Tour de force, no less. A very quality narrative of global football, which also provides a vast array of historical, sociological, political and cultural information about societies where soccer is important and where it is not yet. ( )

A monumental history of the beautiful game - and a history of the modern world, too. The amount of research that must have gone into this book is mind-boggling, yet Goldblatt corrals his data and leads the reader towards understanding and knowledge. Well-written and informative, this is a book that belongs on the shelf of anyone with a love of football. ( )

Exhaustive, fascinating and uplifting. Unlike his later book which focuses on finance, here the positive power of football is front and centre. It’s no minor undertaking - it felt like I was back at university wading through some chapters - but then it does cover the role of the world’s favourite sport in pretty much every country on earth. ( )

(Disclaimer: I'm an American, so while the book uses "football" to refer to the sport, I use "soccer.")

Wow. What a tome. So this is a good book. Very much worth reading if you're interested in soccer, but a few things:

Firstly, it's really more of a history of the world as told through the eyes of soccer. Goldblatt goes into depth about the political and economic changes up to and through the 20th century for pretty much every country and region on the planet. You'll learn about South American economic collapse. You'll learn about a seemingly endless stream of African dictators. You'll learn all about the pre-war British relationships with the world. This is good, but it also makes for a very dense read.

Secondly -- and also contributing to the density of the text -- Goldblatt covers so many nation teams, region conferences, national leagues, and individual teams on all continents that you might get a bit overwhelmed if you're not very familiar with the global organization of soccer. There are a mess of soccer teams out there.

When there is a good story to tell, though, Goldblatt tells it well. And this is where the book shines. But there's also plenty of slog to get through when you'll just be trying to keep up with what team or country did what when and for what reason.

What you don't get, here, is much about soccer strategies or much in the way of details of the game itself -- except as it serves telling world history through the eye's of soccer. This isn't really a problem, but it's important to note what this book is an what it isn't.

If you're into soccer, though, this seems like a must-read. ( )

This is the bible of global soccer history as it relates to politics, economics, and society. It is a very detailed account that is not an overnight read. It is thoughtful, well researched, and well written. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to know the history of the game and why it has achieved such a world following. As a football (soccer) fan and avid player, the detailed accounts of some of the famous match games was fascinating as well as some of the uncommon football history from less known parts of the world. GREAT BOOK! ( )