Rafael Nadal

John Carlin

Published to coincide with the 2011 US Open, this first personal, candid look into the life of tennis's #1 player, Rafael Nadal, who, an intensely private person, is known for his discipline, respect and kindness, traces his childhood, growth as a player and his extraordinary career.

Rafa

Documents the anti-apartheid advocate's ten-year effort to unite his country, during which he worked with proponents of apartheid from his jail cell, won the presidency, and helped South Africa's national rugby team host the World Cup as part of a unifying campaign.

Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation

Playing the Enemy

Invictus

Oscar Pistorius was eleven months old when he had both legs amputated below the knee, due to congenital fibular disease. Despite this severe disability, Pistorious grew up to be an extraordinary athlete, inspirational role model, and global symbol of resilience. In 2012 he became the first amputee runner in history to compete in the Olympics and was hailed as a hero not only in his native South Africa but around the world. Everything changed for Pistorius in the early morning hours of February 14, 2013—Valentine's Day—when he shot and killed his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, through a closed bathroom door, allegedly because he mistook her for an intruder intent on doing him harm. He was arrested and charged with premeditated murder, and overnight, the public's view of Pistorius turned on its head. Not since the O. J. Simpson case has a courtroom drama riveted global attention on one man's fate. Acclaimed journalist John Carlin's vivid firsthand account of Pistorius's seven-month murder trial, broadcast worldwide from Johannesburg, details the wrenching emotional breakdowns and merciless interrogation of the accused on and off the stand, the fraught relationship between the Pistorius and Steenkamp families, and the highly controversial verdict of culpable homicide, for which Pistorius received a five-year sentence. But Chase Your Shadow is far more than just a sensational crime story, as Carlin shows through meticulous reporting and extensive access to Pistorius and his family and friends. This courtroom confrontation between a white, privileged, twenty-seven-year-old male athlete on trial for murder and the black female judge who alone would decide his fate—held in a democratic country trying to exorcise its history of racial hatred and endemic violence against women—exposes the complex social and political realities of post-Apartheid South Africa.

The Trials of Oscar Pistorius

Chase Your Shadow

En 1985, cuando Nelson Mandela llevaba veintitrés años en prisión, se propuso conquistar a sus enemigos, los más fervientes defensores del apartheid. Así obtuvo su libertad y consiguió convertirse en presidente. Pero la inestabilidad de un país dividido por cincuenta años de odio racial cristalizó en la amenaza de una guerra civil. Mandela comprendió que tenía que conseguir la unión de blancos y negros de forma espontánea y emocional, y vio con claridad que el deporte era una estrategia extraordinaria para lograrlo. John Carlin ha descubierto el factor humano que hizo posible un milagro: la capacidad innata de Mandela para seducir al oponente y su tenaz deliberación de utilizar el mundial de rugby de 1995 para sellar la paz y cambiar el curso de la Historia. La final de aquel mundial culminó con la victoria sudafricana en el último minuto, y fundió en un abrazo a negros y blancos en el ejemplo más inspirador que ha visto la humanidad. Carlin, cuya labor como corresponsal en Sudáfrica ha sido calificada por Mandela como «absolutamente magnífica », ofrece un apasionante relato en la voz de un grupo de personajes que vivieron esta gran historia que la Warner Bros no ha dudado en llevar al cine bajo la dirección de Clint Eastwood, y la interpretación de Morgan Freeman y Matt Damon. «En sus manos, existe la posibilidad de que la película haga justicia a la historia, pero no esperéis a la película», The New York Times.

El factor humano : Nelson Mandela y el partido que salvó a una nación

Un retrato íntimo del hombre que inspiró al mundo, Nelson Mandela, por el autor del libro en el que se basó la película Invictus. Entre el 11 de febrero de 1990 y el 10 de mayo de 1994, Nelson Mandela pasó de ser el prisionero político más famoso del mundo a presidente de su país. Fueron cuatro años vertiginosos y fascinantes que dieron la talla humana y política de un líder excepcional. John Carlin, observador privilegiado de esa etapa, traza un emocionante retrato de Mandela en el que demuestra que se puede ser un gran político sin dejar de ser una gran persona, y que la reconciliación y la convivencia son no solo deseables sino posibles incluso en las circunstancias más difíciles. «John Carlin ha sido muy valiente a la hora de escribir sobre nuestro país y ha contado cosas que muchos periodistas nunca se hubieran atrevido a explicar.» Nelson Mandela «Creo que por muy importante que haya podido ser la presencia de Mandela en el escenario global, todavía queda mucho que decir acerca del hombre que fue, sobre la calidad de su liderazgo y el legado que deja al mundo. Mi esperanza es que cuando los lectores terminen este libro tengan un conocimiento más profundo de Mandela como individuo y comprendan por qué ha sido, tanto en lo moral como en lo político, la figura más destacada de nuestra era.» John Carlin

La sonrisa de Mandela

Rafa. La mia storia

The Sunday Times bestselling autobiography from the greatest tennis player of his generation 'A winner' Independent 'A terrific sporting memoir, full of memorable anecdotes' New Statesman 'As exciting as Rafa himself' Woman's Own No tennis player since Andre Agassi has captivated the world like Rafael Nadal. He's a rarity in today's sporting arena - a true sportsman who chooses to let his raw talent, dedication and humility define him. With a remarkable 16 grand slam victories under his belt, and with friend and rival Roger Federer's record haul of 20 in his sights, Nadal is an extraordinary competitor whose ferocity on court is made even more remarkable by his grace off it. This book takes us to the heart of Nadal's childhood, his growth as a player, and his incredible career. It includes memorable highs and lows, from victory in the 2008 Wimbledon final - a match that John McEnroe called the 'greatest game of tennis ever played' - to the injury problems that have frequently threatened his dominance of the sport, to becoming the youngest player of the open era to complete a career Grand Slam in 2010. It transports us from Nadal's lifelong home on the island of Majorca to the locker room of Centre Court as he describes in detail the pressures of competing in the greatest tournament in the world. It offers a glimpse behind the racquet to learn what really makes this intensely private person - who has never before talked about his home life - tick. And it provides us with a story that is personal, revealing and every bit as exciting as Nadal himself.

Rafa: My Story

Nach dem Tennis-Olymp erobert er jetzt auch die Bestsellerlisten – Rafael Nadal, der sechs Jahre lang die Weltrangliste anführte, ist der ungekrönte König des Sandplatztennis und einer der wenigen Tennisspieler, die alle vier Grand-Slam-Turniere gewannen. In seiner Autobiografie enthüllt der bedeutendste Tennisspieler seiner Generation, was ihn zum Champion werden ließ. Von seiner Kindheit in Mallorca über die Zeit als vielversprechendes Nachwuchstalent bis zum denkwürdigen Wimbledon-Sieg 2008 gegen Roger Federer, den John McEnroe als "das größte Tennismatch, das je gespielt wurde" bezeichnete. Dieses Buch liefert Einblicke in das Innenleben einer faszinierenden Sportlerpersönlichkeit und einen Blick hinter die Kulissen des internationalen Tenniszirkus.

Mein Weg an die Spitze

RAFA

Bis zum schicksalhaften Valentinstag 2013 war der Südafrikaner Oscar Pistorius ein weltweit geachteter Ausnahmesportler und Vorzeigeathlet. Dann, in den frühen Morgenstunden des 14. Februar, erschoss er seine Freundin Reeva Steenkamp. Gleichsam über Nacht war er nicht mehr der umjubelte und von allen geliebte »Blade Runner«, wie er wegen seiner markanten Prothesen genannt wurde, sondern die Medien überschlugen sich mit Geschichten über seine vermeintliche Unberechenbarkeit und seine dunkle, gewalttätige Seite. Der sieben Monate dauernde Prozess gegen Pistorius, live im Fernsehen übertragen, wurde zum weltweiten Medienereignis. Seine vielen überraschenden Wendungen zogen Millionen in ihren Bann. Autor John Carlin verfolgte die Verhandlung als Prozessbeobachter aus nächster Nähe. Er berichtet von Pistorius' tränenreichen Gefühlsausbrüchen, seiner schonungslosen Befragung durch den Staatsanwalt und dem äußerst kontrovers diskutierten Schuldspruch. Sein Buch ist das Psychogramm einer hochkomplexen Persönlichkeit, deren Leben sich zwischen den Extremem bewegte: Mut und Unsicherheit, Ehrgeiz und Verwundbarkeit, Großmut und Hitzköpfigkeit. Und es beantwortet die Frage, was das Verfahren für den noch jungen Rechtsstaat Südafrika bedeutet. Seit dem Fall O.J. Simpson wurde die Welt von einem Strafprozess nicht mehr so in Atem gehalten. Oscar Pistorius – Auf der Suche nach der Wahrheit ist die Geschichte vom heldenhaften Aufstieg und jähen Absturz einer Sportikone mit allen Elementen einer großen Tragödie.

Die Suche nach der Wahrheit

Oscar Pistorius

In Chase Your Shadow, journalist and author John Carlin tells the gripping story of Oscar Pistorius's tragic journey from sporting icon to accused murderer. Before Valentine's Day of 2013, Pistorius was best known as an extraordinary athlete, the 'Blade Runner' who became the first amputee in history to compete in the Olympics. Everything changed after he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead in the early hours of 14 February. Overnight, the Olympian's status as a role model was replaced by tales of erratic behaviour and a violent dark side. With unique access to Pistorius himself, as well as to his friends and family, Carlin paints a portrait of a complex personality, a man whose heroic rise and even more dramatic fall is one of the most remarkable sports stories ever told.

After serving 27 years of a lifetime sentence for conspiring to overthrow South Africa's apartheid government, Nelson Mandela emerged to become both the catalyst and the symbol of post-apartheid South Africa. He served as the country's first black president and has since been internationally acclaimed as a powerful and vigilant humanitarian. A personal tribute to one of the iconic figures of our time, 'Knowing Mandela' is written by the John Carlin, the acclaimed South African correspondent and author.

Knowing Mandela

"Will the Freedom Struggle End in a Bloodbath? Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid hero and first leader of the new South Africa, is an international symbol of the power of a popular movement to fight structural racism. But that nonviolent struggle for equality and justice very nearly spiraled into an all-out race war that would have only ended in "the peace of graveyards." As the first post-apartheid elections approach in 1994, with South African blacks poised to take power, the nation's whites fear reprisal. White nationalist militias claiming 50,000 well-armed former soldiers stand ready to fight to the death to defend their cause. They need someone who can lead and unite them. That man is General Constand Viljoen, former chief of apartheid South Africa's military. Mandela knows that he can't avert a bloodbath on his own. He will have to count on his archenemy. Throughout those historic months, the two men meet in secret. Can they trust each other? Can they keep their followers and radical fringe elements from acts of violence? The mettle of these two men will determine the future of a nation. The drama of this contest and the history that pivoted on it comes vividly to life in visual form. Veteran British journalist John Carlin teams up with Catalan artist Oriol Malet to create a historically and artistically rich graphic novel with obvious relevance to today's polarized politics."--Provided by publisher.

Mandela and the General

For Rafael Nadal a valuable trophy is the unity and love of his family. At 25, he is the youngest professional player who has won all four Grand Slam titles. Trained by his uncle Toni, raised by his parents in modesty and respect, Rafa has managed the unusual feat of being a simple, hardworking and friendly person, and an example of conduct in all aspects of life.

Rafa, Mi Historia

Martin Parr

Gathering a series of photographs taken by Txema Salvans (born 1971) over the course of six years, "The Waiting Game" documents the exercise of prostitution along the highways of Spain's Mediterranean coast. Disguised as a surveyor, Salvans photographed prostitution with an emphasis on the decidedly unerotic quality of its actual environs: the intersections, roundabouts, dead-end streets and shoulders of the road. The photographs in this book present the solitary figure of the waiting woman as a stereotypical image of objectified sexuality, in a landscape that is both striking and tragic. Exploring the varied and often surprising gamut of human longings and behaviors, Salvans achieves a balance of sociological dissection and naturalistic narration, and presents the image of the prostitute as an almost impersonal component of a larger mechanism.

The Waiting Game

John Berger

Roger Scruton

James Baldwin

Dorothy L. Sayers

Sarah Ruden

Eberhard Arnold

Scott Beauchamp

Kermani Navid

Fadi Mikhail

Susannah Black

Maureen Swinger

Emily Hallock

Can beauty save the world? These days criticism of art--whether visual, musical, or literary--is often marked by a suspicion of beauty. What happened to the belief that the creativity of the artist reflects the creativity of the Maker of heaven and earth, and that art can therefore be a channel for divine truth? Anyone who has joined with others to sing Bach's Saint Matthew Passion or stood before a painting by Raphael or Chagall can attest to this. At such moments, art binds people together. This issue of Plough focuses on art that leads to such community: through theater, painting, music, and the objects and architecture of everyday life. And while art fosters community, building community is itself a work of creativity. Also in this issue: original poetry by Cozine Welch Jr.; reviews of new books by Eliza Griswold, Alissa Quart, Eugene Vodolazkin, and Nathan Englander; and art by Denis Brown, JR, Valérie Jardin, Isaiah King, Isaiah Tanenbaum, George Makary, Oriol Malet, Alex Nwokolo, Ashik and Jenelle Mohan, Raphael, Aaron Douglas, Winslow Homer, Vincent van Gogh, Wassily Kandinsky, and Jason Landsel. Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus' message into practice and find common cause with others.

Plough Quarterly No. 18 - the Art of Community

As Nelson Mandela was released from prison and the ensuing years saw the collapse of South Africa's apartheid regime, John Carlin ('one of the great post-apartheid chroniclers' Financial Times) was the South Africa correspondent of London's Independent newspaper. In his acclaimed Playing the Enemy (filmed by Clint Eastwood as Invictus) he told the story of Mandela's role in the Rugby World Cup of 1995, when Mandela's political genius transformed a sporting event into a moment that defined, unforgettably, a new nation. In his new book, Carlin now offers an illuminating and inspiring personal account of the iconic figure who has come both to define post-apartheid South Africa and to represent the possibility of a moral politics to the world at large. Knowing Mandela focuses on the years from 1990 to 1995, when Mandela faced his most daunting obstacles and achieved his greatest triumphs; it was the time when the full flower of his genius as a political leader was most vividly on display. Carlin spent those years reporting on Mandela's feats, trials and tribulations and was one of the few foreign journalists in South Africa to cover both his release from prison and his accession to the presidency four years later. Drawing on conversations with Mandela and interviews with people close to him, Carlin has crafted a remarkable account of a man who is as flawed as he is gifted, neither superman nor saint. Knowing Mandela offers a profound understanding of the man and what has made him the towering moral and political figure of our age.

Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Paul Karasik

Stanley Crouch

Brian Walker

Hammer Museum

Presents the work of America's most popular and influential comic artists, and includes critical essays accompanying each artist's drawings.

Masters of American Comics

A look at soccer superstar David Beckham, the Real Madrid team he joined in 2003, and at how this combination has forever changed the face of the world's most popular sport.

Beckham, the Real Madrid, and the New Football

White Angels

The world over, no sportsman - and maybe no other individual - provokes more fascination, argument and interest than the Londoner with the film-star looks, David Beckham. No sports team exudes more glamour, has won more competitions or possesses a more dazzling collection of superstars than Real Madrid. The fusion of the two has gripped the attention of millions and changed the face of the world's favourite sport, making a clear divide between the Old Football and the New. White Angels is the insider's look at what happened to make the historic deal. John Carlin has had unprecedented access to the Real Madrid team, travelling with them to matches and conducting extensive interviews with the players and its charismatic and driven chairman Florentino Pérez. White Angels describes how Beckham's transfer took place, and the machinations and intrigue behind it. It details Beckham's first year at Real, and how he fared on the field alongside such global stars as Figo, Zidane, Carlos, Raúl and Ronaldo.

John Carlin

About

Books

Join the club