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Ultra
- Narrated by: Adam Bromley
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
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Ultra
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Summary
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.
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What listeners say about Ultra
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 02-10-19
And I thought Ultras were just hardcore Italian fans..
As the author highlights this is not a book about football - but he provides a remarkable explanation of how deeply Ultras are embedded into Italian society. The Roman equivalent of Green Street this is not! Depressingly, menace and violence is never more than a few seconds away- and this is a very long book - but throw in political extremism of all types, racism, religion and (less frequently) morality and you get an idea of the depth of this book. Absolutely remarkable - so comprehensive and well researched. The length of the book is a challenge but Tobias continues to add so much “evidence” that reinforces his explanation as to how embedded Ultras are in Italian society. Hardcore fans they may be - but football is presented as being incidental rather than integral! Frankly - good luck Italy, your challenges run deep! Great achievement from Tobias, well narrated by Adam.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 09-10-19
Interesting insight into the Ultra world
Well narrated insight into the Ultra world on and off the terraces and around the cities in Italy.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr S J Marczycha
- 22-02-22
Deep insight
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.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Paul Flannigan
- 08-06-23
Incredible book.
The best book I’ve ever read on this subject. An absolute must for football fans and anyone else for that matter.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 23-06-21
Excellent
For anyone who has an interest in football, fandom, politics, Italy, fanaticism or the curious nature of the most vociferous groups...have a read/listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- James Erwin
- 15-03-21
Engrossing, Peculiar, Well Worth It
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!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Rossano Nocera
- 01-04-21
Brilliant listen & read
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.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Declan Boyle
- 18-11-23
Well researched
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
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 20-10-22
Great
Really enjoyed it. Very informative with a delve into the ultra movement of the past
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Marc
- 27-06-23
One of the best Audio Books I’ve listened to!
Amazing work, really interesting journey through the last 30 odd years of Italian culture!
Interesting to see what the author does next, he has gained a new fan here!
Brilliant 🤩
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