2007-01-12 An awesome book about an awesome duo.

Right from the beginning of this superb book it`s pretty obvious that Gordon Burn is not a football writer. He avoids the long, boring passages found in virtually all football writing which describe how so and so crossed the ball for what`s his name in the thirty-fifth minute of the match. Instead of that type of dross he goes for the jugular of his subjects. Duncan Edwards and George Best. Chalk and cheese yet peas in a pod. Both Manchester United legends, both gone before they should have gone. Edwards a product of the short back and sides era, Best the first real playboy football star. The common links with the two of them are Matt Busby and Bobby Charlton. Great football men in their own right. Both men survived the Munich horror which claimed Edwards and both men witnessed George Best`s career die an early death. The main thrust of the book is the contrast between the lifestyles of the two title characters and how society had changed drastically in the few years separating their appearances. I have read every book written about George, but I discovered some interesting, and not always flattering, facts here. As for Duncan, the more I read the more I regret never having seen him play. Awesome.