Customer Reviews

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

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Awe inspiring. Carlin gives enough back history of South Africa and the poltical tension that preceeded the 1995 World Cup Rugby game to make you want to stand up and cheer at the end of the book.

As a simple story about an underdog national rugby team beating all odds to win a championship, this would be a very good story. What makes this story great, is that team has been chosen (by newly elected South African president Nelson Mandela) as a way to unite a South Africa torn by divisions caused by decades of government enforced segregation of blacks and pave the way for reconciliation between bitter enemies. Can the Springboks, a symbol of the old segregated government, truly make their motto "One Team, One Country" come true?

If you have watched "Invictus" be assured that this book has much more of the background to the people and events portrayed by the movie. The added detail gives one a sharper understanding of many of the principle characters in the movie and the true scope of Mandela's brilliance.

Highly recommended!

This is one of the finest books I have ever read. As someone who loves rugby and politics in equal measure it really hit the spot with me. It is SOOOO much better than the movie. I smiled at the end of the movie; I cried for the last three chapters of the book. John Carlin is a phenomenally evocative writer; he puts you right there, helps you to understand the complexities of both the political times and the sport without patronising. A lesson for the ages!

Carlin, who was stationed as a reporter in South Africa from 1989-1995, chronicles the steps that Nelson Mandela took in unifying South Africa through rugby. The book was the basis for the movie Invictus. Simply, the book is a fascinating read. Carlin reports on all of the key behind-the-scenes events, talks to all of the major players (both athletically and politically) and weaves together the story of how South Africa avoided major civil war, using sport as a way of bringing people together, in the ending of apartheid. I learned a great deal from this book, starting with the importance of rugby in South Africa, and how Mandela made all the right moves in bringing both blacks and whites on his side. I thought the movie Invictus focused too much on the actual rugby; the book has all the sociological details a historian would want. I would recommend this book to anyone who believes that sports unifies people more than any other part of society, or to anyone who wants the details of how South Africa changed its political ways so quickly. It's easily one of the top 10 books I've ever read, maybe top 5.

This book is brilliant!!! It explains why Nelson Mandela is such an inspiration for the human race, and it does it in a factual, honest way that includes the bigger perspective, in other words, its not a personal account of Nelson's life, rather, its a personal account of the merging of Nelson's life and South Africa's life. It is BRILLIANT!!!

I watched the movie Invictus and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd try the book Playing the Enemy. Turns out the movie was very faithful to the book as well. What makes this so much more than just another Cinderella/underdog sports story? The timing of this World Cup Rugby match. I don't pretend to understand Rugby, and you don't need to - it's really about how Nelson Mandela, soon after being released from prison, seizes an opportunity to use rugby to help unite South Africa.

After years of repression, apartheid, white supremacy rule, the Blacks had elected Mandela as their new president of South Africa. Both white and black radicals wanted revenge, power - violence was breaking out. How to stop it? By using the very symbol of white racism - the South African rugby team - Nelson Mandela gave everyone something they could support, a cause to rally behind. It ain't crazy if it works, and this actually worked. He got the blacks to see the rugby team as belonging to all of South Africa, no longer something that only the whites would watch.

What makes this book work so well are the characters behind the history. Of course the successful change from white rule to free elections was made possible by more than just a rugby game, but the author shows how many different approaches Nelson Mandela used to ensure peace. The focus is on the people - the game, the politics and strife remain in the background. This is not by any means an exhaustive history of the end of apartheid, but rather a very compelling piece of that story. Very uplifting and motivating, that in of itself, makes for a good read.

Very well written, engaging and amazing story of the power of sport. Highly recommended for fans of rugby or even those who just love an uplifting sports story.

if you want to know about south africa, Nelson Mandela and the transition from apartheid times to democracy, this is the right book and if you are rugby fun, this book is perfect.

Wonderful book. Made me feel that I was there in the stadium, and throughout the entire process. It is a wonderful story about great people, and its TRUE!!


Must read!