Authors: John Carlin
ISBN-13: 9781440778537, ISBN-10: 1440778531
Format: Compact Disc
Publisher: Recorded Books, LLC
Date Published: December 2009
Edition: Unabridged, 8 CDs, 9 hrs 15 min
John Carlin is senior international writer for El País, the world's leading Spanish language newspaper, and was previously the U.S. bureau chief for The Independent on Sunday. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, Wired, Spin, and Condé Nast Traveler.
In 1985, Nelson Mandela, then in prison for twenty-three years, set about winning over the fiercest proponents of apartheid before setting his sights on the nation's first free elections in 1994. But perhaps his greatest challenge was finding a cause that would unite the nation, fractured after fifty years of apartheid. His choice was one of the most far-fetched imaginable: the Springboks, their national rugby team, long an embodiment of white supremacist rule.
The Springboks' chances-both of victory and inspiring unity-seemed remote. But as their string of wins lengthened, South Africans of every color and political stripe began falling for the team, Soon, millions were gathered around their television sets watching as the Springboks ended their season with an incredible win-and capped Mandela's miraculous ten-year-long effort to unite all South Africans in an enduring bond.
Introduction 1
Chapter I Breakfast in Houghton 7
Chapter II The Minister of Justice 19
Chapter III Separate Amenities 37
Chapter IV Bagging the Croc 49
Chapter V Different planets 61
Chapter VI Ayatollah Mandela 75
Chapter VII The Tiger King 93
Chapter VIII The Mask 105
Chapter IX The Bitter-Enders 121
Chapter X Romancing the General 133
Chapter XI "Address Their Hearts" 145
Chapter XII The Captain and the President 159
Chapter XIII Springbok Serenade 171
Chapter XIV Silvermine 183
Chapter XV Doubting Thomases 191
Chapter XVI The Number Six Jersey 201
Chapter XVII "Nelson! Nelson!" 213
Chapter XVIII Blood in the Throat 227
Chapter XIX Love Thine Enemy 241
Epilogue 255
Where are They Now? 259
Acknowledgments 263
A Note on Sources 265
Index 267