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| Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation | 
 enlarge | List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $14.72
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 16 reviews)
Sales Rank: 25451
Category: Book
Author: John Carlin
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Studio: Penguin Press HC, The
Manufacturer: Penguin Press HC, The
Label: Penguin Press HC, The
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 1594201749
Dewey Decimal Number: 968.065
EAN: 9781594201745
ASIN: 1594201749
Publication Date: August 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
"Playing The Enemy" is inspiring September 30, 2008
There has been plenty written about the master statesman Nelson Mandela, but John Carlin's story about how Mandela transformed his nation by leveraging the sport of rugby is truly inspiring. This book is a must read for anyone who has ever been discouraged from creating change. Mandela's mindset and approach to liberating his country is unmatched.
Forging a National Consciousness through Mutual Respect September 29, 2008
Playing the Enemy is a very timely book. In these days when nations are often more divided than before, Nelson Mandela's instinct to show respect, friendliness, and common purpose with those who saw him as an enemy is a beacon that lights up the potential for all people to come together to accomplish more. John Carlin has used the Rugby World Cup imaginatively to illustrate the essence of President Mandela's approach. Mr. Carlin is a wonderful story teller, and you'll feel chills as you read the many great moments he brilliantly captures in Playing the Enemy.
Leaders have always used foreign enemies to bring their purpose together. Who realized that this could be done at the level of sport rather than through war as a way to unify a country where people were deeply suspicious (even paranoid) about one another?
I was glad to see that Mr. Carlin provided lots of background about how someone imprisoned for decades became the leader of a reconstituted nation in South Africa and went on to accomplish things that not even the most optimistic would have expected. President Mandela's story is one for the ages, and this way of telling the story makes it easier to understand for those who never saw South Africa during the Apartheid regime.
Although I had long studied and worked to help change the government in South Africa from the inside and outside, the political impact of the international boycott of the South African rugby team had been lost to me. I hope those who would like to encourage governments to behave more appropriately towards their people will remember this example.
Bravo, Mr. Carlin!
A masterpiece September 28, 2008
This book is an absolute masterpiece of writing, a true gem and one that will certainly melt the hearts of many. On the surface it is about a rugby match between South Africa's Springboks and New Zealand in 1995. But it is representative of much more because, as the author shows, this match helped bring together South Africa after the fall of Apartheid, healing, at least in a small way, the anger of the blacks and the fear of the whites that the new nation would reject them. This was clear when Mandela came to support the rugby team, which had been seen as a symbol of Afrikaner nationalism, wholeheartedly. The book is more than the game, it covers many important characters and their reactions on the day of the match. The author is certainly an expert on South Africa, having lived there as a journalist, and he understands the soul of many of the people of the country. He understands also the history of the Afrikaners, the tradition of the 'Bitter enders' who had fought the british to 'bitter end' in the Boer War. This is a very nice book, an important story and one that will surely inspire. Unfortunatly the story paints a perfect utopian pciture of South Africa, one that has not stood the test of time. With the murder rate the highest in the world, AIDs running wild, farm invasions and the prospect of a new president whose motto used to be 'bring me my machine gun', South Africa's 1995 rugby match may well have just been a moment of reconciliation that could not last.
Seth J. Frantzman
Engaging lens on Nelson Mandela's brilliant leadership September 21, 2008
This is a book about sports and politics, and how the two can be brilliantly combined in the service of peace. Not just a picture into the workings of transition from apartheid to post-apartheid South Africa, Playing with the Enemy describes the deepest understanding of man's universal need to belong to a winning "team". Nelson Mandela understood that need, transcended his own opportunity for vengeance, and led his country into the political miracle of modern times. Engagingly written; a very special book.
Deeply touching and informative September 21, 2008
Though I was quite engaged in the anti-Apartheidt movment, I discovered how little I knew about Mandela's savvy and often ironic approach to his and his country's struggle. He didn't hate his captors, and it is hard to understand until you read the intimate and complex way he set about winning them over. it was almost shocking to see how charm and warmth were employed in this endeavor; sucessfully!
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