‘Invictus’ by John Carlin
A non-fiction book illustrating the power of sport to unify people. More specifically it deals with the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final between South Africa and New Zealand and this single game’s immense significance in bringing together white and black South Africa under a single banner. On this day The Springboks (S.A. national rugby team) were transformed from a symbol of Apartheid and exclusion to one of unity and hope. Once a team supported pretty much exclusively by Afrikaners, The Springboks on final day enjoyed the support of countrymen of all races. It is this point to which the author anchors this book. For sports fanatics, you will not find a play by play account of how the final resolved itself on the field and for the politically curious you’ll find a great deal of Mandella biographies out there that will sate your thirst for knowledge more assuredly than this book. This doesn’t appear to be the intention of the author. What Carlin attempts here, and succeeds in doing, is to highlight the power of single seminal events in the progress of seemingly unachievable peace. A game involving 30 players on a rugby pitch achieved more in terms of progress between Afrikaners and black South Africans than innumerable bullets and deaths. There are some harrowing tales of injusctice and deprivation carried out in the name of the inhumane and unimaginably cruel Apartheid regime detailed in the book but the real message is hope and it is a message that resounds in the reader long after the final page has been turned. If Carlin’s aim was to produce a piece of inspirational writing, has achieved his goal.
