Great claims have been made for [Beyond a Boundary] since its first appearance in 1963: that it is the greatest sports book ever written; that it brings the outsider a privileged insight into West Indian culture; that it is a severe examination of the colonial condition. All are true. Sunday Times [Beyond a Boundary] remains among the five best cricket books ever written, and anyone who has not encountered it should seize the chance now. Sunday Telegraph . . . not only the most finely crafted book on cricket ever written, it is also the most penetrating study of pre-Independence West Indian society. The Times . . . a complex interweaving of the history and development of West Indian cricket into the tapestry of West Indian politics and history. . . .A rich and rewarding mix, this was one of the first books to demonstrate how penetratingly good sports books can be. Arena

?To say ?the best cricket book ever written? is pifflingly inadequate praise. A mental landscape triangulated by literature, socialism and cricket represents an ideal we should all aspire to, and this ennobling and beautifully written book should be read by anyone with an interest in any one of the above...? The Guardian

CLR James, historian, novelist, and political activist was born in 1901. He came to Britain in the 1930s becoming a leading figure in pan- African and black politics as well as cricketing correspondent for the Manchester Guardian. His most famous works include The Black Jacobins, and Minty Alley. He died in London in 1989.