Amazing Grace

The cricketer W. G. Grace is instantly recognisable as an icon of the Victorian age, if only by virtue of his impossibly bushy beard, but as Richard Tomlinson emphasises in this terrifically readable biography, he was, in his time, at the cutting edge of modernity. Grace dominated the game to an extent matched later only by Australian Donald Bradman and was the word's first sporting superstar -- Simon Shaw * Mail on Sunday * My biography of the year . . . a revelatory study of the giant who remains cricket's most iconic figure -- Tom Holland * Evening Standard * Scrupulously researched and well written -- Simon Heffer * New Statesman * Industrious, witty, insightful, this biography ought to be the standard work on W.G. for years to come -- Sam Kitchener * Independent * 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 * A compelling book that uncovers a man as complex and contrary as any in Victorian society * Mail on Sunday * 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 * 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 * Richard Tomlinson's magnificent biography of sport's first global superstar -- Jim White * Daily Telegraph *