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Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation

 Rating 5
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100% Recommended by our customers.
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Catalog: Book
Release date: 2008-08-14
Media: Hardcover
Number of pages: 288
Ean: 9781594201745
Book Isbn: 1594201749
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Author:
John Carlinsee more Books by John Carlin

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Professional Review:
A thrilling, inspiring account of one of the greatest charm offensives in history—Nelson Mandela’s decade-long campaign to unite his country, beginning in his jail cell and ending with a rugby tournament

In 1985, Nelson Mandela, then in prison for twenty-three years, set about winning over the fiercest proponents of apartheid, from his jailers to the head of South Africa’s military. First he earned his freedom and then he won the presidency in the nation’s first free election in 1994. But he knew that South Africa was still dangerously divided by almost fifty years of apartheid. If he couldn’t unite his country in a visceral, emotional way—and fast—it would collapse into chaos. He would need all the charisma and strategic acumen he had honed during half a century of activism, and he’d need a cause all South Africans could share. Mandela picked one of the more farfetched causes imaginable—the national rugby team, the Springboks, who would host the sport’s World Cup in 1995.

Against the giants of the sport, the Springboks’ chances of victory were remote. But their chances of capturing the hearts of most South Africans seemed remoter still, as they had long been the embodiment of white supremacist rule. During apartheid, the all-white Springboks and their fans had belted out racist fight songs, and blacks would come to Springbok matches to cheer for whatever team was playing against them. Yet Mandela believed that the Springboks could embody—and engage—the new South Africa. And the Springboks themselves embraced the scheme. Soon South African TV would carry images of the team singing “Nkosi Sikelele Afrika,” the longtime anthem of black resistance to apartheid.

As their surprising string of victories lengthened, their home-field advantage grew exponentially. South Africans of every color and political stripe found themselves falling for the team. When the Springboks took to the field for the championship match against New Zealand’s heavily favored squad, Mandela sat in his presidential box wearing a Springbok jersey while sixty-two-thousand fans, mostly white, chanted “Nelson! Nelson!” Millions more gathered around their TV sets, whether in dusty black townships or leafy white suburbs, to urge their team toward victory. The Springboks won a nail-biter that day, defying the oddsmakers and capping Mandela’s miraculous ten-year-long effort to bring forty-three million South Africans together in an enduring bond.

John Carlin, a former South Africa bureau chief for the London Independent, offers a singular portrait of the greatest statesman of our time in action, blending the volatile cocktail of race, sport, and politics to intoxicating effect. He draws on extensive interviews with Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and dozens of other South Africans caught up in Mandela’s momentous campaign, and the Springboks’ unlikely triumph. As he makes stirringly clear, their championship transcended the mere thrill of victory to erase ancient hatreds and make a nation whole.

User Reviews:
 Rating 5   Written on September 2, 2008
   Summary: First Book I'll Ever Read Twice
knew of mandela the man but knew nothing about his personal story and the amazing triumph of the 1995 Spingboks. The books reads very personal and I definitely recommend to any reader, any age.

 Rating 3   Written on August 31, 2008
   Summary: Not All Heroes Play Rugby...
...but the passenger of Flight 93 seven years ago this month who rallied his countrymen by saying, "Let's roll" did, for the University of California. John Carlin dishonored his memory the following year when writing for The Independent by sneering that we had fallen for a myth. You hoped Americans had short attention spans, John Carlin; you hoped, but I didn't change. (The three stars are for the Springboks.)

 Rating 5   Written on August 20, 2008
   Summary: A sporting fairy tale
This is a wonderful book. Extremely well-written; it tells the tale of how Nelson Mandela used his political genius to win over Afrikaners and convince black South Africans to embrace a sport that most of them had come to despise as a symbol of the hated white majority. It really makes you realize what a political miracle it was that South Africa did not descend into complete civil war and what a blessing it was to have Mandela as the country's leader. The chapters discussing the game and the players' awakening political awareness are incredibly moving. A testament to the power of sport as political theatre, and the power of forgiveness and reconciliation.

 Rating 5   Written on August 19, 2008
   Summary: riveting and essential
This is one of those incredibly rare books which is both thrilling to read and morally uplifting. The 1995 Rugby World Cup provides a wonderful fulcrum for Carlin to talk about South Africa and the genius of Mandela as both a man and politician. The chapter about the mostly white team learning the anthem of black South Africa is worth the price alone.

 Rating 5   Written on August 17, 2008
   Summary: Elegant encomium
John Carlin's wonderful book further illustrates the sheer genius of Nelson Mandela, the politician. For those of us who predicted that apartheid in South Africa could only end in a bloody deluge, "Playing the Enemy" proves that miracles are possible when even just one man who holds a position of moral authority is determined to avert disaster.

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CatalogBookBookBookBookBookBook
Release date2008-08-142008-09-082008-07-292008-09-292008-09-192008-05-05
MediaHardcoverHardcoverHardcoverHardcoverHardcoverHardcover
Format---Roughcut--
Number of pages288448288976576288
Ean978159420174597803741668549780385340991978055380509397800617680649780393062359
Book Isbn15942017490374166854038534099005538050960061768065039306235X
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