The Ball is Round
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Average rating4.3
The definitive book about soccer, from the author of The Games: A Global History of the Olympics. 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 soccer's rise from chaotic folk ritual to the world's most popular sport-now poised to fully establish itself in the USA. Already celebrated internationally, The Ball Is Round illuminates soccer's role in the political and social histories of modern societies, but never loses sight of the beauty, joy, and excitement of the game itself.
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A truly ambitious work that charts the history of football and its relationship to broader cultural and political developments. I commend Goldblatt for covering the whole globe, and not just the European and South American game. Note: This is not an almanac. The book isn't about recounting lots of games in detail. It is a broader anthropological work about the game, it's spread and development, and how it impacted and was impacted by the societies that played it.
