RED OR DEAD

In 1959, Liverpool Football Club was in the Second Division. They had never won the FA Cup. 15 seasons later, the club had won three League titles, two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup. Liverpool Football Club had become the most consistently successful team in England and the most passionately supported. Their manager was revered as a god, destined for immortality. He was Bill Shankly. His job was his life and his life was football. His football was a form of socialism and Shankly inspired people, transformed them, players and supporters, and his legacy would reverberate through the ages. In 1974, Liverpool Football Club and Bill Shankly stood on the verge of even greater success in England and Europe, but that year, Shankly shocked Liverpool and football and resigned. He retired. This heavyweight hardback is the story of the rise and fall of Liverpool Football Club and Bill Shankly, of one man and his work, a man in two halves, Home or Away, Red or Dead. With insight, assessment and analysis, many readers have been critical of the very short sentences and deliberately staccato style of writing - avant-garde, but it can be annoying to some. Clearly the publishers Faber loved it, and the editor kept it for the entire 720 pages because of its content.