Fields of Fire

Oct 26, 2024 5:25 PM

Author:Damian Lawlor

Fields of Fire

These are exceptional times for the game of hurling. The skill, speed and summer long edge of the seat drama of recent All Ireland championships has led many to conclude that something very special is happening in the ancient game.

The Kilkenny team of the last decade has undoubtedly been the greatest in the history of hurling. Their extraordinary record speaks for itself. But has a chink finally begun to appear in Kilkenny’s armour? Or is it that the challengers have begun to catch up, at last recognising the immense effort required to compete at the highest level?

Fields Of Fire tells the story of Kilkenny’s phenomenal success and explores how the Cats became an almost indomitable force. But it also looks at the profound challenge which their supremacy presented to other counties, revealing how the struggle for competitiveness has positively transformed the game. Old rivals have adapted and learned. But new powers too have emerged – from Clare and from Limerick, from Dublin and from Waterford - young bloods who do not fear the Kings of the Game.

Drawing on exclusive interviews with dozens of current and former legends, among them Eddie Brennan, Cha Fitzpatrick, Brendan Cummins, John Mullane, Davy Fitzgerald, Damien Hayes, Liam Dunne, DJ Carey and Ger Cunningham, award-winning journalist Damian Lawlor offers a unique and compelling insight into hurling’s spectacular renaissance.

Reviews

A deeply researched portrait of the last decade of inter-county hurling and as close as anyone has come to getting to the core of what has made Kilkenny great.

—— Malachy Clerkin , Irish Times

This book is so full of exclusive interviews you'll soon feel like part of the squad. A worthy tribute to one of English football's best ever teams, it makes you long for one more game at Highbury

—— Shortlist

Unbeatable insight. The inside story of one of English football's greatest teams

—— Henry Winter , Daily Telegraph

Perceptive and well-wrought . . . Provides all-areas access to the inner workings and passions of a top club and a famous team

—— Sunday Times, Books of the Year

The story of an amazing season wonderfully told through the eyes of the men who made it happen. I can't recommend it highly enough

—— Andrew Mangan , Arseblog

Fascinating for any sports fan and truly a gold mine for Arsenal supporters

—— Alan Davies

A fascinating and engrossing read from start to finish. Provides wonderful insight and anecdotes as well as revealing the dynamics and determination from within the dressing room

—— John Cross , Daily Mirror

I picked it up and couldn't put it down. Brilliantly depicts a piece of football history

—— David Dein, Arsenal Vice-Chairman (1983-2007)

This is research at its riveting best. My only complaint about the book is that it had to end

—— Patrick Barclay, author of The Life and Times of Herbert Chapman

If you were there in 71 and/or 2004, buy the book. If only now do you appreciate that we probably had four of the six best payers on the planet back then, buy the book and read their words. Let me make it simple. If you are an Arsenal supporter, buy the book

—— Goonerholic

This is a book that contains some of the most evocative prose I have encountered in a book about football and without doubt solidifies Lawrence's place in the very top tier of sports writing in English. The story and characters are fascinating enough, but it is how they come to life and dance in Lawrence's writing that makes this book such a wonderful telling of an incredible tale

—— Huffington Post

Lawrence is a writer who will help the reader to appreciate the football on the pitch with an understanding of how the game is played few can match. At the same time she never fails to appreciate the passion that makes us fans

—— Morning Star

A gripping account of Arsenal's undefeated title winning season of 2003/4

—— Owen Gibson , Guardian

The atmosphere of the Sixties is re-created brilliantly.

—— The Times

Hamilton through the stories and backstories of others broadens his horizons to explain the phenomenon that was Best and the world that destroyed him. Offering up new material and new perspective, Hamilton, as one reviewer would opined, mastered biography.

—— Irish Examiner

Dickinson is tender to the memory of the Essex lad who, for a breathtaking instant, was glorious

—— Ain Finlayson and Kate Saunders , Saga Magazine

Matt's work is the most impressive West Ham book of the year, a genuine and sincere attempt to get to the root of the man. It is an excellent, thought-provoking book

—— Knees Up Mother Brown

A compelling and complete account

—— Sport

In The Man in Full, acclaimed football writer Matt Dickinson traces the journey of this Essex boy, peeling away the layers of legend and looking at Moore’s life from all sides – in triumph, in failure, in full

—— Bert Wright , Nudge

Outstanding... this excellent biography comes very close to describing the real Bobby Moore

—— Post

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