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Maradona: Once Upon a Time in Naples: (2018 US Special Edition)
Once upon a time.
It began on 5th July 1984. A most beautiful day in the Italian South. With 70,000 screaming Neapolitans awaiting him and roaring out his name in the San Paolo stadium, Diego Armando Maradona arrived under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius in Naples, and for seven years all hell was let loose.
For so long the ailing giant SSC Napoli criminally underachieved. Their fanatical support unequalled in both passion and size across Italy. None had ever been more feared or hated, but how they ached for success. A history dramatic, explosive and so damned tragic. Like the finest Italian operas’
it always ended in despair.
Then came Maradona.
Blessed with a ball at his feet on the field, hopelessly cursed off it. When in the mood unplayable, but then there was a dark side. He mixed openly with the city’s most feared and notorious gangsters, the Camorra. The feared Giuliano clan. Untouchable, beyond reproach. A lifestyle fuelled by cocaine. A lawless idol with thorns so deep they pricked to make Maradona believe for a while he was a God. Scarface in football boots. Nothing less.
When not enjoying the decadent excesses of this Babylon by the sea, there was magic to be made on the field as the charismatic Argentinian inspired Napoli to their first ever Scudetto title. It was the stuff of Neapolitan dreams and Northerner’s nightmares. Juventus, the Milan clubs, all despised as they mocked this last major European city before Africa.
‘Welcome to Italy’. ‘Vesuvio wash them with lava’, claimed the banners on any journey North. In revenge, Maradona, this barbarian king, led the southern hordes against those who viewed Naples lower than the dirt on the Italian boot. A revolution took place every Sunday for seven years with battles raging both on and off the field. As the Napoli tifosi fell in worship at his dancing feet, Maradona continued to party on unabated. Sheltered from all prying eyes until the magic faded and he was tossed out like garbage.
Once Upon a Time in Naples attempts to chronicle this unforgettable era of when Diego left his inestimable mark on Italian football and Neapolitan’s hearts. Whom he raised to the stars only to ultimately break them. An alluring tale of wonderful football, glory, despair, betrayal, corruption and then came a moment many years later of redemption.
In a city that lived for the day and chanced their hand on the forever changing moods of Mount Vesuvius, Diego Maradona became bigger than God himself. From a high their patron San Gennaro kept a watching eye, but even he could not promise to bring about a happy ending. Miracles are one thing, Maradona another. For in this city where the devil feared to tread, even the angels had dirt under their wings.
Welcome to Naples….
Once Upon a Time in Naples is the basis for the Diego Maradona
film directed by the Oscar winning Asif Kapadia and produced
by Paul Martin and James Gay Rees.
@johnludds
johnludds@gmail.com
It began on 5th July 1984. A most beautiful day in the Italian South. With 70,000 screaming Neapolitans awaiting him and roaring out his name in the San Paolo stadium, Diego Armando Maradona arrived under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius in Naples, and for seven years all hell was let loose.
For so long the ailing giant SSC Napoli criminally underachieved. Their fanatical support unequalled in both passion and size across Italy. None had ever been more feared or hated, but how they ached for success. A history dramatic, explosive and so damned tragic. Like the finest Italian operas’
it always ended in despair.
Then came Maradona.
Blessed with a ball at his feet on the field, hopelessly cursed off it. When in the mood unplayable, but then there was a dark side. He mixed openly with the city’s most feared and notorious gangsters, the Camorra. The feared Giuliano clan. Untouchable, beyond reproach. A lifestyle fuelled by cocaine. A lawless idol with thorns so deep they pricked to make Maradona believe for a while he was a God. Scarface in football boots. Nothing less.
When not enjoying the decadent excesses of this Babylon by the sea, there was magic to be made on the field as the charismatic Argentinian inspired Napoli to their first ever Scudetto title. It was the stuff of Neapolitan dreams and Northerner’s nightmares. Juventus, the Milan clubs, all despised as they mocked this last major European city before Africa.
‘Welcome to Italy’. ‘Vesuvio wash them with lava’, claimed the banners on any journey North. In revenge, Maradona, this barbarian king, led the southern hordes against those who viewed Naples lower than the dirt on the Italian boot. A revolution took place every Sunday for seven years with battles raging both on and off the field. As the Napoli tifosi fell in worship at his dancing feet, Maradona continued to party on unabated. Sheltered from all prying eyes until the magic faded and he was tossed out like garbage.
Once Upon a Time in Naples attempts to chronicle this unforgettable era of when Diego left his inestimable mark on Italian football and Neapolitan’s hearts. Whom he raised to the stars only to ultimately break them. An alluring tale of wonderful football, glory, despair, betrayal, corruption and then came a moment many years later of redemption.
In a city that lived for the day and chanced their hand on the forever changing moods of Mount Vesuvius, Diego Maradona became bigger than God himself. From a high their patron San Gennaro kept a watching eye, but even he could not promise to bring about a happy ending. Miracles are one thing, Maradona another. For in this city where the devil feared to tread, even the angels had dirt under their wings.
Welcome to Naples….
Once Upon a Time in Naples is the basis for the Diego Maradona
film directed by the Oscar winning Asif Kapadia and produced
by Paul Martin and James Gay Rees.
@johnludds
johnludds@gmail.com
449 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2018
15 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 25, 2025
"Maradona: Once Upon a Time in Naples", de John Ludden, es un retrato apasionado y bien documentado de los años que Diego Armando Maradona pasó en el sur de Italia, entre 1984 y 1991. Esta edición actualizada de 2018 profundiza en la etapa más gloriosa, caótica y contradictoria del ídolo argentino, cuando Nápoles se transformó en el centro del mundo futbolístico gracias al talento y la personalidad arrolladora de su nuevo rey.
El libro reconstruye con detalle el contexto social, político y futbolístico de la ciudad: una Nápoles empobrecida, despreciada por el norte italiano, donde la llegada de Maradona fue vivida como una forma de redención colectiva. Ludden capta con acierto ese vínculo emocional, casi religioso, entre el jugador y el pueblo napolitano, y describe cómo ese amor mutó en presión, idolatría y finalmente en conflicto.
El estilo narrativo del autor es ágil, con pasajes que combinan crónica deportiva y tono novelado, sin perder precisión en los datos ni caer en el sensacionalismo. A lo largo del relato, Ludden aborda las hazañas futbolísticas de Diego, pero también sus relaciones con la prensa, su cercanía con sectores oscuros del poder local y su progresivo deterioro físico y emocional.
Uno de los puntos fuertes del libro es su equilibrio. No se trata ni de un panegírico ni de una condena moral. Ludden entiende que para narrar a Maradona hay que aceptar la complejidad: el genio y el exceso, la devoción y el escándalo, el gol sublime y la caída.
Le otorgo una calificación de 4/5. Es una obra sólida, escrita con respeto, emoción y claridad. Indispensable para quienes quieran entender no solo al futbolista, sino al fenómeno cultural que Diego fue (y sigue siendo) en Nápoles.
El libro reconstruye con detalle el contexto social, político y futbolístico de la ciudad: una Nápoles empobrecida, despreciada por el norte italiano, donde la llegada de Maradona fue vivida como una forma de redención colectiva. Ludden capta con acierto ese vínculo emocional, casi religioso, entre el jugador y el pueblo napolitano, y describe cómo ese amor mutó en presión, idolatría y finalmente en conflicto.
El estilo narrativo del autor es ágil, con pasajes que combinan crónica deportiva y tono novelado, sin perder precisión en los datos ni caer en el sensacionalismo. A lo largo del relato, Ludden aborda las hazañas futbolísticas de Diego, pero también sus relaciones con la prensa, su cercanía con sectores oscuros del poder local y su progresivo deterioro físico y emocional.
Uno de los puntos fuertes del libro es su equilibrio. No se trata ni de un panegírico ni de una condena moral. Ludden entiende que para narrar a Maradona hay que aceptar la complejidad: el genio y el exceso, la devoción y el escándalo, el gol sublime y la caída.
Le otorgo una calificación de 4/5. Es una obra sólida, escrita con respeto, emoción y claridad. Indispensable para quienes quieran entender no solo al futbolista, sino al fenómeno cultural que Diego fue (y sigue siendo) en Nápoles.
December 1, 2020
This book is now even more particularly poignant given Maradona's death. The love affair of Naples and Maradona is wonderfully laid out as is the souring of the relation. The book also sheds light on the whole art vs artist debate. How do you separate Diego the footballer from Maradona the flawed man. Its diff and it translates itself through the book. The highest of highs and the absolute lowest of lows. Fascinating
July 8, 2019
Excellent read I couldn't put it down
Excellent read I couldn't put it down. Gives you a clear insight into Maradona and life at napoli. Deserves a much wider audience.
Excellent read I couldn't put it down. Gives you a clear insight into Maradona and life at napoli. Deserves a much wider audience.
August 11, 2019
Great Read
Superb insight into a troubled genius No holds barred as the good,bad & downright ugly side of his time at Napoli is laid bare
Superb insight into a troubled genius No holds barred as the good,bad & downright ugly side of his time at Napoli is laid bare
March 25, 2020
Brilliant insight into Maradona’s 7 years in Naples.
November 9, 2023
Excellent read. Couldnt put it down and read it all on my holiday to Croatia earlier this week. Very interesting story detailing the flawed genius of Maradona.
January 17, 2024
Very entertaining tale but RIDDLED with sentence fragments and typos; it would've been a 5-star sports book with an editor.
July 27, 2024
Unfortunately an all too common theme of the malarky that came with being the best, in this case soccer (& I don't even like soccer). Totally glad I read it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews