Bookcase – New non-fiction (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Bookcase – New non-fiction

11:45am Friday 19th June 2009

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Clough’s War by Don Shaw is published in hardback by Ebury Press, priced £16.99.

It is hard to imagine, these days, Derby County winning the league championship before going on to reach the semi-finals of the European Cup. It was hard to imagine in the 1960s, too, until a certain Brian Clough took charge of the then second-tier football club.

This is the story of how he took the Rams to the unlikeliest of heights – only to storm out of the club in a fit of pique following a row with the chairman, Sam Longson.

Old Big ‘Ead’s time at the Baseball Ground has been well-documented already, not least in the controversial novel The Damned Utd and its recent film adaptation.

But while Don Shaw retreads many of the familiar stories of the time, he brings to it a personal acquaintance with Cloughie and an insider’s perspective of the campaign he led to get him reinstated.

A gripping, noir-like account of that ultimately doomed struggle and a fascinating portrait of the greatest manager England never had, warts and all.

9/10

An Edible History Of Humanity by Tom Standage is published in hardback by Atlantic Books, priced £19.99.

Tom Standage’s journey through food and its interconnections with the development of civilisation is peppered with little-known facts about its impact on global history.

Food’s potency in shaping the world is laid out in detail. Not many know that control of food supplies has been a more devastatingly effective weapon of war than the sword, tank or gun.

Population growth in Europe was aided by the potato – a cheap source of sustenance, despite its initial unpopularity. And trade routes opened by the exchange of food, particularly spices, helped spread customs, culture and religions worldwide.

8/10

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