Alfredo Di Stéfano, Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Juan Román Riquelme, Lionel Messi . . . Argentina has produced some of the greatest footballers of all time. But the rich, volatile history of Argentinian football is made up of both the sublime and the ruthlessly pragmatic. Jonathan Wilson, having lived there on and off during the last decade, is ideally placed to chart the sport's development in a country that, perhaps more than any other, lives and breathes football, its theories and its myths.

'Simultaneously epic and intimate, this is a magisterial work: not just a history of Argentinian football, but a history of Argentina' Tom Holland

'People who like football like Brazil; people who love it love Argentina. This is essential, enthralling reading about the world's most intriguing, most important football culture' Rory Smith