Description
Book SynopsisFranz Beckenbauer – known as ‘the Kaiser’ – was
Germany's greatest-ever footballer and one of the game's biggest icons of all time, a World Cup winner as player and manager. But what is often described as a blessed life was in fact a rollercoaster ride with
stunning highs and bitter lows. He rose to fame at the
1966 World Cup in England, where after West Germany’s final defeat the British press marvelled at the grace of a ‘beaten but proud Prussian officer’. Yet there was nothing Prussian about the Bavarian boy who flouted authority, disregarded rules and viewed the traditional German work ethic with the disdain of someone to whom everything comes naturally.
After a glittering early career at
Bayern Munich – captaining them to
three European Cup victories and pioneering the playmaking
libero role in central defence – Beckenbauer made a controversial move to th
Trade Review‘Authoritative and affectionate, yet never blinded to its subject’s flaws… More than just another footballer biography: it is a rich and scrupulously researched case study of the complexities of national mythmaking and the caprice of celebrity’ * Times Literary Supplement *
'The best and most focused book about the greatest German player, faults and all. A diamond-quality read' * Soccer America Confidential *
