Football Dynamo: Modern Russia and the People's Game

by Marc Bennetts (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $3.25

  The birthplace of Tolstoy, Lenin and Lev Yashin, notorious for corruption and political intrigues, modern Russia remains an enigma, seeking to throw off its past and realize its true potential. As the country reinvents itself in the post-Soviet era, isolated by language and culture, politics and geography, an absorbing insight into this most extraordinary of nations can be found in the dramatic story of the decline and rise of Russia's football. In Football Dynamo , Marc Bennetts embarks on a quest to find the football managers, oligarchs, players, pundits and fans that define the Russian Premier league, the fastest-growing and most extreme football league in the world. Unwittingly uncovering shocking revelations about racism and hooliganism, but also the true beauty of the game and the nation, Bennetts skilfully decodes the chaos of modern Russia as reflected in its football.

• Used

  Paperback
  2009

  $4.14

  In 1991, the collapse of the USSR seemed to signal the death of the Russian football industry, as the money, the players and the fans left. But now the oligarchs who profited from the post-Soviet turmoil are supporting the nation's football clubs and their dreams of glory, resulting in unprecedented success. Along this journey into the heart of Russian football, Marc Bennetts meets the managers, oligarchs, players, pundits and fans that define the Russian Premier league, now the fastest-growing and most intriguing football league in the world. From Andrei Arshavin and the national team's adventures at Euro 2008 to the symbolism of a club from war-torn Chechnya lifting the Russian FA Cup, Football Dynamo uncovers shocking revelations about corruption, hooliganism and racism, but also the true beauty of the game and the country.