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Two Tribes
Two Tribes
Oct 20, 2024 7:57 PM

Author:Tony Evans

Two Tribes

Cup Final Day, 1986, and the eyes of the world are on Liverpool and Everton as they walk out on to Wembley’s lush green turf. Pumped with pride and passion, the two best teams in Europe are about to engage in a gladiatorial battle in front of 100,000 fanatical supporters. But this is not just another match, another cup final. On this warm day in May, the future of English football – and a city’s reputation – is on the line.

A year before this momentous Cup Final, Liverpool fans had been involved in the Heysel disaster. Thirty-nine people had died in the decaying stadium – a tragedy which cast a long, dark shadow over the sport. English clubs were banned from Continental competition, and football reached its lowest point.

Tony Evans’s Two Tribes recalls the tumultuous 1985/86 season and the titanic struggle for supremacy between the two great Merseyside clubs. Set against a backdrop of social and political turmoil, it reveals the full impact of Thatcher’s policies, the vibrant northwest music scene and the burgeoning anti-establishment vibe on the streets and on the terraces.

Giving voice to players, managers, politicians and musicians, Two Tribes follows the remarkable twists and turns of a season and how Merseysiders took over London for one unforgettable day with deafening chants of ‘Merseyside! Merseyside!’ ringing around Wembley Stadium.

Ultimately, this is the story of Liverpool’s renaissance and Everton’s private agony, masked by a show of solidarity and communal spirit on the day, and how a season which began in shame ended in pride.

Reviews

The power of Tony Evans’s writing emerges from the juxtaposition of football passion and political insight. A writer who understands that the meaning and beauty of football emerges not from mere tactics and line-ups but from the social context.

—— Matthew Syed, author of Black Box Thinking

Politically charged, and flashing between scenes of gallows humour and improbable sporting achievement, Two Tribes is an uncompromising portrayal. Tony Evans brilliantly captures a city under fire through its rival footballers.

—— Simon Hughes, author of Ring of Fire and Men in White Suits

Highly recommended– not just on Merseyside, but for all who remember that season fondly and for those who wish to recall or understand an era when English football and society existed on a knife-edge.

—— Oliver Kay , The Times

Tony Evans is a brilliant writer who knows these teams, this subject, this era, this culture, these themes and this city better than anybody, and this enthralling book makes that so clear.

—— Miguel Delaney , Independent

Thatcher, tumult, tunes. This is more than just a football book.

—— Michael Calvin , Sunday Times

A great read. As a Liverpool fan there is obvious interest. But to me the book goes a lot deeper than that, covering Liverpool City’s political climate in the ‘80s, the growth of football television coverage, etc. Lots of fun.

—— Marco Giocomelli , Evening Standard

Not just a funny and forensic account of the year the city of Liverpool was the undisputed capital of British football, but a proud and unapologetic tribute to how that city stood up, in all its radical beauty, to a brutal Thatcherite pounding. Two Tribes is social history of football writing at its finest.

—— Brian Reade , Daily Mirror

Two Tribes perfectly illustrates the relationship between football and society in Thatcher’s Britain with as many twists and turns off the pitch as on it…The sheer beauty of this book is its ability to take you from the stinking alleyways and crumbling terraces that were the norm for football supporters at that time to London’s West End or the drinking dens of the North West quicker than a Pat Nevin pirouette thanks to the author’s uncanny ability to depict the city he lived in and the game that he and so many like him followed religiously across a country that was on a knife edge… Two Tribes is not a Liverpool book. It’s not an Everton book either. It’s a snapshot of a time when watching football was often a matter of survival, a social history of a highly charged political tinderbox of a city which was in danger of tearing itself apart; interspersed with anecdotes of the time which were as relevant in Middlesbrough and Manchester as they were on Merseyside. And that’s what makes it so good.’

—— Matthew Crist , The Sportsman

A coruscating snapshot of football and life on Merseyside during Thatcher’s Britain.

—— The Observer
- Best Sports Books of 2018

ExtraordinaryDee has an enormous aptitude for burrowing into research and then opening it out map-like over the tangible natural world… [Greenery is his] most personal and spectacular nature memoir to date.

—— Irish Independent

As rich and rewarding as spring itself, this book by one of our leading nature writers is a celebration of the temperate world’s most exciting season. It’s a multi-layered book, full of memories…science and poetry, history and humour. And great sadness too… This is a lifetime of springs recounted by a man in fall.

—— Ben Hoare , BBC Wildlife

Crammed with fascinating, horizon-expanding, life-enhancing tidbits of knowledge from a person who has spent years watching, looking, learning… Of course, as Dee fans will expect, there is blissful poetry in his proseGreenery is a portal into a deeper understanding of spring and a richer appreciation of the natural world. It is about death, life, love, planetary time: the dynamics of life on planet earth.

—— Lucy Jones , Caught by the River *Book of the Month*

Joyful... Hard to resist. Greenery is a book of hope… Each new encounter reads like a script for the very best kind of radio programme, full of insight and lightly-worn expertise.

—— Isabel Lloyd , Tablet

Dee’s writing sings… When scattered personal anecdotes finally crystallise into the recent event in Dee’s life, the heart breaks… A book best experienced like spring itself, blooming and fading at its own pace.

—— Josh Pugh Ginn , i

Tim Dee follows the wake-up call of the wild, treading the path of migrating swallows from South African shores to Scandinavia. A colourful account of spring's awakening with tales from Sámi reindeer herders also in the mix.

—— Wanderlust

Tim Dee's powers of description are masterful… This sumptuous account of spring's progress is a truly remarkable book, written with exquisite pathos.

—— Alex Roddie , Great Outdoors

Dee layers…contrasting voices to great effect. And his visual writing shows us more than a camera could

—— Lucy Ingrams , Oldie

Greenery is an anatomy of spring… the lush prose…resonate[s]… When scattered personal anecdotes finally crystallise into the recent events in Dee’s like, the heart breaks

—— Josh Pugh Ginn , UK Press Syndication

A beautiful ode to how nature can soothe and inspire hope with every step . . . this book is really special

—— Stylist

Mesmerising. It is one of the most uplifting, inspiring books that I've ever read

—— i (The paper for today)

Filled with wry humour, this is a wonderfully uplifting and touching book

—— Guardian

This is a wonderful, heart-gladdening, life-affirming read. It will make you want to walk. What a gem.

—— Kate Riordan, author of The Girl in the Photograph

Luminescent. A literary phenomenon

—— Mail on Sunday

Utterly inspirational

—— The Times

The Salt Path broke my heart and put it back together again over and over. Beautiful writing, and such a sharp eye - both for nature and for people. It's hopeful and sad and honest and I LOVED it.

—— Maggie Harcourt, author of Unconventional and The Last Summer of Us

Harnesses the wildness of rock, sky and coastal walking in life-affirming prose

—— Emma Stonex , Guardian

Radiant, soaring, heartstring-tugging

—— BBC Countryfile

A remarkable account of the healing power of landscape and the resilience of the human spirit. I felt the rain on my face and heard the waves pounding on the sand.

—— Phillipa Ashley

Inspirational

—— Good Housekeeping

The Salt Path pummelled me like Atlantic winds. It carried me along on a rain-soaked, sun-burnt, despair-infused, hope-driven walk. The writing is at times raw, poetic, funny, shocking. It is consistently honest, vulnerable, clear. I finished the book reminded of the importance of really hearing people's stories, of the healing power of the natural world, and of our individual and collective now.

—— The Ecologist

A thoughtful, lyrical story of homelessness, strength and endurance

—— The Week

A moving true story

—— i Paper

By turns inspirational and horrifying . . . [Winn] writes with a detail and a joy that tugs at the reader, lifting this beyond a mere travel memoir and all the privations and hardship to be something truly meaningful

—— Times Higher Education

Beautiful, sad, erudite and uplifting

—— The New European

An uplifting tale

—— Cornish Times

Vivid . . .This is a book essentially about hope, but also about sheer gritty determination not to give in, to survive extreme discomfort, danger and sometimes disillusionment

—— Kibworth & District Chronicle

An inspirational true story

—— Top Sante

It's a heart-warming, heart-wrenching story, told by Raynor in vivid yet plain prose. There are so many wonderful passages

—— Church Times

Raynor's writing is beautiful. It's a heart-wrenching read at times, but you won't be able to put it down

—— Mirror

We walk with Ray and Moth every step of the way, sharing the hunger, exhaustion, blazing heat and freezing rain in an account that is both lyrical and inspirational

—— Guardian, Top 10 books about walking in Britain

An extraordinary memoir - moving, funny and uplifting

—— Open Up

An inspirational and lyrically observed memoir on the regenerative power of walking in nature, as well as a reminder that material things are much less important than we sometimes think. If you love the landscape of the British coastline and are drawn to the philosophies of mindfulness and minimalism, this is a moving and reflective book to read during a break from your everyday life

—— Gill Walker, Newham Books , Guardian

Raynor Winn's glorious memoir tells the real-life story of her hike along the South West Coast Path, which she embarked upon with her husband after they lost their home. It's raw yet uplifting - and guaranteed to inspire your next adventure

—— Huffington Post UK

A thoughtful reflection on ageing and infirmity, home and homelessness, hope and survival

—— Dr Michael Fitzpatrick , Daily Telegraph

A life-affirming story that examines grief and the power of nature

—— Liz Earle Wellbeing

Poignant . . . It's far from a book without hope, and you'll be with Raynor and Moth every step of their walk along the South West Coast Path

—— Country Walking

A heart-wrenching, inspiring tale of one couple's enduring love for each other in the face of calamity and of their accidental odyssey along England's South West Coast Path

—— Advnture

A love story of resilience and optimism, brimming with heart and humanity

—— Ruth Jones , Prima

A gripping domestic disaster story turned celebration of survival

—— Country Walking

A true story of hope in a dire situation

—— Daily Express
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