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The Damned United

Series: Modern Plays
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( 9,257 ratings, 532 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Damned United explores the turbulent 1974 period when Brian Clough, a maverick football manager, attempts to reclaim his career by leading Leeds United, a team he admits to despising. The story delves into the footballing world of West Yorkshire, contrasting Clough’s fiery ambition and complex personality against the backdrop of Don Revie’s dominant Leeds. This stage adaptation brings to life the intense drama, passion, and brutality intrinsic to football, portraying it as the working man’s ballet.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$2999

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

The Damned United will appeal to enthusiasts of football, British theatre, and character-driven drama, especially readers interested in historical sports narratives and complex antiheroes.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

When Don Revie took over this club, Leeds were a rugby league town. No interest in football. Gates under 10,000. We’d never won a thing. He built one of the great clubs of English football, one of the great teams of English football, from scratch on barren ground from nothing more than spirit and fight and nous, which are the exact same qualities you used at Derby. And out of jealousy, you never tried to understand that. Never tried to make the most of that. Sad.

1974. Brian Clough, the enfant terrible of British football, tries to redeem his managerial career and reputation by winning the European Cup with his new team, Leeds United. The team he has openly despised for years, the team he hates and that hates him. Don Revie’s Leeds.

A West Yorkshire Playhouse and Red Ladder Theatre Company co-production, adapted from David Peace’s ingenious and much-lauded novel, which was subsequently made into a film starring Michael Sheen, The Damned United takes you inside the tortured mind of a genius slamming up against his limits, and brings to life the beauty and brutality of football, the working man’s ballet.

Anders Lustgarten's stage adaptation of David Peace's novel received its world premiere at the West Yorkshire Playhouse on 3 March 2016.

Series: Modern Plays

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The novel’s portrayal of Clough presents a deeply human and authentic character, praised by Scotsman. Lustgarten’s script captures Clough’s arrogance and vulnerability, hailed by the Yorkshire Post as a nuanced depiction of a flawed hero. The Times describes the adaptation as a compelling theatrical exploration of Clough as a tragic antihero driven by both visionary passion and self-destructive tendencies. The unique vision of Peace’s work translates powerfully to the stage, according to Exeunt.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781350005136

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 March 2016

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Methuen Drama

Contributors:

  • Adapted by Anders Lustgarten

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 10.0mm

Width: 126.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 100g

Pages: 88

About the Author

Anders Lustgarten is Pearson Playwright-in-Residence at the Finborough Theatre, where his first two plays, The Insurgents (2007) and Enduring Freedom (2008), were produced. Other work includes The Punishment Stories, (shortlisted for the 2007 Verity Bargate Award), an adaptation of Slawomir Mrozek's The Police (BAC 2007), The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie (2010) for the National Theatre Studio and If You Don't Let Us Dream Then We Won't Let You Sleep (Royal Court, 2013). Anders is a political activist, has taught on Death Row, been arrested by the Turkish secret police, and holds a PhD in Chinese politics from the University of California. He also won the inaugural Harold Pinter Playwrights Award with a commission from the Royal Court in 2011.

David Peace grew up in Ossett, near Wakefield, and writes novels based on real-life events. In 2003, he was named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists, and his novel about the 1984 coal miner’s strike, GB84 (2004), won the 2005 James Tait Black Memorial Prize. His other works include Red Riding Quartet (1999-2002), a series of four novels about the Yorkshire Ripper; The Damned Utd (2006), which was adapted into a film starring Michael Sheen; Tokyo Year Zero (2007) and Occupied City (2009), the first two books of a trilogy set in Tokyo during the aftermath of the Second World War; and Red or Dead (2013), following Bill Shankly’s time as manager of Liverpool FC. He currently lives in Japan with his family.

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    In 1959, Liverpool Football Club were in the Second Division. Liverpool Football Club had never won the FA Cup. Fifteen seasons later, Liverpool Football Club had won three League titles, two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup. Liverpool Football Club had become the most consistently successful team in England. And the most passionately supported club. Their manager was revered as...
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  • The Damned Utd
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