The South Africa the world knows today was not always one of general unity and democracy but of division and supremacy throughout the races. John Carlin’s, “Playing the Enemy,” guides you through South Africa’s journey during the nineteen eighties and early nineties to non-racial democracy. Through firsthand experiences of many South Africans including the dismantler of apartheid and former president, Nelson Mandela, Carlin helps the reader understand what Mandela and many others had to endure to make equality a reality for black South Africans. Carlin’s focus on the destruction of apartheid is coupled with the 1995 Rugby World Cup held in South Africa, more specifically South Africa’s Springboks and how Mandela used them to unite the Afrikaners and the black South Africans. The text proposes that the finals of that World Cup is what symbolizes South Africa finally coming together as a unified, strengthened state. Carlin demonstrates that South Africa was able to rid itself of apartheid through the efforts of its most important leader ever, Nelson Mandela as well as South Africa’s citizens and their countries national sport. The basis of “Playing the Enemy” is to not only focus on the politics that went into dismantling apartheid but also the underlying people, events and political instruments that were used in the process. John Carlin, an author and journalist from England has focused much of his works on issues involving South Africa. This book is not meant to be viewed as a Nelson Mandela biography but as an insight as to what was involved in taking one of the most divided states in the world to one that could be viewed with some sort of closeness from the outside. It should not be mistaken however that Mandela is in fact the catalyst to the rise of non-racial democracy and Carlin helps depict this by placing you in Mandela’s home, jail cell, meetings and