Englischer Fussball

Englischer Fussball

A German's View of Our Beautiful Game

Summary

Wembley, 1966. 1-5, Munich, 2001. Mexico '72 and Italy '90.

Bobby Moore and Franz Beckenbauer, Paul Gascoigne and Jürgen Klinsmann.
Forty years of hurt, tabloid rabble-rousing and 'Don't mention the war'.


But what do the Germans really think of us? Do they even care?

In Englischer Fussball, respected journalist Raphael Honigstein gives us a German's-eye view of our national game.

Starting with the origin of the modern game in the late nineteenth century, Honigstein traces the development of English football from its public-school origins to the glory years of Ramsey and beyond. Is English football really about manliness, hard work, fair play and a never-say-die attitude? Why is there so little room in our game for individual brilliance? And just why are we so hung up on beating the Germans?

Provocative, incisive and ever topical, Englischer Fussball is a book that explores the difference between how we see ourselves and how the rest of the world sees us. From hooligans to sex scandals, Wayne Rooney to Stanley Matthews, it asks what football can teach us about the English national character.

'Honigstein offers a perspective on England's football and its culture that is stimulating and rather fascinating' Observer

Reviews

  • Enlightening and entertaining... The holy trinity of football, fashion and music has rarely been written about so well and it takes a writer from the borderland between cultures like Honigstein to open our eyes to it
    Guardian

About the author

Raphael Honigstein

Raphael Honigstein is the UK’s top expert on German football. He is a columnist for the Guardian and ESPN, writes for Süddeutsche Zeitung in Germany and appears as a pundit for BT Sport and ESPN as well as Sky in Germany. He is also a regular fixture on the Guardian’s award-winning podcast, Football Weekly. His first book, Englischer Fussball, was shortlisted for Football Book of the Year and his latest book is Das Reboot: How German Football Reinvented Itself and Conquered the World.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more