Mammoth Book Of The World Cup: The Definitive Guide, 1930-2018 (Mammoth Books 279)

There are some books that are guaranteed to result in bitter discussions. This is one of them. The reason is simple - Nick Holt comes not from the family of writers that believes in walking the mild, middle path. Nope, he is the writing equivalent of a Tony Adams, all bristling tempers and bruising tackles. And that is what makes this pretty massive book so entertaining. Maradona is called a cheat, the commentators are hauled up for their coverage and tone of the 1990 World Cup and a merry time is likely to be had by all those traipsing down the history of the World's premier football tournament. The book is mainly structured tournament by tournament but Holt also intersperses these with classic matches and controversies and even his dream elevens. The net result is perhaps one of the most entertaining books you are likely to read about the game and the tournament. I would recommend buying it on the Kindle, though - the print edition is a bit unmanageable in terms of size and the binding looks, well, weak.Pros:Opinionated writingLots of triviaGood tournament coverageConsOpinionated writing (you might not agree that Marasona was a cheat)More pictures would have helped, really

Football fans will find the book very entertaining! The author's personal insights add s little spice to the mix. I agreed with some and disagreed with others. For example. Despite me being Brazilian, i think that the author took the Hand of God episode too personnaly. Things like that happen every time in World Cups and England would have lost the match anyway. I also think the author conveniently chose not to bring to the fore the suspicious events surrounding England's 66 win. The change of venues, the poor choice of referrees, Rattin's arguable expulsion, Hurst's goal in the final that really wasn't. If you look past that English bias, the book is marvellous!!!

Highly entertaining, this is much the best of the World Cup histories currently in print.

This book is basically a history of the World Cup. Very detailed. Unless you are a history buff it can get quite boring. I ended up skipping most of it

He may be opionated but he rarely put forward much supportimg evidence for his opinions. Littered with errors (eg Rivaldo scored for Brazil v England not Ronaldo) and omissions (no mention of Netherlands hitting post in last minute of 1978 final).Also if I spend money on a book I expect someone to have proofread it.

Great book, learned lots i din't know.

One of the best books I have ever read on the world cup( and I've read plenty) it has just the right amount of frivolity, tongue in cheek moments to go with good, structured prose. The intermissions with best ever teams, classic matches, shocks also work well. Yes, there are a few mistakes mainly printing, but don't let that put you off! If you like world cups, this is a must.Excellent!

Littered with factual mistakes. Northern Ireland list to Helsinki in Finland? Surely the other way round? Next page, Jock Stein died at Hampden. He died in Wales. Lazy writing.

Mammoth book! Great for football fans as a gift!

Great book, good service, fast delivery