England: The Biography: The Story of English Cricket

It is always hard to find gifts for my Dad as he has everything but a good book always works. Saw this whilst searching Amazon for ideas and was worried he might already have it or that it wouldn't have anything new in it and that he would already have all the contents across all his other cricket books (he's been a cricket mad obsessive for over 60 years) but thankfully he loved it. He said it was new, he had not even read about it coming out and contained a really good and thorough history of team England that even he was impressed with.

Excellent thematic (rather than chronological) history of the England team. Filled in or clarified my knowledge of various controversial events (bodyline, Packer, etc) Also very interesting to find out that there is nothing knew under the sun when it comes to England players, especially when on tour :).

The book is beautifully presented , very well written, contains lots of information and is never less than entertaining. The 600+ pages may appear daunting, but the author's thoughtful and accessible style soon dispel any doubts.

A quality look back at the never dull life of English cricket. Chock full of great characters and greater controversies, the author goes deep into the history of England as the founders of the game, all the way up the recent era as they sit atop the limited overs ranks. Fantastic book.

The book is packed with information and is quite detailed (over 500 pages). The text is full of facts which made it kind of dry in places (particularly the details of cricket tours in the 1920s/30s/40s/50s). This is fine for an ardent cricket enthusiast, but not very gripping for the reader with just a general interest in English cricket.