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Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation
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.
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.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published August 14, 2008
325 people are currently reading
5153 people want to read
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February 1, 2026
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika!
OH MY GOD! This book!!! This book!!
I'm absolutely awestruck and speechless.
I picked it up rather unsuspectingly for a reading challenge prompt: read a book set in South Africa. I had a feeling I’d go with non-fiction, but I had no idea I’d be striking gold. Five minutes into the audiobook, I was hooked—and I stayed hooked all the way through to the closing speech.
I’ve always enjoyed non-fiction, especially history, but only a few books have truly taken up permanent space in my heart—books that make me elated, teary, and deeply moved.
And this book has become one of them, next to
by Erik Larson and
by Donald L. Miller. It is that best of "docu-drama" that makes you feel that you are right there in the midst of all with the people the story is about, totally immersed in the narrative.
You don't need to know anything much about rugby (like I don't) or care for sports in general (like I don't), because while it is a vital element of the book, it is not what ultimately the book is about.
It is about one man and many people: about fear, hatred, cruelty, suffering, heartbreak, about forgiveness (and boy, how much forgiveness was needed), about looking past ideologies and seeing human beings, about inhuman efforts to do so, about forging all the fear and hatred into something so much more.
Very good narration by Saul Reichlin.
If you're into nonfiction that moves you, teaches you, and stays with you long after you finish—this is one of those reads. I can’t recommend it enough.
July 5, 2019
Nelson Mandela is my hero. Rugby is my game (I'm from the South Wales valleys, 'nuff said).
Simply the best book I've read all year, it was absolutely awesome. Mandela's methods for disarming and charming everyone were inspirational - this is the only inspirational book I've read (I can't get into that genre at all).
I've just been chucked out without notice from a private group 'Back in Skinny Jeans' on Goodreads where some member/s don't like non-Americans, non-Republicans, non-Christians and perhaps non-Whites and really wanted me to know their views. I fit it into all those groups, so did Mandela. He would have disarmed them and made them think again, he had a way of bringing out the most decent parts of even despicable people. I don't have his charisma, but following the lessons he developed transforming himself from an advocate of violence to one of reconcilliation, I may become a better person.
Simply the best book I've read all year, it was absolutely awesome. Mandela's methods for disarming and charming everyone were inspirational - this is the only inspirational book I've read (I can't get into that genre at all).
I've just been chucked out without notice from a private group 'Back in Skinny Jeans' on Goodreads where some member/s don't like non-Americans, non-Republicans, non-Christians and perhaps non-Whites and really wanted me to know their views. I fit it into all those groups, so did Mandela. He would have disarmed them and made them think again, he had a way of bringing out the most decent parts of even despicable people. I don't have his charisma, but following the lessons he developed transforming himself from an advocate of violence to one of reconcilliation, I may become a better person.
August 3, 2012
I'm not going to belabor the point here, as I ususally do.
We often act, despite everyone's acknowledgement to the contrary, as if our generation invented racism, homosexuality, godlessness, greed, gluttony, and, sometimes hate. If we don't buy in to that common portrayal of who caued history's woes we sometimes still seem to see these things as "ours to fix" and take ownership where it's difficult to establish who is responsible for what. "We must stop this NOW!" yet, if the problem has lasted for centuries, why bring the same arguments and tools to the table that have never worked in the past?
Now we sit in ivory towers under white buildings, that look as if someone has set an overturned coffee cup on top of a rectangular whit box, and draw battle lines on paper instead of in the sand. Money becomes blood. Law becomes the sword, and we call ourselves civilized while, in practice, little changes save what one side or the other's needs for a new battle.
Try as we might, we look back at our history, in our past, and scour present with fine toothed combs, struggling to find heroes with perfect faces that can be mounted on milk cartons and billboards to show off dazzling smiles. Failing to do that, we make up or own, and post their images, choosing to believe as truths that really came from the darkest imagination in which they had been created. In ignorance, we ignored the true heroes who toil in obscurity to overcome massive mountains of trumped up thought with ages of experience at believing imagined rights and wrongs. Faces that failed the test of photogenics and lighting, or voices that seemed drol and ordinary instead of heroic.
While most of us in the US were absorbed in our own misery and joy, either make believe or real, in South Africa from 1985 to 1995 a battle raged. Sometimes the battle involved blood and bone, blade and bullet. Sometimes these battles involved paper and law, authority and anarchy. Sometimes it involved thoughts and emotions, both real and self-cultivated, and, sometimes, politics. This was nothing as simple as a war of guns and bullets, though there was plenty of that to go around, this was a war for hearts and minds. A war over that fragile, illusive thing we choose as our Identity as a person and a nation and the relationship between us.
While most of the United states continued about their lives in blissful ignorance, tipping the metaphorical hat at news stories and other odd things in press and on television, the most important battle of our time had been started, fought, and won, steming the tide of bloodhsed, rather than causing more to bleed. It was perhaps the most important battle of all time about human rights and human dignity and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness with no barriers or glass ceilings decided by the colour of your skin and no privlidges ripped away by an angry fledgling government of wounded victimized warriors.
This book reads like a 300 page newspaper article. John Carlin is, after all, a journalist. It starts with a long history lesson, that is as distasteful as it is interesting and wicked as it is wise. In the middle the book turns to a tale of manipulation, cunning and charm. By the end, it's a tale of triumph. A bloodless coup where there were no casualties and the enemy joined the victors in celebration, dancing in the streests...and the rest of the world slept with only a few even registering the importance of what was going on. Our acknowlegement of what had passed held in check our need to have villains and faces to rail at and call shameful names, and make believe heroes to occupy our guilt.
This book reads like the weather in Maine. The first part is the cruel winter that seems to last well more than it's fair quarter. A brief spring that is far to short, a blistering summer and a beautiful autum with gold and red leaves dancing in the wind. As they say in Maine, "If you don't stay for the winters, then you do not deserve the spring and summer."
Let no man be so foolish as to think that sports, a national sport is only a thing of fancy or a bottle passion for sale to the highest bidder. Surely, those things can happen, but here, the galvanizing agent that started a healthy conversation about how Blacks and Whites in South Africa could live in peace without fear of eachother started with a "A Hoolagin's sport played by gentleman." A brutal sport of Contact and bone jaring collision, amazing speed and skill played by strong men with the hearts of lions.
For Whites, as one Rugger in the book put it. "For once we were not the bad guys, everybody's favorite villains. The people were behind us. The whole world was behind us and we felt it. We had regained our dignity after years of being everyone's enemy." For blacks, led by Nelson Mandella, it was a chance to show, that victors are not always vengeful. Sometimes they are thoughttful and caring and understanding of simple pleasures. That your fears of us are not waranted, this is how we prove it.
It's a great book. Everyone should read it.
We often act, despite everyone's acknowledgement to the contrary, as if our generation invented racism, homosexuality, godlessness, greed, gluttony, and, sometimes hate. If we don't buy in to that common portrayal of who caued history's woes we sometimes still seem to see these things as "ours to fix" and take ownership where it's difficult to establish who is responsible for what. "We must stop this NOW!" yet, if the problem has lasted for centuries, why bring the same arguments and tools to the table that have never worked in the past?
Now we sit in ivory towers under white buildings, that look as if someone has set an overturned coffee cup on top of a rectangular whit box, and draw battle lines on paper instead of in the sand. Money becomes blood. Law becomes the sword, and we call ourselves civilized while, in practice, little changes save what one side or the other's needs for a new battle.
Try as we might, we look back at our history, in our past, and scour present with fine toothed combs, struggling to find heroes with perfect faces that can be mounted on milk cartons and billboards to show off dazzling smiles. Failing to do that, we make up or own, and post their images, choosing to believe as truths that really came from the darkest imagination in which they had been created. In ignorance, we ignored the true heroes who toil in obscurity to overcome massive mountains of trumped up thought with ages of experience at believing imagined rights and wrongs. Faces that failed the test of photogenics and lighting, or voices that seemed drol and ordinary instead of heroic.
While most of us in the US were absorbed in our own misery and joy, either make believe or real, in South Africa from 1985 to 1995 a battle raged. Sometimes the battle involved blood and bone, blade and bullet. Sometimes these battles involved paper and law, authority and anarchy. Sometimes it involved thoughts and emotions, both real and self-cultivated, and, sometimes, politics. This was nothing as simple as a war of guns and bullets, though there was plenty of that to go around, this was a war for hearts and minds. A war over that fragile, illusive thing we choose as our Identity as a person and a nation and the relationship between us.
While most of the United states continued about their lives in blissful ignorance, tipping the metaphorical hat at news stories and other odd things in press and on television, the most important battle of our time had been started, fought, and won, steming the tide of bloodhsed, rather than causing more to bleed. It was perhaps the most important battle of all time about human rights and human dignity and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness with no barriers or glass ceilings decided by the colour of your skin and no privlidges ripped away by an angry fledgling government of wounded victimized warriors.
This book reads like a 300 page newspaper article. John Carlin is, after all, a journalist. It starts with a long history lesson, that is as distasteful as it is interesting and wicked as it is wise. In the middle the book turns to a tale of manipulation, cunning and charm. By the end, it's a tale of triumph. A bloodless coup where there were no casualties and the enemy joined the victors in celebration, dancing in the streests...and the rest of the world slept with only a few even registering the importance of what was going on. Our acknowlegement of what had passed held in check our need to have villains and faces to rail at and call shameful names, and make believe heroes to occupy our guilt.
This book reads like the weather in Maine. The first part is the cruel winter that seems to last well more than it's fair quarter. A brief spring that is far to short, a blistering summer and a beautiful autum with gold and red leaves dancing in the wind. As they say in Maine, "If you don't stay for the winters, then you do not deserve the spring and summer."
Let no man be so foolish as to think that sports, a national sport is only a thing of fancy or a bottle passion for sale to the highest bidder. Surely, those things can happen, but here, the galvanizing agent that started a healthy conversation about how Blacks and Whites in South Africa could live in peace without fear of eachother started with a "A Hoolagin's sport played by gentleman." A brutal sport of Contact and bone jaring collision, amazing speed and skill played by strong men with the hearts of lions.
For Whites, as one Rugger in the book put it. "For once we were not the bad guys, everybody's favorite villains. The people were behind us. The whole world was behind us and we felt it. We had regained our dignity after years of being everyone's enemy." For blacks, led by Nelson Mandella, it was a chance to show, that victors are not always vengeful. Sometimes they are thoughttful and caring and understanding of simple pleasures. That your fears of us are not waranted, this is how we prove it.
It's a great book. Everyone should read it.
November 2, 2013
I had tears in my eyes remembering that incredible day in Johannesburg as if it were yesterday. I remember during the rugby World Cup final that the streets were eerily silent as every South African sat rapt in front of their television, hoping against all hope that our team could accomplish the impossible. I was 12 years old as I sat with my dad, all nerves and raw emotion, watching the game. The joy that erupted in the streets after we won is a sight I will never forget. The whole country, black and white, celebrating together. It was something like the Rio carnival for days on end. The new South Africa in action. Reading about the events that went on behind at the scenes leading up to this day and our incredible champion Nelson Mandela made me more proud than ever to be a South African! The whole story just sounds far too good to be true, but the best part is that it is true! I hope that we can inspire our next generation to get this rainbow nation to fulfill the incredible potential we have to become even greater.
April 2, 2021
Uno de los libros que más me han marcado personalmente.
La novela recoge un hecho concreto, el apoyo del presidente Nelson Mandela a uno de los símbolos del Apartheid, su equipo de rugby. Esta historia la utiliza John Carlin para mostrarnos la personalidad de este líder, y cómo su capacidad de perdón hizo posible la reconciliación de todo un país.
Muy muy recomendable.
La novela recoge un hecho concreto, el apoyo del presidente Nelson Mandela a uno de los símbolos del Apartheid, su equipo de rugby. Esta historia la utiliza John Carlin para mostrarnos la personalidad de este líder, y cómo su capacidad de perdón hizo posible la reconciliación de todo un país.
Muy muy recomendable.
July 15, 2016
Vi la película en el cine cuando la estrenaron hace unos años: "Invictus" protagonizada por Morgan Freeman y Matt Damon, y desde entonces he tenido ganas de leer el libro. Por fin, lo he hecho y no me he arrepentido. Como casi siempre, el libro es mucho mejor que la peli, pero en este caso con una diferencia crucial: el libro no está novelado, sino que es una mezcla de entrevistas, biografía y ensayo de historia. Por lo que si no te gusta leer libros de historia o biografía, este no es tu libro.
Carlin explica cómo Mandela transformó un país dividido por el apartheid en una democracia en la que blancos y negros tienen los mismos derechos. Y lo hace explicando como fue la vida en prisión de Mandela, sus encuentros secretos con el gobierno en los que hizo lo que mejor se le daba, conquistarlos con su simpatía y carisma; cómo fue nombrado presidente y buscó una forma de unir al país, un país aún dividido entre blancos y negros y al borde de la guerra civil. El instrumento que usó para superar esta situación y aunar Sudáfrica fue el rugby.
En resumen, es un libro muy interesante y bien escrito, que acerca y explica el fenómeno de Nelson Mandela.
Carlin explica cómo Mandela transformó un país dividido por el apartheid en una democracia en la que blancos y negros tienen los mismos derechos. Y lo hace explicando como fue la vida en prisión de Mandela, sus encuentros secretos con el gobierno en los que hizo lo que mejor se le daba, conquistarlos con su simpatía y carisma; cómo fue nombrado presidente y buscó una forma de unir al país, un país aún dividido entre blancos y negros y al borde de la guerra civil. El instrumento que usó para superar esta situación y aunar Sudáfrica fue el rugby.
En resumen, es un libro muy interesante y bien escrito, que acerca y explica el fenómeno de Nelson Mandela.
May 27, 2009
Fascinating. I'm a huge rugby fan and I have a strong interest in SA politics. I've read Mandela's autobiography, but this was a close-up on a short period of time, with a different focus. I've seen the footage of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and I've heard firsthand accounts of the way it brought the country together, but this book gave me a new perspective on the attitudes pre-Mandela. It shows the vision that Mandela had of sport as a unifier, the chances that he took, and the dramatic changes that took place in the blink of an eye, politically speaking. I'll be interested to see if they capture half of the impact in the Morgan Freeman-Matt Damon-Clint Eastwood version that is coming out later this year. If they're smart they'll incorporate documentary footage, like van Sant did with Milk; I'm not sure there's any way to capture this emotion through staged scenes.
January 7, 2010
This book is both inspiring and boring. If you want to know about how South Africa was able to avert THE civil war that all the experts proclaimed was inevitable then read this book. If you want to know about rugby and the game then don't read this book. This book is a "paean" to Nelson Mandela, who was truly the right man at the right time in the right place. Mandela makes Clinton and Reagan look like lightweights with his ability to charm,rebound, and chart the right course at critical decision points. He completely disarmed his jailers and the Afrikaner culture with not only his political savvy but his humanity. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie now and reading more about Mandela.
July 13, 2011
1994 was a critical year for South Africa. A president had been elected by almost two-thirds of voters in the first truly democratic, one-person, one-vote elections the country had ever had. Tensions were simmering just barely under the surface, not infrequently erupting into violent neighborhood rallies, bloody skirmishes, and even assassination. Many of the white Afrikaner minority were worried about reprisals from the black majority, some of whom were undoubtedly eager for revenge or at least eager to see whites “put in their place” after so long in power. Extremist elements from both ends of the spectrum were arming themselves for what they deemed the inevitable civil war that would come. Even among the more moderate South Africans, doubts that a lasting peaceful government could be forged ran rampant.
And then there was Nelson Mandela.
Almost three decades of incarceration might be expected to have a hardening effect on a person, particularly when the initial conviction was unjust. However, Nelson Mandela used his time in prison to come to understand his adversary. He learned to speak Afrikaans, studied Afrikaner history, developed friendships with his Afrikaner jailors, and continued to reach out to the government leaders who had put him in prison. Eventually, this approach not only secured his release from jail and his election to the presidency, but also set his country on a path toward equality and reconciliation.
In the midst of this time of upheaval and radical change, South Africa was also preparing to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Rugby, for those who are as unfamiliar with the sport as I am, is sort of a cross between soccer and American football, but without any pads to cushion the ferocious impacts. Mr. Carlin explains the Afrikaner passion for rugby as “the closest they got, outside church, to a spiritual life” and Mr. Mandela himself once described it as “a religion” for Afrikaners. The black South Africans generally viewed the gold and green uniforms of the Springboks, along with the old national flag and national anthem, as a symbol of the oppression they had suffered under decades of apartheid. For years, they had cheered for whatever team the Springboks were playing against, urging a global boycott on South African rugby while apartheid was still law. And then Mr. Mandela determined that the best possible use for the sport of rugby is as “an instrument of political persuasion [and] reconciliation.”
To this end, Mr. Mandela worked with the disparate elements of South Africa, tirelessly lobbying, inspiring, charming, persuading and cajoling Xhosa, Zulu, English and Afrikaners alike into supporting the Springboks and his vision of South African unity: “One Team, One Country.” He encouraged the more vengeful anti-apartheid activists to soften their stance against the symbols they loathed and to give the country a chance to come together. He convinced General Constand Viljoen, the former overall commander of the South African Defense Force who led a right-wing group determined to take up arms against the new government, to stand down and renounce war. He motivated the almost-completely Afrikaner rugby team to learn the Xhosa words to the new national anthem “Nkosi Sikelele” and sing it and the old national anthem with equal gusto before each match during the tournament. In a triumphant ending worthy of a Hollywood film (which, as a matter of fact, it now is), the underdog Springboks defeated the heavily favored New Zealand All Blacks to win the World Cup and the entire country celebrated rapturously, regardless of color. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu explained, “That match did for us what speeches of politicians or archbishops could not do. It galvanized us, it made us realize that it was actually possible for us to be on the same side. It said it is actually possible for us to become one nation.”
Mr. Mandela's optimism, charisma, and determination to engage all South Africans in the process of peace and justice prevailed against the fear and suspicions so prevalent at this turbulent time. And the sport of rugby was his instrument of choice in this extraordinary reconciliation.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
And then there was Nelson Mandela.
Almost three decades of incarceration might be expected to have a hardening effect on a person, particularly when the initial conviction was unjust. However, Nelson Mandela used his time in prison to come to understand his adversary. He learned to speak Afrikaans, studied Afrikaner history, developed friendships with his Afrikaner jailors, and continued to reach out to the government leaders who had put him in prison. Eventually, this approach not only secured his release from jail and his election to the presidency, but also set his country on a path toward equality and reconciliation.
In the midst of this time of upheaval and radical change, South Africa was also preparing to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Rugby, for those who are as unfamiliar with the sport as I am, is sort of a cross between soccer and American football, but without any pads to cushion the ferocious impacts. Mr. Carlin explains the Afrikaner passion for rugby as “the closest they got, outside church, to a spiritual life” and Mr. Mandela himself once described it as “a religion” for Afrikaners. The black South Africans generally viewed the gold and green uniforms of the Springboks, along with the old national flag and national anthem, as a symbol of the oppression they had suffered under decades of apartheid. For years, they had cheered for whatever team the Springboks were playing against, urging a global boycott on South African rugby while apartheid was still law. And then Mr. Mandela determined that the best possible use for the sport of rugby is as “an instrument of political persuasion [and] reconciliation.”
To this end, Mr. Mandela worked with the disparate elements of South Africa, tirelessly lobbying, inspiring, charming, persuading and cajoling Xhosa, Zulu, English and Afrikaners alike into supporting the Springboks and his vision of South African unity: “One Team, One Country.” He encouraged the more vengeful anti-apartheid activists to soften their stance against the symbols they loathed and to give the country a chance to come together. He convinced General Constand Viljoen, the former overall commander of the South African Defense Force who led a right-wing group determined to take up arms against the new government, to stand down and renounce war. He motivated the almost-completely Afrikaner rugby team to learn the Xhosa words to the new national anthem “Nkosi Sikelele” and sing it and the old national anthem with equal gusto before each match during the tournament. In a triumphant ending worthy of a Hollywood film (which, as a matter of fact, it now is), the underdog Springboks defeated the heavily favored New Zealand All Blacks to win the World Cup and the entire country celebrated rapturously, regardless of color. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu explained, “That match did for us what speeches of politicians or archbishops could not do. It galvanized us, it made us realize that it was actually possible for us to be on the same side. It said it is actually possible for us to become one nation.”
Mr. Mandela's optimism, charisma, and determination to engage all South Africans in the process of peace and justice prevailed against the fear and suspicions so prevalent at this turbulent time. And the sport of rugby was his instrument of choice in this extraordinary reconciliation.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
Want to read
December 12, 2010Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
-William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
-William Ernest Henley
March 3, 2009
Basically put, Nelson Mandela is the MAN. We tend to reduce people to symbols, to say-- oh yeah, him, he's the guy that did this, or she's the "that" girl, or whatnot. And that was basically the nature of my knowledge of Mandela-- a vague sense of his wisdom and love of freedom or something.
I don't know if this is the best book ever written about Mandela. But reading it definitely has given me a fuller appreciation of a man I had once thought of only as a symbol. He is a master manipulator, ambitious, pragmatic. He is endlessly self-aware and self-assured. He is a cosmopolitan world leader. But without doubt, the thing I found most remarkable about Mandela is that he spent 27 years in prison by the decree of a racist white government, yet emerged proclaiming that Afrikaners were "sons of Africa." That he could say such words and mean them signals to me such a depth of wisdom, courage and compassion. In his eyes, the "solution" to South Africa's problems didn't include expelling or taking revenge against whites, but rather meant reaching out to them, forgiving them, and alternately manipulating, forcing, seducing them to embrace justice and true democracy.
Which is where the rugby part comes in. Rugby, it turns out, had been percieved as the white man's sport, and therefore derided by blacks as a state symbol of Apartheid. For years, the African National Congress (Mandela's political party) forbade international rugby games to take place in South Africa. Mandela, though, had the foresight to imagine that rugby could become a unifying point for all South Africans. And so he repealed the international ban on South African rugby, and the country hosted the 1995 world cup, setting the stage for a spectacular outcome both in the game and for the country.
I don't know if this is the best book ever written about Mandela. But reading it definitely has given me a fuller appreciation of a man I had once thought of only as a symbol. He is a master manipulator, ambitious, pragmatic. He is endlessly self-aware and self-assured. He is a cosmopolitan world leader. But without doubt, the thing I found most remarkable about Mandela is that he spent 27 years in prison by the decree of a racist white government, yet emerged proclaiming that Afrikaners were "sons of Africa." That he could say such words and mean them signals to me such a depth of wisdom, courage and compassion. In his eyes, the "solution" to South Africa's problems didn't include expelling or taking revenge against whites, but rather meant reaching out to them, forgiving them, and alternately manipulating, forcing, seducing them to embrace justice and true democracy.
Which is where the rugby part comes in. Rugby, it turns out, had been percieved as the white man's sport, and therefore derided by blacks as a state symbol of Apartheid. For years, the African National Congress (Mandela's political party) forbade international rugby games to take place in South Africa. Mandela, though, had the foresight to imagine that rugby could become a unifying point for all South Africans. And so he repealed the international ban on South African rugby, and the country hosted the 1995 world cup, setting the stage for a spectacular outcome both in the game and for the country.
March 20, 2023
I suspect most of the people coming to this book will be doing so off the heels of Clint Eastwood’s Invictus. It’s a great film and hews pretty close to real events. In brief, by the 1980s South Africa’s apartheid regime (strict racial segregation and discrimination that makes Jim Crow look like Mickey Mouse) had become an international pariah hated by all and its starting to break through even to the most politically opaque of Afrikaners that things cannot go on as they now are. Boycotts, embargoes, and general disgust have combined with increasing assertiveness from the black population to make clear that apartheid can only be maintained by brutal force that is both expensive and difficult to maintain given the aforementioned embargoes. South Africa’s rulers are open to ending apartheid, but in giving up their monopoly on power to those they’ve been abusing they not irrationally fear for the consequences. Something has to give, and it looks very much like white rule is going to end in a torrential bloodbath. Even united the black population is so outgunned that they’re unlikely to win, but that just means the civil war will rage on indefinitely as South Africa joins Congo and Somalia as yet another failed state. Everyone loses.
Enter Nelson Mandela, for 27 years South Africa’s most famous political prisoner, whose mission is to convince everyone that a peaceful transition to democracy is possible and desirable. And to no small degree it is Mandela’s consistent efforts to bring out the best in people that brings this to pass. He negotiates with the South African government to come to an agreement that will end apartheid and allow free elections while protecting the whites from a major backlash. This sense of insecurity proves to be the main stumbling block. Racism is very real, but so is the reasonable fear that the people they have been cruelly persecuting for years are going to take revenge once they come to power. So Mandela has to spend a lot of time proving that he’s not out for blood (“not an Ayatollah” in Carlin’s terms) and reconciling the white population to majority rule. Making a united country from such oppositional groups is no easy matter. Yet once Mandela is in charge he handles it in a way generally recognized as a great success.
You might have noticed that I haven’t even mentioned rugby so far. The central premise of the book is that Mandela used the Springboks, the Afrikaners’ traditional rugby team and symbol of apartheid, as part of his effort at reconciliation. Afrikaners were fiercely attached to their team, just as black Africans hated it to such an extreme that they would root for whoever the team opposing them was. In this not overly favorable mix Mandela saw an opportunity to bring both parts of the country together and heal some old wounds. For Afrikaners he promotes the team, ending the international boycott and hosting the world cup in South Africa. For black Africans he encourages their sense of shared ownership of the team. And he uses the team as a tool for emphasizing the new ideals of the Rainbow Nation: all races working together as one. The team learns the new national anthem, waves the new national flag, and heavily promotes their one black (or rather colored, a distinction that mattered at the time) player as the public face of the team. And as they keep winning against all odds their struggle goes a long way to creating a new South African identity.
This is the story and it is indeed thrilling and inspiring. I describe it as a story because that’s how it is presented. This book reads like a novel and hits all the right beats in a triumphal tone that’s emotionally compelling. Reality is never quite as simple as it seems in fairy tales. The miraculous uniting of races was amazing, but it was far from complete and never over. Even today there is much resentment about how the white population, although under 10% of the population, dominates so much of the wealth, as well as resentment from whites over being politically marginalized. And many of those resentful Afrikaners fled the country. Just look at Elon Musk.
The point is that as fun as this book is to read it’s fairly superficial. The focus is on the author’s personal hero Nelson Mandela and his amazing ability to charm the socks off men who were his natural enemies. We don’t get a very firm idea of the terms on which the first elections were held. If you’re getting all your information from here you may wonder why it took almost a decade after talks were opened to get a deal made because the book says nothing about the vital question of who got to write the new constitution, what the terms of the coalition were, how the Reconciliation Committee was organized, what Mandela’s economic policies were, or really anything about the politics underlying events. From this you’d never gather that the biggest stumbling block was the choice of a strong unitary state (ANC) or a federal system with protections for minorities (Nationalists). It was hard negotiating, not merely charisma. What’s in here isn’t incorrect, but it’s far from being a thorough guide to the end of apartheid.
While the narrative is simplistic and triumphalist, the author really does know what he’s talking about. This was written by a journalist who was reporting on South Africa while all this was going down and has a good set of interviews with many of the people involved. He does well conveying the feel of the moment in history, both with the sense of uncertainty and fear and the moments of optimism. You really do feel in tune with the excitement felt by the crowds as thousands of Afrikaners cheer Mandela’s name. It’s moving stuff. And if that’s all you want from a book that’s fine. I certainly enjoyed it. But I think for my part it would probably be a good idea to supplement it with a more in-depth look at the process such as The Rise and Fall of Apartheid or Tomorrow Is Another Country.
Enter Nelson Mandela, for 27 years South Africa’s most famous political prisoner, whose mission is to convince everyone that a peaceful transition to democracy is possible and desirable. And to no small degree it is Mandela’s consistent efforts to bring out the best in people that brings this to pass. He negotiates with the South African government to come to an agreement that will end apartheid and allow free elections while protecting the whites from a major backlash. This sense of insecurity proves to be the main stumbling block. Racism is very real, but so is the reasonable fear that the people they have been cruelly persecuting for years are going to take revenge once they come to power. So Mandela has to spend a lot of time proving that he’s not out for blood (“not an Ayatollah” in Carlin’s terms) and reconciling the white population to majority rule. Making a united country from such oppositional groups is no easy matter. Yet once Mandela is in charge he handles it in a way generally recognized as a great success.
You might have noticed that I haven’t even mentioned rugby so far. The central premise of the book is that Mandela used the Springboks, the Afrikaners’ traditional rugby team and symbol of apartheid, as part of his effort at reconciliation. Afrikaners were fiercely attached to their team, just as black Africans hated it to such an extreme that they would root for whoever the team opposing them was. In this not overly favorable mix Mandela saw an opportunity to bring both parts of the country together and heal some old wounds. For Afrikaners he promotes the team, ending the international boycott and hosting the world cup in South Africa. For black Africans he encourages their sense of shared ownership of the team. And he uses the team as a tool for emphasizing the new ideals of the Rainbow Nation: all races working together as one. The team learns the new national anthem, waves the new national flag, and heavily promotes their one black (or rather colored, a distinction that mattered at the time) player as the public face of the team. And as they keep winning against all odds their struggle goes a long way to creating a new South African identity.
This is the story and it is indeed thrilling and inspiring. I describe it as a story because that’s how it is presented. This book reads like a novel and hits all the right beats in a triumphal tone that’s emotionally compelling. Reality is never quite as simple as it seems in fairy tales. The miraculous uniting of races was amazing, but it was far from complete and never over. Even today there is much resentment about how the white population, although under 10% of the population, dominates so much of the wealth, as well as resentment from whites over being politically marginalized. And many of those resentful Afrikaners fled the country. Just look at Elon Musk.
The point is that as fun as this book is to read it’s fairly superficial. The focus is on the author’s personal hero Nelson Mandela and his amazing ability to charm the socks off men who were his natural enemies. We don’t get a very firm idea of the terms on which the first elections were held. If you’re getting all your information from here you may wonder why it took almost a decade after talks were opened to get a deal made because the book says nothing about the vital question of who got to write the new constitution, what the terms of the coalition were, how the Reconciliation Committee was organized, what Mandela’s economic policies were, or really anything about the politics underlying events. From this you’d never gather that the biggest stumbling block was the choice of a strong unitary state (ANC) or a federal system with protections for minorities (Nationalists). It was hard negotiating, not merely charisma. What’s in here isn’t incorrect, but it’s far from being a thorough guide to the end of apartheid.
While the narrative is simplistic and triumphalist, the author really does know what he’s talking about. This was written by a journalist who was reporting on South Africa while all this was going down and has a good set of interviews with many of the people involved. He does well conveying the feel of the moment in history, both with the sense of uncertainty and fear and the moments of optimism. You really do feel in tune with the excitement felt by the crowds as thousands of Afrikaners cheer Mandela’s name. It’s moving stuff. And if that’s all you want from a book that’s fine. I certainly enjoyed it. But I think for my part it would probably be a good idea to supplement it with a more in-depth look at the process such as The Rise and Fall of Apartheid or Tomorrow Is Another Country.
November 14, 2011
Good if flawed account of Mandela's struggle to unify South Africa. The author did a good job in showing how tenuous the country was during Mandela's term as president and Mandela"s role in stabilizing a very dangerous period in history. However there are just too many flaws in this book to thoroughly enjoy it. First, there is the formal and stiff writing style of the author. It tends to be unfocused in describing the events. Secondly, while The author sincerely admires Mandela, and there is much to be admired, the adulation tends to be a bit heavy. Third, The Rugby part of the book doesn't really become important until the last quarter. This is probably good since I know nothing about Rugby, however I found it more inspiring to read about how Mandela worked with his past enemies to unify a country. In the scheme of things even this Rugby game seeedm to be a bit exaggerated in its importance. This is a good example of the movie being better than the book.
July 23, 2022
Libro incredibile, ma mai quanto la storia che racconta... "se è successo una volta, può succedere ancora"
July 6, 2019
Carlin quotes Albert Camus as writing that 27 years in prison makes a man a killer, or a weakling, or a combination of both. How, then, did Nelson Mandela who spent 27 years in a South African prison escape this fate and become the leader who united blacks and whites in that previously apartheid country? To have that question answered was one reason I read this book (aside from having it selected in a book group). I knew of Nelson Mandela’s success i but I knew little of how he accomplished this feat so the book was compellingly instructive in that way.
Carlin is a journalist, though, not a historian so it’s not the book to find a lot of subtext to the history of South Africa and the legacy of Mandela in the twenty years since he left office A reader may well have unanswered questions about that, or how Mandela’s values changed over nearly three decades in prison. But what Carlin concentrates on he does well. He concentrates on Mandela’s actions after he was released from prison in l990.
Mandela came to realize that change in South Africa would not be worth the bloodshed and upheaval brought on by civil war between blacks and whites, and a class struggle between poor and rich. As a leader he was in a position to to influence the direction the country would go, and he moved it toward a peaceful end to apartheid. Of course leaders on the other side saw no point either destroying the country through violence, so there was some tentative common ground between the opponents.
A war was stopped, but that certainly didn’t mean that there was a state of harmony and peace in South Africa. Both Mandela and opposition leaders had a lot of different factions to deal with in their own camps, and there were plenty of false steps that could have proved disastrous.
Some black leaders saw a weakness in Mandela that proved to be one of his strengths. He had a tendency to trust people too much, but that was because he saw good in people. Most people lack this capacity and are prone to find enemies beyond redemption. But because Mandela had this capacity, Carlin writes, he charmed people, making them feel significant and important, always being ready to listen to their viewpoint. Grudgingly they began to respect his views.
Mandela originally knew little and cared less, about rugby, a passion among the Afrikaner Dutch-descended South Africans. There were many protests against international matches with South Africa so when Mandela met members of the team, he applied his usual charm, but as always, his charm served his own ends. People like winners, but the success of the South African team was plagued by boycotts due to the apartheid policies of its country. Mandela began to suggest that the team could play for something bigger than themselves, the idea of a genuinely united nation. As a black leader, he would begin to move backs to support the team and have the boycotts lifted. It worked with both sides gaining something.
It all came together in a climactic match between South Africa and New Zealand, won by the South African team, and improbable as it sounds, sports had begun to unite a bitterly divided country. People actually began to realize that they had more in common than what divided them. As an inspirational story of an unlikely event, Carlin's book is a success.
Carlin is a journalist, though, not a historian so it’s not the book to find a lot of subtext to the history of South Africa and the legacy of Mandela in the twenty years since he left office A reader may well have unanswered questions about that, or how Mandela’s values changed over nearly three decades in prison. But what Carlin concentrates on he does well. He concentrates on Mandela’s actions after he was released from prison in l990.
Mandela came to realize that change in South Africa would not be worth the bloodshed and upheaval brought on by civil war between blacks and whites, and a class struggle between poor and rich. As a leader he was in a position to to influence the direction the country would go, and he moved it toward a peaceful end to apartheid. Of course leaders on the other side saw no point either destroying the country through violence, so there was some tentative common ground between the opponents.
A war was stopped, but that certainly didn’t mean that there was a state of harmony and peace in South Africa. Both Mandela and opposition leaders had a lot of different factions to deal with in their own camps, and there were plenty of false steps that could have proved disastrous.
Some black leaders saw a weakness in Mandela that proved to be one of his strengths. He had a tendency to trust people too much, but that was because he saw good in people. Most people lack this capacity and are prone to find enemies beyond redemption. But because Mandela had this capacity, Carlin writes, he charmed people, making them feel significant and important, always being ready to listen to their viewpoint. Grudgingly they began to respect his views.
Mandela originally knew little and cared less, about rugby, a passion among the Afrikaner Dutch-descended South Africans. There were many protests against international matches with South Africa so when Mandela met members of the team, he applied his usual charm, but as always, his charm served his own ends. People like winners, but the success of the South African team was plagued by boycotts due to the apartheid policies of its country. Mandela began to suggest that the team could play for something bigger than themselves, the idea of a genuinely united nation. As a black leader, he would begin to move backs to support the team and have the boycotts lifted. It worked with both sides gaining something.
It all came together in a climactic match between South Africa and New Zealand, won by the South African team, and improbable as it sounds, sports had begun to unite a bitterly divided country. People actually began to realize that they had more in common than what divided them. As an inspirational story of an unlikely event, Carlin's book is a success.
October 6, 2019
I am so thankful to my dear friend who got me this book knowing that i will LOVE it.
It is such a moving, touching and inspirational book that you just have to read it. This is the story of Nelson Mandela's rise to the presidency of South Africa, and the power of love (and rugby) to unite a nation. I laughed. I cried. By the time I finished this book, my heart was filled with joy and a had a big smile on my face. This book and the true story is a proof, to me, that nothing - absolutely nothing - is impossible to Love and change with right approach.
This book is not really a story of rugby; it is a story of a country struggling with a massive and long-overdue change in the fabric of its society and how one man changed it all with his conviction. It tells the story of South Africa during the transition period after Nelson Mandela was freed from 27 years in prison and apartheid ended. Carlin's writing and summary of this time is nothing short of superb.
He is an absolute HERO. I had read about him in past too but this book gives me a real perspective of the massive challenge he had in his hands and how he went about it and did it.
It is such a moving, touching and inspirational book that you just have to read it. This is the story of Nelson Mandela's rise to the presidency of South Africa, and the power of love (and rugby) to unite a nation. I laughed. I cried. By the time I finished this book, my heart was filled with joy and a had a big smile on my face. This book and the true story is a proof, to me, that nothing - absolutely nothing - is impossible to Love and change with right approach.
This book is not really a story of rugby; it is a story of a country struggling with a massive and long-overdue change in the fabric of its society and how one man changed it all with his conviction. It tells the story of South Africa during the transition period after Nelson Mandela was freed from 27 years in prison and apartheid ended. Carlin's writing and summary of this time is nothing short of superb.
He is an absolute HERO. I had read about him in past too but this book gives me a real perspective of the massive challenge he had in his hands and how he went about it and did it.
January 26, 2013
A great insight into the events that led up to the 1995 Rugby Worldcup, uniting a nation under Mandela. For some reason, I expected it to be more about the Springbok captain Pinaar and rugby but it was actually a portray of Mandela's last years in prison and the events leading up to his release and then later the 1994 elections. Really appreciated the insightful portrayal of Mandela as a man who created a new nation with fantastically clear and shrewed mind and a heart full of grace and love. Fills you with awe of the man, seriously.
The audiobook wasn't actually read by the narrator it was meant to be read (Saul Reichlin) but whilst not being South African, the narrator did a fine job pronouncing the Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa words/names.
Glad I listened to the audiobook (instead of reading it) because it probably would have taken me some time to read it myself. And I saw the movie a few months ago, which made the rugby parts a lot more palatable and understandable (since I'm not a rugby fan and find it all a bit confusing)! ;)
The audiobook wasn't actually read by the narrator it was meant to be read (Saul Reichlin) but whilst not being South African, the narrator did a fine job pronouncing the Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa words/names.
Glad I listened to the audiobook (instead of reading it) because it probably would have taken me some time to read it myself. And I saw the movie a few months ago, which made the rugby parts a lot more palatable and understandable (since I'm not a rugby fan and find it all a bit confusing)! ;)
January 6, 2013
Otra lectura excelente del 2012, en español se llama "El factor humano". El genio de Mandela para resolver una situación tan crítica en su país y llevarlo a la paz y a la unión es impresionante. La lectura se hace fácil y adictiva (termine en 3 días). Para quienes se vieron la película "Invictus", el libro es una excelente adición.
October 20, 2016
Playing The Enemy is a journalistic popular narrative of the impact of the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship in forming a post-Apartheid South African nationalism, and the efforts of Nelson Mandela embracing white dominated rugby in order to avert a civil war. John Carlin, who is a longtime British journalist, centered the story on Nelson Mandela’s journey from resistance fighter, to longtime political prisoner who was the symbol of Apartheid repression, to the President of a fledgling multiracial state which could move either to factional war or forward as a nation. While an entertaining narrative written in a classical journalistic style, aimed for public consumption as opposed to academic study, its lack of sources throw into question some of its basic arguments, as one cannot confirm nor deny his assertions. Since the point of popular nonfiction narratives is to provide an entertaining story set in the real world, writers are free to take some liberties or exaggerate. Some of Carlin’s assertions, at the gut level, seem to be in this category, as well as his overall conclusions about South Africa’s problems since the 1995 game. As a book, it is an undeniable example of the connections between the importance of sports in forming imagined communities, and shifting notions of social progress. As Mandela asserted, sport have the power more than governments to break down racial barriers (3).
Carlin argued that Nelson Mandela, while in prison, made an effort to know his enemy, and learned Afrikaaner history, culture, and language, and realized that rugby was what glued Afrikaaner people together. Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) pushed for a boycott of all things South African, especially its national teams, and especially its national rugby team, the Springboks, whose green jersey colors were as much representative of Apartheid as the old South African flag and national anthem. When Mandela became President, Carlin argued that he realized how close South Africa was to a civil war, as heavily armed right-wing Afrikaaner militias and members of the military threatened to overthrow the newly elected ANC dominated government or carve out an Afrikaaner state. Though only 10% of the population, the fact that they were heavily armed and financed meant that they had the power to make or turn South Africa into a wartorn hellscape. Mandela sought to make a multiracial South African nationalism by pushing for black South Africans to embrace the same Springboks in the Rugby World Cup which had been heavily protested and boycotted. He met regularly with the mostly apolitical white members of the team, who by the end see him as much a part of their team as any other, and Mandela wears the green jersey and Springbock cap during the run. By embracing their former enemies, the teeth of anger at the loss of privilege is numbed since white South Africans see black South Africans rooting for their team. The final victory is one shared by nearly all South Africans.
Divided into time periods providing the background, two thirds of the book is a setup for the 1995 World Cup, in explaining how the moment was a true crossroads, which could have led easily to war. The book, as many journalist narratives do, follow a number of individuals throughout besides Mandela. Justice Bekebeka was a longtime black nationalist ANC operative who was one of the few South Africans, he noted, that refused to embrace the Springboks, as he had forgiven enough. The embrace of the green jersey was something he could not do, which made him a lonely man on game day. Niel Barnard was a Afrikaaner intelligence director who had defended the old regime but realized it was untenable and began working towards transition to the new, which made him as a hard defender of post-Apartheid as he had been of Apartheid. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who is a sort of a backdrop of a longtime Anglican bishop who pushed for nonviolent boycotts to fight Apartheid. Francois Pienaar is the captain of the Springboks, described as a typical apolitical Afrikaaner who always voted Nat (the Nationalist Party, the ruling Apartheid party dominated by Afrikaaners.) Linga Moonsamy was a former ANC guerilla who became the head of the Presidential protection unit, tasked with guarding Mandela. He was on hand as a stadium of 62,000 Boers, described as rednecks with khaki clothes, potbellies, and Budweisor drinkers, chanted “Nelson! Nelson!” and sang Shosholoza, the new South African national anthem, which had originally been a black protest song.
The book quite well set up that scene, as since the mid 1980s, South Africa steadily moved towards war, as it sent the military into villages to suppress protest and revolt, and right-wing Afrikaaners moved to balkanize South Africa if the Apartheid state was untenable. By combining the symbol of Mandela with the symbol of Springbok, he helped create the post-Apartheid state nationalism. Carlin’s thesis is summed up nicely, “For decades Mandela had stood for everything white South Africa most feared; the Springbok jersey had been the symbol, for even longer, of everything black South Africans most hated. Now suddenly, before the eyes of the whole of South Africa, and much of the world, the two negative symbols had merged to create a new one that was positive, constructive, and good. Mandela had wrought the transformation, becoming the embodiment not of hate and fear, but generosity and love” (223). Mandela had that unifying quality, where he sought out human commonality, which he believed sports to be a bridge between people of vastly different positions and backgrounds.
Besides lacking the academic rigor of having checkable sources, Carlin overplayed how much rugby united South Africa over the long term. While it certainly helped alleviate a critical period after the ascension of the ANC through the 1994 election, which met their basic demand of “one person, one vote”, one day of sports unity will not restructure overall racial bigotry, to say nothing of racial institutions, which will take at least a few generations to change. Carlin hinted at the bigger problems of post-Apartheid South Africa, that of deep poverty, the AIDS epidemic, widespread violent crime, and corruption as being the standard problems of any country as opposed to the racist brute of international relations, which seems to be somewhat of a cop-out. He never mentioned the extreme neoliberal embrace of the ANC, which embraced the IMF and World Bank’s edicts that it privatize as much as possible to bring investment to South Africa, which, as it has in much of the world, actually deepened the poverty of the country. Mandela, while a man of deep reverence and vision, is but one man, and it usually takes decades, if not centuries, to rectify systemic, informal oppressions without the violent birth pangs of revolution.
Carlin’s work has become very popular after Invictus premiered, which is based on Playing The Enemy. It is a story, as Carlin related, that is easily transferable to a fictionalized narrative. The serious historian should be troubled by the lack of sources in Carlin’s book, yet one cannot deny that he captured a pivotable moment of unity and possibility within South African history. Where the academic historian may overlook this moment, the journalist may overplay and romanticize the same moment. Is this where the sports historian comes in, making the links between social, cultural, political, and standard histories? What lessons from journalism, besides writing well, can an academic take away? I fear that historians will often throw out the baby with the bathwater in dismissing books like Carlin’s, which are clearly very popular, even if it is rightfully criticized for sources that are not accountable, which private interviews seldomly are. The accessibility of works like Carlin’s, which is the best selling rugby book in history, points to the necessity of engaging with strategies that journalists use.
Carlin argued that Nelson Mandela, while in prison, made an effort to know his enemy, and learned Afrikaaner history, culture, and language, and realized that rugby was what glued Afrikaaner people together. Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) pushed for a boycott of all things South African, especially its national teams, and especially its national rugby team, the Springboks, whose green jersey colors were as much representative of Apartheid as the old South African flag and national anthem. When Mandela became President, Carlin argued that he realized how close South Africa was to a civil war, as heavily armed right-wing Afrikaaner militias and members of the military threatened to overthrow the newly elected ANC dominated government or carve out an Afrikaaner state. Though only 10% of the population, the fact that they were heavily armed and financed meant that they had the power to make or turn South Africa into a wartorn hellscape. Mandela sought to make a multiracial South African nationalism by pushing for black South Africans to embrace the same Springboks in the Rugby World Cup which had been heavily protested and boycotted. He met regularly with the mostly apolitical white members of the team, who by the end see him as much a part of their team as any other, and Mandela wears the green jersey and Springbock cap during the run. By embracing their former enemies, the teeth of anger at the loss of privilege is numbed since white South Africans see black South Africans rooting for their team. The final victory is one shared by nearly all South Africans.
Divided into time periods providing the background, two thirds of the book is a setup for the 1995 World Cup, in explaining how the moment was a true crossroads, which could have led easily to war. The book, as many journalist narratives do, follow a number of individuals throughout besides Mandela. Justice Bekebeka was a longtime black nationalist ANC operative who was one of the few South Africans, he noted, that refused to embrace the Springboks, as he had forgiven enough. The embrace of the green jersey was something he could not do, which made him a lonely man on game day. Niel Barnard was a Afrikaaner intelligence director who had defended the old regime but realized it was untenable and began working towards transition to the new, which made him as a hard defender of post-Apartheid as he had been of Apartheid. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who is a sort of a backdrop of a longtime Anglican bishop who pushed for nonviolent boycotts to fight Apartheid. Francois Pienaar is the captain of the Springboks, described as a typical apolitical Afrikaaner who always voted Nat (the Nationalist Party, the ruling Apartheid party dominated by Afrikaaners.) Linga Moonsamy was a former ANC guerilla who became the head of the Presidential protection unit, tasked with guarding Mandela. He was on hand as a stadium of 62,000 Boers, described as rednecks with khaki clothes, potbellies, and Budweisor drinkers, chanted “Nelson! Nelson!” and sang Shosholoza, the new South African national anthem, which had originally been a black protest song.
The book quite well set up that scene, as since the mid 1980s, South Africa steadily moved towards war, as it sent the military into villages to suppress protest and revolt, and right-wing Afrikaaners moved to balkanize South Africa if the Apartheid state was untenable. By combining the symbol of Mandela with the symbol of Springbok, he helped create the post-Apartheid state nationalism. Carlin’s thesis is summed up nicely, “For decades Mandela had stood for everything white South Africa most feared; the Springbok jersey had been the symbol, for even longer, of everything black South Africans most hated. Now suddenly, before the eyes of the whole of South Africa, and much of the world, the two negative symbols had merged to create a new one that was positive, constructive, and good. Mandela had wrought the transformation, becoming the embodiment not of hate and fear, but generosity and love” (223). Mandela had that unifying quality, where he sought out human commonality, which he believed sports to be a bridge between people of vastly different positions and backgrounds.
Besides lacking the academic rigor of having checkable sources, Carlin overplayed how much rugby united South Africa over the long term. While it certainly helped alleviate a critical period after the ascension of the ANC through the 1994 election, which met their basic demand of “one person, one vote”, one day of sports unity will not restructure overall racial bigotry, to say nothing of racial institutions, which will take at least a few generations to change. Carlin hinted at the bigger problems of post-Apartheid South Africa, that of deep poverty, the AIDS epidemic, widespread violent crime, and corruption as being the standard problems of any country as opposed to the racist brute of international relations, which seems to be somewhat of a cop-out. He never mentioned the extreme neoliberal embrace of the ANC, which embraced the IMF and World Bank’s edicts that it privatize as much as possible to bring investment to South Africa, which, as it has in much of the world, actually deepened the poverty of the country. Mandela, while a man of deep reverence and vision, is but one man, and it usually takes decades, if not centuries, to rectify systemic, informal oppressions without the violent birth pangs of revolution.
Carlin’s work has become very popular after Invictus premiered, which is based on Playing The Enemy. It is a story, as Carlin related, that is easily transferable to a fictionalized narrative. The serious historian should be troubled by the lack of sources in Carlin’s book, yet one cannot deny that he captured a pivotable moment of unity and possibility within South African history. Where the academic historian may overlook this moment, the journalist may overplay and romanticize the same moment. Is this where the sports historian comes in, making the links between social, cultural, political, and standard histories? What lessons from journalism, besides writing well, can an academic take away? I fear that historians will often throw out the baby with the bathwater in dismissing books like Carlin’s, which are clearly very popular, even if it is rightfully criticized for sources that are not accountable, which private interviews seldomly are. The accessibility of works like Carlin’s, which is the best selling rugby book in history, points to the necessity of engaging with strategies that journalists use.
March 8, 2023
I enjoyed this book for the most part. The story is truly incredible but I found Carlin’s writing a bit stale. I thought it sacrificed some nuance and detail to instead introduce lots of different characters which left things a little all over the place. Still a good read and such a compelling true story that inspired some hope in humanity.
January 27, 2022
Considering I was only reading this as a book assigned for class, it was pretty good! I’m never a huge nonfiction fan, nor do I know anything about rugby, but I was intrigued to read until the end to see if Mandela’s goal of national unification through sport could prove successful.
June 22, 2020
Was a good book and a good read.
October 6, 2021
I was worried that already knowing what happens would make the book less enjoyable for me but I learned SO much! I loved the way that Carlin told the story using the words and perspectives from a variety of people. I really recommend reading this book!
May 15, 2023
Libro en que se basa la película Invictus de Clint Eastwood, se refiere, sobre todo, al largo e intrincado camino de democratización de Sudáfrica. Mandela es, obviamente, el protagonista y el héroe. Una buena manera de acercarse a esta apasionante historia.
July 12, 2011
'Playing the Enemy' is one of those non-fiction pieces that you scarcely would have allowed yourself to believe to be true, lest you know it was. It is also one of these texts that you pick up, completely prepared for on subject, and soon you are delivered something that you did not expect.
The novel follows the famous south African Nelson Mandela, president, human rights activist and, as accordance to the subject matter of the book, a dedicated rugby fan. The first half, if not more, of the book takes the reader on a tour of his life as well as the lives of millions of South African residents as they lived during the time before, during, and have human rights reform in the once turmoil African nation. It tells of the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela, his distinct social power and abilities, and how they eventually led to his release from prison.
There is also significant mention and accounts of the social and physical abuse suffered by the blacks under the powerful white government, and how Mr. Mandela was able to persuade them to not retaliate with anger, but with such emotions as love and forgiveness.
During this telling, the book is punctuated with 'where-is-he-now' points concerning the life of Francois Pinaar, who would become the captain of the South American rugby team during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, of which the book speaks.
Finally, the book turns to the concern of rugby. (I have my single grievance with this book because it was supposed to be about 'Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation, but over half of the book seemed a pre-requisite to this idea. Although it was not as if the first section of the book was not informative. On the contrary, it was quite intriguing!)
Watching the nation of South Africa change was awe-inspiring. From a government headed entirely by whites to a country governed by President Mandela, a black former-prisoner, was a true testament to human forgiveness. The way he dealt with the people around him, of all races and of all intentions, may have been the deciding factor in the fate of his country. As was his attention to rugby, at first shunned by the black population for its connection to the white rule, it was now something that he could use to pull together his people with. All of his people.
The South African rugby team prevailed in the world cup, thanks to the support of Mr. Mandela, and 43 million South Africans. The rest, as they say, is history.
This is a fantastic novel for all those who want to not only read more on the history of South Africa, the amazing and inspiring life of Mr. Nelson Mandela, but also for those who want a read a book with surprising real events and an ending that will leave you feeling hopeful for the future.
The novel follows the famous south African Nelson Mandela, president, human rights activist and, as accordance to the subject matter of the book, a dedicated rugby fan. The first half, if not more, of the book takes the reader on a tour of his life as well as the lives of millions of South African residents as they lived during the time before, during, and have human rights reform in the once turmoil African nation. It tells of the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela, his distinct social power and abilities, and how they eventually led to his release from prison.
There is also significant mention and accounts of the social and physical abuse suffered by the blacks under the powerful white government, and how Mr. Mandela was able to persuade them to not retaliate with anger, but with such emotions as love and forgiveness.
During this telling, the book is punctuated with 'where-is-he-now' points concerning the life of Francois Pinaar, who would become the captain of the South American rugby team during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, of which the book speaks.
Finally, the book turns to the concern of rugby. (I have my single grievance with this book because it was supposed to be about 'Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation, but over half of the book seemed a pre-requisite to this idea. Although it was not as if the first section of the book was not informative. On the contrary, it was quite intriguing!)
Watching the nation of South Africa change was awe-inspiring. From a government headed entirely by whites to a country governed by President Mandela, a black former-prisoner, was a true testament to human forgiveness. The way he dealt with the people around him, of all races and of all intentions, may have been the deciding factor in the fate of his country. As was his attention to rugby, at first shunned by the black population for its connection to the white rule, it was now something that he could use to pull together his people with. All of his people.
The South African rugby team prevailed in the world cup, thanks to the support of Mr. Mandela, and 43 million South Africans. The rest, as they say, is history.
This is a fantastic novel for all those who want to not only read more on the history of South Africa, the amazing and inspiring life of Mr. Nelson Mandela, but also for those who want a read a book with surprising real events and an ending that will leave you feeling hopeful for the future.
June 19, 2010
Nelson Mandela is the epitome of Agile Living and Agile Leadership, which is essentially about living in a way that exercises your freedom and expands freedom for others. Exercising your mental and emotional freedom is the foundation of Agile Living and creating all the other types of freedom that you might want for yourself and the people around you. In spite of having many of his freedoms severely constrained and restricted, and having his loved ones tortured and killed in terrible ways, Nelson Mandela chose to exercise mental and emotional freedom and to think and feel from a place of love and peace rather than fear, hatred and revenge. And this is in my view the reason he was able to be such a transformational leader.
If you're curious to learn more and want to get the 19 leadership strategies that Nelson Mandela used which I've extracted from Invictus, you can get my Bottom-line, along with an interview with the author, John Carlin, and an ex-freedom fighter who spent 10 years in prison at Robben Island with Nelson Mandela, over at The Bottom-line Bookclub - http://www.bottomlinebookclub.com/201...
If you're curious to learn more and want to get the 19 leadership strategies that Nelson Mandela used which I've extracted from Invictus, you can get my Bottom-line, along with an interview with the author, John Carlin, and an ex-freedom fighter who spent 10 years in prison at Robben Island with Nelson Mandela, over at The Bottom-line Bookclub - http://www.bottomlinebookclub.com/201...
November 15, 2010
I became interested in this book in a very roundabout way. I am a fan of rugby, and the South African team the Springboks in particular, and picked up this book for that reason. I was not prepared for the sheer power of what I read. I must say that I never realized how very evil apartheid was until I read the details in this book. For part of the time, tears streamed down my face as I grieved the injustices suffered by the black African people of South Africa. Central to the book is the one injustice that nearly everyone realizes, and that is the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela. The miracle of the narrative is the forgiving spirit of Nelson Mandela as he used the Rugby World Cup to unite a nation. I cried through this narrative as well. If you would like to experience this story before you read it, I highly recommend the movie "Invictus". The movie remains very faithful to the book. Another choice would be to see "The Thirteenth Man", a documentary about this story that is part of ESPNs "30 for 30" series. And to my delight, they got the rugby scenes correct! So, enjoy the book and the film, and try watching rugby (Rugby Union is best in my opinion, far superior to Rugby League).
March 14, 2011
Like a lot of books I end up reading, I saw the film first. The film was average at best (and the rugby scenes were very poor in my opinion), so it wasn't hard to beat by the book. That being said, the book doesn't surpass the film in the way it told the same story, the book surpasses the book in that it interweaves more storylines, more subplots and more characters into this fascinating story. After reading this book -- which is fascinating for multiple reasons including geopolitics, race relations and rugby union -- I want to rush out and find more books on Mandela, Afrikaners and South Africa. This is really a great story and much more than a book about a rugby tournament. The first two-thirds of the book is really about what a master of conflict resolution Nelson Mandela was in the first part of the 1990's while he was in prison and through his presidency. If you're interested in rugby, this book will probably strike you as just okay, but if you're interested in South African history or Nelson Mandela's amazing life story, then you will love this book.
December 29, 2014
4.5 stars
This is not just a book about a rugby game that made a nation, it's also about uniting white and black people in a nonracist attitude. It's a tale about forgiving, developing new ways of thinking. It's a tale about a great man who had the courage to do what nobody else had ever thought of doing, who achieved what nobody else had ever wanted to achieve. The book has an energy of its own just like Mandela had. This book has strenght in its words - so much so that towards the end I almost felt like I was a South-African rooting for the sucess of the country.
Actually I think my country had a moment in its history of sports very much like the World Cup Rugby Final for South-Africa and that was Euro 2004. At that time I also felt that Portugal was united in a way I had never imagined. This was a great book, truly a revelation. Much more than I can express in my review. I had a special feeling during the reading: Mandela's ways touched me and what he achieved somehow reverberated in me.
This is not just a book about a rugby game that made a nation, it's also about uniting white and black people in a nonracist attitude. It's a tale about forgiving, developing new ways of thinking. It's a tale about a great man who had the courage to do what nobody else had ever thought of doing, who achieved what nobody else had ever wanted to achieve. The book has an energy of its own just like Mandela had. This book has strenght in its words - so much so that towards the end I almost felt like I was a South-African rooting for the sucess of the country.
Actually I think my country had a moment in its history of sports very much like the World Cup Rugby Final for South-Africa and that was Euro 2004. At that time I also felt that Portugal was united in a way I had never imagined. This was a great book, truly a revelation. Much more than I can express in my review. I had a special feeling during the reading: Mandela's ways touched me and what he achieved somehow reverberated in me.
July 30, 2022
Ama il tuo nemico è la storia di un insegnamento che un grande uomo ha saputo trasmettere al suo popolo nonostante anni di sofferenze e di soprusi subiti durante il regime dell'Apartheid.
Nonostante i 27 anni di carcere Mandela ha perdonato i suoi aguzzini perchè ha capito che la vendetta non avrebbe portato da nessuna parte, così attraverso il rugby, lo sport seguito dai bianchi per il quale i neri non provavano alcun interesse (anzi tifavano contro la squadra del proprio paese), è riuscito a riappacificare una nazione che più eterogenea non poteva essere.
La nazione arcobaleno ha ancora tanta strada da fare prima di raggiungere quell'equilibrio di cui ha bisogno, io ci sono stata nel 2007 e ancora si sentivano gli strascichi di quel regime, erano ancora visibili le disparità tra bianchi e neri, però sicuramente Mandela ha fatto un gran lavoro e lo si deve solo a lui se è stato evitato il rischio di una guerra civile.
Nonostante i 27 anni di carcere Mandela ha perdonato i suoi aguzzini perchè ha capito che la vendetta non avrebbe portato da nessuna parte, così attraverso il rugby, lo sport seguito dai bianchi per il quale i neri non provavano alcun interesse (anzi tifavano contro la squadra del proprio paese), è riuscito a riappacificare una nazione che più eterogenea non poteva essere.
La nazione arcobaleno ha ancora tanta strada da fare prima di raggiungere quell'equilibrio di cui ha bisogno, io ci sono stata nel 2007 e ancora si sentivano gli strascichi di quel regime, erano ancora visibili le disparità tra bianchi e neri, però sicuramente Mandela ha fatto un gran lavoro e lo si deve solo a lui se è stato evitato il rischio di una guerra civile.
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