tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87577396867554379382024-02-07T20:10:55.681-08:00The Best Books On FootballAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04103330040714909517noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757739686755437938.post-71065365321467622372014-04-27T06:32:00.001-07:002014-04-27T06:32:18.296-07:00Football Against The Enemy by Simon Kuper <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-LsvKEJJ0MeEWyo1zqAJYyGjkL5_0qWhkTSF0x53Zd308pC1T61KgCGH_XYFnUXd02D_eQD154IiOCGWL0saFzXDsH4gVkurF2trHPNsg2EkptbUurTNZK2FG-FeysyIgWibW55g6HY/s1600/9780752848778.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-LsvKEJJ0MeEWyo1zqAJYyGjkL5_0qWhkTSF0x53Zd308pC1T61KgCGH_XYFnUXd02D_eQD154IiOCGWL0saFzXDsH4gVkurF2trHPNsg2EkptbUurTNZK2FG-FeysyIgWibW55g6HY/s1600/9780752848778.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
<br />
Football Against The Enemy<br />
<br />
Author - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Kuper" target="_blank">Simon Kuper</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Football-Against-Enemy-Simon-Kuper/dp/0752848771" target="_blank">Amazon.com Rating - 4.5/5</a><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101905.Soccer_Against_the_Enemy" target="_blank">Goodreads Rating - 3.93/5</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Football-Against-Enemy-Simon-Kuper/dp/0752848771" target="_blank">Amazon UK Rating - 4.2/5</a><br />
My Personal Rating - 5/5<br />
<br />
Awards - Winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award in 1994.<br />
<br />
<span id="freeText14248840486168724512">Soccer is much more
than just the most popular game in the world. It is a matter of life and
death for millions around the world, an international lingua franca.
Simon Kuper traveled to twenty-two countries to discover the sometimes
bizarre effect soccer can have on politics and culture. At the same time
he tried to discover what makes different countries play a simple game
so differently. Kuper meets a remarkable variety of fans along the way,
from the East Berliner persecuted by the Stasi for supporting his local
team, to the Argentine general with his own views on tactics. He also
illuminates the frightening intersection between soccer and politics,
particularly in the wake of the attacks of 9-11, where soccer is
obsessed over by the likes of Osama bin Laden. The result is one of the
world's most acclaimed books on the game, and an astonishing study of
soccer and its place in the world.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04103330040714909517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757739686755437938.post-54703658727604046702014-04-26T11:26:00.000-07:002014-04-26T11:26:21.785-07:00Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjb25lYLTfnajXJMJhAx1olU0uMSmNs5H9TZP0tR0Wb0MBH4lcTaJHjDC8mfnfel4qeRtEDUvQogP6tLWzQivZfEyP2o0kwMUVKKXiTThu-48iXhhoUOQXW13PKt2gzB-ywTRXsomvG4/s1600/9554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjb25lYLTfnajXJMJhAx1olU0uMSmNs5H9TZP0tR0Wb0MBH4lcTaJHjDC8mfnfel4qeRtEDUvQogP6tLWzQivZfEyP2o0kwMUVKKXiTThu-48iXhhoUOQXW13PKt2gzB-ywTRXsomvG4/s1600/9554.jpg" height="320" width="231" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Soccer in Sun and Shadow<br />
<br />
Author - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Galeano" target="_blank">Eduardo Galeano</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Soccer-Sun-Shadow-Eduardo-Galeano-ebook/dp/B00CRGKS2K/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398536209&sr=1-1&keywords=soccer+in+sun+and+shadow" target="_blank">Amazon.com Rating - 4.5/5</a><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9554.Soccer_in_Sun_and_Shadow?from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads Rating - 4.13/5</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soccer-Sun-Shadow-Eduardo-Galeano/dp/1568584946" target="_blank">Amazon UK Rating - 4.6/5</a><br />
My Personal Rating - 5/5<br />
<br />
<div class="productDescriptionWrapper">
A history of the sport of soccer, the poetic title of this
volume, originally published in 1995 as El fútbol a sol y sombra and now
in its fourth edition, is a dead giveaway that this is not a purely
historical accounting of the world's most popular game. While Galeano
covers the sport's origins in China five thousand years ago to the 2010
World Cup in chronological order, it's how he tells the story in this
rather poetic history that sets the book apart from others. Galeano, a
renowned Uruguayan author and journalist, brings a personal passion to
fútbol's most memorable moments that can only come from a true
aficionado. Whether describing great games, momentous goals or
extraordinary players, each story has that distinct magical realism so
prevalent in Latin American literature that it doesn't matter that from
one sentence to the next the writing moves from clichéd to poetic, as
when he describes the great Pelé: he cut right through his opponents
like a hot knife through butter. When he stopped, his opponents got lost
in the labyrinths his legs embroidered. Focusing mostly on the
international aspects of the game, Galeano's Catholic upbringing,
socialist politics, and the injustice he's seen as a journalist seeps
into his commentary, and gives his narrative a refreshing perspective
that captures soccer's spiritual roots, corruption by greed, and role as
a global equalizer that puts royals and dictators at the mercy of
minorities and slum kids.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04103330040714909517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8757739686755437938.post-68374396066580209352014-04-26T11:07:00.001-07:002014-05-01T10:13:19.647-07:00The List of the best books on footballI love football and have tried to read every book that I can find on the subject. Have been helped by various reviews and lists that are available on the internet. The idea is now to aggregate all this information and create a master list which evey football lover can refer to. The list is created basis the rating on amazon, Goodreads and my own personal opinion. Please mail me names of books which are missing in this list at avnishanand@gmail.com. The list is still being populated. Please come back for a bigger better list.<br />
<br />
So here goes<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><a href="http://bestfootballbooks.blogspot.in/2014/04/soccer-in-sun-and-shadow-by-eduardo.html" target="_blank">Football in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://bestfootballbooks.blogspot.in/2014/04/football-against-enemy-by-simon-kuper.html" target="_blank">Football against the Enemy by Simon Kuper </a></li>
<li>Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby</li>
<li>Brilliant Orange : The Neurotic Genius of Football by David Winner </li>
<li>Inverting the Pyramid : The History of Football Tactics by Jonathan Wilson</li>
<li>The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro : A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy by Joe McGinniss </li>
<li>The Football Business by David Conn</li>
<li>My Father and other working class football heroes by Gary Imlach</li>
<li>Futebol : The Brazilian Way of Life by Alex Bellos</li>
<li>One Night in Turin by Pete Davies </li>
<li>The Football Man : People and Passions in Soccer by Arthur Hopcraft </li>
<li>32 Programes by Dave Roberts</li>
<li>Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymansk</li>
<li>
<span itemprop="name">A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke</span>
<span class="by smallText">by</span>
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Ronald Reng</span>
</span> </li>
<li>The Damned United by David Peace </li>
<li>Tor! : The Story of German Football by Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger </li>
<li>Among the Thugs by Bill Buford </li>
<li>The Glory Game by Hunter Davies </li>
<li>The Far Corner By Harry Pearson</li>
<li>
<span itemprop="name">Barça : The Making of the Greatest Team in the World</span>
<span class="by smallText">by</span>
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Graham Hunter</span>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span itemprop="name">The Beautiful Team: In Search Of Pele And The 1970 Brazilians</span>
<br />
<span class="by smallText">by</span>
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Garry Jenkins</span>
</span>
</li>
<li>Calcio : A History of Italian Football by John Foot</li>
<li>
<span itemprop="name">Garrincha: The Triumph & Tragedy of Brazil's Forgotten Footballing Hero</span>
<span class="by smallText">by</span>
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Ruy Castro</span>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span itemprop="name">Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years with Brian Clough</span>
<br />
<span class="by smallText">by</span>
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Duncan Hamilton</span>
</span>
</li>
<li>
<span itemprop="name">Family : Life, Death and Football : A Year On The Frontline With A Proper Club by Michael Calvin </span></li>
<li><span itemprop="name">Full Time by Paul Kimmage </span></li>
<li><span itemprop="name">The Lost Babes : Manchester United and the Forgotten Victims of Munich by Jeff Connor </span></li>
<li><span itemprop="name">The Italian Job by Gabriele Marcotti </span></li>
<li><span itemprop="name">Best And Edwards</span>
<br />
<span class="by smallText">by</span>
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Gordon Burn</span>
</span>
</li>
<li>My Favourite Year by Nick Hornby</li>
<li>
<span itemprop="name">
<span itemprop="name">Feet of the Chameleon: The Story of Football in Africa</span>
<br />
<span class="by smallText">by</span>
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Ian Hawkey</span>
</span>
</span></li>
<li><span itemprop="name">Once in a Lifetime: The Incredible Story of the New York Cosmos</span>
<br />
<span class="by smallText">by</span>
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Gavin Newsham</span>
</span>
</li>
<li>The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer by David Goldblatt</li>
<li>
<span itemprop="name">The Outsider: A History of the Goalkeeper. by Jonathan Wilson</span>
<br />
<span class="by smallText">by</span>
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Jonathan Wilson</span>
</span>
</li>
<li>Life's A Pitch by Michael Calvin </li>
<li>Football Men by Simon Kuper </li>
<li>Behind The Curtain : Football In Eastern Europe by Jonathan Wilson </li>
<li>How Football Explains the World by Franklin Foer </li>
<li>McIlvanney on Football</li>
<li>Only a Game by Eamon Dunphy</li>
<li><span itemprop="name">The Nowhere Men by Michael Calvin </span></li>
<li><span itemprop="name">Bamboo Goalposts: One Man's Quest to Teach the People's Republic of China to Love Football</span><span itemprop="name"> </span></li>
<li><span itemprop="name">Manchester United: The Biography: The Complete Story of the World's Greatest Football Club</span>
<br />
<span class="by smallText">by</span>
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Jim White</span> </span></li>
<li>Englischer Fussball: A German View of Our Beautiful Game by Raphael Honigstein</li>
<li><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">Mad For It by Andy Mitten </span></li>
<li><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">Back Home by Jeff Dawson </span></li>
<li><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">The Fix : Soccer and Organized Crime by Declan Hill</span></li>
<li><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">A Cultured Left Foot : Eleven Elements of Footballing Greatness by Musa Okwonga </span></li>
<li><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">An Anatomy of England by Jonathan Wilson </span></li>
<li><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">White Storm : 101 Years of Real Madrid by Phil Ball </span>
</li>
</ol>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04103330040714909517noreply@blogger.com0