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Nelson Mandela And The Game That Made A Nation
Penguin
August 2008
On Sale: August 14, 2008
Featuring: Nelson Mandela
288 pages ISBN: 1594201749 EAN: 9781594201745 Kindle: B002WE473I Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Biography
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.
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