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Invictus: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation | 
| Author: John Carlin
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy Used: $0.22
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You Save: $15.78 (99%)
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Seller: book_holders
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 187834
Media: Paperback
Edition: Mti Rep
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 0143117157
Dewey Decimal Number: 968.065092
EAN: 9780143117155
ASIN: 0143117157
Publication Date: November 18, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Soon to be a major motion picture from Academy Award(r)--winning director Clint Eastwood, starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman.
After being released from prison and winning South Africa's first free election, Nelson Mandela presided over a country still deeply divided by fifty years of apartheid. His plan was ambitious if not far-fetched: Use the national rugby team, the Springboks-long an embodiment of white supremacist rule-to embody and engage a new South Africa as they prepared to host the 1995 World Cup. The string of wins that followed not only defied the odds, but capped Mandela's miraculous effort to bring South Africans together in a hard-won, enduring bond.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
Re-release of Carlin's "Playing the Enemy" reminds me how good the book is August 30, 2010
Andy Orrock (Dallas, TX)
John Carlin's work is a thrilling, spine-tingling effort. Most of the book's protagonists can't recall their meetings with Nelson Mandela in regards to 1995's Rugby World Cup without breaking into tears. Carlin's genius is to make you see why this is the natural reaction. Here's a man who, as one player aptly puts it "spent 27 years in prison and came out with love and friendship. All that washed over me, that huge realization, and the tears just rolled down my face."
Though Mandela is as close as there is to a god walking this earth, it's his one-on-one people skills that take the day. His will is to win them over, one person at a time.
I read the originally released hardcover version of Carlin's book, which was called 'Playing the Enemy.' The working title of Clint Eastwood's movie was, for a short while, 'The Human Factor.' ESPN also produced a film based on the book as part of their excellent '30 for 30' series (ESPN Films 30 for 30: The Sixteenth Man). I rank these efforts as follows:
1. Playing the Enemy - The other two creative works are derived directly from Carlin's reporting and dramatic narrative.
2. The 16th Man - Cliff Bestall's work is a direct retelling of Carlin's story; 15 years on, it's stirring to see the players still so visibly moved about the their place in history and the events of those days.
3. Invictus - This sappy, sloppy adaptation ranks as one of Clint Eastwood's worst movies. And, having the 5' 9" Matt Damon portray the 6' 3", 230 lb Springbok captain Francois Pienaar sticks a blowhole of unbelievability in the middle of the tale.
Even Better than the Movie July 25, 2010
Golf Nut (Ohio)
I saw the movie first, enjoyed it very much, so I thought I would check out the book. As is often the case, the book delivers even more than what can be captured in a 2 hour movie. In the book the author includes the insights of many more people than the story line developed for the movie. You get to read how key previous Apartheid government officials, ANC officials, notable South Africans, those around Nelson Mandela, etc reacted and what they thought about Nelson Mandela, the Springboks, and the Rugby World Cup in that magical year. It is a truly inspiring portrayal about a single person who could overcome adversity, persecution, and mistreatment and yet had the capacity to forgive those who did this to him and work with them to create a new united and peaceful nation. There are many reasons to read this book that range from inspiration, education, to self-improvement.
A story which demanded to be told April 2, 2010
Ian C. Ruxton (Japan)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As I grew up in Britain I well remember the anti-apartheid demonstrations which routinely disrupted games against the Springboks in the 1960s, and how the game of Rugby was made to suffer at the hands of politics. There is thus a perfect and beautiful irony in the fact that President Mandela used that same game to unite the nation of South Africa in the Rugby World Cup 1995. Rugby had the last laugh and triumphed over politics, you might say. Interestingly in May 2010 just before it begins people are again asking whether the soccer World Cup will be able to unite the same nation in much the same way.
Anyway, this is a truly inspirational and of course true story told in a masterful way and in great detail of the power of sport (and one sport in particular) to bring people together and allow them to overcome their racial, religious, political and other differences. And all credit to Nelson Mandela for learning Afrikaans while in prison on Robben island and thus crossing the barrier between the races which lesser men could never have surmounted.
Ian Ruxton, translator of ULTIMATE CRUSH: Waseda University Rugby, Leadership and Building the Strongest Winning Team in Japan
a must read book March 19, 2010
Alex Censor (Ashland Oregon)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you saw the movie Invictus and certainly if you did not this is still a must read book in my opinion.
There was so much more going on at the time than the movie could possibly tell us and to read the book you see the wisdom and skill of Nelson Mandela and others to prevent a blood bath in South Africa at the time of this story. There is much for the world to learn from this man and others to aspire to.
Interesting Read... February 18, 2010
Lucas Hermedas
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I heard about the movie, but I prefered to read the book. Nelson Mandela is an example of how life changes ones views of certain situation. An imprisioned man, fighting for the rights of his people, ends up fighting uniting a country. He wasn't a saint, but here on earth saints don't exist, just those who try to make a difference even with their faults and virtues. Great Read...
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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