Hell for Leather
On sale
6th November 2014
Price: £19.99
Hurling’s appeal has never been stronger. Redefined in the past decade by a great Kilkenny team, rejuvenated by Clare’s 2013 All-Ireland coup and re-energised by Dublin’s grassroots’ revolution, the game exerts an obsessive grip on players and followers alike.
The achievements of modern teams and players are constantly weighed against those of old, and Hell for Leather chronicles hurling’s evolution from the fragile beginnings of the 1880s through to the current era. It takes a new look at the epic teams that saw Tipperary, Cork and Kilkenny become ‘the big three’, and also traces the emergence of Wexford, Limerick, Laois, Clare, Dublin, Galway, Waterford and Offaly as contenders. It highlights the matches that made legends of the great players and analyses how the swashbuckling hurling of old has given way into a tactically nuanced game that commands global respect for its showpiece occasions.
Hell for Leather is an unforgettable journey to the heart of a sport that, at its finest, can truly claim to be the greatest game on the planet.
The achievements of modern teams and players are constantly weighed against those of old, and Hell for Leather chronicles hurling’s evolution from the fragile beginnings of the 1880s through to the current era. It takes a new look at the epic teams that saw Tipperary, Cork and Kilkenny become ‘the big three’, and also traces the emergence of Wexford, Limerick, Laois, Clare, Dublin, Galway, Waterford and Offaly as contenders. It highlights the matches that made legends of the great players and analyses how the swashbuckling hurling of old has given way into a tactically nuanced game that commands global respect for its showpiece occasions.
Hell for Leather is an unforgettable journey to the heart of a sport that, at its finest, can truly claim to be the greatest game on the planet.
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Reviews
The book is trying to give a broad flavour of how hurling has evolved through the years. In that it gloriously succeeds. Never has the history of the game been more accessible or fun
If the past is to be mined for today's entertainment, then Ronnie Bellew and Dermot Crowe, the authors of Hell for Leather, have come up with a perfect show