Soccer Empire: The World Cup and the Future of France / Edition 1

by Laurent Dubois

Overview

When France both hosted and won the World Cup in 1998, the face of its star player, Zinedine Zidane, the son of Algerian immigrants, was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe. During the 2006 World Cup finals, Zidane stunned the country by ending his spectacular career with an assault on an Italian player. In Soccer Empire, Laurent Dubois illuminates the connections between empire and sport by tracing the story of World Cup soccer, from the Cup’s French origins in the 1930s to Africa and the Caribbean and back again. As he vividly recounts the lives of two of soccer’s most electrifying players, Zidane and his outspoken teammate, Lilian Thuram, Dubois deepens our understanding of the legacies of empire that persist in Europe and brilliantly captures the power of soccer to change the nation and the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520259287
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	06/01/2010
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Laurent Dubois is Professor of French and History at Duke University. He is the author of many award-winning books, including Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution, which was a Best Book of the Los Angeles Times and a Notable Book of the Christian Science Monitor.

Table of Contents

Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface: Scoring Spirits

Introduction: The Language of Happiness

1. A Beautiful Harvest
2. Caribbean France
3. Crossings
4. Roots
5. Two Goals
6. Two Flags
7. La France Métissée
8. An Unfinished War
9. Reconciliation
10. Burn
11. Coup de Boule

Epilogue: Returns

Notes
Acknowledgments
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"An intriguing tale of soccer within the matrix of France's history of colonialism." STARRED REVIEW—Library Journal

"Drills down to uncover the relationship among politics, race and the legacy of empire."—The New York Times

"Excellent"—Chronicle of Higher Education

"Tale of how even the most seemingly apolitical institutions in a society can become the battlegrounds for its most pressing questions of identity and ambition."—Salon.com

"Soccer Empire has a heart that beats louder than most, and is all the better for it."—Times Literary Supplement (Tls)

Editorial Reviews

Soccer Empire has a heart that beats louder than most, and is all the better for it.

Times Literary Supplement (TLS)

Drills down to uncover the relationship among politics, race and the legacy of empire.

The New York Times

“Drills down to uncover the relationship among politics, race and the legacy of empire.

The New York Times

Zidane and Thuram, names synonymous with France's soccer fortunes, are as meaningful in the soccer world as Lebron and Kobe are to basketball fans. These two players, especially the electrifying Zinedine Zidane, are the central figures in this well-researched, well-written history of the game in France. Focusing on France's 1998 World Cup victory on French soil and the disgrace of the 2006 finals when Zidane inexplicably butted an Italian player and cost his team the final match, Dubois (French & history, Duke Univ.) weaves an intriguing tale of soccer within the matrix of France's history of colonialism, taking into account race and the powerful social forces in France and the international community. Highly recommended for serious soccer fans.

Library Journal

In his incisive, if at times overwritten, Soccer Empire, history professor Laurent Dubois explores how France's self-image and colonial history are intertwined with Les Bleus, the national team.
—The Washington Post

Sean Callahan

Excellent

Chronicle Of Higher Education

Tale of how even the most seemingly apolitical institutions in a society can become the battlegrounds for its most pressing questions of identity and ambition.

Salon.com

The best, most important contribution to soccer scholarship to date. . . .A timely and wonderful book.

Choice - A.-P. Durand