I am in my mid forties and I have read a lot of football biographies, and this is without a doubt the best I have read. I mention my age because I missed the golden age of football and I never saw any of the great players mentioned in this book, but what the book does do is bring to life some of the names and times that I missed, a great glimpse of football as it was.
Stan himself comes over as a humble football visionary, taking diet and fitness seriously about 40 years before anyone else and a true talent. There are some episodes of his personal life he skips over like his divorce and re-marriage but this is a real insight to the golden age of football and a true footballing great.
I was at Wembley watching an International (England/Brazil?) when they announced Sir Stan had died, a poignant place to be but it did feel the right place to mourn the passing of one of our greatest footballers.