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A review by chaoticmissadventures
Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation by John Carlin
4.25
I have gotten super into rugby the last few years, and the Springboks have been my number one loved team (followed closely by the All Blacks) and after the 2nd World Cup win in a row I figured I needed to learn more about this team! I heard of the movie Invictus but had not watched it, and I am glad it didn't taint my views on this book. Carlin writes a detailed but not overwhelming account of Mandela's transition as the first Black South African president.
The book doesn't touch much on rugby in the first half, but instead gives the history, culture and attitude of the SA people around the movements out of Apartheid and around the game of Rugby in general.
I learned a ton I had not known before - like Mandela's own sports history, I never knew he was a boxer. And the book takes you viscerally into that first mixed race game with Mandela in the 6 jersey (now worn by Siya Kolisi as the first Black captain of the team).
I really enjoyed this.
The book doesn't touch much on rugby in the first half, but instead gives the history, culture and attitude of the SA people around the movements out of Apartheid and around the game of Rugby in general.
I learned a ton I had not known before - like Mandela's own sports history, I never knew he was a boxer. And the book takes you viscerally into that first mixed race game with Mandela in the 6 jersey (now worn by Siya Kolisi as the first Black captain of the team).
I really enjoyed this.