Description

By (author) Wilson, Jonathan

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The definitive history of the World Cup, for the first time exploring the tournament”s socio-political impact across the globe as well as the goals and scandals that keep us all gripped

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”A master at telling football”s greatest ever stories… Breathtaking. Wilson”s eye for detail and his elegant writing brings the World Cup to life like no other book on the topic I have ever read” ELIS JAMES

”Epic in scope, awesomely rich in detail, and compulsively entertaining” TOM HOLLAND

”So much of what we know of football”s history we know thanks to Wilson” SIMON KUPER

The football World Cup is the most watched sporting event on the planet. It has become a global obsession: 211 nations initially entered the 2022 edition. It has been running for almost a century. Yet there has never been a comprehensive history of the World Cup that has considered not only the matches and goals, the players and coaches, the tales of scandal and genius, the haggling and skulduggery of the bidding process, but has also placed the tournaments within a socio-political framework. The story of the World Cup is also the story of the world; this book tells its definitive history.

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Wilson is football”s pre-eminent popular historian

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Meticulously researched and well-organised – an informative account of how the World Cup became the global event it is today

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Essential… rich in political and cultural content

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A history of the World Cup that is also a four yearly temperature check on the history of the entire world.
Epic in scope, awesomely rich in detail, and compulsively entertaining

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An outstanding book by a truly outstanding writer. Jonathan Wilson understands not only the long history of the game, and the characters who gloriously shaped it, but also the essentials of the game itself. Once you”ve finished reading The Power and the Glory, you”ll want the next World Cup finals to kick off tomorrow

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Unfailingly lucid and objective, as well as packed with fascinating characters and anecdotes, Jonathan Wilson”s The Power and the Glory is the authoritative history we have long needed about football”s ultimate tournament

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Jonathan Wilson is a master at telling football”s greatest ever stories… Breathtaking. Wilson”s eye for detail and his elegant writing brings the World Cup to life like no other book on the topic I have ever read

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For the biggest show in sport, that has almost everything, this was the book the World Cup long needed. The definitive history, told through the elevation of the tournament”s compelling storylines, as well as brilliant new details

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So much of what we know of football”s history we know thanks to Wilson, and he tells it so engagingly, with an eye for personality and story as well as the deeper structures. He sees the connections between football and everything else, and is dazzlingly international. The game is lucky to have him

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Magisterial… the definitive account of the world”s greatest sporting festival

Biographical note:
Jonathan Wilson is the editor of the Blizzard and a freelance writer for the Guardian, World Soccer and Sports Illustrated. He is the author of twelve books, including Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics, Behind the Curtain: Football in Eastern Europe, Angels with Dirty Faces: The Footballing History of Argentina, The Barcelona Legacy, The Names Heard Long Ago and Two Brothers.