Soon to be a major motion picture in December 2009
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.
“ This wonderful book describes Mandela’s methodical, improbable and brilliant campaign to reconcile resentful blacks and fearful whites around a sporting event, a game of rugby.” —The New York Times Book Review
“ If you have any doubts about the political genius of Nelson Mandela, read John Carlin’s engrossing book . . . [A] feel-good slice of history.” —USA Today
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