I asked for and duly received this for Christmas. About two-thirds of the way through reading it, I was looking through the bookshelves at home and guess what? I found another copy! Not only did I have it, I had already read "Arsenal: The Making of a Modern Superclub". So either it was not very memorable first go round, or my memory is shot (after all memory is the second thing to go...).The book is faintly memorable. It does a fine job of digging into some of the boardroom shenanigans, especially the ouster of David Dein but sheds little light on the motives of Stan Kroenke or the other fat Russian (Arshavin was the first). A lot of the subject matter has been well covered on the blogs such as Arseblog, A Cultured Left Foot, Arsenal News Review and the Guardian's excellent football section and is not very revealing.
I would like to have seen a little more devoted to the onfield success - what Arsenal fan cannot get enough of the Invincibles 2003-04? But why was team broken up so quickly? And why did Wenger take Pires off in the 2005 Champions League Final, thereby practically condemning Arsenal to a loss?
Nonetheless, it is required reading for Gooners and maybe even some ardent fans of the game would find it interesting. I mailed my extra copy to a friend in Connecticut - a fair-weather Arsenal fan who has been making noises about transferring his allegiance to Chelsea. I know, awful. I am hopeful "Arsenal: The Making of a Modern Superclub" will help him keep the faith.
Grade: B-
