The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer

List Price: $24.00 Discount Price: $8.97

Customer Reviews:

Colossal yet Readable [Posted on 2008-01-15]
I found this book to be phenomenal. I must admit that I am a rather new prosylyte to "futbol" or soccer as we call it here in the States. I really new nothing about the history of the sport and very little about modern rules or teams or leagues. That having been said, I found the book to be very informative. Goldblatt begins with the "pre-history" of soccer, exposing many nationalist myths about soccer's origins and placing it firmly into the realm of a Celtic game taken up by elite public school boys in Victorian England.

The chapters dealt with specific subjects and I actually found the book to be extremely well organized. Time periods are gone through and after World War I, Goldblatt begins seperating chapters by region (Latin America from 1934-1954, Europe from 1934-1954, Africa from 1900-1974, Latin America from 1955-1974, etc.).

Having said all of that, what made this book especially interesting to me was the placing of soccer within a much larger context. He takes the narrative of soccer and places it within the meta-narrative of world history, economics, sociology, and anthropology. Soccer serves as the thread through which modern history is successfully traced. The writing is brilliant, at times incredibly deep, but always readable and always urging the reader to continue. Each chapter contains a reflection on a notable match of that time period. These are written in a completely different style than the rest of the book and are absolutely incredible. The writing is brilliant and the imagery is transportive.

All in all, more than deserving of five stars. This soccer "newbie" has become a seasoned vet in a span of less than one thousand pages.

The Football Bible [Posted on 2008-01-29]
This is amazing, wide ranging work that tells the story of football (soccer) and places it in the social context of the times. It is a dense and scholarly work which covers a lot of world history and social class because football does not stand on it's own as simply a game but it is much more important than life and death(to paraphrase Bill Shankly's famous quote).
Goldblatt is a very good writer who had me reaching for the Dictionary, who is able to synthesize the rich history of world football into a readable account. I appreciate the match accounts from great matches.
I see this book as an companion to the excellent History of Football BBC series. The only drawback with this book is that it should have more photos

A book which I hoped would never end but I finished far too quickly [Posted on 2008-02-01]
I've read a lot of books about sports in my relatively short time on this planet and while I have really enjoyed many of them and reread a few multiple times, this was definitely the first sports-related book I have ever NOT wanted to finish. Based on my rating, you can tell I mean this in a completely positive way: this book was easily one of the most informative and engaging texts I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

The main point of this text is the history of soccer (or football, whichever you may prefer - I'm an American, so soccer it is), which is clear from the subtitle on the cover. Yet there is so, so, so much more contained within the roughly 900 pages that span the book's binding. You have a lot of politics, great human successes and failures, stories of survival and disaster, as well as small passages that set you in a certain time and space where Goldblatt takes you to a scene important to the chapter or section.

For a well-read fan of the game, the importance of this book lies in the first half of it, as Goldblatt starts from the very beginning, discussing ball games of the ancient world, moving to the late 19th century and the creation of the English FA and the FA Cup, the development of professionalism (both accepted and hidden) versus amateurism, and while he obviously takes the history all the way to the present, the first half of the book opens up a history of the sport that many know absolutely nothing about. Soccer in the first half of the 20th century is not a well-known history, one Goldblatt marvelously elucidates.

For those who like the sport but know little about it, the book shows you how much there was to soccer before the advent of the Premier League, corporate sponsorship, and 32 teams in the World Cup. Goldblatt does a tremendous job of really digging into the social and political implications and uses of the sport in various countries, from the first world to the third.

Perhaps the most impressive part is that this text is all-inclusive. You don't just get a history of European soccer with a decent bit about South America and occasional mentions or anecdotes from Africa, North America, Australia, or Asia. Goldblatt delves into every continent's history and relationship to the game, truly showing how soccer really is the global game. All in all, this is a fantastic read and I highly recommend it to anyone.

The Ball is Round [Posted on 2008-04-25]
Very good book. If your interested in football (i.e. soccer) this covers everything. There are some slow parts but not that many and that could be attributed to not growing up with the sport. Great read but I think only if your really into football.

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