Books

Brilliant and Orange

Author: David Winner.
Title: Brilliant Orange. 
Subtitle: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football.
Publisher: Bloomsbury.
Price: £7.99.

In a nutshell: An incisive commentary on the brilliant, but curious, phenomenon that is Dutch football. The author discusses all aspects: its mercurial nature, its relationship with German football, its fantastic style, and the national team's inability to deliver on the big stage.

Strengths: Extremely well written, lucid, funny, enlightening, very clever in the way that it argues the character of Dutch football reflects, and almost imitates, the character of the nation and its people.

Weaknesses: Sometimes it's just slightly too intellectual and esoteric.

General verdict: Excellent.

Peter Davies