PLAYING THE ENEMY: NELSON MANDELA AND THE GAME THAT MADE A NATION.[SIGNED by Francois Pienaar.]

UK,8vo softback Original,participant SIGNED,1st edn.[Simultaneous publication as US,Penguin edn,2008.This UK,8vo s/back original is it's first UK appearance and it's only format.] FINE.No owner inscrptn but warmly dedicated and SIGNED by Francois Pienaar: 'Rosemary Hope you enjoy S.A Francois Pienaar' to title page. [Francois Pienaar was the captain of the winning South African team of the iconic 1995,Rugby World Cup Final against New Zealand.] Bright, crisp,clean,matt,wrap-around colour photographic illustrated covers with gilt+brown lettering to front cover and green,black and brown lettering to rear cover; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present - and no reading creases to spine/ backstrip.Top and fore-edges bright and generally clean; contents bright,tight,clean, solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - would appear unread,apart from my own collation. UK,8vo softback Original,SIGNED,1st edn,2-274pp [paginated] includes author's introduction,XIX (19) chapters and epilogue,Where Are They Now?, 8pp contemporary b/w photographs in 1 block, between pp148/9, acknowledgements,a note on sources,and an index.Plus [unpaginated] Francois Pienaar SIGNED+dedicated half- title page,title page,dedication,contents list/table,title separator page and blank free endpapers to the rear.
The Rugby World Cup final of 1995 was the last act of the most improbable excercise in mass seduction ever seen: Nelson Mandela's conquest of the hearts of white South Africa.When Mandela stepped onto the field to present the trophy at Ellis Park Stadium,in Johannesburg,wearing the Springbok captain's No.6 jersey - a beloved icon to many of the white population and a detested symbol of racial oppression to blacks -he captured the hearts of white South Africans, transforming that which divided black and white South Africa into a force for good.
'Playing the Enemy' is a thrilling account of how the most charismatic statesman of our time deployed his political genius,charm and generous vision to pull off this most unlikely of miracles.
"Don't address their brains.Address their hearts." - Nelson Mandela.
South Africa won the encounter by just three points in their first Rugby World Cup Final, which was also saw the first final requiring the playing of extra time.
Unusually,all points were both scored by just one player from each team: Andrew Mehrtens for New Zealand scoring all 12 of the All Blacks' points (three penalties and one drop goal) and Joel Stransky scoring all 15 points (three penalties and two drop goals) for the Springboks,which included his dramatic drop goal in extra time,which sealed the victory and their first Rugby World Cup title for them.
At the end of the match,South Africa's President Nelson Mandela,famously wearing a No.6 Springbok rugby shirt and cap, presented the Webb Ellis Cup to South African captain François Pienaar.Mandela and Pienaar's involvement in the 1995 World Cup became the subject of Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated 2009 film 'Invictus', featuring Morgan Freeman as Mandela,and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar.
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