The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop

In this fascinating and exhaustively researched book, the first of its kind in the English language, Tom Williams brings to life French football’s chequered coming of age over the last 40 years. He details how the starry-eyed romanticism that characterised the national team in the early 1980s gave way to an Italian-style pragmatism that would lead Les Bleus to the summit of the international game in the late 1990s and examines how a succession of star-studded club sides grappled with the thorny (and distinctly un-French) notion of how to win. He delves into French football’s rich history and explains the myriad ways – tactical, technical and cultural – in which France has shaped the game’s evolution around the world. Featuring exclusive interviews with great figures of the French game, this is a book no football fan will want to miss.