'Follow We Will' Book Launch

[Frankie 8,562]

Yes, please do post a review mate and I'll put it on the main site. Be as critical as you like...

 

I meant to PM you to supply you with a review copy a couple of weeks back but things have been very hectic. Apologies but at least the charity benefits!

[ian1964 10,721]

Anybody from gersnet not read this book yet?,also how many copies have been sold?

[Bluedell 5,624]

I've downloaded it but not read it yet.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

i haven't started it yet but my copy is right here.

[26th of foot 6,082]

I have read said tome, it's a thought provoking experience. I will reread the book, then keep it handy to dip into on a regular basis. Any momentum must be exploited, I hope a second, and third are planned?

Edited August 29, 2013 by 26th of foot

[amms 0]

I hope to write a review of it this weekend, family and work (and Frankie!) allowing.

[stewarty 2,025]

I'm about 75% through the book. Its been really good so far.

[bluebear54 0]

I'm also a about 75% through. It's a surprisingly readable book. So far it's been very well put together and well written. It hasn't brought out any significant detail that I was t already aware of but great to have the reference where it all sits in one place.

Of course, it will be deemed irrelevant by some as being opinionated rubbish by biased supporters by some but that's today's environment.

Reading it on the bus and don't half get some looks at times.

[amms 0]

I wrote a review of Follow We Will which Frankie has added to the website. Great book, give it a read.

http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/latest/book-reviews/162-book-review-follow-we-will-the-fall-and-rise-of-rangers

 

The phrase ‘history is written by the victors’ is one of the great mis-attributed quotes of our time. Widely credited to Winston Churchill, its origins are actually unknown. Not only is its origin usually mistaken, but its accuracy is wanting, too. History is littered with events where the narrative differs widely depending whose version you read. The search for the truth is often subjective and far from impartial but that, of course, does not make it any less truthful.

 

The story of the Vietnam War, for example, is almost always told from an American viewpoint. Whilst it could be argued the Americans didn’t lose that war they certainly did not win it. Similarly most of us are familiar with the celebrated against-the-odds British victory at Rorke’s Drift, yet how many of us are aware of the absolute pasting the British forces took the day before from the Zulu army during the battle of Isandlwana which led to the siege in the first place? The reality of history is that it’s the people who control the media that set the story and that is why ‘Follow We Will; The Fall and Rise of Rangers’ is both a timely and important book.

 

Don’t be misled into thinking this book is an attack on the Scottish media; it’s not, indeed two of its best chapters are written by Scottish journalists. It is an attempt to tell the story of Rangers over the last couple of years through the eyes of those who were affected most by it, the victims if you like. It contains thirteen chapters, an introduction and two forewords. Its contributors come from different walks of life and each tells a different strand of the story, and those strands weave together to create the overall tapestry, the big picture.

 

Chronologically it ends towards the culmination of season 2012/13 and whilst it focuses heavily on the last 18 months or so it touches on other periods too. Iain Duff’s experiences, both formatively in the late 70's and early 80's through to his eventual disillusionment with football a couple of years ago resonated with my own and Gail Richardson’s chapter on the reaction of other club’s supporters to our plight mirrored my personal thoughts too, only in a far more coherent and engaging way.

 

That’s one of the great things about the book, you hear your own voice echoing back to you from many of its pages.

 

Some of the contributors will be familiar to Rangers supporters who choose to follow the online discourse on the club that ebbs and flows through many websites, messageboards and social media platforms. Chris Graham for example has proved to be an assured and forceful voice who has publicly articulated many of the frustrations felt by a support whose impotence was rendered absolute during the Administration period. He contributes two chapters, one of which focuses on the media reporting, and he remains sure-footed on a subject he’s made his own. John DC Gow adds much needed context to how Rangers, and more specifically their support, seem have become some sort of pariah in Scottish society and a convenient scapegoat for many. It’s an important contribution, well written, balanced and well researched.

 

It is unfair to single any chapter out because all are thoroughly readable and are fine contributions; but I’m going to anyway. Alasdair McKillop’s chapter is as fine a piece of writing on modern football as you’ll find. Whilst its focus is Rangers its tenor is broader and relevant to anyone who loves the sport in this country. His line “Has football destroyed the best of itself by allowing capitalism to triumph over community?” is a question all football supporters should ask themselves. Likewise Herald writer Richard Wilson’s final chapter is tremendous and should be read by all supporters. That it’s even more relevant today than it was several months ago when first written simply shows how prescient it is.

 

I write this in the week it’s being reported that Gareth Bale, an undoubtedly talented player, is being bought for a new world record fee. Our entire club was bought for £5.5 million, less than one fifteenth of what a single Welshman who has never won a medal in his career will cost. Something is far wrong.

 

As the book points out, something is indeed far wrong, or at least was. However this book is not just a wake: it’s also a celebration. For out of the adversity, the criticism, the stigma and the vitriol that came Rangers way nobility, integrity, togetherness and a collective identity rose above it. This is acknowledged and celebrated in Follow We Will.

 

My quibbles are minor. It has fourteen different contributors and this leads to a change in style and tempo from chapter to chapter that sometimes disrupts the story’s natural arc. The ‘Social Media and the Rangers Ownership Battle’ chapter is deserving of a book of its own, as 14 pages aren’t nearly long enough to do this subject justice. I’d have enjoyed more of the author’s thoughts on this topic rather than what felt like slightly guarded interviews with others. However, social media is picked up by many of the other chapters though so its influence is examined elsewhere. I don’t personally agree with everything that’s suggested in some of the chapters - the ideas on future merchandising and increasing revenue felt unrealistic to me but they are certainly worthy of consideration and exploration, although I’d be surprised if they haven’t been before.

 

The book ends on a positive but cautious note and we’d do well to heed it. The seeds for Rangers’ fall were sown a long time ago when supporters stopped being involved in the running of the club. As this book proves so very well, a football club is nothing without its supporters, and those supporters are a varied and diverse bunch capable of achieving a great deal. That should be embraced by the club, not kept at arms length. An example of some of that latent talent is evident in the pages of Follow We Will, a book that is professional, thought provoking, insightful and balanced, run through with a bond between supporter and club that feels unbreakable.

 

History is all about perspective. The Siege of Sarajevo is recognised as one of the darkest episodes in modern Europe history. It’s estimated that between 12,000 and 15,000 people lost their lives during the four years it endured. Yet I know someone who spent six weeks there during that time. As a photographer with an international news agency he had some experience of war zones but his view that ”it was brilliant, one of the best experiences of my life” took me aback.

 

He explained that professionally he’d had the opportunity to document the city and life there, which he’d found fulfilling. However he further explained that he was one of only 30 or so men in the entire city, the only other males were the very young and the very old since all the others had left to fight. He was basically in a city full of women, NATO had to drag him out screaming and kicking, he was having the time of his life! I don’t imagine too many other people think of it that way.

 

We all have different views on what happened to Rangers, who was to blame and what should happen to them, but at some point we’ll look back on this period and feel differently than we do now. We are living through an enormously important period in the club’s history, arguably the most important since it was founded. An accurate record of this time needs to be kept by all who are involved, not just those paid to fill pages and airtime.

 

‘Follow We Will’ should be an important book in our history. I encourage you to buy it as it articulates a lot of your own thoughts and provides a record of a time none of us believed possible but which we all lived through. This book is in the best traditions of Rangers. A club formed by teenagers for the love of the sport, this is a book written by supporters who love the club. It’s important we know our story, for we are the ones who will pass it on. We can’t rely on others to do it for us. Perhaps we shouldn’t rely on others ever again.

[Frankie 8,562]

Thanks for all the kind comments and constructive criticism guys.

 

Your support really is most appreciated!