Immortal - Tapa dura

"In putting together Immortal: The Approved Biography of George Best, it must be said that author Duncan Hamilton has done little to redefine the genre. Instead, he has done everything he can with it as it is, he has pushed it, refined it, stretched it, lovingly touched up every corner of it until it is almost as perfect as it can be. In short, Hamilton has essentially won biography writing. [...] what makes thisbook so wonderful, [is] the way that Hamilton patiently sets the scene, apparently meandering indulgently through the back stories of incidental characters, but actually drawing the reader deep into the 1960s, imperceptibly marking out the structures of sport, society and celebrity that the shockwave of Best’s arrival obliterated." (Mirror online)

"[An]evocative account, though that should not come as a surprise. The former newspaperman has become one of sport’s foremost biographers and he is in excellent form here with this account of a footballer who was once his hero." (The Times)

"A marriage of prose and detail so fine and fastidious that it takes the breath away." (Independent)

"This compulsively readable book will not be the last written about Best, but it may prove to be the most illuminating." (Independent on Sunday)

"What Duncan Hamilton’s impressively researched, definitive new biography, published on the 50th anniversary of Best’s United debut, captures is the artistry of the little Ulsterman." (Daily Mail)

"Diligent, highly readable ... Immortal strips away the myth to show the human Best, Hamilton is a guarantee of quality..." (Financial Times)

"Accomplished ... the attention to detail characteristic of Hamilton's work energises his story." (Daily Telegraph)

"Hamilton writes sympathetically and insightfully ... he has a smart turn of phrase and an uncanny ability to describe accurately and compellingly what happened during a game." (The Herald)

"The author deserves great credit for writing not a sycophantic paean to Best, but an accomplished well-researched account which doesn’t shy away from the footballer’s alcoholism and his propensity to be violent towards women." (Press Association)

"Thoughtful. 4 stars." (Mail on Sunday)

George Best is considered the greatest footballer of our time.

No other imposed himself so completely on to the romantic imagination. No other was so emblematic of the era during which he flourished. And no other will ever be as memorable as George Best.

On the field Best's skills were sublime and almost other-worldly. Off it, he had a magnetic appeal. He was treated like a pop icon and a pin-up; a fashion-model and a sex-symbol. Every man envied him and every woman adored him.

To mark the 50th anniversary of his debut for Manchester United, Duncan Hamilton examines Best's crowded life and premature death. But most importantly, Hamilton presents Best at his glorious peak - the precocious goals, the labyrinthine runs, the poise and balletic balance and the body swerves.

This is George Best: footballing immortal.