You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Loved The Dammed United but found this really disappointing. Unfortunately this didn’t work for me at all.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
On 6 February 1958 the Busby Babes were flying home from a European Cup game against Red Star Belgrade when their flight stopped to refuel at Munich. After two previous attempts to take off from Munich had to be aborted the passengers boarded for one more attempt. Sadly, this time, the plane crashed on take off killing 21 of the people on board instantly, leaving four more fighting for their lives and 6 more critically injured. “Munichs” tells the story of that immediate aftermath, how the Manchester United team fought for survival against the odds and what it meant for football and Britain as a whole.
Firstly, I am a Manchester United fan and from a family of Manchester United fans. My Grandad saw the Busby Babes play back in the day and I have always known the history of the club and the tragedy that occurred that February day in Munich. I went to see David Peace talk about this book at an event for the Manchester Literary Festival and he was very clear that his goal is to get the story of Munich out to the wider public. His use of “Munichs” as a title did draw some concern from the club and he does acknowledge at the back of the book that this was a term that was used as a slur towards fans and players alike but he wants to put that use of the word to bed and states that he would “defy anyone to read this novel and then ever use ‘Munichs’ as an insult again”. Whilst I don’t know if fans of other clubs are going to be likely to pick this book up I would agree that having read it, you’d have to be pretty hard hearted to still be thinking it’s okay to use what happened as an insult against anyone.
It’s not a style of book that I would normally be drawn to if I’m honest but I’m very glad that I read it. Peace is very clear that this is a novel and there are obviously parts of the book that are clearly fictionalised despite the bulk of it being based on true events. This isn’t something I would normally read as I normally like more of a split between fiction and non-fiction but it works really well.
As you would expect, it’s a very emotional story. Peace has done an incredible job of really capturing the whole range of emotions of everyone involved. I don’t think I had ever really considered just how close it was to the end of the Second World War before but reading about Bobby Charlton still being conscripted and how complex it must have been for some of the men stuck in a German hospital at that time.
A lot of what I had read about the tragedy previously had obviously focused on the players and the club so it was interesting to see things from the point of view of the pilot here as well. I was also struck by some of the differences as to how things would be done now compared to then as far as the crash investigation went.
There were several times that I found myself reading through tears in my eyes as Peace’s writing really did get to the heart of the subject.
I would highly recommend this book, not just to United fans or even to football fans but to anyone with even a passing interest in the story of the Munich disaster. There is so much at play here; the behaviour of the FA, the reactions of fans of other clubs as the rest of the season went on and also the press intrusion, even back then.
This, for me, gets all the stars.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I will think about this book everyday for the rest of my life