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Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football

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

by Jonathan Wilson (Author)

3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

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Price:	�6.97 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics by Jonathan Wilson
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Product details

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Orion; New Ed 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 (15 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 53,869 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories:
#14 in Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Football > European > European Leagues
#28 in Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Football > Leagues
#74 in Books > Humour > Sports

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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 )

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	69% buy the item featured on this page: Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football 3.9 out of 5 stars (15) �6.97
	16% buy Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics 4.5 out of 5 stars (19) �6.97
	6% buy Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football 4.8 out of 5 stars (26) �4.99
	4% buy Football Dynamo: Modern Russia and the People's Game 4.6 out of 5 stars (7) �6.97

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 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.

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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.

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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.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Abkhazia to Zagreb
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. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Hanson

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 13 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 17 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

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