- Published: 26 September 2013
- ISBN: 9781446496633
- Imprint: Vintage Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 448
Fear and Loathing in La Liga
Barcelona vs Real Madrid
- Published: 26 September 2013
- ISBN: 9781446496633
- Imprint: Vintage Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 448
Utterly brilliant
Henry Winter, @henrywinter
Fascinating
Sunday Independent
Lowe is a man with deep knowledge. He is a proper researcher. His list of interviewees – from Di Stéfano to Beckham – is a Who's Who of six decades of football. And his re-runs of past epic matches make you seek out grainy YouTube videos.
Guardian
Football Books of the Year: Sid Lowe isn’t an ordinary football writer and, as a result, this is not an ordinary football book. Lowe paces it all so well ... like an engaging lesson from your favourite teacher
Daily Mirror
A revelation. Anyone interested in Spain's two biggest teams can learn something new from this labour of love ... tackling tricky subjects with skill and weaving them into an engaging story. For that, this book stands out from the rest.
talksport.com
Sports Book of the Year
Sunday Times
A history of modern Spain told through one of world football's most intense rivalries. It conjures up the complex passions of a country whose national team has become not only the best in the world at present, but, some say, the best ever
Chris Maume, Independent
Like so many of Spain's deep rifts, the enmity stems from the civil war. Barcelona represent the losers, democrats, Catalonia. Real Madrid represent the victors, repressors, Spain. Lowe's detailed study shows that the caricature is simplistic but not entirely incorrect
Nick Pitt, The Sunday Times
A work of profound research and stimulating discoveries… Lowe has done El Clasico a service by defining its history
Hugh MacDonald, Herald
Lowe's impressive list of interviewees includes Alfredi di Stéfano, Johan Cruyff, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Andrés Iniesta. …There are also neat mentions of Barça's (unwitting) role in the murder of Leon Trotsky, as well as Madrid’s links to the Beatles in the 1960s and Pedro Almodovar in the 1980s
Dermot Corrigan, When Saturday Comes
Far more than simply Messi vs Ronaldo, the rivalry between two of the most colossal teams in football, as unfolded in this excellent history, pitches Catalonia against Spain, Franco against the republic, north versus south, and so much more
Latest 7
One of the year’s best football books … an extremely well-informed and usefully myth-busting portrait
Guardian
A truly outstanding account of an intense football rivalry which exists between Barcelona and Real Madrid
Oldham Evening Chronicle
An extremely well-informed and usefully myth-busting portrait of the long rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid
Richard Williams, Guardian Online
Fascinating... This one ought not to be missed
FTB Pro
Much more than the story of two men or two teams or even a game. Barcelona v Real Madrid is one of the greatest rivalries in modern football and this is its forensic history
RTE Guide
Turns much of the accepted wisdom about the rivalry on its head
Robert O'Shea, Evening Echo
A well-informed, myth-busting history of modern Spain told through one of the world’s most intense football rivalries
Observer
Rich, engrossing book
Michael Walker, Irish Times
A compelling rivalry... From the pig's head thrown at Luís Figo after his switch to Real to the epic matches between Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho, Lowe covers it all
The Times