MANCHESTER'S FINEST.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1.] FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,matt,contemporary coloured photographic illustrated dw/dj panels with brown,black and red lettering; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no major nicks or tears present.Majority of light creasing is to top edges and top two corners.Top+fore-edges with light ageing/toning and a couple of light marks - but generally bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips, appears unread - apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked brown ink letters to spine/ backstrip and immaculate reproduction coloured football team photographic illustrated endpapers.UK,8vo HB+ dw/dj,1st edn,xpp+1-355pp [paginated] includes acknowledgements,a prologue,14 chapters and victim's & survivors list,picture acknowledgements,and an index,16pp contemporary historical and autobiographical b/w photographs in 2 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp86/7 and pp262/3 respectively; plus [unpaginated] half-title+ title pages,a dedication,a contents list/table with b/w photograph (stopped clock at time of air crash) to it's reverse and 2pp blanks at the rear.
On 6 February 1958,British European Airways flight 609 crashed in a blizzard on its third attempt to take off from an icy runway in Munich.On board were the Manchester United football team,returning from their 3-3 draw against Red Star Belgrade,as well as a number of journalists and other passengers.Twenty-three of the forty-four passengers and crew aboard died in the crash.News of the disaster sent shockwaves around the world.For people who lived in Manchester at that time and for football fans throughout Britain it was one of those moments,like Kennedy's assassination,when everybody remembers exactly where they were and how they heard the terrible news. Manchester United,nicknamed the 'Busby Babes' after their manager,Matt Busby,were the leading team of the day.Seven of their players were killed instantly in the crash - Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne,Eddie Colman,Mark Jones,Dsavid Pegg,Tommy Taylor and Liam Whelan.Three weeks later Duncan Edwards,one of the most promising players ever to come out of England,lost his battle for life.Two other players - Jackie Blanchflower and Johnny Berry - were so severely injured that they were never able to play again. 'Manchester's Finest' tells of this terrible air crash,but it is also the story of the immediate aftermath of the disaster and its effect on the city of Manchester.David Hall's poignant and very personal memoir remembers a season long gone,when a patched-up team,carried along on a great wave of emotion, came to embody the heart and soul of a great city. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!
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