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Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation | 
 enlarge | Author: John Carlin
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.20
You Save: $9.75 (39%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 2416
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 1594201749
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3330968
EAN: 9781594201745
ASIN: 1594201749
Publication Date: August 14, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: unread, cloth binding 1st edition, immediate shipping
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Product Description
A thrilling, inspiring account of one of the greatest charm offensives in historyNelson Mandelas 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 Africas military. First he earned his freedom and then he won the presidency in the nations first free election in 1994. But he knew that South Africa was still dangerously divided by almost fifty years of apartheid. If he couldnt unite his country in a visceral, emotional wayand fastit would collapse into chaos. He would need all the charisma and strategic acumen he had honed during half a century of activism, and hed need a cause all South Africans could share. Mandela picked one of the more farfetched causes imaginablethe national rugby team, the Springboks, who would host the sports 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 embodyand engagethe 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 Zealands 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 Mandelas 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 Mandelas 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.
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| Customer Reviews:
A sporting fairy tale August 20, 2008
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.
riveting and essential August 19, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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.
Elegant encomium August 17, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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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