Kirjahaku

With rare and unrivaled access, bestselling coauthor of Soccernomics and longtime Financial Times journalist Simon Kuper tells the story of how FC Barcelona became the most successful club in the world--and how that era is now ending FC Barcelona is not just the world's highest grossing sports club, it is simply one of the most influential organizations on the planet. At last count, it had approximately 214 million social media followers, more than any other sports club except Real Madrid CF--and by one earlier measure, more than all thirty-two NFL teams combined. It has more in common with multinational megacompanies like Netflix or small nation-states than it does with most soccer teams. No wonder its motto is "More than a club." But it was not always so. In the past three decades, Barcelona went from a regional team to a global powerhouse, becoming a model of sustained excellence and beautiful soccer, and a consistent winner of championships. Simon Kuper unravels exactly how this transformation took place, paying special attention to the club's two biggest stars, Johan Cruyff and Lionel Messi, who is arguably the greatest soccer player of all time. Messi joined Bar a at age thirteen and, more than anyone, has been the engine and standard-bearer of Barcelona's glory. But his era is coming to an end--and with it, a once-in-a-lifetime golden run. This book charts Bar a's rise and fall. Like many world-beating organizations, FC Barcelona closely guards its secrets, granting few outsiders access to the Camp Nou, its legendary home stadium. But after decades of writing about the sport and the club, Kuper was given access to the inner sanctum and the people behind the scenes who strive daily to keep Barcelona at the top. Erudite, personal, and capturing all the latest upheavals, his portrait of this incredible institution goes beyond soccer to understand FC Barcelona as a unique social, cultural, and political phenomenon.

The classic winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. 'If you like football, read it. If you don't like football, read it' THE TIMES

'GREAT' Independent'TERRIFIC' Guardian'WONDERFUL' Time Out'QUALITY' Mail on Sunday'DEFINITIVE' FourFourTwoWinner of the William Hill Sports Book AwardFeatured in FourFourTwo's list of 'The 10 Best Football Books Ever'Featured in Esquire's 'Best Sports Books Ever Written'Throughout the world, football is a potent force in the lives of billions of people. Whether national, political or cultural identities, football is the medium through which the world's hopes and fears, passions and hatreds are expressed. Simon Kuper travelled to twenty-two countries from South Africa and Italy to Russia and the USA to examine the way football has shaped them. At the same time, he tried to find out what lies behind each nation's distinctive style of play, from the carefree self-expression of the Brazilians to the anxious calculation of the Italians. During his journeys he met an extraordinary range of players, politicians and - of course - the fans themselves, all of whom revealed in their different ways the unique place football has in the life of the planet.

The Holocaust, Dutch football and World War II - from the bestselling author of the award-winning FOOTBALL AGAINST THE ENEMY. Updated with a new afterword. 'Passionate and moving' GUARDIAN

An entertaining and openhearted tale of a na f eventually getting to understand a complex, glittering, beautiful and often cruel society - at least a little. When Simon Kuper left London for Paris in his early thirties, he wasn't planning to make a permanent move. Paris, however, had other plans. Kuper has grown middle-aged there, eaten the croissants, seen his American wife through life-threatening cancer, taken his children to countless football matches on freezing Saturday mornings in the city's notorious banlieues, and in 2015 lived through two terrorist attacks on their neighborhood. Over two decades of becoming something of a cantankerous Parisian himself, Kuper has watched the city change. This century, it has globalized, gentrified, and been shocked into realizing its role as the crucible of civilizational conflict. Sometimes it's a multicultural paradise, and sometimes it isn't. This decade, Parisians have lived through a sequence of shocks: terrorist attacks, record floods and heatwaves, the burning of Notre Dame, the storming of the city by gilets jaunes, and then the pandemic. Now, as the Olympics come to town, France is busy executing the "Grand Paris" project: the most serious attempt yet to knit together the bejewelled city with its neglected suburbs. This is a captivating memoir of the Paris of today, without the Parisian clich s.

Soccer is much more than just the most popular game in the world. It is a matter of life and death for millions around the world, an international lingua franca. Simon Kuper traveled to twenty-two countries to discover the sometimes bizarre effect soccer can have on politics and culture. At the same time he tried to discover what makes different countries play a simple game so differently. Kuper meets a remarkable variety of fans along the way, from the East Berliner persecuted by the Stasi for supporting his local team, to the Argentine general with his own views on tactics. He also illuminates the frightening intersection between soccer and politics, particularly in the wake of the attacks of 9-11, where soccer is obsessed over by the likes of Osama bin Laden. The result is one of the world's most acclaimed books on the game, and an astonishing study of soccer and its place in the world.

When most people think about the Netherlands, images of tulips and peaceful pot smoking residents spring to mind. Bring up soccer, and most will think of Johan Cruyuff, the Dutch player thought to rival Pele in preternatural skill, and Ajax, one of the most influential soccer clubs in the world whose academy system for young athletes has been replicated around the globe (and most notably by Barcelona and the 2010 world champions, Spain).But as international bestselling author Simon Kuper writes in Ajax, The Dutch, The War: Soccer in Europe During the Second World War , the story of soccer in Holland cannot be understood without investigating what really occurred in this country during WWII. For decades, the Dutch have enjoyed the reputation of having a good war." The myth is even resonant in Israel where Ajax is celebrated. The fact is, the Jews suffered shocking persecution at the hands of Dutch collabourators. Holland had the second largest Nazi movement in Europe outside Germany, and in no other country except Poland was so high a percentage of Jews deported.Kuper challenges Holland's historical amnesia and uses soccer,particularly the experience of Ajax, a club long supported by Amsterdam's Jews,as a window on wartime Holland and Europe. Through interviews with Resistance fighters, survivors, wartime soccer players and more, Kuper uncovers this history that has been ignored, and also finds out why the Holocaust had a profound effect on soccer in the country.Ajax produced Cruyuff but was also built by members of the Dutch resistance and Holocaust survivors. It became a surrogate family for many who survived the war and its method for producing unparalleled talent became the envy of clubs around the world. In this passionate, haunting and moving work of forensic reporting, Kuper tells the breathtaking story of how Dutch Jews survived the unspeakable and came to play a strong role in the rise of the most exciting and revolutionary style of soccer , Total Football" , the world had ever seen.

Barça is not just the world's most popular sports club, it is simply one of the most influential organisations on the planet. With almost 250 million followers on social media and 4 million visitors to its Camp Nou stadium each year, there's little wonder its motto is 'More than a club'. But it was not always so. In the past three decades, Barcelona has transformed from regional team to global powerhouse, becoming a model of sporting excellence and a consistent winner of silverware.Simon Kuper unravels exactly how these transformations took place. He outlines the organisational structure behind the club's business decisions, and details the work of its coaches, medics, data analysts and nutritionists who have revolutionised the sporting world. And, of course, he studies the towering influence of the club's two greatest legends, Johan Cruyff and Lionel Messi.Like many leading global businesses, FC Barcelona closely guards its secrets, granting few outsiders a view behind the scenes. But, after decades of writing about the sport and the club, Kuper was given unprecedented access to the inner sanctum and to the people who strive daily to keep Barcelona at the top. Erudite, personal, and capturing all the latest successes and upheavals, his portrait of this incredible institution goes beyond football to understand Barça as a unique social, cultural, and political phenomenon."I began my research thinking I was going to be explaining Barca's rise to greatness, and I have, but I've also ended up charting the decline and fall."

'A deeply human read, wonderfully written, on the foibles of a fascinating, flawed, treacherous and sort of likeable character.' Philippe Sands Those people who were betrayed were not innocent people. They were no better nor worse than I am. It's all part of the intelligence world. If the man who turned me in came to my house today, I'd invite him to sit down and have a cup of tea. George Blake was the last remaining Cold War spy. As a Senior Officer in the British Intelligence Service who was double agent for the Soviet Union, his actions had devastating consequences for Britain. Yet he was also one of the least known double agents, and remained unrepentant. In 1961, Blake was sentenced to forty-two years imprisonment for betraying to the KGB all of the Western operations in which he was involved, and the names of hundreds of British agents working behind the Iron Curtain. This was the longest sentence for espionage ever to have been handed down by a British court. On the surface, Blake was a charming, intelligent and engaging man, and most importantly, a seemingly committed patriot. Underneath, a ruthlessly efficient mole and key player in the infamous 'Berlin Tunnel' operation. This illuminating biography tracks Blake from humble beginnings as a teenage courier for the Dutch underground during the Second World War, to the sensational prison-break from Wormwood Scrubs that inspired Hitchcock to write screenplay. Through a combination of personal interviews, research and unique access to Stasi records, journalist Simon Kuper unravels who Blake truly was, what he was capable of, and why he did it.

Now with a new chapter on the end of the chumocracy era - and Oxford's upcoming elite for 2050. THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2022 A TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT BEST BOOK OF 2023 Power. Privilege. Parties. It's a very small world at the top. 'Brilliant ... traces Brexit back to the debating chambers of the Oxford Union in the 1980s' James O'Brien 'A searing onslaught on the smirking Oxford insinuation that politics is all just a game. It isn't. It matters' Matthew Parris 'A sparkling firework of a book' Lynn Barber, Spectator 'Exquisite and depressing in equal measure' Matthew Syed, Sunday Times Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, David Cameron, George Osborne, Theresa May, Dominic Cummings, Daniel Hannan, Jacob Rees-Mogg: Whitehall is swarming with old Oxonians. They debated each other in tutorials, ran against each other in student elections, and attended the same balls and black tie dinners. They aren't just colleagues - they are peers, rivals, friends. And, when they walked out of the world of student debates onto the national stage, they brought their university politics with them. Thirteen of the seventeen postwar British prime ministers went to Oxford University. In Chums, Simon Kuper traces how the rarefied and privileged atmosphere of this narrowest of talent pools - and the friendships and worldviews it created - shaped modern Britain. A damning look at the university clique-turned-Commons majority that will blow the doors of Westminster wide open and change the way you look at our democracy forever.

A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 A Waterstones Best History Book of 2024 Pick 'Kuper is a shrewd observer [in] this entertaining mix of memoir and anthropology' The Sunday Times From the bestselling author of Chums comes an explorer's tale of a naïf getting to understand a complex, glittering, beautiful and often cruel city. Simon Kuper has experienced Paris both as a human being and as a journalist. He has grown middle-aged there, eaten the croissants, taken his children to countless football matches on freezing Saturday mornings in the city's notorious banlieues, and in 2015 lived through two terrorist attacks on his family's neighbourhood. Over two decades of becoming something of a cantankerous Parisian himself, Kuper has watched the city change. This century, Paris has globalised, gentrified, and been shocked into realising its role as the crucible of civilisational conflict. Sometimes it's a multicultural paradise, and sometimes it isn't. This decade, Parisians have lived through a sequence of shocks: terrorist attacks, record floods and heatwaves, the burning of Notre Dame, the storming of the city by gilets jaunes, and the pandemic. Now, as the Olympics come to town, France is busy executing the 'Grand Paris' project: the most serious attempt yet to knit together the bejewelled city with its neglected suburbs. This is a captivating memoir of today's Paris without the clichés.

A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 'At a time when democracy feels threatened, Simon Kuper is fighting hard for a better vision of politics - he is brutally honest about our problems but never loses hope that we can build a better democracy' Rory Stewart 'An intelligible, compelling and enraging narrative ... how the Good Chaps get away with it' New Statesman The 'Good Chaps' theory holds that those who rise to power in the UK can be trusted to follow the rules and do the right thing. They're good chaps, after all. Yet Britain appears to have been taken over by bad chaps, and politics is awash with financial scandals, donors who have practically bought shares in political parties, and a shameless contempt for the rules. Simon Kuper, author of the Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller Chums, exposes how corruption took control of public life, and asks: how can we get politicians to behave like good chaps again?

The football World Cup is the biggest sporting competition on Earth - a chance every four years for the greatest players to win international glory, and a month-long media spectacle that's watched by an audience of billions. But the tournament has changed beyond recognition since the inaugural event in Montevideo, Uruguay, in July 1930. What was once a semi-professional meeting beset by haphazard play has evolved to become a game of multinational buyouts, dubious ethics and questionable aims - and the new era of football has much to tell us about the globalised world. Simon Kuper is among the vanishingly small number of writers who have attended every World Cup since 1990. World Cup Fever is his journey to find the heart of football, through the nine tournaments he's experienced first-hand - from watching matches in half-empty stands during Italia 90, a tournament that at times felt like a village fete, to witnessing the French triumph at home in 1998, South Africa's national dream in 2010 and the troubling legacy of Qatar 2022. Told on the pitch and in the stands, and in the pubs, front rooms and on the streets, this is the story of how football has changed the world.

The football World Cup is the biggest sporting competition on Earth - a chance every four years for the greatest players to win international glory, and a month-long media spectacle that's watched by an audience of billions. But the tournament has changed beyond recognition since the inaugural event in Montevideo, Uruguay, in July 1930. What was once a semi-professional meeting beset by haphazard play has evolved to become a game of multinational buyouts, dubious ethics and questionable aims - and the new era of football has much to tell us about the globalised world. Simon Kuper is among the vanishingly small number of writers who have attended every World Cup since 1990. The World at My Feet is his journey to find the heart of football, through the nine tournaments he's experienced first-hand - from watching matches in half-empty stands during Italia 90, a tournament that at times felt like a village fete, to witnessing the French triumph at home in 1998, South Africa's national dream in 2010 and the troubling legacy of Qatar 2022. Told on the pitch and in the stands, and in the pubs, front rooms and on the streets, this is the story of how football has changed the world.

Starshij ofitser britanskoj razvedki Dzhordzh Blejk rabotal na Sovetskij Sojuz. V 1961 godu ego prigovorili k 42 godam tjuremnogo zakljuchenija za to, chto on peredal KGB dannye po vsem zapadnym operatsijam, v kotorykh uchastvoval, i imena soten britanskikh agentov, rabotavshikh za "zheleznym zanavesom". Eto byl samyj dlitelnyj srok za shpionazh, kogda-libo naznachennyj britanskim sudom.Na osnovanii lichnykh intervju s Blejkom, sobstvennykh issledovanij i materialov Shtazi zhurnalist i pisatel Sajmon Kuper proslezhivaet put svoego geroja ot skromnogo podrostka, kurera niderlandskogo podpolja, vo vremja Vtoroj mirovoj vojny do zakljuchennogo, sovershivshego sensatsionnyj pobeg iz tjurmy Uormvud-Skrabs i okonchivshego svoi dni na podmoskovnoj dache v vozraste 98 let.V 2012 godu zhurnalist Sajmon Kuper nakonets poluchil vozmozhnost vzjat intervju u poslednego dozhivshego do nashikh dnej dvojnogo agenta vremen kholodnoj vojny. Eta beseda proizvela na Kupera neizgladimoe vpechatlenie. Kuper popytalsja sovmestit obraz ni o chem ne sozhalejuschego umirotvorennogo startsa i khladnokrovnogo predatelja, po vine kotorogo byli rassekrecheny i kazneny desjatki britanskikh tajnykh agentov. Rezultatom ego razmyshlenij i dalnejshej raboty s arkhivami, dnevnikami i vospominanijami sovremennikov stala eta kniga. Kuper stremitsja otvetit na vazhnye voprosy: kakoe vlijanie Blejk okazal na istoriju? Chto izmenil ego vklad v kholodnuju vojnu? Sozhaleet li on o proshlom? Avtor sozdaet jarkij i chestnyj portret cheloveka, kharakter kotorogo do sikh por ne poddavalsja ponimaniju. Blejk dozhil do krakha ideologii, radi kotoroj riskoval zhiznju, i tak i ne smog priznat, chto vse ego zhertvy i sdelki s sovestju byli naprasny. Eto neobychnyj i ubeditelnyj novyj vzgljad na odnogo iz samykh izvestnykh predatelej vremen kholodnoj vojny, pokazyvajuschij, kak za mnogochislennymi zhertvami mozhet stojat ne psikhopat, a vpolne obajatelnyj chelovek s chetkim moralnym kodeksom.Perevodchik: Zhernovskaja Polina

Kåra til FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 av Sports Book Awards i samarbeid med den engelske fotballskribentforeninga (FWA). Financial Times-journalisten Simon Kuper har hatt enestående tilgang til FC Barcelona de siste 30 åra, en periode klubben har gått fra å være et provinsielt anliggende til å bli en global supermakt. Historien starter med Kupers barndomshelt, mannen som ikke bare skapte det moderne Barça, men også den moderne fotballen i seg selv: Johan Cruijff. Den ender med mannen som på godt og vondt overtok den dominerende rollen hans i klubben, tidenes beste fotballspiller: Lionel Messi. I tillegg til en innføring i den revolusjonerende fotballfilosofien og en forklaring på den eventyrlige sportslige suksessen får vi innsikt i den unike, katalanske maktpolitikken som legger premissene, lokalbefolkningens forhold til klubben og jobben som gjøres bak kulissene av de ansatte. Forfatteren av bestselgeren Soccernomics og klassikeren Football Against the Enemy leverer her et helhetlig portrett av verdens største fotballklubb, en inngående redegjørelse for dens vei til toppen og en innsiktsfull forklaring på fallet som nå truer.

Financial Times-journalisten Simon Kuper har hatt enestående tilgang til FC Barcelona de siste 30 åra, en periode klubben har gått fra å være et provinsielt anliggende til å bli en global supermakt. Historien starter med Kupers barndomshelt, mannen som ikke bare skapte det moderne Barça, men også den moderne fotballen i seg selv: Johan Cruijff. Den ender med mannen som på godt og vondt overtok den dominerende rollen hans i klubben, tidenes beste fotballspiller: Lionel Messi. I tillegg til en innføring i den revolusjonerende fotball.loso.en og en forklaring på den eventyrlige sportslige suksessen får vi innsikt i den unike, katalanske maktpolitikken som legger premissene, lokalbefolkningens forhold til klubben og jobben som gjøres bak kulissene av de ansatte. Forfatteren av bestselgeren Soccernomics og klassikeren Football Against the Enemy leverer et helhetlig portrett av verdens største fotballklubb, en inngående redegjørelse for dens vei til toppen og en innsiktsfull forklaring på fallet som nå truer. Kåra til FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 av Sports Book Awards i samarbeid med den engelske fotballskribentforeninga (FWA).

Con un acceso excepcional e inigualable, el coautor de Soccernomics y periodista del Financial Times, Simon Kuper cuenta la historia de c mo el FC Barcelona se convirti en el club m s exitoso del mundo, y c mo esa era est finalizando. Del exitoso coautor de Soccernomics llega la historia de c mo el FC Barcelona se convirti en el club de f tbol m s exitoso del mundo, y c mo esa posici n envidiada ahora est en juego. El Bar a no es solo el club deportivo m s popular del mundo, es simplemente una de las organizaciones m s influyentes del planeta. Con casi 250 millones de seguidores en las redes sociales y 4 millones de visitantes en su estadio Camp Nou cada a o, no es de extra ar que su lema sea 'M s que un club'. Pero no siempre fue as . En las ltimas tres d cadas, el Barcelona pas de un equipo regional a una potencia mundial, convirti ndose en un modelo de excelencia deportiva y un constante ganador de t tulos nacionales e internacionales. Simon Kuper desentra a exactamente c mo se produjeron estas transformaciones. Describe la estructura organizativa detr s de las decisiones comerciales del club y detalla el trabajo de sus entrenadores, m dicos, analistas de datos y nutricionistas que han revolucionado el mundo del deporte. Y, por supuesto, estudia la imponente influencia de las dos grandes leyendas del club, Johan Cruyff y Lionel Messi. Al igual que muchas empresas l deres a nivel mundial, el FC Barcelona guarda de cerca sus secretos, permitiendo que pocos sean los elegidos que puedan mirar entre bastidores. Pero, despu s de d cadas de escribir sobre el club, Kuper recibi un acceso sin precedentes al santuario interior y a las personas que se esfuerzan a diario por mantener al Barcelona en la cima. Erudito, personal y plasmando los ltimos xitos y convulsiones, su retrato de esta incre ble instituci n va m s all del f tbol para entender al Bar a como un fen meno social, cultural y pol tico nico. "Comenc mi investigaci n pensando que iba a explicar el ascenso del Bar a a la grandeza, pero tambi n termin detallando el declive y la ca da". ENGLISH DESCRIPTION: With rare and unrivaled access, bestselling coauthor of Soccernomics and longtime Financial Times journalist Simon Kuper tells the story of how FC Barcelona became the most successful club in the world--and how that era is now ending. FC Barcelona is not just the world's highest grossing sports club, it is simply one of the most influential organizations on the planet. At last count, it had approximately 214 million social media followers, more than any other sports club except Real Madrid CF--and by one earlier measure, more than all thirty-two NFL teams combined. It has more in common with multinational megacompanies like Netflix or small nation-states than it does with most soccer teams. No wonder its motto is "More than a club." But it was not always so. In the past three decades, Barcelona went from a regional team to a global powerhouse, becoming a model of sustained excellence and beautiful soccer, and a consistent winner of championships. Simon Kuper unravels exactly how this transformation took place, paying special attention to the club's two biggest stars, Johan Cruyff and Lionel Messi, who is arguably the greatest soccer player of all time. Messi joined Bar a at age thirteen and, more than anyone, has been the engine and standard-bearer of Barcelona's glory. But his era is coming to an end--and with it, a once-in-a-lifetime golden run. This book charts Bar a's rise and fall. Like many world-beating organizations, FC Barcelona closely guards its secrets, granting few outsiders access to the Camp Nou, its legendary home stadium. But after decades of writing about the sport and the club, Kuper was given access to the inner sanctum and the people behind the scenes who strive daily to keep Barcelona at the top. Erudite, personal, and capturing all the latest upheavals, his portrait of this incredible institution goes beyond soccer to understand FC Barcelona as a unique social, cultural, and political phenomenon.

Financial Timesin pitkäaikainen toimittaja Simon Kuper kertoo, kuinka FCBarcelonasta tuli maailman menestynein jalkapalloseura - ja kuinka tuo aikakausi on nyt päättymässä.FC Barcelona ei ole vain maailman eniten rahaa tuottanut urheiluseura,se on yksinkertaisesti myös yksi vaikutusvaltaisimmista organisaatioista maapallolla. Sillä on lähes 215 miljoonaa seuraajaa sosiaalisessa mediassa - enemmän kuin millään muulla urheiluseuralla, RealMadridia lukuun ottamatta.Sillä on enemmän yhteistä monikansallisten megayhtiöiden - kuten Netflixin - tai pienten kansallisvaltioiden kanssa kuin useimpien jalkapallojoukkueiden kanssa. Barcelonan muutos alueellisesta joukkueesta globaaliksi voimanpesäksi ei tapahtunut hetkessä, vaan se on vienyt kolme vuosikymmentä. Kuper selvittää, miten kaikki tämä tapahtui. Kuinka seurasta tuli kestävän huippuosaamisen suunnannäyttäjä jamestaruuksien toistuva voittaja. Hän kiinnittää erityistä huomiota klubin kahteen suurimpaan tähteen, Johan Cruyffiin ja Lionel Messiin.Messi liittyi Barçaan 13-vuotiaana ja on enemmän kuin kukaan muu ollut Barcelonan kunnian kantaja ja ylläpitäjä. Mutta hänen aikakautensa saattaa olla loppumassa - ja sen myötä ainutlaatuinen