{"product_id":"9781472917584","title":"Gilbert : The Last Years of WG Grace","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eGilbert\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Charlie Connelly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are few more instantly recognizable figures from any era or walk of life than W. G. Grace. With his enormous height, beer-barrel girth, and immense beard he was--and remains--a caricaturist's dream. Arguably the finest and most influential cricketer who ever lived and one of the first true celebrities, Grace became a persona rather than a person, racking up unprecedented amounts of runs and wickets, while slowly vanishing behind an increasing swirl of myth and apocrypha.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  In the year that marks the centenary of Grace's death, Charlie Connelly charts the final years of Grace's life--from his fiftieth birthday celebrations in 1898 to his death at the age of sixty-seven in 1915--through the eyes of Grace himself. In an unusual take on this most eminent Victorian and extraordinary pioneering sportsman, Connelly draws on contemporary documents and accounts to imagine Grace's progress through his final years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Combining facts and imagination, \u003ci\u003eGilbert\u003c\/i\u003e is an affectionate and beautifully written account of the Champion's later life that comes closer than ever before to giving a sense of the real W. G. Grace behind the mythology--the perennially childlike soul saddled with the weight of genius.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  To the public, he was The Doctor, The Champion, and W. G., but to those who knew him best, he was simply Gilbert. This is a book about Gilbert.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A small book of uncomplicated brilliance.” —\u003ci\u003eCricketer on ELK STOPPED PLAY\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An enchanting treasure trove of anecdotes and uncommonly fine travel writing.” —\u003ci\u003eAlloutcricket on ELK STOPPED PLAY\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781472917584\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Wisden","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40595716669646,"sku":"9781472917584","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_2117e815-975b-4f5d-b221-9a862dc559cd.jpg?v=1637839763","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781472917584","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}