Brilliant Orange

Book excerpt: A look at the history of soccer’s development in the Netherlands and how it reflects the history of the nation itself. If any one thing, Brilliant Orange is about Dutch space and a people whose unique conception of it has led to the most enduring arts, the weirdest architecture, and a bizarrely cerebral form of soccer?Total Football?that led in 1974 to a World Cup finals match with arch-rival Germany, and more recently to a devastating loss against Spain in 2010. With its intricacy and oddity, it continues to mystify and delight observers around the world. As David Winner wryly observes, it is an expression of the Dutch psyche that has a shared ancestry with Mondrian’s “Broadway Boogie Woogie,” Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch,” and maybe even with Gouda cheese. “Easily the best book on soccer I have read in a long while. . . . Every American following the World Cup ought to read it.” —Columbus Dispatch “One of those strangely informative books that will . . . entertain those who have little interest in either soccer or the Netherlands.” —The Economist “Wry, obsessional, digressive, deep. . . . This is football as art, metaphor, and cultural signifier.” —The Guardian “A fascinating exploration of how national politics can be transported into the sports arena.” —Chicago Tribune “A brilliant, thorough, utterly mad book, the product of the most admirable sort of enthusiasm: total. You like soccer, you don’t like soccer, it doesn’t matter. If you think of yourself as a serious fan, if you want to continue on the path towards enlightenment and take your devotion to another level, you’d best check out the standard being set here.” — ESPN.com