Charismatic and charming, volcanic and ruthless, searingly ambitious and astonishingly successful: Sir Alex Ferguson is all of these things and more, a complex character who has produced - first at Aberdeen and now at Manchester United - two of the most prolific trophy-grabbing machines in the modern game.
By the time he retires he will have managed United for nearly twenty years, guiding them to Premiership, FA Cup and European Cup glory, among many other honours. His sights are firmly set on becoming the most successful manager in British football history, a record only a few trophies away.
But what drives him? What has fuelled the desire to transform himself from a poor Glasgow childhood into one of the titans of the modern game? Sir Alex himself attributes his success to the stability and support of family, but what else makes him tick?
Ferguson's own autobiography, 'Managing My Life', was a huge bestseller on its publication in 1999. But Fergie's book told the story through only one pair of eyes. Michael Crick, the acclaimed biographer of Jeffrey Archer, now presents a fully rounded, independent portrait of Sir Alex, and reveals him in the process to be even more complex and fascinating than had previously been supposed.
From his roots as a Clydeside trade unionist to the current peaks of world football, Crick sifts myth from fact to show us what the man is really like, and what it took to achieve such stunning success.
Through hundreds of interviews with those who have known and worked with Sir Alex, and delving back through the archives, Michael Crick explores the money and the politics of football, the bust-ups and the fights, and those memorable moments of glory.
'The Boss' will be essential reading not just for Manchester United fans and all football followers, but anyone interested in the skills of successful management in general.
