A game of Wits

As you find out while reading the book, Nelson Mandela is a very nice and outgoing man. While in prison he be-friends a lot of the guards, one guard is into the game of rugby, so Nelson starts reading about teams, scores and watching it on TV. Then when Mandela gets the chance he starts chatting and became Major van Sittert's friend and with that he could ask for things that weren't around when he went into prison, such as a TV, a microwave and extra food for dinner.
Many people said that Nelson had a commanding kind of presence and personality; He knew how to handle power without humiliating his enemies.