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Ultra

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Ultra

By: Tobias Jones
Narrated by: Adam Bromley
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About this listen

Italy's ultras are the most organised and violent fans in European football. Many groups have evolved into criminal gangs, involved in ticket-touting, drug-dealing and murder. A cross between the Hells Angels and hooligans, they're often the foot-soldiers of the Mafia and have been instrumental in the rise of the far-right. But the purist ultras say that they are insurgents fighting against a police state and modern football.

Only amongst the ultras, they say, can you find belonging, community and a sacred concept of sport. They champion not just their teams, they say, but their forgotten suburbs and the dispossessed. Through the prism of the ultras Jones crafts a compelling investigation into Italian society and its favourite sport.

He writes about not just the ultras of some of Italy's biggest clubs - Juventus, Torino, Lazio, Roma and Genoa - but also about its lesser-known ones from Cosenza and Catania. He examines the sinister side of football fandom, with its violence and political extremism, but also admires the passion, wit, solidarity and style of a fascinating and contradictory subculture.

©2019 Tobias Jones (P)2019 Head of Zeus Crime Football (Soccer) Organized Crime True Crime Sports Italy Thought-Provoking

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All stars
Most relevant
Tobias manages to really get to the heart of the ultra with his time at Cosenza - far beyond the headlines and usual journalistic castigation of the ultras. Not to say they are not very unsavoury characters at times. The Cosenza stories, interspersed with other tales from around Italy over the decades make for a good balance. Really enjoyed it.

Deep insight

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A fantastic insight into the not only the importance of football to a community and it's people but an education Into the italian way of life and society.

fascinating and enjoyable

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Fantastic book - fascinating context, great anecdotes. Sometimes haunting, sometimes sad, sometimes infuriating. Always interesting.

My only small criticism of the audiobook was the narrator’s chosen pronunciation of “Serie A”. Seemed curious to mix the Italian and English in that case - particularly as most listeners will be familiar with it as “Serie Ah”

Didn’t ruin it by any stretch but worth bringing up!

Engrossing, Peculiar, Well Worth It

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I’d read this book when it came out, as I’m a massive fan of Tobias’ writings.
It’s a great read, but I’d say the audible version is an even better listen!
The narrator really brings the characters to life and the narration flows along so smoothly.

Brilliant listen & read

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This book is really well researched and gives a shocking insight into the world of the ultra’s.. I found the recording quality was a little muffled, not enough to put me off listening to it, it’s just not crystal clear but it’s definitely listenable .. don’t let that put you off it’s very good

Well researched

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