As Alex Bellos brilliantly reveals in his classic book, their game can symbolize racial harmony, flamboyance, youth, innovation, and skill―in short, it’s a microcosm of the country itself.Īt last, football has its answer to Freakonomics, The Tipping Point and The Undercover Economist. At their best, Brazilian soccer players are both athletes and artists. The essence of their game is one in which prodigious individual skills outshine team tactics, where dribbles and delicate flicks are preferred over physical challenges or long-distance passes, where technique has all the elements of dance and, indeed, is often described as such. Since the 1950s, when Pelé first started playing, soccer has been how the world sees Brazil, but it is also how Brazilians see themselves. It ranges from the postcolonial politics of African football to the manufacturing history of the football boot from the history of stadium architecture to the architecture of power in global football’s leading institutions.įutebol- The Brazillian Way of Life – Alex Bellos It explores the cultural meanings and political uses of football in Peron’s Argentina, Adenauer’s West Germany, Stalin’s Soviet Union and Mussolini’s Italy. Thus the book describes and accounts for the careers of Pele and Maradona, Puskas and George Best the histories of the Wunderteam and the incomparable Hungarians, the anti-futbol of Estudiantes de la Plata and the futbol arte of Brazil 1970. It is a history which attempts to locate where the line between the realm of glory and the realm of power has been crossed, that celebrates the love of the game, but knows that it can be bought. And, above all, how all these forces interact. But it’s also a history of states and markets, money and power. It’s the story of players and managers, fans and owners, clubs and national teams a chronicle of who won and who lost. In this extraordinary tour de force of a book, David Goldblatt describes the rise of football, from a chaotic folk ritual to a sector of the global-entertainment industry. The Ball is Round:A Global History of Football – David Goldblatt In this hilarious, moving and now-classic book, he vividly depicts his childhood life, his time as a teacher, and his first loves (after football), all through the prism of the game, as he insightfully and brilliantly explores obsession, and the way it can shape a life.īuy this book at (US) or .uk
Arsenal’s football ground would become the source of many of the strongest feelings he’d ever have: joy, humiliation, heartbreak, frustration and hope. Exploring the Best-Loved Books of All Time: A Look at the Top 10 User-Rated BooksĪs a young boy, growing up in London and watching his parents’ marriage fall apart, Nick Hornby had little sense of home.
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