Christmas For Gooners Sorted! Red Letter Days Book Review

In the past year we’ve been treated to some truly wonderful “Arsenal” books and I have been fortunate enough to review most of them. The Dennis Bergkamp and Herbert Chapman books captured my attention most of them all and now with the book I have just finished reading form a triumvirate of books released in the past year that all Arsenal supporters should read.

There sheer amount of research that had to go into this book was Herculean in effort and worthy of the events that it describes. What sets this book aside is it is perfectly designed to appeal to all manners of readers – from those who prefer a book to casually leaf through, to those who want a book they can pick up and reread time and time again from any chapter and those who wish to read a book from cover to cover.

I read the book from cover to cover but I never felt as though it was essential to my enjoyment of the book. The book took me by the hand from chapter to chapter but always with the feeling I could let go of my literary guide and choose my own path through the book.

The book’s chapters are in chronological order and the author details how his first topic of concern, Henry Norris, is still shrouded in mystery as information on the man painted as an unscrupulous cut-throat businessman is scarce at best.

Norris is often portrayed as a ruthless and avaricious character only interested in football to advance his own interests and who would go to any length to achieve them. It is accepted as fact by many that Norris is a blotch on the otherwise tidy history book of Arsenal Football Club and a man of whom we should avoid conversation.

Spurling casts Norris in an entirely different light. Was he truly the villain he is painted as or was his contribution so great is is worthy of a bronze statue? What the author has discovered may make you think there is a case for the latter. Big decisions had to be made and Norris wasn’t afraid of making them, even to the chagrin of those around the club and football in general but he also had an incredibly generous human side to his ruthless business persona. This chapter will get you hooked and is worth buying the book for alone but lucky us, we get 13 more chapters.

This book has an air of the omniscient around it moving from, to the masses, new information about Norris to the most important signing in Arsenal’s history that you never knew about – Charlie Buchan. Jon Spurling moves seamlessly onto Herbert Chapman, from his most astute signings to the leaps in tactical thinking down to the smallest detail like peripheral vision which is possibly under-appreciated in modern football which has benefited from the work of visionaries like Chapman who sadly passed away in 1934 but not before earmarking a potential signing – Ted Drake.

From all that glitters in the 30s the book moves into times of great austerity after the war where I was surprised to discover where we played some games as war-damaged Highbury was repaired and brow-raising signings. Then onto title winning campaigns, games that made doubles possible that will get your eyebrows twitching.

I could talk you through each chapter in turn but that would be doing the book a disservice. Spurling has poured his life into this book – there is no other way such a gargantuan feat of research could have been undertaken – and mere regurgitation and summation of the brilliant facts and revelatory sentences would be insulting to the author.

This book is a journey through events that shaped Arsenal Football Club as we know it and there is none better than the eloquent and conversant author to take you on it.

Quite simple – this is the perfect stocking filler for any Gooner.

Get 30% off here or here.

Thanks for reading! Please comment on this post, subscribe by email, share with friends and follow me on twitter (@thedanielcowan). Please check out the official NLIR Facebook page http://facebook.com/northlondonisredblog for news, views, freebies and more. 

Don’t forget to tune into the funniest Arsenal podcast around “Goonersphere Podcast“