Downing is a respected historian who also happens to be a footie fan, and this polished examination of the rivalry between the cousins is a perfect marriage of the two disciplines, so to speak. Downing's arguments are supported by the most thorough research, and his easy style allows him in one breath to tease out the political nuances of playing for the Nazis, while in the next breath to point out that Stanley Matthews had a dreadful match on his dΘbut. But as strong as the book is, the very subject matter means Irish readers are unlikely to be fully engaged.