TRUMPER: THE ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY MALLETT IN POTCHEFSTROOM

first edition very large hardcover in great condition. Dust jacket has wear around edges. 232 pages. R50 postage in SA. Bradman has had numerous books written about him, but the first true legend of Australian batting, Victor Trumper, has been the subject of very few. Victor Trumper and the Australians by Lionel Brown was released in the early s, however, it was a review of just that year, and not a complete summary of Trumper's career. Jack Fingleton's The Immortal Victor Trumper, published a few years earlier, was also not particularly thorough. Ashley Mallett, the former Test off-spinner, recognized that the lack of a decent biography of Trumper left a hole in Australia's cricketing history, and Trumper: The Illustrated Biography was his attempt to rectify this mistake. Mallett was a journalist by trade, and has written a number of books about cricket including a biography of Clarrie Grimmett and a review of the Aboriginal Tour of England. The combination of being a cricketer at the highest level and a journalist places Mallett is a wonderful position to write about the game. Mallett admits, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, that the book is not intended to be definitive. Indeed, his own introduction comments that there is undoubtedly information missing from his presentation of the Trumper story. The use of the word 'illustrated' in the title is nearly enough to put off the serious reader, but that would be underestimate its value. The book is presented in a large format, with many pictures and photos, but there is important content to go with it. The book concentrates upon the cricketing performances of Trumper, and reviews his career with reasonable detail. One of the most interesting parts of the book relate to the series against England, as Mallett had access to Trumper's personal diary of this tour. Extracts from this diary are reproduced, and they help to convey a picture of the man Trumper was.