Futebol Nation: A Footballing History Of Brazil by David Goldblatt (Penguin, 9.99, eBook 7) *****

DAVID Goldblatts tremendous new book may be carefully timed, but it is no World Cup cash-in. In eight roughly chronological chapters he explores footballs increasingly central influence in Brazilian history, culture, and sense of self, from its post-colonial inception among an urban elite keen for a European veneer, and on through the rapidly changing socio-political landscape of the 20th century.

Focused less on events of the pitch themselves than their direct relation to those of the stands, city streets, and Presidential offices, Goldblatt excels in the content itself and his research.

From the football-centred search for multicultural Brasilidade (Brazilianness) of the first half of the 20th century, to the military dictatorship and then the rising violence and systemic corruption of its later decades (not forgetting five World Cups and one watershed humiliation) the narrative is compelling, lucidly written, and furnished with detail to spare.

Michael Anderson

Nuclear Dawn by Kenneth D McRae (OUP, 35) ****

JUST imagine what would have happened if Hitler had got the atom bomb first. There would have been no nuclear dawn but a radio active night that would still be with us today. Well, give a vote of thanks to the likes of Franz (later Sir Francis) Simon, a German nuclear physicist who moved to Oxford in 1933 and put his talents to work on behalf of Britain and who played a pivotal role in the development of our Tube Alloys nuclear programme. You might say, no Simon, no bomb for us. This biography of the man who might well have saved the world is technical where it needs to be, but in using sources such as Simons diary and his correspondence with his wife, McRae has presented not only a more rounded and more human figure, but has produced a fitting tribute to a man who put humanity before nationalism.

Steve Craggs

Postal entries to the Short Story Competition

BISHOP Auckland writer Wendy Robertson tells us that postal entries are very welcome for the Room To Write Short Story Competition which was launched in The Northern Echo on May 1.

Send postal entries, together with a cheque for 5 payable to Room to Write, to Administrator Gillian Wales, Room To Write Short Stories, Briarhurst, Byron Avenue, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL14 5AP.

Entries must be typed, single sided, double-spaced, font size 12, with pages numbered. Entries must not show a name, address or identifying mark other than the title.

The maximum word count is 1,500 words and the closing date is August 1. First prize is 200, second 100, third 50. Entires should include a separate cover page with the title, the word count and your name, address and contact details. If you require acknowledgment of receipt of your postal entry then please enclose a stamped addressed postcard marked "Acknowledgment".