To some, such as South Africa’s former President Mbeki, Jean-Yves Ollivier (alias “Monsieur Jacques”) was a mysterious businessman and sanctions buster or a French spy. For others, such as Winnie Mandela and Mozambique’s former President Chissano, he was a trusted friend and man of bold vision. For the first time, heads of state, diplomats, master spies and anti-Apartheid fighters reveal how “Monsieur Jacques” positioned himself to be the improbable key to Nelson Mandela’s prison cell. He himself bears vivid testimony to the behind-the-scenes bargaining that he engineered and which was instrumental in establishing regional peace and the end of Apartheid.