- Hardcover: 360 pages
- Publisher: Orion; illustrated edition edition (17 Feb 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0752869078
- ISBN-13: 978-0752869070
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.4 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 523,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'A blissful book, lovingly and stylishly written' (Edward Pearce DAILY TELEGRAPH )
'This fascinating and perceptive travelogue includes a fine collection of anecdotes too colourful for fiction' (SUNDAY TIMES )
'[a] terrifc book' (Henry Winter DAILY TELEGRAPH )
'Epic... Wilson writes captivatingly with humour...anyone with an interest in eastern European sport will be consulting this book for years to come.' (David Winner FINANCIAL TIMES )
'Football is centred squarely within a fascinating socio-political context... There is plenty of humour too' (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
'Compelling... he [Wilson] succeeds in going well beyond the lurid headlines, skilfully interweaving his own travel notes with forays into politics, culture and history.' (FOUR FOUR TWO )
'There's everything you needed to know about football and plenty that you didn't... wittily observed travel writing.' (WHEN SATURDAY COMES )
'In this part-travelogue, part history Jonathan Wilson captures the contemporary chaos of the region drawing in figures as diverse and noteworthy as Hungary's 1950s star Ferenc Puskas and Arkan, the murderous Serbian paramilitary.' (OBSERVER SPORTS MONTHLY )
'Wilson knows an immense amount about eastern European football and has crammed a lot into 300 pages. He writes well and has a lot of good stories' (Josh Lacey GUARDIAN )
'[an] intriguing, entertaining history-cum-sports travelogue. ****' (METRO )
'Jonathan Wilson brilliantly plugs the gaps in our knowledge...an observant and witty guide to life in Eastern Europe.' (WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY )
'His lively prose captures the chaos of a region in the grip of racism, violence and organised crime, whilst retaining a warm affection for the people.' (EVENING HERALD (Ireland) )
'As absorbing as any post-war spy thriller' (SUNDAY LIFE (Northern Ireland) )
'Engrossing and funny travelogue-cum-social history.' (GLASGOW EVENING TIMES )
'Absorbing... Wilson is adept at using football as a microcosm of the post-Communist East as he reveals how totalitarian regimes have given way to Mafia control and curruption.' (BRIGHTON EVENING ARGUS )
'Pitched somewhere between Bill Bryson and John Le Carre, Wilson's narrative twists from neon-lit boom town of Donetsk to the crumbling splendour of Budapest's Bozsik Stadium... Wilson has a novelist's eye for detail and suspense' (WESTERN DAILY MAIL )
'This fascinating and perceptive travelogue includes a fine collection of anecdotes too colourful for fiction' (SUNDAY TIMES )
'[a] terrifc book' (Henry Winter DAILY TELEGRAPH )
'Epic... Wilson writes captivatingly with humour...anyone with an interest in eastern European sport will be consulting this book for years to come.' (David Winner FINANCIAL TIMES )
'Football is centred squarely within a fascinating socio-political context... There is plenty of humour too' (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
'Compelling... he [Wilson] succeeds in going well beyond the lurid headlines, skilfully interweaving his own travel notes with forays into politics, culture and history.' (FOUR FOUR TWO )
'There's everything you needed to know about football and plenty that you didn't... wittily observed travel writing.' (WHEN SATURDAY COMES )
'In this part-travelogue, part history Jonathan Wilson captures the contemporary chaos of the region drawing in figures as diverse and noteworthy as Hungary's 1950s star Ferenc Puskas and Arkan, the murderous Serbian paramilitary.' (OBSERVER SPORTS MONTHLY )
'Wilson knows an immense amount about eastern European football and has crammed a lot into 300 pages. He writes well and has a lot of good stories' (Josh Lacey GUARDIAN )
'[an] intriguing, entertaining history-cum-sports travelogue. ****' (METRO )
'Jonathan Wilson brilliantly plugs the gaps in our knowledge...an observant and witty guide to life in Eastern Europe.' (WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY )
'His lively prose captures the chaos of a region in the grip of racism, violence and organised crime, whilst retaining a warm affection for the people.' (EVENING HERALD (Ireland) )
'As absorbing as any post-war spy thriller' (SUNDAY LIFE (Northern Ireland) )
'Engrossing and funny travelogue-cum-social history.' (GLASGOW EVENING TIMES )
'Absorbing... Wilson is adept at using football as a microcosm of the post-Communist East as he reveals how totalitarian regimes have given way to Mafia control and curruption.' (BRIGHTON EVENING ARGUS )
'Pitched somewhere between Bill Bryson and John Le Carre, Wilson's narrative twists from neon-lit boom town of Donetsk to the crumbling splendour of Budapest's Bozsik Stadium... Wilson has a novelist's eye for detail and suspense' (WESTERN DAILY MAIL )
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
'Football is centred squarely within a fascinating socio-political context... There is plenty of humour too'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a regular traveller and visitor to Eastern Europe, and having taken in quite a few games in the process, I found this book most interesting and would heartily recommend it to anyone interested in the region as a whole.
Minor criticisms would include the strange omission of Czech Republic/Slovakia and the Baltic states, and there is the distinct impression that this book should be viewed more as an introduction to the issues at stake rather than act as a definitive guide.
Nevertheless, Jonathan Wilson (who cannot be much more than 30, judging from some subtle dating in the text) clearly has excellent knowledge and experience of the area (with the possible exception of the Caucausus region, which seems to have been more of a flying visit) and hence this book should be required reading for any football and travel enthusiast who dares to look further than the dreaded Premiership for their sporting thrills.
Minor criticisms would include the strange omission of Czech Republic/Slovakia and the Baltic states, and there is the distinct impression that this book should be viewed more as an introduction to the issues at stake rather than act as a definitive guide.
Nevertheless, Jonathan Wilson (who cannot be much more than 30, judging from some subtle dating in the text) clearly has excellent knowledge and experience of the area (with the possible exception of the Caucausus region, which seems to have been more of a flying visit) and hence this book should be required reading for any football and travel enthusiast who dares to look further than the dreaded Premiership for their sporting thrills.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a well researched, very interesting account of football in many Eastern European countries. Each chapter is well worth reading and personally, I have learnt a great deal about football in countries which get 1 or 2 lines a year in the British sporting press.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A terrific read full of great anecdotes and fascinating insights into the history of football in eastern Europe before & after the fall of communism in the region. If I have one critcism it's that the stories of some of the countries can be a little repetitive - the decline of Poland, Hungary & Romania as footballing powers all occured for essentially the same reason - lack of money. No Abramovich-type sugar daddies came along to replace the patronage & protection the big clubs in these countries used to receive from powerful figures in the Soviet political/military regimes, so their domestic leagues became a shambles rife with corruption, and any talented youngsters were sold abroad to the highest bidder ASAP. Having said that, there's plenty here to praise; the power-shift from Dynamo Kyiv to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine, and the ongoing intrigues between the oligarchs of modern Russia are all tales well told, but for me the best section of the book concerns the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. The story of how Serbia-Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia-Hercegovina & Croatia have tried (and very often failed) to come to terms with themselves and each other as independent entities provides by far the most fascinating and moving chapters of the book.
Jonathan Wilson's previous book (the superb 'Inverting the Pyramid') had a much broader range, but 'Behind the Curtain' reads like a much more personal work and is all the more engaging for it. An excellent read - thouroughly recommended.
Jonathan Wilson's previous book (the superb 'Inverting the Pyramid') had a much broader range, but 'Behind the Curtain' reads like a much more personal work and is all the more engaging for it. An excellent read - thouroughly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
excellence
A great dlight to be able to read about football form a completely different area of the continent. Great to see how differently things are don 'behind the iron curtain'
Published 1 month ago by Mally
Interesting stories, but........
Fair play to Mr. Wilson for putting in the leg-work and going to places to make discoveries that we, the faint-hearted, would fain to travel to, however...
... Read more
... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Alice Cribbins
Solid, but not desperately revealing
There's a growing selection of books looking at the history of football in various countries, such as "Football Against the Enemy" and "Brilliant Orange". Read more
Published 13 months ago by Matthew Smith
Good account of the state of Eastern European football
Jonathon Wilson has written an interesting overview of the current state of football in Eastern Europe. Read more
Published on 29 April 2010 by haunted
Very interesting read
There aren't a great deal of books about football in Eastern Europe and the few I've read so far were poor translations. Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2010 by B. Chapman
Behind the Curtain
I always look for football books that are a little bit `off the beaten track'. 'Behind the Curtain' therefore looked like an ideal candidate to discover more about what largely... Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2008 by Mr. G. M. Jones
dry and humourless
Thorough but written entirely without humour. Doesn't make any contact with the places he is writing about. Disappointing...
Published on 17 Jun 2008 by Kharms
Converted!
I have to admit the idea of reading a sports book doesn't fill me with boundless enthusiasm, particularly one subtitled `Travels in Eastern European Football' but having read so... Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2007 by Aingeal
A worthy read on eastern european football
I bought this book after reading the reviews on this site and found it a joy to read. I have heard of some of the things that have happened in this book but became a bit more... Read more
Published on 25 Sep 2006 by Steven Palmer
A feast of football
Fans of football or of Eastern Europe (or both!) will love Jonathan Wilson's magisterial study of the beautiful game's triumphs and travails in the post-communist era. Read more
Published on 23 Aug 2006 by Edward Vallance
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