because our press thrives on celebrity and confrontation. As horrendously absurd it was to name DeKlerk a co-recipient, it was an asterisk in the historical drama of South Africa's transition.

And throughout the years, ANC's struggle was branded because of our obsession with Communism. We were blinded by the reality of Mandela and the ANC's plight because of our single-mindedness about the Red Menace. Our government and the western press had to be convinced of the evils of apartheid.

What does come through clearly is that the people of South Africa - all of the people - were blessed to have a man of Nelson Mandela's great gifts at this time. He constantly shares credit with lesser known colleagues in the struggle, men and women who resisted the century long exclusion and brutality of racism, which led to the incarceration of many. But without Mandela's integrity, intelligence and bravery, history might not have recorded this great political metamorphosis.

The extraordinary thing about this man, and a lesson which many will argue against, was that he offered the finest demonstration of Gandhism with his policy of forgiveness.

In this century, politicians have operated with an unstated motto of "We don't get mad, we get even."

Think of the implications of a man freed from bondage after nearly three decades, who doesn't try to get even, but rather suggests forgiveness. This is not a man who was slighted or insulted or challenged as most political leaders are. Mandella was imprisoned for his beliefs. He was labeled a criminal because of his advocacy for justice and fairness..

If politics was a religion, he would be sainted.

On the day of his release from prison, I, with millions of others around the world, cheered and gave my version of prayer. It is one of the most memorable moments of this century.

This book will give you an even greater understanding of Nelson Mandela.

(Let me add that on Christmas morning, I am going to read the chapter from the book titled "Forgiving." I can think of little else which captures the spirit of what that day should be.)