By Steven Carroll
The Game of Their Lives
NICK RICHARDSON
The Game of Their Lives, by Nick Richardson, ranges from the home front to the Western Front.
MACMILLAN, $34.99
In 1916 some of the country's finest Australian Rules footballers stepped onto the grounds of Queen's Club, in London, for an exhibition match. They were soldiers, and it was political football. Nick Richardson's engaging and extensively researched study puts the match in context, emphasising the convergence of sport and politics, and the extraordinary pressure put on elite players to enlist – to patriotically forsake the game for the greater game of war. The tale, ranging from the home front to Western Front, involving famous players and political figures, examines prevailing myths such as football being the perfect preparation for war. What comes through, especially during the conscription plebiscites, is the tension of the times when teams played for more than premiership points.