WG Grace: An Intimate Biography

by Robert Low

From his emergence as a teenage prodigy to well past his 50th year, W.G. dominated the game of cricket, taking 2,876 first-class wickets and scoring 54,896 first-class runs in a career lasting an incredible 43 years, from 1865 to 1908. His beard and massive frame made him instantly recognizable wherever he went, and his gamesmanship and wit were legendary. Using contemporary accounts of W.G.'s greatest innings, many for the first time, Robert Low presents a radically new image of the sportsman who was recognised as the preeminent athlete of his day.

Genres: Biography

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Robert Low is a Scottish journalist and historical novelist, with novels based on the Viking Age. He was war correspondent in Vietnam and also several other locations, including Sarajevo, Romania and Kosovo, until "common-sense, age and the concerns of my wife and daughter prevailed". Now he writes novels full time. He's also a historical reenactor performing with the Scotland-based group, the Vikings.

Series:
* Oathsworn
* Kingdom

Reviews

[Bill Groves · Rating 3 out of 5]

You have to be interested in cricket to get full value, and it is very interesting about the history of the game, how playing conditions evolved and the laws took shape. As a village cricketer I recognised the character of Grace, particularly when he was with Gloucestershire, best player, captain who insists on picking the team and making every decision. Arrogant and at times bad tempered, if he was in my team I think I would have gone and played for the neighbouring village. Written in chronological order it sometimes reads like an embellished scorebook.

[Denis Southall · Rating 3 out of 5]

IMAO you need to like cricket to enjoy this book as it is very focused on that aspect of WG's life, although I acknowledge this was his life to a greater extent. There are some bits of his family life and brief mentions of his other interests and actions. I'd have liked to have seen more of this. His last few years are dealt with in a very rushed way I feel. The comments on his lack of recognition in the honours list (not that I hold any store by this) and few physical memorials left me feeling saddened on finishing the book. Having said all of this, I thoroughly enjoyed the details of his cricketing life and the extraordinary exploits throughout. Genuinely the 'Champion' of his age.

[James Wilson FRHistS · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-written and honest portrayal of Grace, and would serve as a good introduction if readers aren't so familiar with the great man. The only problem is that Simon Rae's more detailed work came out just a few months afterwards, and I cannot recommend this book ahead of it, nor of Richard Tomlinson's later work or even Eric Midwinter's more colourfully written earlier one.

[Jim Bowen · Rating 1 out of 5]

W.G. Grace is one of the most famous cricketers of all time. An Englishman, he is one of the players that put cricket on the map, and set a lot of the records in the sport. Anyone who knows much about cricket, will have heard of him.

This book claims to be an "An Intimate Biography". You'd expect it to be more about his background, upbringing, and what was going on around him. It wasn't. It read more as a step by step run through of significant cricketing events in his life, with the odd side-serving of births, deaths and marriages.

In short, it's a decent cricketing biography, just not one that I was expecting.