Review of 'Flares Up: A Story Bigger than the Atlantic' by Niamh McAnally - Issue 17

An engrossing account of two ordinary men's extraordinary adventure

Happy Labor Day to those in America, happy Monday to the rest of the world. This edition I’m focusing on a new book, Flares Up, written by Niamh McAnally. It’s a gripping, engrossing, emotional book charting two men’s attempt to row across the Atlantic. I also have the usual list of recent and upcoming books to check out.

Next edition I’ll be reviewing upcoming bios of two Auburn sporting (and popular culture) legends - Bo Jackson and Charles Barkley. Happy reading!

'Flares Up: A Story Bigger than the Atlantic' by Niamh McAnally

Flares Up is the story of two ordinary men, Paul Hopkins and Phil Pugh, taking on an extreme challenge to row across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

The story in itself is fascinating - the logistics, the danger, the physical toil it put on both men who were 55 and 65 respectively. But this book is about much more than that. Niamh McAnally met both men just as they finished the challenge and had the foresight to quickly realize that the real story wasn’t what they did but why they did it. Flares Up is a searingly honest examination of this question.

The first half of the book interweaves the build up to the race with the backstory of both Phil and Paul. Through exploring their families, their marriages, their health issues, McAnally seeks to unravel their motivation for undertaking the challenge. As she says in the book, she looks not just for the why they tell others, or even the why they tell themselves, but the real why, the internal, instinctive reasons that propelled them into a tiny boat in the middle of the Atlantic.

The second half of the book recounts the race in the perfect level of detail. Mixed in with insight into the physical challenges and the breathtaking scenery is a heartfelt and at times heartbreaking reflection on the emotional challenge Phil and Paul faced both during, and because of, the journey - due to both the isolation and messages from home.

As an account of an interesting challenge undertaken by two relatively ordinary men this is a very good book, but as an examination of life it is a special one. The honesty of the book results in it being an incredibly gripping reflection on fatherhood, on marriage, on motivation and on passion. On who we chose to spend our time with and why we chose to do so. I can’t recommend this highly enough for anyone looking for a gripping, moving, exciting read.

New Sports Books - What’s out recently or coming out soon?

🏒The Series: What I Remember, What it Felt Like, What it Feels Like Now by Ken Dryden. Former Hockey goalie and author of the classic The Game writes about his memories of the famous 1972 Summit Series (quite a few books on this topic this year but this one is by a participant and great writer!

⚽Made in Argentina, Mastered in Madrid: How Diego Simeone Awakened a Sleeping Giant by Ashwin Reuben Ballal. A look at the tactical approach used by Athletico Madrid under their Argentinian manager.

 ⚽Something in the Water: The Story of England’s Football Talent Hotbeds by Callum Murray

🏈The Hot Seat: A Year of Outrage, Pride, Occasional Games of College Football by Ben Mathis-Lilley. The Slate writer taking a look at college football coaches – the book is ‘about why college football makes people so crazy—and, in a longer nutshell, hypothesizes that it does so because its programs and, especially, their coaches, are representatives of personal and cultural identity and status to a degree that is unlike any other sport in USA”.

⚽The Beautiful Poetry of Football Commentary by Charlie Eccleshare

⚽The Making of the FIFA World Cup: 75 of the Most Memorable, Celebrated, and Shocking Moments in the History of Football’s Greatest Tournament by Jack Davies

🏈The Special Relationship: The History of American Football in the United Kingdom by Andrew Gamble

⚽Over the Line: A History of the England v Germany Football Rivalry by Dr Alexander Gross

Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts, opinions, any improvements I can make etc. Catch me on Twitter. More books next week!