The Greatest Show on Earth - The History of the World Cup - accompanies this BBC TV series. The book combines the freshness of the TV series treatment and the richness of the material compiled by the BBC, and anchors it in a comprehensive on the page reference guide to the tournaments, the results, the teams and the stars.

Chronicling the history of the competition, tournament by tournament, it also examines many of the background themes that have made the competition what it is today: the importance of World Cup success to the country of Brazil, and the creation of the beautiful team of 1970; the impact of British isolation from world football in the first half of the 20th Century and the rise and fall of England’s international ambitions after victory in 1966; the importance of World Cup success to the economic revival of West Germany after World War II; the battles with corruption that have dogged the Italian game since their much-disputed victory at ‘Mussolini’s World Cup’ in 1934. This book proves that there is far more to the telling of the World Cup story than the statistics!

The book also allows the great names of the sport to tell their own personal stories, retelling the World Cup experience in the words of the men who starred in it. The players’ tales are often joyous and sometimes moving, but make this book the definitive retelling of the history of the tournament. Many of the stars of world football have been interviewed, including Bobby Charlton, Rivelino, Raymond Kopa, Gary Lineker, Just Fontaine, Toto Schillaci, Michel Platini, Carlos Alberto, Thierry Henry, Sepp Maier, Jairzinho, Dino Zoff, Bobby Robson, Tostão, Mario Kempes, Tom Finney, Aime Jacquet, Gordon Banks, Antonio Rattin, Nilton Santos, Jack Charlton, Emmanuel Petit, Socrates, Peter Shilton, Didier Deschamps, Jorge Burruchaga, Alain Giresse, Osvaldo Ardiles, and many many more.