Product Description

From an amateur footballer working on a bomb disposal unit in Liverpool, to celebrated Manchester City goalkeeper adored by thousands, the author charts Bert Trautmann's conversion from Hitler Youth star to all-England football hero, mirroring Europe's own journey through the horrors of war to a fragile post-war peace.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133009 in Books
• Published on: 2010-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.53" h x 1.18" w x 6.34" l, 1.40 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Features

• New
• Mint Condition
• Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon
• Guaranteed packaging
• No quibbles returns

Review
`absorbing book... excellent' --Daily Telergraph

'a truly remarkable story, uncovered with immense skill by Catrine Clay' -- Daily Telegraph

`sober, detailed, well-told account' -- Guardian

'fascinating' -- The Observer

'simply inspirational' -- Manchester Evening News

`what an extraordinary story this is...fascinating.' --Mail on Sunday

"If ever a life deserved retelling from a new angle, it was surely his"
--When Saturday Comes

a poignant book which is a tribute to the depth of both Clay's research and her compassion
--The Independent

`a gripping story.' --Sunday Times

An intimate history of the Third Reich, the Second World War and postwar Manchester. -- History Today, reviews, Paul Lay

Clay's narrative moves along briskly, ably combining the narrow focus of her subject's life with the brood sweep of events. -- BBC History Magazine, review, Roger Moorhouse

Trauntmann's Journey is a remarkable story, well told. -- BBC History Magazine, review, Roger Moorhouse

`The remarkable life - as paratrooper and fascist - of Man City's famous German goalie'.
--The Sunday Times

"Of the six books shortlisted (for the William Hill Sports Book 2010) I can heartily recommend 'Trautmann's Journey'." --Daily Mirror, November 2010

From the Inside Flap

Every football fan knows the legend of Bert Trautmann. Fifteen minutes from the end of the 1956 FA Cup Final, Trautmann - the Manchester City goalkeeper - falls spectacularly mid-tackle. He continues to play on to the end, ensuring City win the cup. An X-ray later reveals a broken neck.

But there is more to this legend than a brilliant goalkeeper. Bert Trautmann was born Bernhard Trautmann in Germany in 1923. Brought up under the Nazis, he joined the Hitler Youth at the age of ten and volunteered to fight for the Vaterland at seventeen. He fought for three years on the Russian Front and another year in France following D Day. Until, one day in March 1945, he stumbled into British territory to be greeted by the words, 'Fancy a cup of tea, Fritz?'

What follows is an extraordinary story of transformation. 'My education, my real education, began here, in England, at the age of 22.' In a POW camp in Cheshire Bernhard breaks through the Nazi brainwashing and becomes Bert. From an amateur footballer working on a bomb disposal unit in Liverpool, to celebrated Manchester City goalkeeper adored by thousands, Trautmann's Journey charts his remarkable conversion from Hitler Youth to all-England football hero.

From the Back Cover

He was the best goalkeeper I ever played against. We always said, don't look into the goal when you're trying to score against Bert. Because if you do, he'll see your eyes and read your thoughts' Bobby Charlton

'Without a doubt, one of the greatest goalkeepers. I stood on the Wembley terrace in 1956 with a 3s 6d ticket and watched him give a memorable, brave performance. Bert broke his neck and never left the pitch - one doesn't have to say any more' Bobby Robson

'No doubts - Trautmann was the best' Don Revie

'He will always have...the love and the admiration of the people of England' Steve Fleet

'The respect he commanded for himself and, as a result, the German nation was perhaps the beginning of the healing of the wounds caused by the war. He was more than a brilliant goalkeeper' Jimmy Hill