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The
Beautiful Game by Rabinder Bhachu
"David Conn's The Beautiful Game: Searching for the Soul
of Football is an investigative look at football's finances and
power over the years and is clearly written by someone who is first
and foremost a football fan.
What is impressive about this book is that Conn examines football
clubs that are less well-off than the big boys. Bradford City is
one of the club under Conn's microscope.
His
chapter Six Weeks of Madness documents City's financial strife from
the fire in May 1985 in which 52 died through to Geoffrey Richmond's
handling of transfers when they were in the Premiership in 2000/01
which led to his famous quote that gives the chapter its title.
Conn's
research is extensive throughout the book. He talks to directors,
fans and people in football who are not usually vocal and he manages
to acquire some startling information from people in the know. One
example is when Conn delves into the club's administration figures
for July 2002 which point out ex-Bantam Benito Carbone was paid
the incredible sum of £40,000 per week and given a house with
seven bedrooms and five bathrooms.
His
account of the rise and fall of Bradford is a powerful one and he
raises some interesting points about the fire of 1985 at Valley
Parde that certainly prove to be eye-opening. For instance why safety
was neglected at the stadium and why the Government's safety recommendations
were ignored.
Conn
explores football from its birth as a handful of clubs and brings
the reader right up to today's Premiership as he looks at money
and power in the English game.
His
book is part commentary, part investigation, but it's always fascinating.
It shows the football fan a different side of the game, one of greed
and corruption, a side that he/she may not have been exposed to
before. Even somebody who doesn't like football is likely to find
the book accessible and an excellent research tool.
To
be supercritical of Conn, he stops short of answering some of his
own questions. He could have perhaps explained how football clubs,
and in particular the Premier League clubs, could become more financially
equal so smaller teams don't have to continue to struggle to compete
and indeed exist.
Despite
a glaring factual inaccuracy (Patrick Vieira was signed for Arsenal
from AC Milan and not Inter Milan, page 59), it's well researched
and well-written. This is an excellent read for the studious football
fan."
Sickened by Julie Gregory
"Before I started this book, Iwasn't too clued up on exactly
what Fred and Rose West were like - this book totally put me in
the picture. Julie fell into their clutches when they gave her a
lift when she was hitchhiking, gradually they won her trust by offering
her a nannying job, then began her nightmare. One night they assaulted,
raped and tortured her, luckily she escaped to tell her story, this
is it. The book is well written, at times in diary form, it clutches
at your heart strings and lets you see into the mind of the sick
and perverted from the victims point. A very good read."
Karen McCrudden, Bradford
The
White Stuff
The White Stuff takes the reader on a journey that one-woman takes
after the decision to have children is taken from her.
Join Me
Following Danny Wallace's quest to find 1000 joinees for a pointless
collective. Out of boredom he places an advert in a paper asking
people to 'join him' and before he knows it photos are landing on
his doormat.
The
Ripple Effect
Dominic Holland's book about knock-on effects beginning with
one man who has a bad day leading to others having a bad day.
True
Crime
This is the last in Jake Arnott's trilogy of novels which focus
on the London gangland from the 1960s to the present day. However
Jake is no stranger to West Yorkshire - he has worked for both Red
Ladder Theatre and Leeds Social Services.
The
Cryptographer
Tobias Hill's third novel, The Cryptographer, draws the reader into
the year 2012 where money is no longer hard currency, but electronic
units called Soft Gold.
On
Dangerous Ground
Once a teacher in a Bradford inner-city school Lesley Horton now
writes crime novels which take an honest look at some of today's
problems.
The
Red Riding Quartet
The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, and much more, examined in a
series of novels by David Peace.
Battlefield
Walks in West Yorkshire
Yorkshire contains more important battlefields than any other county
in the UK. David Clark brings history to life with 23 circular walks,
some of which are in West Yorkshire.
A
Wish For Wings
Jenna,
the heroine of this novel by well-known Bradford author Robert Swindells,
has only one ambition in life - she wants to fly.
Ian Rankin in Bradford: Interview
Sue
Rann
David
Peace
Man
of Letters: Robert Craig
So,
who were the Brontes anyway?
The
Brontes on film
The
Bronte Parsonage Museum
Lost
City: J.B. Priestley returns to Bradford
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