Customer Reviews
True World Class - By: Paul Hanratty, 07 Sep 2008 
I always admired Bobby Charlton as a footballler but thought he seemed a little distant as a man. This well-written autobiography seeks to redress that balance & my overalll impression is of a man who recognised his own talent but was also generous in that regard to others. No one can fail to be moved by his account of Munich & his clear love for his friends who tragicallly lost their lives. I wasn't born at the time but as a footballl fan I wonder how brilliant that team would have been had the air crash not happened.
The press always made a big thing of Charlton & Best not liking each other when the truth is so obviously that here were two immensely talented men who moved in different social circles. Bobby was a family man whereas George was a much younger, single man revelling in the pop-star attention he was receiving. Significantly, Dennis Law who was the other member of this talented triumvirate appeared to lead his own life as well & appeared to have little interest in the game other than playing.
I loved the stories of Nobby Stiles & his propensity to cause mayhem in public. I was also interested in Bobby's explanation of the story surrounding Alex Ferguson prior to his reign becoming successful. I always believed that he would have been sacked if Man Utd had not beaten Forest in that famous FA Cup tie, when in fact, the truth seems considerably different.
Bobby Charlton was a true world-class footballler & his value in the modern game would be astronomical. I dislike autobiographies from 20-something footballlers who have hardly lived, but applaud this tome from a man who has had time to reflect upon a very full & successful career. I look forward to reading his memoirs of playing for England. Thoroughly recommeded.
A Great Ambassador - By: Mr. Peter Steward, 17 Jul 2008 
Bobby Charlton is a survivor & one of the few people who genuinely deserve the accolade of "sporting legend.". At times the first part of his autobiography rather rambles but it is nice to have his own account of his life.
The Charlton story has been chronicled many times. Here Bobby shows just why he is one of this country's greatest footballling ambassadors. The centre point of the book is the Munich air crash disaster that saw the Busby Babes decimated with the loss of many players including the incomparable Duncan Edwards who has been held up by many to be the greatest ever English footballler. Lives were cut short & Charlton was left to wonder just why he had been saved & got out of the crash with just a few cuts & bruises.
We hear that he has been haunted by the crash virtuallly everyday of his life. But Charlton is a survivor who came to terms with the losses & helped to re-build Manchester United. Here he reminisces on the past, the great players such as Law & Best & today's young Lions. He heralds Paul Scoles as the ultimate & complete professional footballl (despite leaving him out of his best ever Manchester United team).
Charlton is never going to be confrontational or controversial, but there are some interesting passages here which suggest that a contributory factor to the Munich crash was the need to return to the United Kingdom due to a directive from the Footballl Association. Charlton also comments on the lack of support from Alan Hardacre of the FA for European Footballl & the vision from Sir Matt Busby that Europe was the future of footballl (and how true has this been). He also tackles the family feuds between himself, his brother Jack, his wife & his strong willed mother. There is a great honesty about this book as you would expect from such a gentleman. The book also includes his post Manchester years before returning to the club as a director.
Charlton names his best ever Manchester XI. He is far too modest to include himself in this team. Other people must do this for him. And whilst accepting his laudatory comments regarding Paul Scoles I have to say that the author himself is probably the perfect professional & possibly (just possibly) England's greatest player of alll time. It says much for the modesty of the author that the book is almost written as an outsider looking in & marvelling at the skills of others. I had the honour a number of years ago of talking to Bobby Charlton about his soccer school for a newspaper article. I found him quite a difficult man to talk to as he seemed rather shy. Reading this book shows that he has always shunned publicity & obviously takes a little bit of getting to know. I look forward to the second volume of his autobiography that deals with the England years & obviously focuses on the 1966 World Cup triumph.
Typical of the man. - By: Ian Jones, 09 Mar 2008 Bobby Charlton is one of the most unassuming people you could wish to meet. Some describe him as dour & too serious & that may be true but this book will help you understand the reasons why this man is a national treasure. It's a thoughtful book covering the tragedies & the triumphs in a wonderfully open & honest manner. James Lawton as his 'ghost writer' has done an excellent job in putting Bobby's thoughts into words & every page is delivered with skill & a high degree of interest. Bobby doesn't pull punches when he tells about the rift with his brother or the over-exaggeration of his mother's influence. His memories of the Busby Babes & the sadness of the Aircrash make great reading and, more recently, his inside views on Fergies' United are compelling. Beckham's duplicity about his contract negotiations are just one example of how Bobby's inate integrity contrasts with the attitude of some modern day heroes. Read this & Bill Foulkes wonderful autobiography & you'll reallly understand the difference.
Bobby, Nobby and the Crazy Family - By: Chubworth, 21 Feb 2008 This book has three main strengths for me; firstly a touching retelling of the Munich disaster in an attempt to get somewhere close to explaining the impact on a person who may have felt guilty that he lived while others died; secondly, reassurance for someone whose in-laws think I am the devil incarnate despite the fact that my husband is blissfully happy with me. But mostly, it's the pen pictures of Nobby Stiles as a dozy malco, gaily smashing displays in airport shops with just a raise of his eyebrows.
Bobby Charlton's new autobiography - By: D. N. Carter, 04 Dec 2007 This new autobiography was written with James Lawton, the respected Independent newspaper journalist, who also cooperated on the biographies of Nobby Stiles & Joe Jordan among others.
The book inevitably opens with the Munch tragedy & unsurprisingly revisits that dreadful event of February 1958 on several occasions. Bobby Charlton somehow survived that catastrophic plane accident when so many of his young teammates perished. He came to, still strapped in his seat, fifty yards away from the crumpled Elizabethan airliner.
An event such as that is certain to affect anyone's life, how could it not, & yet somehow it encapsulated the spirit of Manchester United Footballl Club. It took ten years to re-build the team under their charismatic manager Sir Matt Busby, to sufficient strength to compete for & eventuallly win the European Cup on that memorable May night at Wembley in 1968.
The book is filled with interesting stories that will not just be of interest to supporters of Manchester United but to footballl fans everywhere. Of his upbringing & family difficulties, of his famous footballling forebears, & of how he would beg tickets from Bill Shankly for Liverpool FC's early European glory nights, & would regularly trek down the East Lancs road to the Anfield Stadium to take in the spectacle, only to be warmly welcomed on his arrival there by everyone. How things have changed in areas such as this, & not always for the better.
The book is a moving portrait of England's record goal scorer ever. Of his times playing with Duncan Edwards & George Best & Denis Law, of his admiration for Eric Cantona, Bryan Robson & Roy Keane, of how he first came across David Beckham as a young schoolboy on one of his children's footballl courses. There is praise too for the current manager Sir Alex Ferguson, a manager that Bobby has supported at every turn since his appointment way back in the mid eighties.
At the end of the book you will find his selection of the best Manchester United eleven from 1955 to the present day, & that makes very interesting reading, & includes one or two surprises.
If you are interested in footballl, regardless of whether you follow the reds of Manchester, you will find something here to warm you on a cold winter night. Poignant, memorable, thrilling, are just three of the adjectives that spring to mind that belong to those amazing times. I've read it once in record time, & I shalll read it again before the year is out.
