The Promised Land: Manchester United's Historic Treble Paperback – July 9, 2019

I love this book and how detailed it is. Hats off to Mr. Harris for spending the time doing such extensive research and analysis on the greatest season in United history! Will definitely be getting this for all of my Manchester United loving friends for the holidays

This is a great read for any United fan. Bring insight into the great season... I did find it helpful to watch the highlights as I read along

Fun but flawed.

Daniel Harris has achieved the impossible. He's taken the greatest season in the history of Manchester United and reduced it to mind-numbing tedium. The book is an endless series of match reports. He spends 3 pages reporting on a League Cup match at Bury! Avoid.

Too many in-jokes that would only be possibly understood by MU locals. Generally repetitive in terms of match descriptions and the story of then treble deserved much better.

This is a book that definitely will appeal most to Manchester United fans, particularly those who were of age to enjoy and remember somewhat the riveting events of the fabled 1998-1999 season in which the Red Devils won three major trophies in somewhat improbable fashion. Neutral fans of club football or the Premier League in general might find it amusing as well, just don't give this to an Arsenal or Liverpool fan, though, unless it's as a joke since they won't thank you for it!Daniel Harris does really well to expand upon the "official" versions of the story, like Sir Alex Ferguson's "The Unique Treble", by adding in a layer of behind-the-scenes gossip and context that I found very humorous and interesting. The price I paid ($8.00) seems like a fair one indeed to be able to relive those heroic days time and again. Cheers!

Ferguson. Unless you've been living under a rock for the last week it you could be forgiven for feeling like our legendary boss never left us. The media circus has been as depressing as it has been predictable. Coverage has centred on feuds; public and private, settled and unsettled. At the risk of sounding like Roy Maurice, it all feels unseemly and unnecessary. Autobiographies are commonly guilty of falling into the Father Ted Golden Cleric approach - 'you doubted me but look where I am now.' When it works it can be magnificent (Diego Maradona), but often it leaves an unedifying impression of the writer (Andy Cole). I'm hoping Fergie's falls into the former category. Of course I will read it - I'm starting it today - but for those of a red persuasion a potentially more satisfying read may have slipped under your radar.Daniel Harris will be known to British readers as a writer for the Guardian; most recently drawing acclaim and ire for an honest/treacherous article raiding concerns about Moyes performance thus far. He secured a place in the hearts of United fans with his excellent blog turned book account of 2009/10 season. The Manchester United literary genre is saturated with anodyne musings but Harris made his mark by fusing three elements; love for the club, searing honesty and sardonic wit. I loved it, so news of a new tome focusing on the greatest nine months in the history of sport was cause for celebration.Regular listeners to the pod (hello to the pair of you) and readers of my spiel (same two again) will be familiar with my Bill Murray tendencies to wallow in the treble campaign like a hog in wet soil. In 'The Promised Land' Harris takes us through that most remarkable of seasons month by month. To dismiss the book as a basic season review would be an injustice but I do think there is a lot to be said for the simple narrative approach. To impose a David Winner style abstract approach would dilute the experience as momentum builds towards the much vaunted climax. Large tracts of the book are essentially match reports where Harris delights in demonstrating his love of language - passes are 'tickled', shots are 'welted' and ankles are 'rapped' (inevitably by Scholes). A sad casualty of the saturation of football coverage has been the match report. Why should you pore over written description when you can witness instant visuals on your smart phone? Pleasingly Harris harks back to a simpler time and the book is all the richer for it. My advice is read the book, then relive the action through the Treble DVD. Shining throughout is the humour inherent in football - and no I don't mean 'banter.' Opportunities are embraced to make not so subtle digs at targets from Martin Tyler to Martin Edwards and everything in between. A healthy contempt for Liverpool football club is ever present.Arguably the greatest strength of the book is the unashamed love of the club. No attempt is made to appear the impartial football journalist and instead the feeling is of a shared experience with a like mind. The men who redefined what could be achieved in the modern era are rightly held in the highest esteem; yet with the exception of Keane and Scholes such reverence never crosses into hero worship. The vanity and egos of Schmeichel, Sheringham and even Ferguson are addressed. When covering such a well trodden subject matter the small details become increasingly important and seemingly minor references such as Blomqvist's self-doubt become the most memorable the book. A criticism I would make is the failure to elaborate on such matters. An understandable decision to keep momentum I accept, but it left me frustrated that asides such as the complex relationship between Goalkeeper and Captain went unexplored. It certainly isn't a perfect work; the passages pulled from Neville and Keane's own books risked becoming repetitive, and the references to the current era felt clunky and shoe-horned in.Overall a brilliant work that places the reader in the thick of the action whilst gaining insight into the foibles and motivations of the actors involved. Given my pride in knowing 'everything' about my most treasured season of triumph I was surprised how much I learned without feeling bombarded with trivia. In fact his work is anything but trivial. I would love to hear how younger fans who didn't experience the season first hand feel about the book. How effective the book is as a first encounter with the events of those unrivalled nine months I cannot evaluate, but as a trip down memory lane it made for a hugely enjoyable week. Now where did I put that DVD....

This fantastic book does more than recount that unbelievable season in 98/99 when United set the benchmark so high no other team will ever reach it, certainly not from these shores anyway.The match reports are dizzying at times, crafted from a fan's eye as well as a writer with obvious skill.I really liked the thread of Gam Zu Letovah, as though an overriding force was willing this season to its thrilling and unbelievable climax.In a season of calamity as 13/14 has been, of abject failure and embarrassment, the like of which we United fans have been unused to for some time, this book has been a reminder of those impossible highs, good times will return, they always do, and to savour moments like the FA Cup triumphs over Liverpool and Arsenal, the unbeaten league run from December onwards, to the Juventus second leg (possibly the greatest of European matches) and finally those 2 goals from Teddy and Ole...always brings a stirring of the soul. Daniel Harris has captured all of that that in this fine book.

Interesting book. It wasn't just about United here. Some of the information was very familiar. The current squad have a long way to go.

Great read of probably the greatest season we will ever see. United always do it the hard way but that makes it even sweeter when you come out on top