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 John Carlin

Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation
List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $14.18
You Save: $10.77 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.69 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: John Carlin
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-14
ISBN: 1594201749
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The

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

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.

Mandela, Nelson Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Mandela, Nelson Books
Mandela ImageMandela
by Hugh Dugmore
David Philip Publishers; Published: 2000-08-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $60.50
No Easy Walk to Freedom (African Writers Series) ImageNo Easy Walk to Freedom (African Writers Series)
by Nelson Mandela
Heinemann; Published: 1986-12-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.37
Price in other shops: $11.95
Part of My Soul Went with Him ImagePart of My Soul Went with Him
by Winnie Mandela
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 1985-11-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops: $15.95
Mandela, Mobutu, and Me: A Newswoman's African Journey ImageMandela, Mobutu, and Me: A Newswoman's African Journey
by Lynne Duke
Doubleday; Published: 2003-01-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops: $24.00
Long Walk to Freedom, vol. 2, 1962-1994 (v. 2) ImageLong Walk to Freedom, vol. 2, 1962-1994 (v. 2)
by Nelson Mandela
Abacus; Published: 2003-01-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.91
A Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela ImageA Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
by Nelson Mandela
Little Brown and Co; Published: 1994; Hardcover; Book
Long Walk to Freedom. The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. ImageLong Walk to Freedom. The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela.
by Nelson Mandela
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 1994; Hardcover; Book
Nelson Mandela: A Biography ImageNelson Mandela: A Biography
by Martin Meredith
St Martins Pr; Published: 1998-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.95
Price in other shops: $29.95
Nelson Mandela By Himself ImageNelson Mandela By Himself
by Nelson Mandela
Macmillan; Published: 2011-10-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.15
No Easy Walk to Freedom (Penguin Modern Classics) ImageNo Easy Walk to Freedom (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Nelson Mandela
Penguin Books; Published: 2002-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.64
Similar Books and other products
Conversations with Myself ImageConversations with Myself
by Nelson Mandela
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2010-10-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.40
Price in other shops: $28.00
Mandela: An Illustrated Autobiography ImageMandela: An Illustrated Autobiography
by Nelson Mandela
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 1996-11-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops: $29.99
Until It Hurts: America's Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids ImageUntil It Hurts: America's Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids
by Mark Hyman
Beacon Press; Published: 2010-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.20
Price in other shops: $16.00
Sport and International Development (Global Culture and Sport) ImageSport and International Development (Global Culture and Sport)
Palgrave Macmillan; Published: 2009-01-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $79.90
Price in other shops: $100.00
Understanding Contemporary Africa (Understanding: Introductions to the States and Regions of the Contemporary World) ImageUnderstanding Contemporary Africa (Understanding: Introductions to the States and Regions of the Contemporary World)
Lynne Rienner Pub; Published: 2006-11-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops: $27.50
Black Men Can't Shoot ImageBlack Men Can't Shoot
by Scott N. Brooks
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 2009-06-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.92
Price in other shops: $22.00
Abina and the Important Men: A Graphic History ImageAbina and the Important Men: A Graphic History
by Trevor R. Getz, Liz Clarke
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2011-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.06
Price in other shops: $15.95
ESPN Films 30 for 30: The Sixteenth Man ImageESPN Films 30 for 30: The Sixteenth Man
ESPN; Release date: 2010-05-17; DVD
Best price: $7.85
Price in other shops: $14.95
Madumo, a Man Bewitched ImageMadumo, a Man Bewitched
by Adam Ashforth
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 2005-07-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.64
Price in other shops: $18.00
Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela ImageLong Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
by Nelson Mandela
Back Bay Books; Published: 1995-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops: $17.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories