Hard Tackles and Dirty Baths: The Inside Story of Football's Golden Era
by George Best
List Price:
Our Price: $0.02
You Save: $13.93 (100%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: George BestEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-01
ISBN: 0091908760
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Ebury Press
Book Reviews of Hard Tackles and Dirty Baths: The Inside Story of Football's Golden Era
Book Review: Buyer beware!
Summary: 1 Stars
Why should you beware of this book? Why worry about George the great footballer, the shy yet lovable Irishman, idol of men and women everywhere? There's his picture on the front cover look ... and on the back cover ... and just in case you haven't got the message there's his picture on the spine of the book as well. The copyright credits George Best as the author and in the Foreword his manager says Best enjoyed writing it in the final months of his life.
There are actually two problems.
First, this is an almost entirely unoriginal account of Best's playing career up to 1975. For example, what do we learn about the European Cup Final of 1968, the night that brought back memories of Munich, when the first English club won the European Cup? George was ecstatic and had a bit too much to drink. Woo, sorry to have spoiled the plot for you there.
Second, this a ghost-written biography - despite receiving almost no credit the title page includes those three little words "with Harry Harris" that tell you what you need to know i.e. that this will be a competent account, that will tick over, and rely heavily on the newspaper archive - so you will be told about the size of the crowd, team changes and the times when the goals were scored. You will also get post-match quotes and players' histories, things Best couldn't possibly know. But as for Best's memories you strongly suspect they were used up in his earlier books "Blessed" and "Scoring at Half Time".
I have no problem at all with Harry Harris writing a book about 1960s football. I didn't find a lot new and the quote on the back cover from the Daily Mirror: "A complete history of the sport before money and marketing took over" is ludicrous. How can one man's account (even if it weren't ghost-written?) be a complete history. Oh, hang on, Harry Harris works for the Daily Mirror ... It's just hard to see who would be interested. If you want to know about Best, read "Blessed". If you want to know about football in this era read "The Glory Game" or Leo McKinstry on the Charlton Brothers or any of the excellent biographies of Bill Shankly.
So, you have been warned: an okay book with Best's face on the cover to sell it to you. Look elsewhere.
Biographies & Memoirs Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Biographies & Memoirs Books
The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendshipby Jeffrey Zaslow
Gotham; Published: 2009-04-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.60
Price in other shops:
A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanityby Bill O'Reilly
Broadway; Published: 2008-09-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.90
Price in other shops:
The Last Lectureby Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow
Hyperion; Published: 2008-04-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.40
Price in other shops:
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10by Marcus Luttrell
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2009-05-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.56
Price in other shops:
Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimistby Michael J. Fox
Hyperion; Published: 2009-03-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.00
Price in other shops:
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Timeby Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2007-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.50
Price in other shops:
Much to Your Chagrin: A Memoir of Embarrassmentby Suzanne Guillette
Atria; Published: 2009-03-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops:
Taking Woodstockby Elliot Tiber, Tom Monte
Square One Publishers; Published: 2007-06-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.69
Price in other shops:
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah EquianoCoffeetown Press; Published: 2008-10-01; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond between Two Friends and a Lionby Anthony Bourke, John Rendall
Broadway; Published: 2009-03-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.76
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Giggs: The Autobiographyby Ryan Giggs
Penguin Global; Published: 2007-04-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops:
Among the Thugsby Bill Buford
Vintage; Published: 1993-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.10
Price in other shops:
Bloody Confused!: A Clueless American Sportswriter Seeks Solace in English Soccerby Chuck Culpepper
Broadway; Published: 2008-08-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
Our George: A Family Memoir of George Bestby Barbara Best, Lindy Mcdowell
MacMillan; Published: 2007-11-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.90
Price in other shops:
Sir Bobby Charlton: The Autobiography: My Manchester United Yearsby Sir Bobby Charlton
Headline Book Publishing; Published: 2008-05-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.16
Price in other shops:
George Best: Tribute to a Legendby David Meek
WN; Published: 2006-08-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Managing My Life: My Autobiographyby Alex Ferguson
Hodder & Stoughton; Published: 2002-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.11
Price in other shops:
George Best - Genius, Maverick, LegendRelease date: 2006-11-13; DVD
Best price: $29.95
Blessed: The Autobiographyby George Best
Ebury Press; Published: 2002-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Scoring at Half-Timeby George Best
Ebury Press; Published: 2004-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.39
Price in other shops: