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

Fascinating

This is a terrific read. Though they are releasing a movie they are missing the best part. I am an ex rugby player but I found the most interesting part takes place in the many years before the match. Three quarters of of the book is Mandela's negotiations with the Boer government during his captivity. I had no idea. It seems he went to great lengths to get to know his captors which included his gaining an understanding of their sporting interests. Later he has to transfer that interest to the Black African majority who hated rugby as it represented their oppressors. It is more a book about Mandela's human insight than the game.
The fact that it was a unprecedented and unexpected and yet seemingly destined victory makes great icing for the cake. You needn't be a rugby fan, I am, you don't have to have been in South Africa when Mandela was released, I was, to enjoy this book. I sent it to my mother, father and step daughter and they all liked it.
Don't miss it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great read!

When Nelson Mandela became the first democratically elected president of South Africa, the country was still deeply divided by the legacy of apartheid. This book tells the heartwarming story of how the Mandela used his considerable charm and charisma to rally blacks and whites around a game of rugby -- specifically the 1995 World Cup championship match between South Africa and New Zealand. I knew very little about South African politics (and even less about rugby!) before reading this book, but the author provided just enough background to make me appreciate the enormity of Mandela's challenge. This wonderful human interest story is a real winner. (I understand the book has been optioned to Hollywood, with Morgan Freeman slated to star. Is that perfect casting or what?)

History with Heart

I read Bill Keller¿s review in the 'NY Times' and thought, wow, this sounds great. I picked it up and found it a terrific story, told dramatically and well. I thought, at first, not being a student of modern South Africa to any great extent, that the portrait of Mandela as this nearly omnipotent force for moral good was a bit overplayed. But as the story progressed, Carlin made his case. I am someone who¿s worked in progressive politics for some time, and I¿m a rugger, so there¿s a lot of resonance in this book for me. Some of the vignettes are terrific: Desmond Tutu stranded in San Francisco and desperately seeking a bar where he can watch the final match Mandela in prison teaching himself Afrikaans and Afrikaner history the largely apolitical and almost entirely Boer rugby team learning the liberation song, Nkosi Sikelele a black member of Mandela¿s presidential protection unit suggesting he wear the Springbok jersey to the final match and Mandela¿s reception from the fans at the match, almost all white, almost all Boers, chanting ¿Nelson, Nelson.¿ and the reaction of the Springbok manager: ¿It was the moment I realized that there really was a chance this country could work.¿ Great read! Pick it up. I can¿t wait for the movie in production now with Morgan Freeman as Mandela, Matt Damon as the Springbok captain, and directed by Clint Eastwood.

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