REVIEW QUOTES
A
lovely, ungushing book about a man whom Dennis Silk calls “one of the great
unsung heroes of English cricket.” In the end it’s not just a book about
cricket but also about the English character.
Tom
Cartwright deserved a fine book, and he has got it.
Michael Billington, The Wisden Cricketer
It’s
always good to read about quiet heroes: it reminds us that there’s more to
life than ersatz celebrity and concocted charisma. In this intelligent and
moving biography we hear the reflective wisdom of one of Labour’s many quiet
heroes. It has not come a moment too soon.
John Booth, Tribune
A
rare example of a writer able to convey the very essence of his subject.
Jack Bannister, Birmingham Post
On
almost every page of this splendid book, there’s a Cartwright gem. It should
be compulsory reading for everybody who worries about cricket’s direction in
this country.
Pat Murphy, Birmingham Post
The
book is a triumph. It captures so skillfully the essence of the man, his great
skill and his mind for the game as well as telling us so much about the spirit
of the age in which it is set.
John Barclay
Stephen
Chalke gives Tom Cartwright the epitaph he deserves with his usual understated
grace.
Rick Broadbent, The Times
A
wonderful book. It is rich and informative and conveys a sense of both character
and period.
Peter Roebuck
Stephen
Chalke reigns supreme in this area of cricket socio-biography, allying obvious
affinity with his subjects to an enviable breadth of knowledge and an effortless
style.
Simon Redfern, The Independent on Sunday
In
every chapter there is something to read with interest and admiration.
Michael Henderson, The Guardian
Highly
recommended biography of a working-class professional who, to the very end,
never lost his deep respect for the innate soul of his sport. Always the delight
of Chalke as a biographer is that while he invariably casts for depth in his
subjects, he never once throws back a single tiddler’s nuance, realising that
each one adds substantially to the whole
gleaming weight of the catch.
Frank Keating,
The Spectator