Bill Edrich The Many Lives of England's Cricket Great FINANCIAL TIMES – BEST BOOKS OF 2024
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Biographical note
Leo McKinstry writes for the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph and The Sun and has been a columnist and feature writer for the Daily Express for the last 19 years. McKinstry has also produced major biographies of two great batsmen, Geoff Boycott and Jack Hobbs. Among his other books are award-winning biographies of the footballing brothers Jack and Bobby Charlton and the World Cup-winning manager Sir Alf Ramsey.<b>A fascinating story ... Great research, beautifully written and I loved it.</b>
- Sir Geoffrey Boycott,
<b>Bill Edrich shines through these pages ... a wonderful book that needed to be written.</b>
- Henry Blofeld, former 'Test Match Special' commentator,
<b>It's Bill Edrich to a T. An excellent book, no doubt about that.</b>
- Dickie Bird, English former cricketer and international cricket umpire,
<b>What an extraordinary life. What an extraordinary man. In Leo McKinstry, Edrich has the biographer his remarkable story deserves.</b>
- Richard Whitehead, former deputy books editor, 'The Times',
<b>A triumph. Leo McKinstry superbly draws together the many strands of a fascinating but flawed figure.</b>
- Lawrence Booth, 'Wisden' editor,
<b>McKinstry’s biography will fascinate cricket lovers.</b>
The Times
<b>this is a must-get</b>
RAF News
<b>Entertaining. McKinstry is a sporting and political biographer highly attuned to historical atmosphere ... <i>Edrich</i> is proof that greatness in sport and life are very different things.</b>
New Statesman
<b>This meticulously researched biography reveals the man behind the controversy in glorious detail. An exquisite read.</b>
The Sun
<b>An eye-popping biography.</b>
Daily Mail
<b>I was fascinated by this colourful life lived at breakneck speed in colourful times ... it’s a page-turner!</b>
Sunday Express
<b>Brilliant</b>
Daily Express
<b>An entertaining and deftly told account of a popular, but wayward, flawed character.</b>
Country Life
<b>a subtle writer with a deep understanding of the era in which [Edrich] lived</b>
The Telegraph
<b>This portrait of a gifted and not particularly pleasant man adds another feather to his hat.</b>
The Critic
<b>a lively read</b>
The Cricketer
<b>Forget Andrew Flintoff’s tipsy excursion on a pedalo, or Kevin Pietersen’s disloyal text messages. Bill Edrich puts them all in the shade.</b>
Wisden
<b>Written in a pacy style, the author takes us through the highs and lows of a multi-faceted and colourful life of an RAF hero and England cricketing great. An entertaining read.</b>
Aviation News
<b>written in a pacey style ... An entertaining read.</b>
Britain at War
<b>[a] must-read… a well-researched account of a remarkable life.</b>
Financial Times
<b>A lively record of Edrich’s life… ideal Christmas present.</b>
Aeroplane
<b>[one] of the very best cricket books of the year</b>
- Paul Edwards, The Cricketer
<b>Top Book of 2024</b>
- Richard Hobson, Reviews editor, The Cricketer
<b>[a] perceptive commentary on how cricket and Edrich’s career and status reflected the social norms of wider society. … McKinstry also handles Edrich’s wartime career and its likely impact on his behaviour and personality with sensitivity … The picture of Edrich that emerges from McKinstry’s well-written and engaging biography is of man of mercurial and exuberant temperament who was indomitable when at the crease.</b>
- Philip Cottam, The Arbuturian