Ajax, de Joden, Nederland

"The opponents' supporters used to arrive at Weesperpoort Station, an area in which a lot of Jewish street-hawkers were working. That's why people started saying, 'We're going to the Jews.' But the club itself did not have a Jewish culture at all before the Second World War."

This quote from historian Evert Vermeer opens Simon Kuper's compelling history, Ajax, de Joden, Nederland (Ajax, the Jews, the Netherlands). Ajax USA is grateful to Simon Kuper for granting permission to translate and publish these chapters from his book.

Chapters:

• A Sunday Before The War, Part One
• A Sunday Before The War, Part Two
• The Warm Back of Eddy Hamel
• And the Ball Kept Rolling
• The Brilliant Ajax Part One
• The Brilliant Ajax Part Two
• Not Kosher But Definitely Jewish
• We're Hunting the Jews
• Israel's Favorite Team
• Additional:
• Credits
• Glossary

Begin reading >

Ajax, the Dutch, the War: Football in Europe During the Second World War January 2003: Simon Kuper has published an updated, English-language version of this book. It's excellent, and available now from Amazon.co.uk.  "Kuper punctures those myths, finding explanations of these paradoxes in the history of Dutch football, and of the war. His writing combines scholarly craft, a feel for political complexity, and quiet but powerful wit." - Independent review; see also Guardian review.