In putting together Immortal: The Approved Biography of George Best, it must be said that author Duncan Hamilton has done little to redefine the genre. Instead, he has done everything he can with it as it is, he has pushed it, refined it, stretched it, lovingly touched up every corner of it until it is almost as perfect as it can be. In short, Hamilton has essentially won biography writing. [...] what makes thisbook so wonderful, [is] the way that Hamilton patiently sets the scene, apparently meandering indulgently through the back stories of incidental characters, but actually drawing the reader deep into the 1960s, imperceptibly marking out the structures of sport, society and celebrity that the shockwave of Best's arrival obliterated. * Mirror online *
[An]evocative account, though that should not come as a surprise. The former newspaperman has become one of sport's foremost biographers and he is in excellent form here with this account of a footballer who was once his hero. * The Times *
A marriage of prose and detail so fine and fastidious that it takes the breath away. * Independent *
This compulsively readable book will not be the last written about Best, but it may prove to be the most illuminating. * Independent on Sunday *
What Duncan Hamilton's impressively researched, definitive new biography, published on the 50th anniversary of Best's United debut, captures is the artistry of the little Ulsterman. * Daily Mail *
Diligent, highly readable ... Immortal strips away the myth to show the human Best, Hamilton is a guarantee of quality... * Financial Times *
Accomplished ... the attention to detail characteristic of Hamilton's work energises his story. * Daily Telegraph *
Hamilton writes sympathetically and insightfully ... he has a smart turn of phrase and an uncanny ability to describe accurately and compellingly what happened during a game. * The Herald *
The author deserves great credit for writing not a sycophantic paean to Best, but an accomplished well-researched account which doesn't shy away from the footballer's alcoholism and his propensity to be violent towards women. * Press Association *
Thoughtful. 4 stars. * Mail on Sunday *
Hamilton is a guarantee of quality. * Financial Times *
Hamilton is a terrific writer ... Immortal is a fine biography and a fascinating portrait of a dawning age of sporting celebrity. * WSC *
Immortal is undoubtedly the most satisfying life of George Best. * Guardian *
The atmosphere of the Sixties is re-created brilliantly. * The Times *
Hamilton through the stories and backstories of others broadens his horizons to explain the phenomenon that was Best and the world that destroyed him. Offering up new material and new perspective, Hamilton, as one reviewer would opined, mastered biography. * Irish Examiner *
