The author Simon Kuper says at the beginning that he almost felt obligated to write the book because he had such good access at FC Barcelona. He was also a lifelong fan and over a period of time, the club had started to treat him as one of their own. Great access means that Kuper is working with excellent information.

The access shows throughout the book and is one of its biggest strengths. The book has 4 main protagonists - Messi, Guardiola, Cryuff and the football club. I have readers a lot about all of them and yet Kuper’s book offers new insightful and perspectives about them.

This book starts with Barca’s ascendancy upon Cryuff’s arrival and ends with the club hitting new lows amidst Messi’s departure. Kuper writes about that and everything that happened in between.

Kuper is a passionate football fan and an excellent writer. He’s a journalist with a bagful of stories. He has great material thanks to his access. He puts all of this together to produce a wonderful book.

@newhavmn2