Playing the Enemy
Subtitle: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Published: August 14, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 304
ISBN-13: 9781594201745
Subjects: Africa - South - Republic of South Africa; Rugby; History / South Africa; History; History - General History; History: World
Description: In 1985, Nelson Mandela, then in prison for 23 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. 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. Author Carlin, former South Africa bureau chief for the London Independent, offers a portrait of the greatest statesman of our time in action.--From publisher description.