Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
33 used & new from £3.65
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football (Paperback)

by Jonathan Wilson (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £6.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.00 (22%)
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, July 8? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
26 new from £3.65 7 used from £4.40

Frequently Bought Together

Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football + Tor!: The Story of German Football + Calcio: A History of Italian Football
Price For All Three: £21.47

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Tor!: The Story of German Football

Tor!: The Story of German Football

by Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger
4.9 out of 5 stars (18)  £7.49
Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics

Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics

by Jonathan Wilson
4.5 out of 5 stars (11)  £6.29
Calcio: A History of Italian Football

Calcio: A History of Italian Football

by John Foot
4.2 out of 5 stars (16)  £6.99
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football

Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football

by David Winner
4.8 out of 5 stars (24)  £5.99
Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football

Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football

by Phil ball
4.2 out of 5 stars (10)  £6.99
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Orion; New edition edition (1 Nov 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0752879456
  • ISBN-13: 978-0752879451
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 20,409 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #6 in  Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Football > European > European Leagues
    #7 in  Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Football > Leagues
    #16 in  Books > Humour > Sports

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
Football Bedding UK
   www.andyslinens.com/Footballbedding    Buy Football Club Bedding and Curtains From Linens-uk 
Littlewoods
   www.littlewoods.com    Great Money Saving Ideas On Homeware! With Free Returns. 
Football Curtains
   www.Ask.com    Find the Best Results for Football Curtains 
  
 

Product Description

THE TIMES
'With style and erudition, [Wilson] proves that football is a metaphor, an allegory, and much more than just a game'

Review
'With style and erudition, [Wilson] proves that football is a metaphor, an allegory, and much more than just a game' (THE TIMES )

'Enlightening' (THE SCOTSMAN )

See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football
72% buy the item featured on this page:
Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football 3.9 out of 5 stars (14)
£6.99
Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics
13% buy
Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics 4.5 out of 5 stars (11)
£6.29
Football Dynamo: Modern Russia and the People's Game
6% buy
Football Dynamo: Modern Russia and the People's Game 4.6 out of 5 stars (7)
£6.99
Tor!: The Story of German Football
5% buy
Tor!: The Story of German Football 4.9 out of 5 stars (18)
£7.49
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Intruiging view on a novel subject, 18 April 2006
By A.T. Tappman (London, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Behind the Curtain: Travels in Football in Eastern Europe (Hardcover)
I really enjoyed this book which is well written and takes the perceptive reader on a journey through eastern Europe with football acting as the Hitchhikers guide. Don't be lulled into thinking that this is simply a book about football in Eastern Europe - it is a book about people, politics, corruption and tragedy, with a great deal of humour, and empathy for the citizens of the nations that have emerged from Communist control.
I am not an avid football fan but have spent time in these areas and this book captures brilliantly the struggles of the new nations to find their own identity and deal with their past, whilst telling me all I could ever need to know about the old system and the way that football represented the microcosms of the communist lifestyle.
If you want to know about the great sides of the Communist era this book gives you what you need to know. If you fancy owning an eastern European football club (and I get the impression that it is quite easy to do this), this book is for you. If you want an interesting and thoughtful insight into an unexpecteed subject, this book is for you. Thoroughly recommended.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and informative, 31 Dec 2006
By Robert Francis (Brussels) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Read, 9 Feb 2007
By Mr. M. R. Wassell (Norfolk, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars 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 9 months ago by Mr. G. M. Jones

2.0 out of 5 stars dry and humourless
Thorough but written entirely without humour. Doesn't make any contact with the places he is writing about. Disappointing...
Published 12 months ago by Kharms

5.0 out of 5 stars 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

4.0 out of 5 stars 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

5.0 out of 5 stars 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

5.0 out of 5 stars first-rate footy and travel writing
Lovely stuff, like a conversation with a genial history master you suspect may have been a spy. Radiates warmth for his subject and its characters - the Balkan chapters in... Read more
Published on 9 May 2006 by Adrian Firth

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, wide-ranging, funny
Behind the Curtain is a good and informative read, engagingly and often humorously written. Those without an interest in football should steer clear, however there is also... Read more
Published on 23 April 2006 by Mithran Samuel

5.0 out of 5 stars Best football book ever?
This surely is one of the best football books ever written. The research is meticulous, Wilson's sifting of evidence forensic, his overall argument compelling, but more than that... Read more
Published on 21 April 2006 by Brian Green

4.0 out of 5 stars A thorough expose of eastern european football
This book contains many great stories which add depth and colour to the little known and murky world of eastern european football. Read more
Published on 19 April 2006 by Mapman

3.0 out of 5 stars A worthy effort but the perhaps a missed opportunity
Writing any book about Eastern Europe must be a hazardous process. The chief problem involves a decision on whether to concentrate on life before the collapse of communism or what... Read more
Published on 17 April 2006 by R. A. Langham

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]

   

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject















i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

The Body Shop

The Body Shop - Vitamin C Skin Boost
Protect and boost your glow with The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost.

›Shop The Body Shop

  

Beauty without the Beast

Olay Regenerist Daily 3 Point Treatment Cream
From au naturel to party glam, we have all the best names in cosmetics and skincare.

›Discover Beauty at Amazon.co.uk

  

A Close Shave

Philips Nivea Coolskin HS8060 Moisturizing Rotary Shaving System
For all types of hair removal, stay smooth with Amazon.co.uk.

›Discover Shaving & Hair Removal

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates