David Peace, author of the best-selling Red Riding Quartet and The Damned Utd, introduces his second football novel, an epic portrait of the life and career of the legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly. He explains the appeal of the beautiful game, why he's not afraid to repeat himself, and why he has chosen to write about England from a home in Japan.
Some reviewers have questioned whether Red or Dead would fall into the gap between readers and sports fans, so we find out from festival-goers what sort of sports books they read. Plus, we talk to cricketer turned radio commentator Jonathan Agnew about his new anthology of a hundred years of cricket writing.
Reading list:
Red of Dead by David Peace (Faber)
Cricket: A Modern Anthology by Jonathan Agnew
