Synopses & Reviews
The Game of Our Lives is a masterly portrait of soccer and contemporary Britain. Soccer in the United Kingdom has evolved from a jaded, working-class tradition to a sport at the heart of popular culture, from an economic mess to a booming entertainment industry that has conquered the world. The changes in the game, David Goldblatt shows, uncannily mirror the evolution of British society.
In the 1980s, soccer was described as a slum game played by slum people in slum stadiums. Such was the transformation over the following twenty-five years that novelists, politicians, poets, and bankers were all declaring their footballing loyalties. At one point, the Palace let it be known that the queenand#151;like her mother, Prince Harry, the chief rabbi, and the archbishop of Canterburyand#151;was an Arsenal fan. Soccer permeated the national life like little else, an atavistic survivor decked out in New Britain flash, a social democratic game in a cutthroat, profit-driven world.
From the goals, to the players, to the managers, to the money, Goldblatt describes how the English Premier League (EPL) was forged in Margaret Thatcherand#8217;s Britain by an alliance of the big clubsand#151;Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspurand#151;the Football Association, and Rupert Murdochand#8217;s Sky TV. Goldblatt argues that no social phenomenon traces the momentous economic, social, and political changes of post-Thatcherite Britain in a more illuminating manner than soccer, and The Game of Our Lives provides the definitive social history of the EPLand#151;the most popular soccer league in the world.
Review
and#147;Brilliantly incisiveand#133;Goldblatt is not merely the best football historian writing today, he is possibly the best there has ever beenand#133;Goldblattand#8217;s book could hardly be more impressive.and#8221;
Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times Culture
Review
and#147;David Goldblattand#8217;s
The Game of Our Lives offers an enlightening, enriching experienceand#133;it is based on a formidable range of sources, personal observation and a pleasingly sardonic turn of phrase. Not all football writers know their stuff, let alone the socio-economic context, but Goldblatt doesand#133;altogether this is an exceptional bookand#8221;
David Kynaston, The Guardian
and#147;Brilliantly incisiveand#133;Goldblatt is not merely the best football historian writing today, he is possibly the best there has ever beenand#133;Goldblattand#8217;s book could hardly be more impressive.and#8221;
Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times Culture
Review
and#147;Readers curious about why people around the world care so deeply about teams made up of mercenary, millionaire strangers and owned by billionaire businessmen will find some answers in Goldblattand#8217;s analysis.and#8221;
and#151;Bill Littlefield, The Boston Globe"[Goldblatt] writes about soccer with the expansive eye of a social and cultural critic....[He] has written not just the best soccer book in many years but an exemplary account of the changing character of British society in the post-Thatcher era.and#8221; and#151;David Runciman, The Wall Street Journal
and#147;[D]eeply researched and worth the read for anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of both English football, and English society in general.and#8221; and#151;Men In Blazers, newsletter recommendation
and#147;David Goldblattand#8217;s The Game of Our Lives offers an enlightening, enriching experienceand#133;it is based on a formidable range of sources, acute personal observation and a pleasingly pithy, sardonic turn of phrase. Not all football writers know their stuff, let alone the socio-economic context, but Goldblatt truly doesand#133;altogether, this is an exceptional bookand#8221; and#151;David Kynaston, The Guardian
and#147;It is difficult to describe in words what an outstanding storyteller and incomparable researcher David Goldblatt is." and#151;Kartik Krishnaiyer, World Soccer Talk
and#147;Brilliantly incisiveand#133;Goldblatt is not merely the best football historian writing today, he is possibly the best there has ever beenand#133;Goldblattand#8217;s book could hardly be more impressive.and#8221; and#151;Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times Culture
and#147;[P]rodigious research and a fluent writing styleand#133;.this is a fine book which should have an appeal much beyond the game.and#8221; and#151;Mihir Bose, The Independent
and#147;[A]n encyclopaedic portrait of English football stripped of all the non-stop hype. The beautiful game is, after all, a dirty business.and#8221; and#151;Financial Times
and#147;[A]n intensely readable socioeconomic study of English football in the age of globalisation.and#8221; and#151;New Statesman
Synopsis
The Game of Our Lives is a masterly portrait of contemporary Britain through the lens of soccer. In the last two decades soccer in the United Kingdom has made the transition from a peripheral dying sport to the very center of British popular culture, from an economic basket-case to a booming entertainment industry that has conquered the world. What does it mean when soccer becomes so central to the private and public lives of the British people? Has it enriched this island nation or impoverished it?
From the goals, to the players, to the managers, to the money, David Goldblatt describes how the English Premier League was forged by Margaret Thatcher's Britain and an alliance of the big clubs and#151; Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and#151; the Football Association and Rupert Murdochand#8217;s Sky TV. He identifies the real winners and losers in this extraordinary period, and explains how soccer has closely mirrored the wider political and social scene.
Goldblatt argues that no social phenomenon tracks the momentous economic, social and political changes of post-Thatcherite Britain in a more illuminating manner than soccer, and The Game of Our Lives provides the definitive social history of the EPL and#151; most popular soccer league in the world.
About the Author
David Goldblatt was born in London in 1965 and lives in Bristol. He shares his affections between Tottenham Hotspur and Bristol Rovers. He is the author of
The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football and
Futebol Nation: The Story of Brazil Through Soccer. Since then he has made sport documentaries for BBC Radio, reviewed sports books for the
TLS and the
Guardian, taught the sociology of sport at Bristol University, the International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University, Leicester and Pitzer College, Los Angeles.