Reviews

Ajax, the Dutch, the War: Football in Europe During the Second World War by Simon Kuper

alloyd's review

informative slow-paced

4.0

golem's review

5.0

An extremely good microhistory connecting the social history of football, resistance to and collaboration with Nazism in Amsterdam, and the ordinary lives of Dutch Jews before and during WW2. Brilliant.

ahallen's review

3.0

The topic was immensely interesting to me and Kuper has more knowledge about the role of soccer in the historical socio-political landscape than pretty much anyone. Each of the segments included thoroughly researched background, and most of the individual stories evoked an emotional response. But the overall structure was too loose. I understand Kuper's decision to provide context via contrast with other countries, but too many points were repeated in separate chapters and the pinballing around Europe and Israel took focus away from Ajax and the Netherlands.

I liked this book -- inasmuch as one can "like" reading a book that includes descriptions of genocide, violence, hatred, cowardice and life-long emotional distress -- for what it did teach me about the place of soccer in Dutch history. I would have loved the book if it had a more refined narrative thread that made the journey from "Ajax is a 'Jewish' club" to "Ajax's complicated history with Jews, Dutch gentiles, and the people of other Dutch and global cities engages with a broader discussion of the still-evolving self-image of the Dutch people regarding the Holocaust and current social issues" more coherent.