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Hammers Heaven and Hell
Hammers Heaven and Hell
Oct 4, 2024 7:32 AM

Author:Kirk Blows

Hammers Heaven and Hell

Little did anybody anticipate that West Ham's play-off final victory against Preston in 2005 would provide the launch pad for one of their most successful seasons ever, with the club securing a top-half Premiership finish and qualifying for Europe thanks to its first FA Cup final appearance in 26 years. Indeed, the thrilling 3-3 draw with Liverpool will be remembered as one of the most dramatic finals of all time.

With a keenly anticipated UEFA Cup campaign and the shock arrival of Argentina World Cup stars Carlos Tévez and Javier Mascherano, the future could hardly have seemed brighter. But storm clouds were gathering on the horizon as the Hammers embarked on what would prove to be the most turbulent and traumatic period in the club's entire history.

A protracted takeover saga, the sacking of manager Alan Pardew, a Premier League inquiry that would result in a record £5.5 million fine and a season-long battle against relegation were the main issues that dominated the headlines, while an unseen presence - fuelled by ego and avarice - threatened to erode the fabric of the club from within. Yet salvation would eventually be achieved in the most sensational and controversial of fashions.

Full of exclusive interview material, anecdotes and analytical comment, Hammers Heaven and Hell investigates the true reasons for two campaigns of contrast and conflict as West Ham experienced both ecstasy and agony in equal measures.

Reviews

Gripping and revealing… the raw truth

—— Donald McRae , Guardian

[An] uninhibited memoir… Sugar Ray’s bittersweet ascent to greatness

—— Daily Telegraph

A fascinating, illuminating, engaging story of what it takes to be successful at the highest levels. Simultaneously, The Big Fight is a most instructive study of competitive strategy

—— New York Journal of Books

...an astounding football autobiography.

—— The Guardian

I'd be frightened to put a price on his head these days ... Paul was as good a young player as I've ever worked with.

—— Howard Kendall

Without question, he is the best young player I have ever worked with

—— Mel Machin

You would class Paul in the top bracket. I always likened him to Colin Bell - he had that great ability to get up and down the park.

—— Tony Book

It was like having one of your mates playing for City. He would've captained England. No question. He was - and remains - one of us

—— Noel Gallagher

Paul Lake was the most gifted in the group of young players who brightened Manchester City up for fans in the 1980s who were pining for the glory days to return...his is an inspirational human story

—— David Conn , The Guardian

His memoir - I'm Not Really Here - spares nothing in the raw details of what Lake endured. A football read even more harrowing than an England player's World Cup diary

—— Sport

Sullivan knows how to craft a paragraph and tell a story

—— Sunday Business Post

Reads as what it is: a great first book

—— Jon Day , New Statesman

This morning Blood Horses showed up in the post. It’s Sullivan’s first book, a memoir about his late sportswriter father as well as a study of equine racing and breeding and obsessing over. We’re only 30 pages in but we’re convinced Sullivan wins it by a length and then some. He’s the best thing to come out of the south since 2 Chainz

—— Dazed and Confused

A truly fascinating and brilliantly written memoir recounting Sullivan’s relationship with his writer father but also a detailed examination of horse racing, the love of his father’s life, as well as an entire treatise on the relationship between man and horse

—— Doug Johnstone , The Big Issue

Blood Horses blends history, reportage and personal essay. The book is an excellent example of the mixed form that the critic Northrop Frye once called an “anatomy”. [Sullivan’s] enthusiasm rubs off

—— John Sunyer , Financial Times

Brilliant, sometimes maddeningly discursive memoir… Sullivan writes beautifully. Blood Horses makes better reading than the smoothly finished works of less witty and accomplished writers

—— Nick Rennison , Sunday Times

All the elegance and craft [Sullivan] displayed in [Pulphead] are present once again

—— Tim Lewis , Observer

Luminous, hard-to-characterise book... By the sheer fizzing excellence of his writing [Sullivan] carries off the difficult task he set himself triumphantly

—— Simon Redfern , Independent on Sunday

It’s a daring approach combining memoir and reportage and, beneath it all, the autobiographical theme of his attempt to understand his father, but it works magnificently

—— Christena Appleyard , Literary Review

An obvious choice, ultimately. A book that went beyond entertainment or education in their normal senses. This is the book that opened the world's eyes to the incredible doping scandal in cycling and the crimes of Lance Armstrong. A book that will be on almost all awards lists for books this year, and will surely migrate to the lists of all-time great books as its impact becomes more apparent over time.

—— Newstalk, Sports Book of the Year

Explosive... a stunning and sometimes sickening account of the doping pervasive in the pro peloton.

—— Sports Illustrated

Haunting... takes readers deep inside the gory cult of back-alley phlebotomy that ruled cycling as Armstrong launched and nurtured his Livestrong brand.

—— New York Daily News

Rich, magisterial account...Other books on Hemingway have tended to focus on his post-1930s literary decline and his machismo. The portrait that emerges from these pages is altogether more human

—— Ed Caesar , Sunday Times

He has a tremendous feel for Hemingway, as both writer and man

—— Sarah Churchwell , Guardian

This is a portrait of the author which is likely to leave one feeling more warmly disposed towards him

—— Herald

More a portrait than a biography, this book is a dazzling late example of "New Journalism"...the result is touching, revelatory and utterly absorbing

—— Independent

Unmissable

—— The Lady

While much of Hemingway’s life may have been hellish, Hendrickson’s writing is a delight. A fine work

—— Fachtna Kelly , Sunday Business Post

Very well told

—— William Leith , Scotsman

An album of fascinating snapshots of Hemingway

—— Simon Shaw , Mail on Sunday

Paul Hendrickson writes with a great deal of passion…

—— Nudge

A terrific and fresh approach to the man

—— Daniel Woodrell , Financial Times
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