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Kaiser
Kaiser
Apr 20, 2025 12:29 AM

Author:Rob Smyth

Kaiser

1980s Rio de Janeiro.

There’s only one king in this city and he’s got the mullet, swagger and fake ID to prove it.

Introducing Carlos Henrique Raposo, known to all as KAISER.

This guy’s got more front than Copacabana beach. He’s the most loveable of rogues with the most common of dreams: to become a professional footballer. And he isn’t about to let trivial details like talent and achievement stand in his way. . . not when he has so many other ways to get what he wants.

In one of the most remarkable football stories ever told, Kaiser graduates from abandoned slumdog to star striker, dressing-room fixer, superstar party host and inexhaustible lover.

And all without kicking a ball.

He’s not just the king… he’s the Kaiser.

Reviews

Raposo's story is brought to life in Rob Smyth's brilliant Kaiser!…a book that exhibits all the verve and skill that its subject never could

—— Nooruddean Choudry , Joe.co.uk

[An] almost unbelievable biography

—— Ben East , Observer

Both hilarious and unbelievable, Kaiser! is a preposterously good football read

—— FourFourTwo

Smyth does a solid job of showing how Raposo’s unlikely path might have been smoothed by the chaotic nature of Brazillian football at the time…and the vagaries of the pre-social media world

—— Paul Rees , When Saturday Comes

Silver Shoals glints with lovely details… And any book that can come up with the precise date when the first pan of fish and chips was served gets my vote

—— Jonathan Tulloch , The Tablet

[Charles Rangeley-Wilson] is a vivid, exuberant writer, and a highly articulate and committed champion of his cause

—— Tom Fort , Literary Review

This is a great read for all your fishing mad and conservationist friends

—— Merryn Somerset Webb , Financial Times

He’s able to combine his brilliant illustration skills with jokes about the stars and amusing cultural references about the likes of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage. […] It’s perfect to dip in and out of, and will keep you chuckling’

—— FourFourTwo

[Illustrated History of Football] is the funniest football tome since Viz's Billy the Fish Football Yearbook, published 26 years earlier. [The second volue] Hall of Fame is more of the same.

—— Esquire

Squires is arguably football’s best and funniest cartoonist, treating the sport with the (lack of) seriousness it truly deserves

—— i news Football Books of the Year

David Squires is a fantastic satiric cartoonist. What I did not know is that he is equally a fantastic satiric writer

—— London Economic

Downright joyous

—— Guardian’s sport books of the year

A remarkable and redemptive journey

—— Summer Books of 2018 , Financial Times

This beautiful, meditative book should give us all a sense of our possible braveries: offering us an answer to the "what if?" questions - "what if we lost absolutely everything, what would we do?" . . . An extraordinary testament to love, hope and resilience.

—— Greg Wise, actor and co-author of Not That Kind of Love

A fabulous read, inspiring and life-affirming. If you're not already walking the coastal path, this book will make you want to set-off immediately. It is a hymn to the power of love, sear-air and the natural beauty of Cornwall to heal and nurture. It's an absolute joy

—— Cornwall Life

What an absolutely glorious and moving book. It deserves all its praise!

—— Vybarr Cregan-Reid, author of Footnotes and Primate Change

A triumph of love and hope and giving oneself up to the healing power of nature. Beautifully written with vivid imagery, what a heart-warming and glorious read

—— Ali Land, author of Good Me, Bad Me

You lost me a whole night's work. This is a great read.

—— Paddy Dillon

A beautiful ode to how nature can soothe and inspire hope with every step . . . this book is really special

—— Stylist

Mesmerising. It is one of the most uplifting, inspiring books that I've ever read

—— i (The paper for today)

Filled with wry humour, this is a wonderfully uplifting and touching book

—— Guardian

This is a wonderful, heart-gladdening, life-affirming read. It will make you want to walk. What a gem.

—— Kate Riordan, author of The Girl in the Photograph

Luminescent. A literary phenomenon

—— Mail on Sunday

Utterly inspirational

—— The Times

The Salt Path broke my heart and put it back together again over and over. Beautiful writing, and such a sharp eye - both for nature and for people. It's hopeful and sad and honest and I LOVED it.

—— Maggie Harcourt, author of Unconventional and The Last Summer of Us

Harnesses the wildness of rock, sky and coastal walking in life-affirming prose

—— Emma Stonex , Guardian

Radiant, soaring, heartstring-tugging

—— BBC Countryfile

A remarkable account of the healing power of landscape and the resilience of the human spirit. I felt the rain on my face and heard the waves pounding on the sand.

—— Phillipa Ashley

Inspirational

—— Good Housekeeping

The Salt Path pummelled me like Atlantic winds. It carried me along on a rain-soaked, sun-burnt, despair-infused, hope-driven walk. The writing is at times raw, poetic, funny, shocking. It is consistently honest, vulnerable, clear. I finished the book reminded of the importance of really hearing people's stories, of the healing power of the natural world, and of our individual and collective now.

—— The Ecologist

A thoughtful, lyrical story of homelessness, strength and endurance

—— The Week

A moving true story

—— i Paper

By turns inspirational and horrifying . . . [Winn] writes with a detail and a joy that tugs at the reader, lifting this beyond a mere travel memoir and all the privations and hardship to be something truly meaningful

—— Times Higher Education

Beautiful, sad, erudite and uplifting

—— The New European

An uplifting tale

—— Cornish Times

Vivid . . .This is a book essentially about hope, but also about sheer gritty determination not to give in, to survive extreme discomfort, danger and sometimes disillusionment

—— Kibworth & District Chronicle

An inspirational true story

—— Top Sante

It's a heart-warming, heart-wrenching story, told by Raynor in vivid yet plain prose. There are so many wonderful passages

—— Church Times

Raynor's writing is beautiful. It's a heart-wrenching read at times, but you won't be able to put it down

—— Mirror

We walk with Ray and Moth every step of the way, sharing the hunger, exhaustion, blazing heat and freezing rain in an account that is both lyrical and inspirational

—— Guardian, Top 10 books about walking in Britain

An extraordinary memoir - moving, funny and uplifting

—— Open Up

An inspirational and lyrically observed memoir on the regenerative power of walking in nature, as well as a reminder that material things are much less important than we sometimes think. If you love the landscape of the British coastline and are drawn to the philosophies of mindfulness and minimalism, this is a moving and reflective book to read during a break from your everyday life

—— Gill Walker, Newham Books , Guardian

Raynor Winn's glorious memoir tells the real-life story of her hike along the South West Coast Path, which she embarked upon with her husband after they lost their home. It's raw yet uplifting - and guaranteed to inspire your next adventure

—— Huffington Post UK

A thoughtful reflection on ageing and infirmity, home and homelessness, hope and survival

—— Dr Michael Fitzpatrick , Daily Telegraph

A life-affirming story that examines grief and the power of nature

—— Liz Earle Wellbeing

Poignant . . . It's far from a book without hope, and you'll be with Raynor and Moth every step of their walk along the South West Coast Path

—— Country Walking

A heart-wrenching, inspiring tale of one couple's enduring love for each other in the face of calamity and of their accidental odyssey along England's South West Coast Path

—— Advnture

A love story of resilience and optimism, brimming with heart and humanity

—— Ruth Jones , Prima

A gripping domestic disaster story turned celebration of survival

—— Country Walking

A true story of hope in a dire situation

—— Daily Express
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