White Storm: The Story of Real Madrid (Mainstream Sport) [Paperback]

Phil Ball (Author), Guillem Balague (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2003 | Series: Mainstream Sport

Within the trophy room at the Bernabeu, the spoils of a century's achievements provide indisputable evidence of football's conquistadores rubbing the world's noses in the dirt. They include 29 league titles, 9 European Cups, 17 Spanish Cups, 2 UEFA Cups, and 3 World Club Championship titles. The story of Real Madrid is, however, much more than the mere sum of its achievements. The club has always attracted the biggest names in the game, and for every Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, or Beckham, there is a legend from the past. White Storm charts the history of the club from its foundations to the golden period of Di Stefano and Puskas, through the "hippy years," to the modern embodiment of Madridismo. It ends with an analysis of the Beckham impact, the disintegration of the Florentino Perez regime, and a look at what the future might hold for the world's most famous club.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for White Storm: 'A well-written and researched history . . . few other "outsiders" can claim to have such in-depth knowledge of the Spanish game' - FourFourTwo ' . . . offers a useful insight into the Madridista mindset' - The Times ' . . . a quality production befitting a quality club' - All Sport & Leisure Monthly.

About the Author

Phil Ball is the author of the celebrated Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football. He has lived and worked in Spain since 1991.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Mainstream Publishing (September 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840187638
• ISBN-13: 978-1840187632
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,151,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not "real" great, June 19, 2003

By 

Brian Maitland (Vancouver, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: White Storm (Hardcover)

I was really looking forward to Phil Ball's take on the greatest soccer club team in the world after Morbo--his brilliant history of Spanish soccer--but this was a tad disappointing. It's a good book, for sure, but I didn't get the relevance of references to how each Real Madrid great rated on the 100th anniversary fan poll. I also thought there'd be more than a little over 200 pages. I understand brevity but this book deserved about 200 more pages.

Whereas Barca--A People's Passion by Jimmy Burns rocked. This history of their great rivals fell a bit flat despite a lot of good info in here. It just needed more fleshing out to get a greater feel for each era in the club's history.

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice read, January 5, 2012

By 

Brian - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: White Storm: The Story of Real Madrid (Mainstream Sport) (Paperback)

Must read for any real madrid fan who are into history. However Morbo (from same author) does better job of giving the whole perspective in LFP history.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, December 27, 2005

By 

JRinPR (Puerto Rico, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Storm: The Story of Real Madrid (Mainstream Sport) (Paperback)

I have to agree with Brian Maitland's review. In addition, I can't believe this book does not have a single photo. I mean, a book on one of the most important soccer teams in history and not ONE photograph? That is just ridiculous...