The world over, no sportsman - and maybe no other individual - provokes more fascination, argument and interest than the Londoner with the film-star looks, David Beckham. No sports team exudes more glamour, has won more competitions or possesses a more dazzling collection of superstars than Real Madrid. The fusion of the two has gripped the attention of millions and changed the face of the world's favourite sport, making a clear divide between the Old Football and the New. "White Angels" is the insider's look at what happened to make the historic deal. John Carlin has had unprecedented access to the Real Madrid team, travelling with them to matches and conducting extensive interviews with the players and its charismatic and driven chairman Florentino Perez. "White Angels" describes how Beckham's transfer took place, and the machinations and intrigue behind it. It details Beckham's first year at Real, and how he fared on the field alongside such global stars as Figo, Zidane, Carlos, Raul and Ronaldo.

Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2005 and the National Sporting Club Book of the Year 2005 David Beckham is always in the news and this book is topical and a must for the legions of Beckham fans This will be updated with a new chapter covering all the moving and shaking to the end of the summer of 2005

About the Author
John Carlin has lived in Spain for the last five years. He is half-Spanish, half-British and bilingual. He has worked as a foreign correspondent for The Times, the Independent, the Observer and the Daily Mail in such diverse places as Washington, South Africa and Nicaragua, and in recent years has written extensively on football. He has scripted a Channel Four documentary on Diego Maradona.

Reviews
'Perhaps no other journalist - certainly no Anglophone journalist - can better Carlin's access inside the kingdom of Real Madrid ... Delves deep into the exquisite and often impractical world of football' GQ 'The pick of the bunch. It conveys the astonishing turnaround in the club's fortunes from early March. It describes with admirable firsthand detail the conceit of Florentino Perez and the Galactico transfer policy that so nearly struck gold. It details the marketing master plan of Jose Angel Sanchez and his belief that, so long as the team remain competitive, the brand is more important than the results' The Times 'Readers here who are curious about this phenomenon the rest of the world knows as "the beautiful game" have an energetic and enthusiastic guide in Carlin' Boston Globe 'Excellent' Paul Hayward, Daily Telegraph (best sports writer in UK)



Book Information
ISBN 9780747573487
Author John Carlin
Format Paperback
Page Count 396
Imprint Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 425g
Dimensions(mm) 129mm * 198mm * 20mm