Author:Richard Lewis
Bobby Moore lifting the World Cup at Wembley on a July afternoon in 1966. England had triumphed against West Germany thanks to a hat-trick by Geoff Hurst and a goal by Martin Peters. All three heroic players were from West Ham, the most famous club of London's East End. This is an area synonymous with football success worldwide, largely because of the legendary Sunday football Mecca of Hackney Marshes. There are more football pitches on this one expanse of grass than in any other part of Europe, and it is a training ground which, over the last 35 years, has developed star after star for English football.
The majority of clubs in the country today have at least one player on their books who has links with the east of the capital. The famous names from the past include Jimmy Greaves, Terry Venables and Harry Redknapp, and the tradition has been carried on by Paul Ince, Ashley Cole and the finest modern-day footballing hero of them all, David Beckham.
With profiles of famous players past and present and engrossing details of the life and characters of the East End, England's Eastenders celebrates a tradition of excellence that began in the swinging Sixties and moves through the decades to show how the precedent set by Moore when he walked up those 39 steps at Wembley was just a stop-off point in the history of this breeding ground of brilliance.
Required reading
—— The Alpine JournalThis is witty, literate, erudite and committed writing, and I'll be surprised if this anniversary year sees a better mountaineering book.
—— Geographical Magazinedestined to become a classic in the genre of mountaineering literature
—— Bernadette McDonald , Himalayan JournalA fascinating portrait of a friendship that pushed the boundaries of knowledge and endeavour
—— Sunday TimesThe author’s great strength is his knowledge of climbing, which gives him an insight into the psychology and practice of mountain exploration
—— GuardianThis comprehensive and important book, the result of 30 years of research, deserves to be read to the end. It gets better and funnier, as it progresses and it leaves even those such as me, for whom mountaineering has always been something of a mystery, beginning to understand and respect what drives true climbers
—— Country LifeJim Perrin takes us over peaks and glaciers as he recounts Shipton and Tilman’s exploits during a time when exploring meant travelling to places never before mapped by man. A humbling, gripping read.
—— Compass MagazineGives several new insights into the lives of these two great men and additionally shows a number of previously unpublished photos, maps and etchings of Tilman and Shipton.
—— CLIMBER Magazine