Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47874 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

Review
'I cannot imagine a better guide -- authoritative, graceful and always with an eye to bringing out the quirky characters who have made cricket "more than a game"!(Major's) fascination with human behaviour makes lively reading!as a readable and likeable historian of what he loves, he takes some beating. He knows the beauty of the game and makes it live.' Daily Mail 'Expertly compiled and beautifully produced!it's a book full of insight, wisdom and dry humour and, most important of all, unquenchable enthusiasm which will be appreciated by everyone who shares it.' Sunday Times 'Passion flows through every page!it's likely that as a work of reference "More Than a Game" will supplant its predecessors!long after all the self-serving political memoirs have been utterly forgotten, "More Than a Game" will still be settling arguments and giving pleasure across the civilised, cricket-loving world.' Sunday Telegraph 'Major's passion illuminates a beautifully produced and engaging account of the game's history from its origins to the first world war.' Sunday Times 'It's a spectacular achievement. I can't think of anyone else who could have given such an authoritative inner and overview of the game and have the ability and knowledge to put it in the context of cultural, commercial, historical and social happenings at the same time. But more than that, it is a personal book and, even with the extraordinary amount of information, thoroughly readable!a startlingly good book. John has done a marvellous job, and I think, for the first time ever, we have both the reasonably well-known and the unknown facts about cricket put in a social and historical context and in a readable and concise fashion.' David Rayvern Allen 'One of the most detailed, balanced and wide-ranging histories of cricket in Britain yet written.' The Times 'Pleasure shines through this history of the game!nothing quite beats his preface, with his recollections of playing the game as a boy!he gives a stirring account of the way cricket spread across the globe!this book is, above all, a manifesto for his love of the game.' The Guardian 'There's something charming and quintessentially English about this book. Major clearly loves his cricket, has read widely about its early years and is delightfully eager to convey his affection to the reader.' Daily Telegraph 'Major has a sharp sense of history!is lucid on the development of the game!thoroughly even-handed about the sharp conduct of some of the early impresarios of the sport!acute about the input of the aristocratic and autocratic amateurs who dominated the running of the sport!succinct and illuminating!frequently entertaining!As this books makes clear, John Major knows a lot about cricket and a lot of other things too.' Independent on Sunday 'Irresistible!this is history of the highest quality!elegant and amusingly written!a proper comprehensive history, going further and deeper than earlier accounts. It has been wrapped by Harper Press like a treasure. So it should be.' Tribune 'It is a fine, scholarly work. Major's passion for the game does not dupe him into looking at cricket's past through rose-hued spectacles, however. The hard disinterested historian's eye is the prism through which this cricketing history is told!this book proves him to be a first-rate scholar and writer.' The New Statesman 'Major handles the history well!but non-cricket fans will find his personal touches more engaging.' The Observer 'Major's book is highly readable.' The Independent 'Delightfully readable!there is plenty of diverting material!the author carefully blends careful scholarship with light-hearted asides--well-played Sir John!' Country Life

Sunday Times
'Expertly compiled and beautifully produced...it's a book full of
insight, wisdom and dry humour...'

Sunday Telegraph
'Passion flows through every page...'

Customer Reviews

An original contribution to cricket bibliography
A long-standing commitment and affection for England's national game is all too apparent in this fascinating and authoritative book. Sir John demonstrates - as if there were any need - the quality of his research and intellect. Old myths are re-examined, sometimes debunked sometimes confirmed, and a new light is shone upon some of cricket's historic controversies. The references to social mores of the times and the matching political events gives it a different but weighty style. I would recommend the book strongly, especially for those who enjoy history as well as cricket.

Unrivalled before 1800; less convincing thereafter
Sir John is at his best in his descriptions of cricketers before the year 1800. He expertly probes the mists to bring us living, breathing characters - players and administrators (and one or two strident opponents of the game), who are unknown to the vast majority of even cricket's own family. Thereafter, I felt he had less to offer as he is covering territory that has been examined many times before, although he at least does so from the perspective of a man reconciled to the realities of modern sport.
There are some curious omissions - no mention at all of the very first international cricket match (it was between Canada and the USA in 1844, Canada winning in two days), and he seems to dismiss North American cricket altogether as if it did not exist outside the islands of the Caribbean - perhaps in his eagerness to include an old joke about the five day game. But he also gives insightful comments on cricket's likely future being dominated by the subcontinent and explains why England can no longer claim cricket as her own. These insights are thought-provoking, albeit he sometimes disguises opinion as fact.
Sir John's book will remind many of his term of office in that it starts strongly and then trails off. If this seems unkind, Sir John invites the comparison with a swipe at New Labour (over the lottery) that seems entirely out of place and unjustified. There is no doubting Sir John's authority on cricket, but the weakest parts of the book come when he attempts to discuss other sports with the same authority. He also uses the word England instead of Britain on an irritating number of occasions (such as when referring to the winners of the Olympic gold medal for cricket in 1900).
As for describing one cricketer with the words "as English as Henry VIII", I can only wonder if a biography of Gareth Edwards ("as Welsh as Winston Churchill"?) will be Sir John's next venture!
On the whole, though, I am greatly the better informed about the game's early origins for having read Sir John's work. Cricket has given sport the greatest literary heritage of all, and "More Than A Game" will occupy a proud place on the cricketer's bookshelf.

Disappointed
I have followed cricket fore more than 30 years and was really looking forward to reading this book, and have enormeous respect for John Major. However I was not engaged or excited by it - perhaps it was the subject matter, perhaps it was the way it was written. Although some sections are well researched, some of the more general commentary seemed superficial and almost out of place.

Sorry, it just didn't meet my expectations...but you can't get five stars every time.