The Sports Bookshelf

Jonathan Wilson's position as the pre-eminent thinking man's football writer is likely only to be reinforced by his latest offering, which applies the formula he employed so effectively in The Anatomy of England for the first time to the history of a club. The Anatomy of Liverpool: A History in Ten Matches , which he has written in collaboration with another football writer, Guardian on-line's Liverpool-supporting Scott Murray, promises to be the first in a line of innovative club histories. As with The Anatomy of England , this examination of Liverpool's evolution is constructed around 10 games the authors considered to have had particular significance, even if they are not always the most obvious or famous games.  The England book, for example, examined the 1966 World Cup through the prism of the quarter-final against Argentina, rather than the final. "When I sat down with Scott over a meal to discuss which games we would include, we looked for a spread

Until Brian Clough came along, no football manager was quoted as widely as Bill Shankly, who was the undisputed king of the one-liner during his 15 years as Liverpool boss. But although Shankly's mots justes became legend, it was rare for him to share more than a snapshot of his innermost thoughts with journalists.  He would seldom consent to a lengthy interview.  Ultimately, he looked back over his career in an excellent autobiography penned skilfully and sensitively by the journalist John Roberts, but there is not much else in the archives that explains in detail how he went about turning Liverpool from a team down on its luck in the Second Division to the one that in his time alone won three First Division titles, two FA Cups and enjoyed its first taste of glory in Europe. In consequence, a book to be published in March will be of particular interest. Shankly: The Lost Diary (Trinity Mirror Sports Media) reproduces for the first time in more than 50 years a series of