A Footballing History of Brazil

Futebol Nation

Futebol Nation by David Goldblatt - a thriling history of Brazil through its sporting passion 
 
From the genius of Pelé to corruption and civil unrest, no nation has so closely aligned its national identity with playing and watching football as Brazil. 
 
Football is regarded as a thing of joy, its yellow shirts a delightful amalgam of sport and art, entwined with its cultures of music and religion. This is true, but there is another side to the story too. The corruption of Brazil's football authorities is characteristic of its society as a whole; some of its biggest tournaments have recently been played amidst the largest protests Brazil has ever seen. 
 
From the acclaimed author of the classic football history The Ball is Round, this book is the whole story: the players, the fans, the corruption, the passion. It will be enjoyed by readers of I am the Secret Footballer, The Numbers Game, Why England Lose and fans of football around the world. 
 
David Goldblatt was born in London in 1965 and is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspurs and Bristol Rovers. He teaches sociology at Bristol University, reviews sports books for the TLS, and for some years wrote the Sporting Life column in Prospect magazine. 
 
'A tour de force of brilliant writing, historical colour and sporting vignette' Observer on The Ball is Round

A gripping account of how football captured a nation

A breezy, readable and nuanced primer to the centrality of football to Brazilian life

Compelling, lucidly written, and furnished with detail to spare

Futebol Nation isn't really about sport - it's a pimples-and-all portrait of the world's sixth 
largest country and the many ways it has succeeded in shooting itself in both feet

David Goldblatt was born in London in 1965 and is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspurs and Bristol Rovers. He teaches sociology at Bristol University, reviews sports books for the TLS, and for some years wrote the Sporting Life column in Prospect magazine.

No nation has so closely aligned its national identity with playing and watching football as Brazil. 
 
Football is regarded as a thing of joy, its yellow shirts a delightful amalgam of sport and art, entwined with its cultures of music and religion. This is true, but there is another side to the story too. Brazil may now be the sixth largest economy in the world but the corruption of its football authorities is characteristic of its society as a whole. 
 
To write the history of Brazilian football is to write the history of Brazil itself. This is the whole story - the players, the fans, the politicians, the passion - from the arrival of football in the country in 1894 just after the last Emperor had been deposed to the social unrest and riots at the Confederations Cup in 2013.

A Global History of Football

The Ball is Round

'Just possibly the most erudite football book ever, yet also a very good read. Goldblatt doesn't just understand the social context of the game around the world; he also has a nose for the best stories. This book is a mindboggling achievement' Simon Kuper, author of Football Against the Enemy

THE DEFINITIVE, CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BOOK ABOUT FOOTBALL 
 
 'Football conquered the world with its capacity to astonish, and this is its definitive history' The Independent 
 
There may be no cultural practice more global than soccer. Rites of birth and marriage are infinitely diverse, but the rules of soccer are universal. No world religion can match its geographical scope. The single greatest simultaneous human collective experience is the World Cup final. 
 
 In this extraordinary tour de force, David Goldblatt tells the full story of football's rise from chaotic folk ritual to the world's most popular sport. 
 
The Ball Is Round illuminates football's role in the political and social histories of modern societies, but never loses sight of the beauty, joy, and excitement of the game. 
___________________________________ 
 
'Goldblatt writes with authority, humour, and passion, not least in the accounts of famous or significant matches scattered throughout the book' Times Literary Supplement 
 
'Since it became a worldwide phenomenon, nobody has attempted to write an overall history of the game. Now David Goldblatt's stunning book will be the measure against which all other such volumes are judged' The Guardian 
 
 'Goldblatt's magnum opus . . . Anyone with a brain and an interest in football will enjoy this book' The Daily Telegraph (London)

David Goldblatt was born in 1965 and inherited, for his sins, Tottenham Hotspurs from his father. His books include Social Theory and the Environment, Global Transformations and the World Football Yearbook. He currently lives in Bristol, the Bermuda triangle of football prowess, where he spreads his affections amongst Spurs, Bristol Rovers and Bristol City.

David Goldblatt

Brilliantly incisive. Goldblatt is not merely the best football historian writing today, he is possibly the best there has ever been. Goldblatt's book could hardly be more impressive

Offers an enlightening, enriching experience. It is based on a formidable range of sources, personal observation and a pleasingly sardonic turn of phrase. Not all football writers know their stuff, let alone the socio-economic context, but Goldblatt does. Altogether this is an exceptional book

Not just the best soccer book in many years but an exemplary account of the changing character of British society in the post-Thatcher era

David Goldblatt examines [English football] peerlessly ... A superb history of a sport and of a nation

Goldblatt is a trusted guide ... Rich with statistics, this is an admirably balanced account of the beautiful game

Prodigious research and a fluent writing style ... this is a fine book which should have an appeal much beyond the game

An encyclopaedic portrait of English football stripped of all the non-stop hype. The beautiful game is, after all, a dirty business

An intensely readable socioeconomic study of English football in the age of globalisation

A book that informs and inspires, a truly great piece of writing

The best pub talker of a book for years

Goldblatt has a gift for exploring the way the game holds a mirror up to our lives ... His deconstruction of the modern game could hardly be bettered

[A] bold analysis of Britain's economic and social change refracted through football

A salient overview of the past quarter-century

The Meaning and Making of English Football

In the last two decades football in Britain has made the transition from a peripheral dying sport to the very centre of our popular culture, from an economic basket-case to a booming entertainment industry. What does it mean when football becomes so central to our private and political lives? Has it enriched us or impoverished us? 
 
In this sparkling book David Goldblatt argues that no social phenomenon tracks the momentous economic, social and political changes of the post-Thatcherite era in a more illuminating manner than football, and no cultural practice sheds more light on the aspirations and attitudes of our long boom and subsequent bust.

David Goldblatt

Praise for The Game of Our Lives

Brilliantly incisive. Goldblatt is not merely the best football historian writing today, he is possibly the best there has ever been. Goldblatt's book could hardly be more impressive

Offers an enlightening, enriching experience. It is based on a formidable range of sources, personal observation and a pleasingly sardonic turn of phrase. Not all football writers know their stuff, let alone ...

Not just the best soccer book in many years but an exemplary account of the changing character of British society in the post-Thatcher era

Brilliantly incisive. Goldblatt is not merely the best football historian writing today, he is possibly the best there has ever been. Goldblatt's book could hardly be more impressive

Offers an enlightening, enriching experience. It is based on a formidable range of sources, personal observation and a pleasingly sardonic turn of phrase. Not all football writers know their stuff, let alone ...

Not just the best soccer book in many years but an exemplary account of the changing character of British society in the post-Thatcher era

Brilliantly incisive. Goldblatt is not merely the best football historian writing today, he is possibly the best there has ever been. Goldblatt's book could hardly be more impressive

Offers an enlightening, enriching experience. It is based on a formidable range of sources, personal observation and a pleasingly sardonic turn of phrase. Not all football writers know their stuff, let alone ...

Not just the best soccer book in many years but an exemplary account of the changing character of British society in the post-Thatcher era

Books by David Goldblatt

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