For the Glory

Author Duncan Hamilton
Narrator Nicholas Guy Smith
Publisher Transworld
Publish Date 10 May 2016
Run Time 13 hours and 37 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Biography and non-fiction prose, Biography: general, Biography: historical, political and military, Biography: sport, Olympic and Paralympic games, Sports and Active outdoor recreation.

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What to expect

Eric Liddell was as close to a saint as any man in modern history has been. Renowned for his athletic prowess, it was also his deeply entrenched values that set him apart from the crowd. These qualities were never better illustrated than in the 1924 Paris Olympics when, having declined his place in the 100 metres owing to the fact that the race was run on a Sunday, he produced an astonishing performance to win gold in the 400 metres, and captured the hearts of the world.

Liddell was immortalised in the Oscar-winning Chariots of Fire, but that film barely scratched the surface of his life (as well as being economical with the facts). It was China, where he had grown up, that was Liddell's passion, and his zeal was to improve the lot of its most unfortunate people, in a time of terrible violence and danger, when the country lay under the brutal hand of the invading Japanese army. He was literally on a mission, a force for good in the world.

For the Glory takes the reader from Liddell the fastest man on the planet, through Liddell the man with a higher purpose, to Liddell when he had to be stronger than all around him, detained in an internment camp under terrible conditions, when he became the moral centre of an otherwise unbearable world. Liddell would make the ultimate sacrifice, but the story of his life continues to inspire generation after generation, from all walks of life.

This is the story of a true hero of our times.

Critics Review

For the Glory is wonderful: painstakingly researched, intelligently structured and written with flair. In an Olympic year, it is fitting that an Olympic tale should be the most uplifting.

Daily Telegraph, Sports Books of the Year

Eric Liddell deserves a definitive biography. This is it.

Sunday Times, Sports Books of the Year

Absorbing… in an age when sport is riddled with corruption, vanity and petty rage, Liddell’s story is timely. However, the real theme is faith and providence rather than fame and proving oneself. A story about religious belief could be dry fare, but Liddell is too good a subject and Hamilton too deft a guide to let that happen… He is one of the great sportsmen of the 20th century purely because he knew sport’s place.

The Times

Eric Liddell’s athletic prowess was immortalised in Chariots of Fire. But Duncan Hamilton offers a more detailed and equally engrossing insight into one of Britain’s great sporting heroes in this compelling new biography. For the Glory is in turn triumphant, harrowing, moving yet ultimately uplifting. It also cements the status of Hamilton, twice-winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, as the doyen of biographical sports writing.

Daily Express

Duncan Hamilton’s compelling biography puts flesh on the legend and paints a vivid picture of not only a great athlete, but also a very special human being.

Daily Mail, Book of the Week

Superb… Liddell was a saint whose death was the result of following an exemplary life. It is usually an insult to describe a work as hagiography but in Liddell’s case there may be no other way to tell his story.

Sunday Telegraph

While its descriptions of sporting greatness are worth savouring, For the Glory is most of all an inspiring portrait of a good man. Duncan Hamilton’s achievement is to disarm cynics in his measured and memorable account. He brings to life an unparalleled athlete, but more importantly, an inspirational man.

TLS

The triumph of Duncan Hamilton’s moving, inspiring book is not that it covers brilliantly an exhilarating, unlikely sporting career. It does all this, of course, as Hamilton has fine form, being a double winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. His finer achievement though, is to give a sense of a good man. It is the most sincere of tributes. Hamilton makes Liddell unforgettable for what he did, how he lived and how he loved.

The Herald

Gripping… an uplifting story of a truly decent man, his athletic prowess and his unwavering faith. Read it.

Oldham Evening Chronicle

Hamilton sets out to reveal the man behind the movie (and that indelible song) and he certainly succeeds.

Washington Post

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