Secret Revolution: Memoirs of a spy boss, Paperback

In the murky world of espionage few rules apply. Everything is permitted in the name of state security - even talking to the country's Enemy No. 1. This is exactly what Niël Barnard, then head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), did in the late 1980s, conducting top-secret talks with Nelson Mandela in prison - the precursor to Mandela's release and the democratic elections. The book also sheds light on the daily lives of spies during NIS's heyday in the 1980s and contains several revelations about the organisation's accomplishments.

About author(s):Niël Barnard was the head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and right-hand man to prime minister PW Botha during the 1980s. In 1988 and 1989 he had a series of secret talks with Nelson Mandela who was at that point still imprisoned. These talks laid the foundation for Mandela's release in 1990, the unbanning of the ANC and the political transformation that followed it. As director general of the department of constitutional development in the early 1990s, Barnard played a key role in the negotiations for a democratic South Africa and in drawing up our Constitution.