Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation
by John Carlin
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Book Summary Information
Author: John CarlinEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-07-28
ISBN: 0143115723
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation
Book Review: Moving, Powerful, True
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched the movie Invictus and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd try the book Playing the Enemy. Turns out the movie was very faithful to the book as well. What makes this so much more than just another Cinderella/underdog sports story? The timing of this World Cup Rugby match. I don't pretend to understand Rugby, and you don't need to - it's really about how Nelson Mandela, soon after being released from prison, seizes an opportunity to use rugby to help unite South Africa.
After years of repression, apartheid, white supremacy rule, the Blacks had elected Mandela as their new president of South Africa. Both white and black radicals wanted revenge, power - violence was breaking out. How to stop it? By using the very symbol of white racism - the South African rugby team - Nelson Mandela gave everyone something they could support, a cause to rally behind. It ain't crazy if it works, and this actually worked. He got the blacks to see the rugby team as belonging to all of South Africa, no longer something that only the whites would watch.
What makes this book work so well are the characters behind the history. Of course the successful change from white rule to free elections was made possible by more than just a rugby game, but the author shows how many different approaches Nelson Mandela used to ensure peace. The focus is on the people - the game, the politics and strife remain in the background. This is not by any means an exhaustive history of the end of apartheid, but rather a very compelling piece of that story. Very uplifting and motivating, that in of itself, makes for a good read.
Summary of Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation
Beginning in a jail cell and ending in a rugby tournament- the true story of how the most inspiring charm offensive in history brought South Africa together
After being released from prison and winning South Africa's first free election, Nelson Mandela presided over a country still deeply divided by fifty years of apartheid. His plan was ambitious if not far-fetched: use the national rugby team, the Springboks-long an embodiment of white-supremacist rule-to embody and engage a new South Africa as they prepared to host the 1995 World Cup. The string of wins that followed not only defied the odds, but capped Mandela's miraculous effort to bring South Africans together again in a hard-won, enduring bond.
After being released from prison and winning South Africa's first free election, Nelson Mandela presided over a country still deeply divided by fifty years of apartheid. His plan was ambitious if not far-fetched: use the national rugby team, the Springboks-long an embodiment of white-supremacist rule-to embody and engage a new South Africa as they prepared to host the 1995 World Cup. The string of wins that followed not only defied the odds, but capped Mandela's miraculous effort to bring South Africans together again in a hard-won, enduring bond.
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