Anthony Sampson was keenly interested in South African affairs since 1951 when, after leaving Oxford, he first went to South Africa to become editor of the black magazine Drum in Johannesburg. He met Nelson Mandela that year in Soweto as Mandela was preparing for the Defiance Campaign against apartheid, which Drum covered extensively.

In 1956 Anthony Sampson published his first book - a hugely entertaining account of his four years as editor (DRUM: AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE) - and frequently revisited South Africa thereafter. Subsequently he wrote a book about the treason trials in 1958 and reported Mandela's own trial before he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964.

In London Sampson worked for the Observer for six years before publishing (in 1962) his groundbreaking, bestselling ANATOMY OF BRITAIN (later updated four times and read by Mandela in prison). He followed it with a succession of major books about international business, including SEVEN SISTERS, THE ARMS BAZAAR, BLACK AND GOLD (an account of the relations between business and apartheid) and COMPANY MAN.

He was chairman of the Society of Authors and a member of the Scott Trust, which owns the Guardian and Observer. His most recent book was MANDELA: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY.

Anthony Sampson died on December 18th 2004.