A tale from athletics' age of innocence... He was a sporting hero not just for his time but for all time

A wonderfully in-depth and often emotionally charged piece of writing

An astonishing achievement... There are few writers as adept at capturing so lyrically the utter and incomprehensible strangeness of distance running... A joy to read

Sport book of the year… A fascinating tale, showing all sides of Zátopek, injecting humanity and humour into a dramatic life

Reminds us of the pain and the glory behind every victory and the power of sport to bring people together and make history

A warm, honest and moving account of one of the greatest sportsmen of all time. Richard Askwith brings to life both the epic triumphs but also the difficulties and complexities of Zatopek's role in Communist Czechoslovakia

A portrait of a fine but flawed human.

A tremendous read and also a reminder of the lost purity of track and field

Terrific

Before Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe, there was Emil Zátopek - a Czechoslovakian soldier turned long-distance runner turned Cold War victim. His four Olympic golds, 18 world records and Communist party career are all laid bare in this definitive account

A powerful look at one of the greatest Olympic champions of all time... Riveting... [Zátopek] had a great heart — he was not just an iconic athlete; he was a peacemaker

[A] rigorous account.

Of all the new non-fiction books with Olympic connections, this is the finest and most inspiring.

A brilliant & very important book. Vital, highly recommended. Tempted to say it's Michael Calvin’s best yet, which is some praise.

The best sports book I'm likely to read this year. Highly recommend you buy it.

A brilliant insight into the journey young kids now make from kicking a ball around in their back garden, through the glossy facilities of academy football.

His research is, as ever, impeccable… No Hunger in Paradise is a fascinating and fitting finale to a trio of books any football lover should own.

Heartbreaking . . . an excellent piece of reportage

The award-winning writer’s new forensic, and sometimes alarming, case study into why some young prospects make the cut – and others fall away – is fascinating…
The FA would do well to read this if they want success

Brilliantly sourced and written… As a portrait of the state of the modern game, No Hunger In Paradise is vital reading. With Calvin’s previous studies, it serves as a record of what football is like today and should place him alongside Arthur Hopcraft, John Moynihan and Hunter Davies in providing the sport with its defining literature

One of the great, and most important, sports books of 2017. Passionate, incisive, gripping.

Calvin is a natural storyteller who is unflinching as he goes behind the scenes and meets the people at the heart of the youth development network.

The book is an eye-opener into the pressures put on young players by clubs, coaches and parents; the corruption and conceit, bullying and harassment. Plus the lengths those clubs and their scouts go to, to recruit kids who have yet to reach secondary school.

Completes his formidable trilogy on the game with a blistering indictment of how it treats its youngest players

Outstanding

As the book unfurls, the march along the marches turns into a eulogy to his father, part memoir, part biography, always a love story. It also contains one of the most unflinching, moving descriptions of death I have read.

This beautifully written book is a haunting reflection of identity and our relationships with the people and places we love.

Stewart provides much food for thought about how we value our past history