Customer Reviews
Facts wrong, Dates Wrong. A Mess. - By: M. Ryan, 07 Jan 2009 
This book is so dull that it would actually be more interesting to watch it being pulped than to read it. Worse than that, it is wrong on several counts. Foot gets his dates wrong, claiming that Fabio Capello moves from Roma to Juventus "in the 2003-4 close season." He is a year early. Historians getting dates wrong are like bakers who can't make bread, though I might have forgiven him that if there hadn't been so much else wrong with the book.
More disturbingly, his treatment of important events such as the Heysel disaster is highly unsatisfactory. He fails to highlight the missed warnings - Brussels newspaper Le Soir warned of an "apocalypse" on the morning of the match. He fails to point out that Brussels Fire Chief Alain Gibson had warned that the chicken-wire fence between Liverpool & Juventus fans was too flimsy, but was excluded from key pre-match security meetings. Then Foot reports almost as heresay: "Some argue that the collapse of the wall actually saved lives." A serious writer would have backed this up properly. Brussels fire chief Gibson states categorially that more lives would have been lost if the wall had not collapsed. He is the main authority on this subject.
Most absurd of all, Foot writes: "Hundreds of police & gendarmes entered the stadiumin a ridiculous & tardy show of force."
Had he bothered to do his research properly, Foot might have talked to Roland Vanreusel, one of the police chiefsin charge on the night, who rightly points out that Italians seeking revenge were preparing to charge the Liverpool fans from the other end, & 15 mounted police contained them & prevented further bloodshed. To quote Vanreusel: "If that hadn't happened,I believe 200 people would have died, not 39." Hardly ridiculous, to save 161 lives, whatever the dreadful errors of judgement that had taken place earlier.
On what should have been a more cheerful note, Foot fails utterly to convey the sheer joy, surprise & magic of Italy's 3-2 1982 World Cup win over Brazil, fails to deal properly with Italia 90, & doesn't even seem to mention Coverciano, the Centre of Football Excellence near Florence that has been the intellectual engine room for all Italian football sucessin the last quarter of a century.
I cannot speak for others but purely based on what I readin 'Calcio', I would not want my son taught Modern Italian History by this man at UCL because I don't believe he is a very good historian or researcher.
essential for the history of italian footy - By: godzilla78, 17 Sep 2008 
Of all the books on the market about Italian football (and there are plenty) this is perhaps the best of the lot. It's a comprehensive guide not only about the football but of history & society as a whole. John Foot has gone to a lot of effort with this book & it is a worthy addition to any collection. We're treated to the usual history of scandal & match-fixing which is synonomous with the Italian game.
Entertaining and well-paced read. - By: Grant Coleby, 13 Mar 2008 I have just finished reading this book (the updated edition with Cannavaro lifting the World Cup on the cover.) The author obviously knows his calcio. As a follower of Italian football I found this book to be a very fluid read & allowed me to discover the foundations of the gamein Italy, the great teams of the past (Torino, Inter, Genoa, Juventus), the managers & players who helped make the game what is is today, wrappedin an analysis of the social & political context of the country.
I thought the author wrote very well & at a level which would be engaging for the layperson. Of course, when dealing with a history of a subject, it is difficult not to writein a style which some readers might find list-like. I didn't & I'm sure that the vast majority of readers wouldn't. The book is written with a skew towards British players (e.g the `Foreigners' chapter is Brit dominated) but the author is British & the book is aimed at a British market, so I don't think this can be a criticism.
The Heysel & Superga tragedies are mentioned very sensitively. My only criticism would be the black & white pictures which didn't do the text justice. Overall I thought the book was authoritative, comprehensive with the right level of humour interspersed. I would recommend this book to all those with an interestin the beautiful game.
Appropriate for Britons. The rest of the world, not so much. - By: Er Cavosso, 13 Mar 2008 
I'm sympathetic towards the difficultyin gettingin more information & pagesin a book that already spans 500+ pages. I am, truly. But I feel there's a very misguided balance between what would be importantin explaining Italian football & what the author feels just 'had' to bein there (see: seemingly endless words spent re-hashing the failures & few successes of British playersin Italy).
I found it greatin the beginning, but my enthusiasm quickly wore down as I progressed through the chapters & timeline of calcio. As items I am myself comfortablein my knowledge of came up, numerous mistakes on behalf of the author were exposed. I believe my final count of the different years mentioned for Roma's third scudetto win came to four, only mentioning the correct (2001) once. And there are many of these seemingly minor flaws (another that has stuck is the statement that Bologna is on the stockmarket; it isin fact probably the last club that would consider it, its presidents over the years leading the charge against the very 'financial doping' so very associated with the three clubs on the Milano stock exchange).
But the lack of understanding, on the part of the author, what's important is my main beef; a revolutionary coach such as Liedholm, who held such great esteemin his adopted country & was also a fantastic playerin his day, 'godfather' of many of today's great coaches is mentioned onlyin passing. If I believed it to be intentional & not a very unfortunate overlook & miscalculation I'd deem it an insult of the highest magnitude. (Liedholm's fellow Swede at Milanin the 50's, Nordahl has been erased from Foot's history books, his incredible goal scoring record ignored & shunned, himself not even mentioned, as far as my memory serves, & if he was, like Liedholm onlyin passing).
But the book can probably serve well as a superficial reading for mainly a British audience who actually cares much for what Ian Rush wrotein his journal; I, most certainly, did not whatsoever.
Pure Joy - By: S. Ferry, 02 Sep 2007 This book is a wonderful read. Even my wife, who hates football, enjoyed it. I've read an awful lot of books, from Dostoevsky to detectives, & can't remember too many that gave me so much pleasure. A word of warning; don't let anyone borrow it as you'll never get it back.
