{"title":"Simon Freeman","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"rinkagate-book-simon-freeman-9780747533399","title":"Rinkagate","description":"At 2:34pm on Friday 22 June 1979, the jurors in what had been billed as \"The Trial of the Century\" filed into Number One Court at the Old Bailey to deliver the verdict on the Rt Hon Jeremy Thorpe, Privy Counsellor, the former MP for North Devon and ex-leader of the Liberal Party. For 30 days, the nine men and three women of the jury had listened, opened-mouthed, like the rest of the country and many millions abroad, as prosecution lawyers tried to prove that Thorpe and three other men had recruited an airline pilot called Andrew Newton to kill Norman Scott, a former male model who claimed that he had once been Thorpe's lover. It had been an extraordinary trial. The star witnesses were Scott, Peter Bessell, a former Liberal MP and failed businessman who had once been Thorpe's confidant, and Newton, who had shot Scott's dog, a Great Dane bitch called Rinka, but failed to murder Scott as ordered. Mr Justice Cantley, the judge, was not impressd with these witnesses and made it clear that, if there was any justice, they should have been in the dock.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49515927765265,"sku":"GOR001307322","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50189597311249,"sku":"GOR001545213","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50298474692881,"sku":"GOR006332541","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0747533393.jpg?v=1751263963"},{"product_id":"baghdad-fc-book-simon-freeman-9780719567957","title":"Baghdad FC","description":"With the fall of Iraq in 2003, the despotic reign of Uday Hussein, Saddam's son and sports minister, came to an end. For 19 years he had arrested, tortured and murdered footballers, athletes, officials and journalists, thrashing players with cables and forcing them to kick concrete balls until they doubled up in pain. The world of international sport made only occasional, feeble attempts to investigate the allegations of brutality. Yet against these odds, the Iraqi national team has long ranked in the world's top 40.Key to Iraq's footballing success is the story of Ammo Baba, the Arab world's Pele or Stanley Matthews, whose playing and coaching career spans 50 years. As Uday was jailing players and fixing matches, Ammo was seen by some as a national hero for his defiance; for others, he was too loyal to the regime.Ammo will be one of the many characters that Simon Freeman befriends and follows as he uncovers a half-century of triumph and tragedy, together with officials, players and sports journalists involved with the game they loved under the yoke of totalitarianism. He also assesses the team at the 2004 Olympics and in the run-up to the Asian and World Cups.What is the destiny of Iraq's game in a post-Saddam world, where the US military park its tanks on the national stadium","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49519417098513,"sku":"GOR001709871","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0719567955.jpg?v=1750784841"},{"product_id":"rinkagate-book-simon-freeman-9780747529798","title":"Rinkagate","description":"At 2:34pm on Friday 22 June 1979, the jurors in what had been billed as \"The Trial of the Century\" filed into Number One Court at the Old Bailey to deliver the verdict on the Rt Hon Jeremy Thorpe, Privy Counsellor, the former MP for North Devon and ex-leader of the Liberal Party. For 30 days, the nine men and three women of the jury had listened, opened-mouthed, like the rest of the country and many millions abroad, as prosecution lawyers tried to prove that Thorpe and three other men had recruited an airline pilot called Andrew Newton to kill Norman Scott, a former male model who claimed that he had once been Thorpe's lover. It had been an extraordinary trial. The star witnesses were Scott, Peter Bessell, a former Liberal MP and failed businessman who had once been Thorpe's confidant, and Newton, who had shot Scott's dog, a Great Dane bitch called Rinka, but failed to murder Scott as ordered. Mr Justice Cantley, the judge, was not impressd with these witnesses and made it clear that, if there was any justice, they should have been in the dock. He was rather more charitable to Thorpe, whom he suggested should have been leading the nation rather than enduring the inconvenience of a trial, and to David Holmes, Thorpe's homosexual friend from his days at Oxford. Cantley indicated to the jury that, perhaps, Holmes and the others had tried to frighten Scott but said there was no proof that Thorpe was even involved in that limited conspiracy. After 52 hours' discussion they returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty. This work seeks to tell the true story of how Norman Scott, a penniless neurotic who loved animals more than people, destroyed Jeremy Thrope, the charismatic and wise-cracking leader of the Liberal Party who was a secret homosexual. It is a scandal of post-war British politics but above all, it is about the revenge of Scott on Thorpe, the man whom he could not forgive for abandoning him. Set against the backdrop of Westminster, the West Country, the Caribbean and California, this is the story of a cover-up and the drama of idealism and cynicism in the media, of political chicanery, and of police obstruction. It is based on almost 100 interviews and contains collaboration with Barrie Penrose, who was one half of the \"Pencourt\" team who investigated the story in the 1970s.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49554318229777,"sku":"GOR003875367","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50303810994449,"sku":"GOR003541390","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50358622028049,"sku":"CIN0747529795G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51885757104401,"sku":"GOR012446300","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0747529795.jpg?v=1750848326"},{"product_id":"baghdad-fc-book-simon-freeman-9780719567940","title":"Baghdad FC","description":"With the fall of Iraq in 2003, the despotic reign of Uday Hussein, Saddam's son and sports minister, came to an end. For 19 years he had arrested, tortured and murdered footballers, athletes, officials and journalists, thrashing players with cables and forcing them to kick concrete balls until they doubled up in pain. The world of international sport made only occasional, feeble attempts to investigate the allegations of brutality. Yet against these odds, the Iraqi national team has long ranked in the world's top 40.Key to Iraq's footballing success is the story of Ammo Baba, the Arab world's Pele or Stanley Matthews, whose playing and coaching career spans 50 years. As Uday was jailing players and fixing matches, Ammo was seen by some as a national hero for his defiance; for others, he was too loyal to the regime.Ammo will be one of the many characters that Simon Freeman befriends and follows as he uncovers a half-century of triumph and tragedy, together with officials, players and sports journalists involved with the game they loved under the yoke of totalitarianism. He also assesses the team at the 2004 Olympics and in the run-up to the Asian and World Cups.What is the destiny of Iraq's game in a post-Saddam world, where the US military park its tanks on the national stadium?","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49591778083089,"sku":"GOR001641223","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53047336730897,"sku":"GOR002178541","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0719567947.jpg?v=1751041616"},{"product_id":"own-goal-book-simon-freeman-9780752818696","title":"Own Goal!","description":"Own Goal! will send a blast through British Football which will strip the game bare and expose the corruption, egotism and greed which is destroying our national game at every level.  Own Goal! will be a rallying call and a manifesto to the fans to save the game they love. Written by Simon Freeman, former deputy editor of The Sunday Times Insight team, British Press Awards, 1994. Feature Writer of the Year and rabid football fan, this book will be part personal, based on nearly half a century of watching the game at all levels, from Brighton and Hove Albion Reserves versus Doncaster Reserves on a November night to World Cup Finals in Spain and Italy. It will describe how the sport has evolved - from being grimy and bankrupt to super-rich and ultra-fashionable. It will ask the question: 'what is the state of football today?' It will argue that the fans are being conned: the sport has formed an immoral alliance with the media, especially television, and big business and that sooner or later the fans will realise that the game they love is being stolen from them. The book will be a cocktail of personal reminiscences and polemic, supported by interviews with fans, managers, players, directors, agents, authors and the many others, some who have grown rich through football and truly believe the only way forward is the 'Baseball Model', and some who believe that money is the root of all football's troubles.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49625223266577,"sku":"GOR002019076","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49988800184593,"sku":"GOR005177915","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0752818694.jpg?v=1751432259"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-simon-freeman.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}