Amazing Grace: The Man Who Was W.G.

Description

On a sunny afternoon in May 1868, nineteen-year-old Gilbert Grace stood in a Wiltshire field, wondering why he was playing cricket against the Great Western Railway Club. A batting genius, 'W. G.' should have been starring at Lord's in the grand opening match of the season. But MCC did not want to elect this humble son of a provincial doctor. W. G's career was faltering before it had barely begun. Grace finally forced his way into MCC and over the next three decades, millions came to watch him - not just at Lord's, but across the British Empire and beyond. Only W. G. could boast a fan base that stretched from an American Civil War general and the Prince of Wales's mistress to the children who fingered his coat-tails as he walked down the street, just to say 'I touched him'. The public never knew the darker story behind W. G.'s triumphal progress. Accused of avarice, W. G. was married to the daughter of a bankrupt. Disparaged as a simpleton, his subversive mind recast how to play sport - thrillingly hard, pushing the rules, beating his opponents his own way. In Amazing Grace, Richard Tomlinson unearths a life lived so far ahead of his times that W. G. is still misunderstood today.
For the first time, Tomlinson delves into long-buried archives in England and Australia to reveal the real W. G: a self-made, self-destructive genius, at odds with the world and himself.

Awards

Long-listed for Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year Award 2016.

Reviews

Richard Tomlinson's magnificent biography of sport's first global superstar -- Jim White Daily Telegraph Amazing Grace is a fluently written study, imbued with humour and sympathy, that yields many insights as well as much pleasure -- David Kynaston Daily Telegraph What makes [Tomlinson's] book so refreshing is that he is entirely clear-sighted about his subject's foibles ... [he] effectively conveys the sheer competitive drive that made him so successful ... offers some intriguing glimpses of the anxieties that made him stay so long and probably made him such a great player ... [Grace] emerges from this book as Ian Botham, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Gascoigne and David Beckham rolled into one: a symbol not just of Victorian England, but of sport itself -- Dominic Sandbrook Sunday Times A compelling book that uncovers a man as complex and contrary as any in Victorian society Mail on Sunday It's a pleasure to read a biography as thoughtful and assiduous as Richard Tomlinson's ... Tomlinson clearly likes [Grace] as well as revering him, and so did I after finishing this lovingly crafted piece of work -- Markus Berkmann Daily Mail Industrious, witty, insightful, this biography ought to be the standard work on W.G. for years to come -- Sam Kitchener Independent Scrupulously researched and well written -- Simon Heffer New Statesman My biography of the year ... a revelatory study of the giant who remains cricket's most iconic figure -- Tom Holland Evening Standard