More specifically, an LFC book? I remember we had a great thread going on this before The Second Great Crash last summer, and I've forgotten most of the recommendations you guys had. I've had a hankering for a good football book or two for awhile now. That Official LFC Illustrated History is on backorder everywhere I looked, so I was browsing through Amazon's collection and came across the following: Red and Raw, Ivan Ponting Faith of our Fathers, Alan Edge Passing Rhythms: LFC and the Transition of Football, John Williams Liverpool from the Inside, Stan Liversedge Talking Shankly, Tom Darby Liverpool in Europe, Ivan Ponting I also saw a chronicle of the Spurs 71-72 season called "The Glory Game" that struck my fancy. Amazon had a 6 or 7 page preview, and I really liked the his style and flow. If anyone has read any of these and has praise or criticism for them, I'd love to hear it. Also, my football book collection is rather sparse, so if any of you have happened across other gems recently, (LFC or otherwise), let us know.
I've read Faith Of Our Fathers and Passing Rhythms. Faith Of Our Fathers is sort of like Fever Pitch on Merseyside in that it's a fan's memoirs, though its overlying theme is different (I can't say more because I am reviewing this for the next issue of the Emerald City Gazette and I need to keep my ideas fresh. I highly recommned it, though. Passing Rhythms is somewhat scholarly, so some of the essays are very dry, but there are some very good ones, like the one on racism and LFC, and the inner workings of Houllier's system.
"Faith of our Fathers" Allan Edge. Good book for me, just about echoes my own coming of age in Liverpool. I was a proddy though and maybe a couple of years older. A Liverpool kid in the 60's and 70's I have a couple of other on order, with me mam!
Glory Game The Glory Game by Hunter Davies is good. Essentially he spent that season at Spurs and wrote about it. I believe that it caused a lot of sensation (because it was the first of its kind for that type of book) when it came out yet now it's fairly tame in what he talks about. Also Hunter Davies recently wrote Joe Kinnear's bio. He was a player at Spurs when Davies wrote The Glory Game. Other good soccer books? These don't really have much to do with LFC, but The Grass of Another Country is pretty good (sadly out of print). Soccer in Sun and Shadow, Only a Game, and All Played Out are all good reads.
I read Faith of Our Fathers, but that was some time ago so I can't say too much specific. But I remember it being a really good read. I'd say definitely get it. Actually, the most recent book I read that was related to Liverpool FC is the new one from Stephen Kelly: Mr. Shankly's Photograph - A Journey From the Kop to The Cavern. It's also a fan's memoirs, and not limited to football. In fact it's about life in Liverpool in the 60's--growing up in Liverpool, becoming a LFC supporter and going to the matches, Beatles and the music scene, girls and sex, work (shipyards) and politics, Shankly and the rise of LFC, etc. Thing is, it's fictional. Of course it's strewn with realities of that time period, of Liverpool FC, and of the author's own life, but otherwise it is fictional. It was a decent book, but not a classic or anything. Not being a Scouser, I learned some things about the life and times of the city of Liverpool. And that was enjoyable. Probably the best football related book I've read recently is DYNAMO - Defending the Honour of Kiev by Andy Dougan. It's about Dynamo Kiev through the Nazi occupation of Kiev/Ukraine. 1/3 history, 1/3 football, and 1/3 the overlapping of the two. Quite gripping with the grim realities of war and moving with bravery and heroism. Still, a pretty quick and easy read. I highly recommend this book.
I'm somewhat reading "The Rough Guide to Liverpool." It's like a tell all about the team, history, area, and whatnot. Good for a beginner fan.
Liverpool in Europe is a pictoral coffee table book with the match stats on every Liverpool game in Europe up to this year. Essays covering different periods. Great stuff.
As will I. I also liked two books on Shankly that I got for Christmas: Keith's The Essential Shankly and Kelly's It's Much More Important Than That. Both are good, but Kelly is better. ----
John Keith is OK, in a sort of "ancient local journo, used to go to Bob's for Christmas drinks" sort of a way. Not so much autobiography as Eulogy. Edgy's FOOF is of course the most famous of the recent LFC books. On a non-LFC related tip - Ian McEwan's "The Innocent" is awesome.As is "The Reader" by Bernard Schlink.
I enjoyed the "eee iii addio we've won the cup' book covering all Liverpool's FA Cup games up until 1992 or 93.
Funny, because I JUST finished "The Reader" and didn't think too highly of it. In fact, I decided to tackle a football book precisely because I've been surprisingly disappointed by the last couple real (i.e. weighty subject) books I've picked up. I ordered "Faith of our Fathers" and "The Glory Game", and "Soccer in Sun and Shadow" as a book for the john. (Lots of little one and two page vignettes.) Let's not drop this thread, though. If anyone comes across a real gem, LFC or otherwise, pipe up. Thanks for the help!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_4/002-5829540-4794400?v=glance&s=books or http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1840182016/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/026-0469780-9766002 P & P on getting it from the UK will basically double the price, I think; but you'll get it much faster. ---
The US Amazon site says 4-6 weeks, but I ordered it yesterday and it was shipped today. I'm not sure if I got lucky or what. The other two books are still on backorder though.
Football Against the Enemy (Simon Kuper). I'm just about done reading the book and have been very pleased so far. Kuper travelled the globe in the early/mid-90's and this book details his experiences in North & South America, Europe and Africa. Topics include the rivalry between Holland/Germany, Argentina's controversial World Cup in 1978, the effect of Roger Milla and Cameroon's performance in 1990 on African soccer, soccer behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany, etc.
I have one of the early books from Liverpool. "My Soccer Story" Got it off me dear old Mum in 1960. Luv it, just luv it.!
Well, to expand this thread into newer technologies than print... I have the Kop Choir CD (got it from the BS store), which I'll play sometimes while exercising. It's also good to help non-Liverpudlians to learn how to decipher the dialect. Some chants/songs are easy (like YNWA, of course) and some require more advanced study.
DIALECT...DECIPHER...! All you have to do is learn English you silly bugger. At least you didn't call it a "cute brogue" Oh wait, I thought I was on 'rivalries'
I read "Into the Red: Liverpool FC and the Changing Face of English Football" by John Williams back in January. A friend had got it for me off of amazon.co.uk for Christmas. It was quite enjoyable and a good, detailed run through of the 2000-2001 season, with a lot of insightful comments by a good author and a passionate Liverpool fan. There was a lot of good historical background that I didn't know about the club, being relatively new to following LFC, so that was excellent. A recent non-LFC (but nevertheless good) football book I read was "Jack and Bobby" by Leo Mc..something, a fairly lengthy biography of the Charlton brothers. This was another historical topic that I didn't know much at all about, so it really expanded my knowledge about the English and Irish games a lot. There was a fairly detailed account of the Munich disaster as well, which I thought was well-written and tastefully done.