History and H2 to Honor Nelson Mandela

HISTORY® will encore MIRACLE RISING: SOUTH Africa in memory of Nelson Mandela on Friday, December 6, at 5PM ET/PT and on Sunday, December 8 at 5PM ET on H2. The special is also streaming on HISTORY.com/Mandela.

MIRACLE RISING: SOUTH Africa tells the remarkable story of South Africa's political transformation that culminated in the first free and fair elections in April 1994. Narrated through personal and intimate accounts from world leaders, politicians, celebrities and journalists, this thought-provoking documentary reflects on South Africa's very own 'Miracle' - the inspiring story of a journey from apartheid to democracy.

MIRACLE RISING: SOUTH Africa is a moving testament to the choices of people, both ordinary and iconic, where the human capacity to find compassion enabled a nation to avoid civil war and reach forgiveness for the greater good. Set against the backdrop of the majestic African landscape, the special reveals the crucial decisions and small conversations, the tragic ironies and audacious leaps of faith that combined to make the impossible vision and a democratic election a reality.

From Nelson Mandela's decision to learn Afrikaans while in prison, to the amnesty hearings of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, the special explores the difficult decisions that were taken enabling enemies to achieve peace. MIRACLE RISING: SOUTH Africa moves beyond mere chronology, into the hearts and minds of the leaders and people of South Africa, culminate in the electrifying behind-the-scenes events of the elections.

Offering valuable lessons in peace-making, MIRACLE RISING: SOUTH Africa focuses on the visionary leadership and negotiations that brought about transition of the nationalist regime to a system of one-person, one-vote. Told through simple, intimate portraits of key players, it weaves an epic story of a nation into an intimate history of men and women determined to change the country for the best for all who live there.

HISTORY®, now reaching more than 98 million homes, is the leading destination for award-winning original series and specials that connect viewers with history in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across all platforms. The network's all-original programming slate, including scripted event programming, features a roster of hit series including American Pickers®, American Restoration™, Ax Men™, The Legend of Shelby the Swamp Man, Counting Cars™, Pawn Stars®, and Swamp People® as well as HISTORY®'s first scripted series Vikings, and epic miniseries and special programming such as The Bible and the Emmy® Award-winning Hatfields & McCoys, Gettysburg, Vietnam in HD, America The Story of Us® and 102 Minutes That Changed America. The HISTORY® website is the leading online resource for all things history, and in 2011, the United States Library of Congress selected HISTORY®'s Civil War 150 site for inclusion in the historic collection of Internet materials related to the American Civil War sesquicentennial. www.history.com.

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