J. Montague, "ULTRAS: Journey Behind the World's Deadliest Goal" Summary and Comments - A shocking book that gives a different perspective on the situation in Ukraine!
We are pleased to present "ULTRAS: The World's Deadliest Journey Behind the Goal," written by James Montague and translated by Masayuki Tanabe, published by Kanzen in 2021.
This work won the "Soccer Book Award 2022" special prize, and is one of the hottest books of the year.
The "Soccer Book Awards 2022" were recently announced ⚽
- Maruzen Junkudo Bookstore Theater 📚 (@junkudo_net) April 7, 2022
🏆Grand Prize "Looking for Diego" Chizuru Fujisaka Garciahttps://t.co/fAo9mIm9La
🏆Special Prize
FC Bayern Trajectory."https://t.co/4Ab30akG7F
ULTRAShttps://t.co/RLtRGq7C9G
The three books are the winners of the award. Congratulations 🎊 pic.twitter.com/vCLWvHNecx
Let's take a quick look at the book.
Dramatic drama, star players, brilliant techniques and tactics.
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In the stands behind the goal, there are vast numbers of people who are enthusiastic about soccer games for reasons quite different from these general purposes.
It is the "ultras" that created today's subculture.
They have filled stadiums around the world with smoke and angry shouts of smoke bombs, but we know nothing about these alien fans -- as much as we know anything about them.
The author, James Montague, has been featured on our blog before.The Billionaires Soccer Club.He is also the author of
This is an excellent nonfiction work that gives us an insight into the relationship between Russian oligarch Abramovich and Chelsea, as well as how billionaires in various other countries reign over the soccer business.
In this work, "ULTRAS," the author also reports on the reality of the situation in various countries around the world and intertwines it with history.
Preface Croatia
Part I. Los Primeros Incha (first supporter)
Chapter 1: Uruguay: Floated by Fever, Original Scene of Patient Zero
Chapter 2 Argentina: Boca, the President, and the Man Who Manipulated Maradona
Chapter 3: Brazil The Moment Samba Began to Flow in the StadiumsPart II: No Name, No Face
Chapter 4: The Emperor of Darkness Continues to Reign in Italy's Carcio
Chapter 5: Serbia Young men who went straight from the stadium to the battlefield
Chapter 6: Greece & Macedonia What is the True Goal of PAOK's Heroes?
Chapter 7: Albania & Kosovo: Days Spent with the Mastermind of the Drone IncidentPart III: Resisting Modern Soccer
Chapter 8: The Future of the Far-Right Forces Behind Ukraine's Democratic Revolution
Chapter 9 Germany: The Bundesliga as an Ideological Struggle
Chapter 10: Welcome to Sweden Soccer's Version of "Fight ClubPart 4: A New World
Chapter 11: Turkey: Suppress and Use Soccer
Chapter 12 Egypt & North Africa: The Songs and Hopes Left Behind by My Friend Amal
Chapter 13 Indonesia Never fall down. If you fall, you will die.
Chapter 14 The United States: The Future of Ultras blooms in the New ContinentEnd of Chapter Extra Time: Divided Lights and Darkness and Soccer's New Enemies
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As you can see in this table of contents, the coverage of each country around the world is quite extensive.
And it was also the situation in Russia and Ukraine that led me to pick up this work, "ULTRAS".
As you can see in the table of contents above, there is a close connection between the 2014 Ukrainian Democratic Revolution (Maidan Revolution) and soccer.
As for the Maidan Revolution, I learned more about its course in Andrei Kurkov's "Ukrainian Diary," which I have previously introduced.
What I found particularly interesting in the book was that "what started out as a peaceful protest action soon became more and more dangerous as armed militants appeared.
Who are these "radical activists" and where did they come from?
I had such a question lingering in my mind, but when I read "ULTRAS" I thought, "I see! I was so glad to read "ULTRAS".
I had no idea that soccer supporters would be involved there!
You can also learn more about the Azov Battalion, which is often mentioned in the news, in this book. This one is also closely connected to the Ukrainian ultras (radical supporters).
It is hard to imagine in Japan, but we are forced to witness that soccer has such strong political ties. It was very interesting to learn about the background of such radical supporters.
The translator, Masayuki Tanabe, states in his afterword
This book is a must for those who enjoy good documentaries, or who are interested not only in soccer, but also in the connections between sports and politics, economics, and even cultural theory.
However, the actual situation that is revealed is so far removed from the situation in Japan.
This is not a question of which is better or worse. It is often said that soccer is a mirror of society. And as an island nation, Japan is not well versed in world affairs, and we have not been willing to look outside of our own country.
As long as you live in Japan, you do not need to go out of your way to know the harsh reality of other countries. In fact, it is better to live a peaceful and happy life.
Nevertheless, I translated this book because "it is better to know than not to know.
The world has become smaller and the firestorms have come directly from the fires on the other side of the river. As the coronavirus disaster has made clear, Japan, which seems peaceful and secure, has many problems, such as low transparency in the decision-making process, withholding of information, inefficiency due to bureaucracy, and lack of independence of the media. The chronic disease that lurks in this country is also common to the situations of the other countries introduced in this book.
It is said that a fool learns from his own experience and a wise man learns from the experience of others, but the willingness to learn from the experience of others is never wasted.
Kanzen, James Montague, translated by Masayuki Tanabe, ULTRAS The World's Deadliest Journey Behind the Goal, p. 531-532.
This book is a must for anyone who enjoys a good documentary, or who is interested not only in soccer, but also in the connections between sports, politics, economics, and even cultural theory."
I agree exactly.
I found this work very stimulating, questioning the why of society and history through its radical supporters. There are many quite surprising things in the book.
I also had a strong interest in the Yugoslav conflict, so I really appreciated the detailed description of that as well.
Currently, we are being inundated with a flood of information about Russia and Ukraine through the media. However, I think it is very important to look into the situation from a different point of view, apart from the information that is flooding in, and ask, "What does it really mean what they say on TV?
I think this work is very significant because it allows us to see the world from a different perspective, that of soccer.
This work offers a glimpse into the unknown world of "radical supporters and international politics around the world! I highly recommend this book!
This is "J. Montague's ULTRAS: The Journey Behind the World's Deadliest Goal, a shocking book that gives a different perspective on the situation in Ukraine! The book is a shocking book that will give you a different perspective on the situation in Ukraine!
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