Carlin - Invictus

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Table of Contents

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconnquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Benley (1849-1903)

Praise for Invictus

AWashington PostandFinancial TimesBest Book of the Year One ofThe Independents 20 Best Books of the Year

This wonderful book describes Mandelas methodical, improbable and brilliant campaign to reconcile resentful blacks and fearful whites around a sporting event, a game of rugby.... There are scenes that will open your tear ducts.... If Invictus were not so well written, it would deserve a place among the management tomes and self-help books that dominate business bestseller listsa guide to leadership that plays to peoples better angels.... Dont wait for the movie.

Bill Keller, The New York Times Book Review

I think the way [Carlin] carried out his task in South Africa [in the 1990s] was magnificent. It is easy now for a journalist to criticize everybody, including the government, but in those days you could count journalists with that courage on the fingers of one hand.

Nelson Mandela

A triumphant conversion... A book that captures both the miracle of South Africas transition and the miracle of Mandela the politician.... This is not a sports book. It is a portrait of South Africas answer to George Washington and it works because Carlin got so close to Mandela and the people Mandela seduced.... This is, above all, the book of a great reporter.

Financial Times

Mandelas story never fails to inspire... [but John Carlin] is the first to tell the tale through the prism of sport.... Carlin brings the story alive.... Many writers reveal the nuts and bolts of South Africas transformation to non-racial democracy. But few capture the spirit as well as Mr. Carlin.

The Economist

One of the best sports books Ive ever read.

Jim Caple, ESPN

If you have any doubts about the political genius of Nelson Mandela, read John Carlins engrossing book inspired by a rugby game.... The book is a slice of feel-good history. It also is a behind-the-scenes look at Mandelas tactics in unifying a nation when that seemed impossible.

USA Today

Forget rugby: this is an all-knowing portrait of Nelson Mandela by one of the journalists who knows him best.

Financial Times

A classic sports-brings-the-community-together story.

The Washington Post

[An] absorbing and frequently uplifting tale... The book is an imaginative and captivating study of the twentieth centurys greatest African.... The magic of Invictus lies in its heart-warming anecdotes. Carlin had access to all the protagonists, including Mandela himself, and he teases some fantastic recollections out of them.

The Christian Science Monitor

Its one of the greatest sports stories of them alland John Carlin does the perfect job telling it.... Carlin... is a wonderful and clever storyteller, as anyone who has read his previous work about Real Madrid... will probably agree. This is a brilliant and hugely informative read.

BBC

This inspiring book captures the power of one person to change a nation, and the redemptive, healing force of sports. Invictus offers a message of tenacity and hope that our society needs now more than ever.

Dave Grossman, author of On Combat and On Killing

A stupendously good book.

Irish Examiner

The train of events leading up to what has been called South Africas epiphany has long been crying out for a multilayered account and it is to John Carlins eternal credit that he has written it. This is not so much a sporting volume as a wonderfully crafted and beautifully written work of modern political history.

The Times (London)

[A] revelatory examination of Nelson Mandelas political genius... a tight, gripping and powerful book that shines a light on a moment of hope, not just for one nation but the whole world. Given Carlins cinematic feel for pace and structure, its no surprise to learn that a Hollywood movie is coming soon.

Daily Express (London)

This outstanding book is not so much about rugby as about the ability of Mandela to harness the symbolic power of sport. It shows us that sport gains its power not only from the achievements of its players, but also from the dreams of those who watch them.

Daily Telegraph (London)

Very few books match the historical sweep and world shaking urgency of this one.

The Independent (London)

A fascinating story... [an] absorbing account.

Sunday Telegraph (London)

[An] excellent book of redemption and forgiveness... that depicts how a divided country can be elevated beyond hate and malice to pride and healing.

Publishers Weekly

A new slant on the familiar but always inspiring saga of Mandelas rise to power.

Booklist (starred review)

Intriguing... Nestled within Carlins stories are valuable insights into the political genius of Mandela both generally and specifically in his role in converging sport, culture, and politics.

Library Journal

PENGUIN BOOKS

INVICTUS

John Carlin is senior international writer for El Pas, the worlds leading Spanish-language newspaper, and was formerly the U.S. bureau chief for The Independent on Sunday. He has written for numerous other publications, including The New York Times, Wired, Spin, Cond Nast Traveler, and The Observer (UK).

FOR MY SON, JAMES NELSON

Dont address their brains. Address their hearts.

NELSON MANDELA

INTRODUCTION

The first person to whom I proposed doing this book was Nelson Mandela. We met in the living room of his home in Johannesburg in August 2001, two years after hed retired from the South African presidency. After some sunny banter, at which he excels, and some shared reminiscences about the edgy years of political transition in South Africa, on which I had reported for a British newspaper, I made my pitch.

Starting off by laying out the broad themes, I put it to him that all societies everywhere aspire, whether they know it or not, to Utopias of some sort. Politicians trade on peoples hopes that heaven on earth is attainable. Since it is not, the lives of nations, like the lives of individuals, are a perpetual struggle in pursuit of dreams. In Mandelas case, the dream that had sustained him during his twenty-seven years in prison was one he shared with Martin Luther King Jr.: that one day people in his country would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

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