The Final Innings by Christopher Sandford - ISBN: 9780750994699
Paperback
Cricket’s Golden Age ends: War, loss, and enduring heroism on the field.

The Final Innings

The Cricketers of Summer 1939

$44.17

  • Paperback

    336 pages

  • Release Date

    5 August 2020

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Summary

The declaration of war against Germany on 3 September 1939 brought an end to the second (and as yet, final) Golden Age of English cricket. Over 200 first-class English players signed up to fight in that first year; 52 never came back. In many ways, the summer of 1939 was the end of innocence.

Using unpublished letters, diaries and memoirs, Christopher Sandford recreates that last summer, looking at men like George Macaulay, who took a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket but was…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9780750994699
ISBN-10:075099469X
Author:Christopher Sandford
Publisher:The History Press Ltd
Imprint:The History Press Ltd
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:336
Edition:2nd
Release Date:5 August 2020
Weight:372g
Dimensions:198mm x 129mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

‘The accomplished Sandford orders his material with sensitivity and relates his terrible tale with elegance and dignity. Yet such is the nature of the catastrophe of 1914 that the horror seeps through every page. It is a work of genuine significance.’

‘A very good and timely account of some very brave cricketers.’

– Ted Dexter

‘Congratulations are due for this outstanding piece of work. One of the best books of the year and an essential purchase.’

* The Journal of the Cricket Society *

‘The sense of an era closing, unavoidably if shatteringly, permeates Christopher Sandford’s The Final Innings. Sandford well captures the shadows lengthening over cricket – and everything else – in late 1930s England.’

* Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanack 2020 *

About The Author

Christopher Sandford

Christopher Sandford is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic. He has written numerous biographies of music, film and sports stars, as well as Union Jack, a bestselling book on John F. Kennedy’s special relationship with Great Britain described by the National Review as ‘political history of a high order – the Kennedy book to beat’. Born and raised in England, Christopher currently lives in Seattle.

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