Ajax, The Dutch, The War: Football in Europe During the Second World War - Tapa dura

FEATURES THE TIMES - article by the author on 13 JanuaryTHE HERALD - articleabout the book on 4 JanuaryJEWISH TELEGRAPH - author interviewLONDON JEWISH NEWS - interview with SimonTELETEXT - interview TV GMTV SUNDAY programme - interview with Simon about the book on 2nd February RADIO BBC RADIO 3 Nightwaves 17 January. Simon reviewed a football documentary but got a plug for his book too.BBC RADIO 4 TODAY discussion with Simon during week of 27 JanuaryLONDON LIVE Robert Elms Show interview (broadcast week of 20 January)TALKSPORT interview 15 JanuaryBBC RADIO 5 CHILES ON SATURDAY - interview with Simon on 15 FebruaryBBC RADIO 5 SIMON MAYO programme - discussion and review of the book on 13 FebruaryBBC Radio York - interview on 17 JanuaryBBC Radio Humberside - interview on 15 JanuaryBBC Radio Jersey - interview on 17 JanuaryBBC Radio Leicester - interview on 22 January REVIEWS 'Kuper's poignant and perceptive account again proves that there can be more to football writing than fanzines and pale Hornby imitations.'GQ - January 03 'This book makes you realise that Bill Shankly's statement about footy being more important than life and deathis not far off.'FRONT - March 03 'Kuper is an orginal, sophisticated and adventurous writer.' THE SUNDAY TIMES 9 February 'passionate and moving volume' THE GUARDIAN - 1 February 'His writing combines scholarly graft, a feel for political complexity and quiet but powerful wit.' THE INDEPENDENT - 25 January'An absolute belter.' Danny Baker THE TIMES 7/6/03 'Kuper has produced a beguiling book, not only for aficionados of the beautiful game or connoisseurs of Jewish history, but for anyone curious about our not-so-distant past.' FT -18 January 'Kuper has fashioned a work which brilliantly juxtaposes the everyday life of football clubs with the awful fate suffered by so many of their Jewish players, officials and supporters.' TIME OUT 19/03/03 THE EXPRESS Non-fiction Read of the Week **** 16 FebruaryTHE INDEPENDENT sports section 'Bookof the Week' 17 FebruarySUNDAY TELEGRAPH - 26 JanuaryTHE TIMES - 1 FebruarySUNDAY TELEGRAPH - 2 FebDAILY TELEGRAPH - reviewFHM - review 1st June 03 SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 19 January 'football history at its best' TLS - 24 January 'Kuper's book demonstrates how football can be treated in a way that broadens ourview of the world' THE SPECTATOR - 18 January 'Hereby hangs a fascinating tale which Kuper describes particularly well.' JEWISH CHRONICLE - 17 January '[A] moving and compelling account' 'Simon Kuper is one of the country's brightest and most sophisticated sports writers.' THE TABLET - 12 April WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY Spring 03 'Not just for football fans. This book is filled with human stories and intelligent commentary on the relationship between football, politics and the war.' FOURFOURTWO - 5 FebruaryWHEN SATURDAY COMES - February 03 'compelling, but also disturbing' 'Kuper has delivered a fantasticaddition to the literarture of God's Game' DUBLIN EVENING HERALD 'Kuper's book is a relevation...Moving and enlightening, this is an unexpected triumph.'LEEDS GUIDE 1/03/03 Staffordshire Journal - reviewHAM & HIGH - review 17

The Holocaust, the Second World War, the Jewish community of Amsterdam, all seen through the filter of football. The Dutch club Ajax is the vehicle through which Simon Kuper recounts the stories of both survival and persecution of members of Amsterdam's Jewish population - almost 80 per cent of Amsterdam's Jewish Corner was wiped out in the War, and the long-held notion that, by and large, half the Dutch population had some kind of link to the Resistance has, of late, come into question. Simon Kuper explores this issue and looks deeper into the role of football across Europe in the years both preceding and following World War II.