| Celtic Multimedia | Media | Players & Managers Biogs | If You Know The History |
Details
Title: Celtic: Pride and Passion
Author: Pat Woods& Jim Craig
Published: 10 Oct 2013
Synopsis
Celtic Football Club’s story is laced with drama and excitement, featuring a host of colourful individuals and a social history matched by few, if any, football clubs.
In Celtic: Pride and Passion, Lisbon Lion Jim Craig and Pat Woods, a historian of the club, take a fresh look at several lesser-known episodes in Celtic’s history, including: the fascinating link between Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and a dramatic Ne’erday match at Celtic Park; the unforgettable night the ‘playboy of the Eastern world’ lit up Parkhead with a performance that helped to sow the seeds for a revolution at the club; the remarkable story of a trophy that was such a source of friction that the club kept it locked in a safe; the pivotal year in which the rivalry between Celtic and Rangers took on a darker hue, and why; and the revealing story, told through the eyes of the European press, of how Celtic captivated a continent in the annus mirabilis of 1967.
Celtic: Pride and Passion is a book that no discerning fan of Celtic Football Club will want to be without.
Review
(review by joebloggscity)
Two great Celtic stalwarts collaborating to write a book on the club is a wonderful gift. Lisbon Lion Jim Craig was the author of the wonderful A Lion’s Look Back, and Pat Woods is best known for the seminal Dreams and Songs To Sing.
In this case the two are taking a detour, concentrating on episodes thru the history of the club rather than a thorough chronological sweep of the club’s history. By doing this, they are instead highlighting events with an emphasis on anecdotes and emotions above the history, rather than it being the other way around as is the norm.
The book begins with a more humorous reflection: drunkenness, football and a travelling Wild West performer. It’s a good light hearted start, but the authors interchange between each other to write on episodes and events that will bring out a wide variety of feelings. The chapters on the premature deaths of players in the 20s is heart breaking, whilst the chapter on the escape from relegation on season 1947-48 is exciting even though we know the final result. The final chapter assesses the changing face of the Celtic side from local lads to an international select, and it’s quite thought provoking.
Not afraid to write on the difficult matches either, for example the chapters on the debacles in the 90s and 2000s (e.g. losing league on last day in 2005) may make you want to bury your head or atrush least just through that chapter fast. The chapter on losing the European Cup in 1970 is also painful to read (and I wasn’t even born then!). Don’t worry though there is a great chapter on Hearts fans as they lost the league to Celtic in 1986, written by Jim Craig who was there at Dens Park to see it.
That is probably the gem of this book. It is about bringing out a wide array of emotions that we have experienced as supporters with Celtic over the years. We are seeing some slices of the Celtic history in this book analysed and refreshed for our benefit to remind us of what it was like. This isn’t a dry historical tome like admittedly some of Pat Woods masterly previous work, and instead is an emotional roller coaster.
However, there isn’t necessarily hugely much new here. Granted some chapters take an original slant, for example the chapter on Lisbon is really from an Inter perspective but much of it will be already well known by general Celtic supporters. In fairness to the authors, there is just so much you can write anew on our already heavily documented history, but the authors do make a good stab at it and mostly succeed.
It’s a very good book, and many will enjoy the good writing that ensures that most will find it readable as well as accessible; despite the jump in periods between chapters it all still flows.
It’s not up there with the authors’ previous best, but that is a benchmark few if any other books can achieve. I’d still recommend it, and all will find a lot to enjoy within it.
Product Details
- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Mainstream Publishing (10 Oct 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1780576382
- ISBN-13: 978-1780576381
- Product Dimensions: 22.2 x 14.3 x 2.7 cm
Links
- […]