The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer
by David Goldblatt
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Book Summary Information
Author: David GoldblattEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-01-02
ISBN: 1594482969
Number of pages: 992
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Book Reviews of The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer
Book Review: A Soccer Ball-Shaped World
Summary: 5 Stars
Going Native in Catalonia
The Ball Is Round is an absolutely brilliant book. It's nearly 1,000 pages long and tells the whole story. What I most like about it is that it appeals to both the intellectual (ahem!) and the fan in me - you can take it on both levels.
For Intellectuals: The Ball Is Round traces the history of football from its pre-industrial roots in Britain and how it spread through the British Empire and also planted itself in all the countries where Britain had commercial contacts - Spain is a great example of this. It discusses the why and how of the global spread of football from a social, political, cultural and economic perspective. It even ends up with the grandiose claim - quite justified, in my opinion - that football challenges Christianity and McDonald's as a truly global phenomenen.
For Fans: It's full of fantastic and inspiring stoies - great games, amazing players, legendary managers - and everything is told in such exquisite detail. I just drool (and then take a few notes about what I can include on the website).
David Goldblatt has kept the ball in play and done a real service to mankind!
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