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

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

by JohnCarlin (Author)

Synopsis

As the day of the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup dawned, and the Springboks faced New Zealand's all-conquering All Blacks, more was at stake than a sporting trophy. When Nelson Mandela appeared wearing a Springboks jersey and led the all-white Afrikaner-dominated team in singing South Africa's new national anthem, he conquered white South Africa. Playing the Enemy tells the extraordinary human story of how that moment became possible. It shows how a sport, once the preserve of South Africa's Afrikaans-speaking minority, came to unify the new rainbow nation, and tells of how - just occasionally - something as simple as a game can really help people to rise above themselves and see beyond their differences. It is a story with the power to make grown men cry.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 274
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Published: 01 Sep 2008

ISBN 10: 1843548690
ISBN 13: 9781843548690

Media Reviews
a This wonderful book describes Mandelaas methodical, improbable and brilliant campaign to reconcile resentful blacks and fearful whites around a sporting event, a game of rugby.a
a The New York Times Book Review
a If you have any doubts about the political genius of Nelson Mandela, read John Carlinas engrossing book . . . [A] feel-good slice of history.a
a USA Today
This wonderful book describes Mandela's methodical, improbable and brilliant campaign to reconcile resentful blacks and fearful whites around a sporting event, a game of rugby.
- The New York Times Book Review

If you have any doubts about the political genius of Nelson Mandela, read John Carlin's engrossing book . . . [A] feel-good slice of history.
- USA Today
Author Bio
John Carlin grew up in Argentina and the UK and spent 1989-95 in South Africa as the Independent's correspondent there. He has also lived in Nicaragua, Mexico and Washington, writing for The Times, the Observer, the Sunday Times, and the New York Times, among other papers, and working for the BBC. He now lives in Barcelona, where he writes for El Pais.