- Hardcover: 512 pages
- Publisher: Metro Books,London (1 July 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 186066170X
- ISBN-13: 978-1860661709
- Product Dimensions: 24.8 x 15.9 x 4.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 289,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
It is astonishing that 40 years after his death, the character Lord Archer describes as "Britain's greatest all-rounder" should only have been the subject of a single blinkered biography and an often fanciful autobiography. Iain Wilton puts the record straight with this unhurried, lovingly researched account of the life--indeed the many lives--of C.B. Fry.
It would be impossible today for someone to lead such an extraordinary existence as Fry did at the turn of the last century. Just as unfeasible would be a drab account of a man who, by the end of his second year at Oxford University, had appeared in county cricket, secured two successive triple Blues, won an England cap at football and equalled the world long jump record and he was barely 21 years of age.
And yet there was much, much more to C.B. Fry. There was the intellectual, the successful journalist, the would-be politician who failed in his bid to become a Liberal MP and the frustrated Hollywood movie star.
It is in its account of his failings that Wilton sheds new light on Fry. There are the bouts of "mental illness" which surfaced many times his life and the many queries over the legality of his bowling action--neither of which had previously been the subject of genuine critical examination. Many a recollection in Fry's autobiography--including facts which all sports writers had assumed to be genuine--are revealed to be gross exaggerations.
Of greatest interest is the description of his colourful life outside sport. On a tour of South Africa, Fry recalls a dynamite blast in Johannesburg in which "one native was killed by the head of a donkey which was blown two hundred yards". Then there was the meeting with Hitler and Fry's more than passing flirtation with fascism and the straining of his friendship with Ranjitsinhji due to his growing antipathy towards Indians, a symptom of his mental illness. The best, though, is the truth behind his relationship with his wife, a battle-axe of a women called Beatrice. --Thrasy Petropolous
Product Description
C.B. Fry was Captain of England at cricket, played football for England and became the joint-holder of the world long-jump record. But he was much more than a sportsman. He won a major scholarship to Oxford, where his friends numbered Max Beerbohm, Hilaire Belloc and F.E. Smith and his nicknames included "Lord Oxford" and "Almighty". He wrote several books, including an autobiography and a novel, while he was one of the most successful journalists of his day. He was a friend of many prominent Labour and Liberal politicians, but flirted with Fascism, meeting Hitler in 1934. He tried out for Hollywood, represented India at the League of Nations, and stood for Parliament three times.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best cricketing biographies ever written.,
By A Customer
This review is from: C B Fry: An English Hero (Hardcover)
C.B. Fry is the archetypal Edwardian English hero - brilliant, a sporting genius, plays in the FA cup Final and then scores a century for his county - yet where Wilton's book scores in uncovering the detail of the man. It is here that the tragic truth of C.B.'s life is gradually revealed - the electro-convulsive treatment for his mental illness, the unhappy marriage, the despair as he realised he was never going to fulfill his abundant early potential. Elegant, precise, compassionate and a great read, this is quite simply one of the best cricketing autobiographies ever written.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
4.0 out of 5 stars
All - Round Entertainment,
By D A Smith - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: C B Fry: An English Hero (Hardcover)
Charles Burgess Fry was undoubtedly one of the greatest sportsmen that ever lived. Not only that, he was a giant in other walks of life also. Iain Wilton has produced a thoroughly researched and eminently readable account of the life of the man who represented his country at football, athletics and cricket as well as being offered the throne of Albania. Surely we will never again see anyone capable of holding a World Record (at the long jump) and also being good enough to score 94 first class centuries. He also edited his own magazine and campaigned for Parliament as a Liberal Party candidate. This biography adds to the scant written material on Fry - surprisingly not covered by more than just one previous biographer. He had himself also written an autobiography which tended to recollect in detail Fry's greatest achievements yet omit his many failings. Wilton is not shy to record Fry's faults yet at no time does he detract from the overall impression of a man much larger than life who was adored by the sporting public. If this book does have a weak spot, it is the scanty coverage of his days before he went up to Oxford. His schooldays and family life as a child are rather superficially skated over, yet the remainder of the volume is almost exhaustive in its detail without ever becoming dull.
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