Mark Perryman of Philosophy Football picks out the best of the autumn sports books I’m sorry but you won’t find here the just-in-time-for Christmas sports autobiography blockbusters. With just enough manufactured controversy to ensure blanket coverage when they are launched. Even a skim read will reveal that on the contrary they tell the reader very […]
Autumn books: a breath of fresh air
Oct 8th, 2014 by Mark Perryman.Mark Perryman reviews an exceptionally strong list of autumn political reading This autumn has been dominated already by two lots of morbid symptoms. The unseemly sight of Labour Unionism cosying up to the Tories, Lib-Dems, the financial and media establishment in defence of the ancien regime. Accompanied by UKiP’s spectacular and seemingly irresistible rise, now […]
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Reading Le Tour
Jul 2nd, 2014 by Mark Perryman.Mark Perryman reviews books that can help frame our enjoyment of the Tour de France There seems to be something about cycling that helps inspire fine sportswriting. Perhaps it is the landscapes and countries traversed, the solitude on a bike, the risk factor of a fall or worse, the extraordinary feats of human endurance, and […]
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The World Cup of our dreams
Jun 12th, 2014 by Mark Perryman.To drag ourselves away from the banalities of the Brazil 2014 TV studio punditariat Mark Perryman provides a World Cup reading list. The professionally cautious Roy Hodgson just couldn’t resist it could he? ‘England can win this World Cup’ he declares on the eve of the tournament. Not if Roy consults the match histories elegantly […]
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Books: Our World of Sport
May 26th, 2014 by Mark Perryman.Mark Perryman reviews the perfect reading companions to the sporting summer Summer 2013. The British and Irish Lions win their test series against the Aussies down under. Andy Murray wins Wimbledon. Chris Froome makes it a second Tour de France British Yellow Jersey in a row. Mo Farah does the double in the 5000m and […]
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London remembers Orgreave
May 1st, 2014 by Mark Perryman.Thirty years ago in June the defining moment of the Miners Strike. Mark Perryman explains why London is due to host an anniversary truth and justice benefit concert. Orgreave, Yorkshire, 18 June 1984. The mass picket vs the massed police. Four months into the dispute this in many ways was the Miners Strike’s defining moment. The […]
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Books: spring into action
Apr 20th, 2014 by Mark Perryman.A Hot Summer beckons but perhaps not on the political front? Mark Perryman from finds some books sure to cheer up our inner pessimist. UKIP riding high in the opinion polls, what could be a more dismal sign of the state of opposition outside the Westminster bubble. Whether or not Farage’s party of English poujadists […]
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For those not in favour of Austerity
Mar 18th, 2014 by Mark Perryman.In Budget week Mark Perryman welcomes a new book that demolishes the Austerity myth. When the Con-Dems ushered in the bright shiny new era of coalition politics with a tripling of student tuition fees the wave of anger this provoked seemed to suggest almost anything opposition-wise was possible. Prominent student leader Clare Solomon described the […]
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Forget the whitewash: was the miners’ strike modern politics in action?
Feb 27th, 2014 by Mark Perryman.Philosophy Football have produced a T-shirt to raise funds for the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign. MARK PERRYMAN explains why the miners’ strike still matters 30 years on. Do you remember 1984-85? Digging deep for the miners. Frankie Goes to Hollywood at number one. Everton win the league championship. And a medium-sized T-shirt was ample […]
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New year sports resolutions
Dec 30th, 2013 by Mark Perryman.Mark Perryman from Philosophy Football offers ten resolutions to spice up how we enjoy the sports we love in 2014 Too much Christmas pud, cake and ale over the seasonal break? Feet up in front of the TV for an indecent chunk of the duration? Sport defined as watching it rather than doing it? The […]
