SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023 (FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR)

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A club on the rise. A city in flux. This is Union Berlin.

No football club in the world has fans like 1. FC Union Berlin. The underdogs from East Berlin have stuck it to the Stasi, built their own stadium and even given blood to save their club. But now they face a new and terrifying prospect: success.

Scheisse! tells the human stories behind the unexpected rise of this unique football club. But it’s about more than just football. It’s about the city Union call home. As the club fights to maintain their rebel spirit among the modern football elite, their trajectory mirrors that of contemporary Berlin itself: from divided Cold War battleground to European capital of cool.

Scheisse! will appeal to readers who are captivated by sports biographies such as Raphael Honigstein's Das Reboot and social history like John Kampfner's Why The Germans Do It Better.

'Fascinating' Daily Mail

'A wonderful journey into the heart of a very unique club' Raphael Honigstein

'The history and culture of a special football club deserve a special kind of chronicling – and Holden has executed it to perfection' Patrick Barclay

'An engrossing portrait' Philip Oltermann

'For the first time, Scheisse is a good thing! A captivating read on one of the most unique clubs in world football' Archie Rhind-Tutt

'A beautifully crafted set of stories that reveal a personal history of one of Germany’s most special clubs and cities' Jonathan Harding

'Holden superbly captures the myth, history and spirit that make Union so very special and beloved' Andreas Michaelis

'A fascinating tale that is expertly told' Adam Bate

'A must-read for any football romantic, regardless of where you're from and what team you support' Cristian Nyari

Kit Holden is a British-German author and journalist who lives and works in Berlin. He covers German news and sport for Agence France-Presse, The Athletic, Die Zeit and others. He writes regularly on Union Berlin for Der Tagesspiegel.