''England Away'' is the third novel by John King, first published by

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

in 1998 and subsequently by

Vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

. The final part of ''The Football Factory Trilogy'', it follows characters from '' The Football Factory'' and '' Headhunters'' as they come together and head into Europe for an England football match against Germany in Berlin. Tommy Johnson narrates the trip to Berlin via Amsterdam, while back in London, pensioner Bill Farrell remembers a similar route he took as a soldier during the Second World War, dealing with some horrific memories and a tragic killing in the process. Farrell and Johnson are forced to confront their demons, albeit with very different results. Both these characters represent the core of King's debut, ''The Football Factory'', which was made into a film in 2004. Directed by

Nick Love Nick Love (born 24 December 1969) is an English film director and writer. His credits include the films '' The Football Factory'', '' The Business'', ''Goodbye Charlie Bright'', ''Outlaw'', ''The Sweeney'', and a 2009 remake of football hoolig ...

, it featured

Danny Dyer Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in ''Human Traffic'', with other notable roles as Mick Carter in EastEnders, Billy the Limpet in '' Mean Machine'' and as Tommy Johns ...

as Tommy Johnson, while

Dudley Sutton Dudley Sutton (6 April 1933 – 15 September 2018) was an English actor. Active in radio, stage, film and television, he was arguably best known for his role of Tinker Dill in the BBC Television drama series ''Lovejoy''. Early life Sutton was ...

played Bill Farrell. In an interview with writer Jay Slayton-Joslin, King said of ''England Away'': "We are all the result of those who went before us, and I'm interested in this continuation and the expansion of our culture". The novel draws on the Second World War and its aftermath, while considering the relationship between Britain and the EU, a subject King focuses on in '' The Liberal Politics of Adolf Hitler'' (2016).https://www.artistsforbrexit.com/single-post/2018/12/02/Review-The-Liberal-Politics-of-Adolf-Hitler In his review for the ''Morning Star'', Chris Searle wrote: "The words of Wilfred Owen come pounding through the prose: 'I was the enemy you killed, my friend.' The literature is in the sordid truth and crude, raucous, mob-like poetry of King's lifesaving and lifewasting that bursts from his pages, confronting the reader with questions of culture, nationalism, violence and class that are not easily put aside."

References

External links

''England Away'' / Penguin

''The Football Factory Trilogy''
1999 British novels Novels about association football Novels by John King (author) Jonathan Cape books {{1990s-novel-stub