Product Description

One of the greatest of all sports books, now reissued with a new introduction. C L R James, one of the foremost thinkers of the twentieth century, was devoted to the game of cricket. In this classic summation of half a lifetime spent playing, watching and writing about the sport, he recounts the story of his overriding passion and tells us of the players whom he knew and loved, exploring the game's psychology and aesthetics, and the issues of class, race and politics that surround it. Part memoir of a West Indian boyhood, part passionate celebration and defence of cricket as an art form, part indictment of colonialism, Beyond a Boundary addresses not just a sport but a whole culture and asks the question, 'What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?'

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22076 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Review
"'Great claims have been made for [Beyond a Boundary] since its first appearance in 1963: that it is the greatest sports book ever written; that it brings the outsider a privileged insight into West Indian culture; that it is a severe examination of the colonial condition. All are true.' Sunday Times 'To say "the best cricket book ever written" is piffingly inadequate praise. A mental landscape triangulated by literature, socialism and cricket represents an ideal we should all aspire to, and this ennobling and beautifully written book should be read by anyone with the slightest interest in any one of the above.' Guardian"

From the Publisher
One of the greatest of all sports books, now reissued with a new introduction.

About the Author
C L R James, historian, novelist, cultural critic and political activist, was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1901. In 1932 he joined his friend Learie Constantine in Britain, where he became cricket correspondent of the Manchester Guardian. A central figure in the Pan-African movement and the struggle for colonial emancipation, he returned to Trinidad in 1958 in its run-up to independence. He later went back to London, where he died in 1989.

Customer Reviews

Lives up to its reputation
Beyond a Boundary reached number 3 in the Observer Sport Monthly’s poll of the best fifty sports books of all time. It is burdened with enormous praise; amongst the quotes included on the cover are: ‘To say “the best cricket book ever written” is pifflingly inadequate praise’ and ‘Great claims have been made for [Beyond a Boundary] since its first appearance in 1963: that it is the greatest sports book ever written; that it brings the outsider a privileged insight into West Indian culture; that it is a severe examination of the colonial condition. All are true.’

The praise is justified. The only way that this is not the best cricket book ever written is if you do not consider it as a cricket book. It is beautifully crafted, transcending the genre: an engaging combination of cricket book, personal memoir and political and cultural commentary. There are other very good books about cricket but this is something more than that. It is a cricket book, a history book, a sociology book and more.

CLR James is a fascinating man: widely travelled, spending long periods in England and the USA as well as Trinidad, an important writer and journalist, a politically active Marxist, instrumental in getting Frank Worrell appointed captain of the West Indies team. The book covers a wide range of subjects including his childhood in Trinidad; great cricketers he has known and watched; Caribbean politics amongst others. For cricket lovers one of the beautiful things about the book is that James loves cricket, he appreciates it as an art form. He possesses the clarity of thought and the prose to convey this love and appreciation to the reader.

In places the book shows its age (it was written in 1963); it is very much of its time: a product of the anti-colonial struggle, and the emergence of West Indies cricket as a serious challenge to the domination of England and Australia. In some places events have overtaken some of his observations and some of the language jars. It is still a fantastic book – amazingly insightful and interesting.

This is a book that no genuine cricket lover should be without.

Beyond comparison - an extraordinary book
This beautiful, rich, complex and deeply satisfying book still haunts me nearly a year after reading it for the first time. James takes you through his life, the history of West Indian society and the role of cricket in both with a vigour and erudition that lifts the book from the mere 'sports' category.

Cricket, and the power it can have over an individual and a people, is central to his story. The development of cricket, people and politics in the West Indies was intertwined for most of the 20th century. And James does us all an immense favour by untangling these strands carefully, deliberately and intelligently and then for good measure shines a light on England and its' own cricketing heritage. It is a wonderful read.

Read this book if you love cricket, if you're fascinated by political history, if you love writing that is so good it leaves you breathless. Whatever your reason, just read it; and then spread the word.

beyond classification
Beyond a boundary is an extraordinary book, CLR James manages to seamlessly interweave anecdotes, cricketing technique, politics, his love for his country and his fellow men (cricketing and otherwise), legends of the game and the deveolpment of the game together with a tremendous sense of the importance of cricket in our culture and civilisation. It is not a light and easy read, or a book I would recommend universally, but the interest that you show in it is well rewarded with the depth of insight that you gain from every single page. I read it six months ago, and it remains in my mind far more vividly than many books I have read since for the renewed interest that it has given me towards a game I have always loved, but now look at with more reverence and understanding. Cricket is not life and death to everyone, but while reading this book it will appear that it could, or even should be.

It is more complex and thought provoking than any other sporting book I have ever encountered, and as such does not deserve the classification of sports book, though I couldn't begin to suggest how it SHOULD be classified!