Munichs

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A magnificent book.' MIKE ATHERTON 'Tender, atmospheric - and hopeful.' iNEWS 'A masterpiece.' IRISH TIMES 'Electrifying.' GUARDIAN From the author of The Damned Utd and Red or Dead, an extraordinary novel about Britain, sport and our collective past. February 6, 1958, British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on take-off at Munich Airport. On board were the young Manchester United team, 'the Busby Babes', and the journalists who followed them. Twenty-one of the passengers died instantly, four were left fighting for their lives while six more were critically injured. Twenty-four hours later, Jimmy Murphy, the assistant manager of Manchester United, faced the press at the Rechts der Isar Hospital: 'What of the future, you ask? It will be a long, hard struggle. It took Matt Busby, Bert Whalley and myself twelve years to produce the 1958 Red Devils. It was long, hard, tiring work, but we succeeded. At the moment, I am so confused, so tired and so sad, I cannot think clearly, but what I do know is that the Red Devils will rise again.' Munichs is the story of how Manchester United rose again, of the crash and its aftermath, of those who survived and those who did not, of how Britain and football changed, and how it did not; a novel of tragedy, but also of hope. 'Profound . . . A brilliant, brilliant book.' DAVID WHITEHOUSE 'Luminous and illuminating . . . completely gripping.' ASHLEY HICKSON-LOVENCE 'Powerful.' TARIQ GODDARD

David Peace - named in 2003 as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists - was born and brought up in Yorkshire. He is the author of eleven novels including the Red Riding Quartet, adapted for television by Channel Four in 2009, GB84, which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, The Damned Utd, Red or Dead, which was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize in 2013, and most recently Tokyo Redux. He lives in Tokyo.