Welcome back to Books With Cause. Let’s dive straight into my next review. In Munichs, David Peace turns tragedy into something intimate and human in this haunting account of the Munich air disaster and its aftermath.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, if you’ve been following my site for any period of time, you will know that I’m a lifelong supporter of Manchester United. Where possible, I’ve tried to immerse myself in the history of the club. I’ve previously reviewed Andy Mitten’s book on this site. I’ve taken the tour of Old Trafford. I’ve seen the incredible trophy collection, I’ve been in the changing room, walked out of the tunnel to the Stone Roses’ This is the One, and I’ve sat on the bench – in the seat that was occupied by Erik ten Hag at the time. Of course, you can’t really talk about Manchester United without talking about the Munich air disaster on February 6th 1958. When I happened upon this book in my library, I knew I had to read it. The anniversary of the tragedy was this past Friday. I had hoped to have this review ready to mark the occasion, but this book was a bit longer than I’d realised, and I’d also taken more time to finish off Brother before getting started on this one.
It was during the 1957-58 season, and Manchester United were competing in the European Cup (now rebranded as the UEFA Champions League). United had just knocked Red Star Belgrade out of the competition and were flying back to Manchester for their next League game. The plane had stopped to refuel in Munich, where the conditions were snowy and freezing. After refuelling, the plane struggled to take off and crashed. Of the forty-four people on board, twenty-three lost their lives. Another nineteen were seriously injured.
Of course, it goes without saying that this happened long before I was born. In fact, my mum was only about eight months old at the time, while my dad wouldn’t be born for another couple of weeks. But it’s impossible to know about Manchester United and not know about the Munich air disaster. There are tributes to the victims all around Old Trafford, and the club usually marks the occasion by laying a wreath on the closest home fixture to the anniversary.
Matt Busby was the Manchester United manager of the team at the time. The team were affectionately known as the Busby Babes at the time, after Busby had built his team predominantly with players from the youth academy. He was seriously injured in the crash and was kept in an oxygen tent at a hospital in Munich for some time. His chances of survival weren’t believed to be good, and he was read his last rites twice.
However, the show must go on. Despite the many casualties and fatalities, United’s season didn’t end with the plane crash. They were given allowances, and fixtures were rearranged, but they still played all their remaining matches. With Busby out of action, the job of managing the team fell to his assistant, Jimmy Murphy, on an interim basis. As well as being United’s assistant manager, Murphy was also manager of the Wales national team, and it’s because of his commitments to the national team that he wasn’t with the United team when the plane attempted to leave Munich.
While Munichs is branded as a novel, reading Peace’s book is like being immersed in a documentary. The chapters are long but broken up into bite-sized chunks. Peace gets inside the head of practically every person who was involved in the event and the aftermath. We spend time with Busby, Murphy, Bobby Charlton, as well as doctors and nurses at the hospital in Munich, police officers who investigated the crash, the widows and family members left behind in Manchester. We are absorbed into scenes and the inner monologues of all these various people. And while they’re all connected to the same event, they each have a unique and personal story of their own.
The foundations of a club like United build a brotherhood and a familial connection. A section of this book that really hit home for me was the funerals. There was a period, following the Munich air disaster, when people connected to Manchester United were attending funerals every single day. There were often as many as seven funerals each day. The thought of that seems emotionally exhausting. The fact that the most I’ve ever been to is two funerals in one year makes me feel fortunate by comparison. But I also know that I’m young enough that that will change at some point.
At the time of the disaster, I imagine it would have been difficult to picture the club ever recovering. With the number of lives lost and the trauma to those who survived, I’m sure there were many who expected it to be the end of Manchester United. The fact that the Red Devils did rise again is a testament to everybody in this book. If it weren’t for the fact that Jimmy Murphy was able to keep the ship steady while Matt Busby was recovering in Munich. It’s a testament to all of the players and staff who pulled together to finish the season and put the foundations in place for the next season. Without them, there would never have been a club for Sir Alex Ferguson to take the helm of in 1985. There would have been no treble-winning team of 1999.
There’s no doubt that the Munich air disaster was the darkest period in the history of Manchester United. I think David Peace has captured that story, in these pages, in the most poignant and beautiful way possible. He shows us how humans come together in the face of a crisis to write the next chapter. Of course, we all know what that next chapter looks like. Like a phoenix from the ashes, Manchester United did rise again. They kept the red flag flying high, and Manchester United will never die.
My Goodreads rating: ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
