''The Soccer War'' is a book by

Ryszard Kapuściński Ryszard Kapuściński (; 4 March 1932 – 23 January 2007) was a Polish journalist, photographer, poet and author. He received many awards and was considered a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kapuściński's personal journals in bo ...

, the Polish press correspondent in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

in the 1960s. The eponymous Soccer War erupts between the Central American Republics of Honduras and El Salvador, partially as a result of a football match between teams of the two countries. The deeper reasons for the conflict were political. The book features a collection of stories from the life of the reporter and journalist as he travels into countries such as Congo, Kenya and Nigeria, then undergoing severe conflict.

Critical reception

'' Hartford Courant'' reporter Dylan Foley called it "a masterpiece of war journalism."The Heroic and the Bloodthirsty, Foley, Dynan, 30 September 2001, Hartford Couran

Filming rights to the book have been purchased by

Philippe Falardeau Philippe Falardeau (born February 1, 1968 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Early life Falardeau was born and raised in Hull, Quebec. He later studied political science at the University of Ottawa, before travellin ...

References

1992 non-fiction books Association football books {{sport-book-stub