The Culture County Speaks to David Peace

Ahead of the Durham Book Festival David Peace discusses his new book 'MUNICHS' with the Culture County. The Yorkshire-born author has written, has wrote a eleven novels that have made quite an impact on the literary scene.

You might have heard of 'The Damned United', depicting events in the life of English football personality Brian Clough, set during Clough's brief and unsuccessful 44-day spell as manager of Leeds United.Previous to the release of 'The Damned United' and in a testament to his skill as a writer, Peace won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, for GB84, a book written by the Yorkshireman in 2004. 

In Peace's new book he details the aftermath of the Munich Air Disaster, telling the stories of the survivors, those who died, and how Britain and football changed as a result. The author has kindly sat down with the Culture County to explain the inspiration behind his new book, and why he is excited to return to Durham Book Festival.

Q. Could you explain the inspiration behind the book, I have read in a previous interview that your father was a huge fan of the Busby Babes?  

A.  Like my grandfather and myself, my father was a lifelong supporter of Huddersfield Town, but he had seen the Busby Babes play quite a few times, and that team, and particularly Duncan Edwards, had made a great impression on him. And so, like millions of others, he was deeply affected by the Munich air disaster, and down the years we often talked of the Babes and that terrible tragedy. So, after he passed away from vascular dementia in 2022, I began to write MUNICHS as both a tribute to that team, to those who died, and to Jimmy Murphy and all he did to keep United going, but also as a way of keeping those conversations with my father going. 

Q. I know from my conversations with my own grandparent, Duncan Edwards was the best player he had ever seen, I think you have stated your father thought the same thing. Do you think he or the Busby Babes were the first real famous football players, likes of Ronaldo and Messi are household names now, but that wasn’t always the case, was Duncan Edwards and the Busby Babes the start of this phenomenon. 

A. It's always difficult to compare different eras, particularly as the nature of fame and celebrity has dramatically changed, just as society itself  has. And  it’s also important to remember that for a large part of the  20^th century, football was almost exclusively a working-class sport. So footballers could enjoy a great deal of recognition within working-class communities, playing often on weekly basis to enormous crowds, but they would have been unheard of outside of those communities. However, after the War, footballers such as Stanley Matthews and Denis Compton (who also played cricket) began to have sponsorship deals and were appearing in national newspaper advertisements. But yes, prior to the disaster the Babes, were already a phenomenon in their own right, and their collective youth and good looks gave them a very different aura, and perhaps a recognisably more 'modern' form of fame and celebrity. But for those who are interested, I would recommend Gordon Burn’s brilliant book 'Best & Edwards' which is very good on this changing nature of fame.    

Q. The book also explores the less known stories and outcomes of the disaster, from the brutality of football as a business with replacing hurt and killed players within days of the disaster. Also, the survivors' guilt from the remaining players do you think these themes have yet to be explored thoroughly until now? 

A. There are a number of very good non-fiction books about the Munich air disaster, and 'The Lost Babes' by Jeff Connor is particularly good and very moving in its account of the legacy of the disaster, and how badly United treated so many of those whose careers were ended that day. However, it is incredible to think that within two weeks of surviving the crash, players such as Harry Gregg and Bill Foulkes were expected to play again. And Bobby Charlton not much later, and I do think that Charlton, in particular, and Matt Busby, too, never ever recovered from the trauma of Munich.  

Q. Was the Munich air disaster seen as a Manchester United tragedy more than National / football tragedy disaster, is this a perspective you are hoping your book can help change? 

A. Rightly, of course, Manchester United remember the disaster, and its legacy is clear to anyone who visits Old Trafford, and so I doubt there is a United supporter who doesn’t know the story of what happened in February 1958, and most football fans probably know the bare facts, at least. However, all these years later, we perhaps don’t realize that, at the time, it was a national tragedy, not something that affected only United or the city of Manchester, but that most people, regardless of whether they were even interested in football or not, were shocked and deeply saddened by what had happened. I also think that, outside of United and their supporters, people perhaps don’t know the story of how Jimmy Murphy, the assistant manager, kept United going after Munich, and somehow took them then to FA Cup Final just three months after the disaster. 

Q. Are you excited to attend Durham Book festival and have you been to the City / County before. If so, is there somewhere you are looking forward to visit or have visited before? 

A. Yes. I think this is my third or fourth visit to the festival, and I have also always enjoyed a close relationship with New Writing North. I also have particularly good memories of working with the photographer Keith Pattison on his book 'No Redemption' and the time we spent in Easington, talking with people about the legacy of the 1984/5 Miners’ Strike. We also had a great and very memorable launch for the book at the Miners Welfare Club in 2010, along with the band Frankie and the Heartstrings. So I always enjoy being back in Durham!  

David Peace will be attending Durham Book festival on Saturday 12 October at the Gala. Purchase tickets to the event or the live stream.

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