I think if Bayern were hated in the 70's and 80's that must be even more intense now(they've won 7 titles out of 13 since the book was published)! I think it's fair to say much of what the author predicted in 2001 has come to pass with Bayern effectively becoming an even huger juggernaut. evil' in the 1970's between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. I also really appreciated the chapter on 'good vs. The highlights for me was the section on East German football under Communism, it was an important chapter and I think Hesse-Lictenberger told an important story here.

I've recently read Alex Bellos' 'Futebol' and I really got a sense of Brazilian life and culture through it's football - in this book 'Germany' could be 'anywhere'. As a historical text I didn't get a sense of being 'there' at any point in time which I think is key for books of this nature. This may be because the writer is writing in English as a second language or actually that many of the persons of note were quite boring and dry.

I found the text a little dry in places and didn't get much of a sense of German-ness from the book. Unfortunately covering a nation's football history in so few pages leads me to think there are a great many stories yet to be told.Ĭompared to other books of this nature I really didn't feel any connection to many of the personalities or stories. The book has just the right balance between club and national football and set's everything in the context of Germany's turbulent 20th Century history.Īt 350 pages and covering over a hundred years of football Hesse-Lictenberger does a great job of succinctly covering all the key stories within German football history. Good enjoyable history of German football from it's (very English) amateur era to the dawn of the Champion's League era.

Tor history of german football