Author:John Bryant
"Ladies and gentlemen, here is the result of event nine, the one mile: first, #41, Roger Bannister ... with a time which will be a new English Native, British National, All-Comers, European, British Empire and World Record. The time was three..."
As the announcer spoke those fateful words, the crowd roared, and the century-long quest to run 'the world's greatest race' was finally at an end.
For decades, amateur athletes like the American Lon Myers, a stick-thin hypochondriac who was sick before and after every race, yet still held every US record from 50 yards to the mile, and Joe Binks, an English journalist who only trained once per week, dominated the field. Paavo Nurmi, the 'Phantom Finn', won nine Olympic gold medals and set so many world records that statisticians still argue over the total, but even he couldn't breach the magic four-minute mark.
As competition intensified, the Swede Gunder 'the Wonder' Haegg ran the mile in 4:01.4 - but it took the legendary Roger Bannister and his two co-runners to finally accomplish 'the most significant sporting achievement of the twentieth century'. It took a wholesale reimagining of running itself, as each generation built on the discoveries and secrets of the last, until the fateful day finally arrived, and an impossible dream became reality:
6 May 1954. Roger Bannister. 3:59.4.
Bryant sets Bannister's crowning glory in a lovingly evoked context
—— IndependentA fascinating insight into the runners of the late 19th and early 20th centuries
—— SpectatorBrilliant ... a tour de force of elegant sports writing
—— Daily MailBryant's fine book is an absorbing read and a tribute to an era long-since passed
—— Athletics WeeklyIt conveys well the momentousness of the achievement- It captures the power of the amateur spirit
—— Alastair Campbell, The TimesBarclay tells his story and in doing so describes the way the game has changed over the years. We see the famous temper in action, but also a more reflective, generous side
—— Colin Waters , HeraldA firm but fair biography of a footballing legend
—— GuardianDo we really need another biography of Sir Alex Ferguson?...the answer is unequivocally in the affirmative
—— Independent on SundayYou'll be hard-pressed to find a book that will tell you as much about the intimidating character and gives such a revealing insight into the legend of British football that is Sir Alex Ferguson
—— Football Fan CastBest Sports Biography of the Year
—— MetroAn extraordinary and powerful cautionary cry.
—— KirkusBrilliant. . . one of the most unnerving books you will ever read
—— NewsweekBuford creates with the majesty of a Tom Wolfe the ultimate price paid by so many for this footballing fever - the Hillsborough disaster, recalled with electrifying eloquence and power
—— Time OutA grotesque, horrifying, repellent and gorgeous book; A Clockwork Orange come to life.
—— John Gregory DunneA very readable, often funny, book.
—— The EconomistHis prose is tough and vivid
—— IDBuford pushes the possibilities of participatory journalism to a disturbing degree . . . Among the Thugs does severe damage to the conventional wisdom that England and Europe are bastions of civilization.
—— New York TimesBuford's book is important in that it offers a far more compelling explanation for the football violence than any offered by the pundits of Left and Right . . . Had Buford's account been written by a tabloid reporter or an academic sociologist it might be more easily dismissed. That is comes from a highly intelligent observer, and a neutral outsider with no axe to grind, makes his book all the more powerful and yet troubling.
—— Michael Crick , IndependentBuford’s accounts of the thugs he moved with are by turns amazing, repugnant, stunning, horrid and exhilarating.
—— HowlerThe defining book on England’s hooliganism
—— Simon Parkin , Guardian
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