Book Review
Book Review: There To Be Shot At: The Autobiography of Tony Coton
There To Be Shot At
by Tony Coton
Published by De Coubertin Books
2017, £12.80
Cards on the table before we start: I’m not coming at this from an unbiased perspective. Perhaps this is no surprise; Tony Coton retired from playing twenty years ago and whilst he was a successful top flight goalkeeper this book is surely targeted squarely at supporters of Birmingham City, Watford (my team) and Manchester …
Book Review: Savage Enthusiasm: A History of Football Fans
Savage Enthusiasm: A History of Football fans
by Paul Brown
Published by Goal Post books
2017, £12.99
In a world where many football supporters would be hard pressed to tell you anything about the career of Kevin Keegan or Trevor Brooking, Paul Brown has provided the invaluable service of chronicling the emergence of football in the nineteenth century, a period which, despite the sweeping changes that we have witnessed …
Book Review: Russian Winters: The Story of Andrei Kanchelskis
Russian Winters: The Story of Andrei Kanchelskis
by Andrei Kanchelskis
Published by De Coubertin Books
2017, £20
It would be tempting to say how a footballer’s autobiography somehow mirrors the playing style of the player who wrote it. In Andrei Kanchelskis’ case that make this book dynamic and direct, perhaps even a little old-fashioned, written in a style that has been shunned by the ‘new football’ of lavish wealth …
Book Review: Ooh-Aah: The Bob Booker Story
Ooh-Aah: The Bob Booker Story
by Greville Waterman
Published by Bennion Kearny
2017, £12.99
In academic history books of recent years, the tendency has been to move the story away from a concentration on the machinations of Kings, Queens and politicians and to attempt to understand the past by shining a light on the experiences of ordinary people. Hence, the experiences of a seaman in the Royal Navy in …
Book Review: Rafa’s Way
Rafa’s Way
by Martin Hardy
Published by de Coubertin Books
2017, £19.99
Talk about hot off the press. The statement announcing that Rafa Benitez would be staying at Newcastle was issued on 16th May 2017; less than three weeks later, on 5th June, Rafa’s Way hit the shelves. The rush to publish was understandable when you consider the existence of a rival book: Inside the Rafalution by Mark Douglas. …