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Among the Thugs

by Bill Buford

4.02 · rating details · 1,723 ratings · 298 reviews

They have names like Barmy Bernie, Daft Donald, and Steamin' Sammy. They like lager (in huge quantities), the Queen, football clubs (especially Manchester United), and themselves. Their dislike encompasses the rest of the known universe, and England's soccer thugs express it in ways that range from mere vandalism to riots that terrorize entire cities. Now Bill Buford, edit...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published June 1st 1993 by Vintage (first published January 1st 1991)

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Jan 10, 2008

Anders rated it

Recommends it for: Jacob, to whom I have already lent it

Recommended to Anders by: jason cons

A stunning work of non-fiction, Among the Thugs chronicles Buford's attempts to understand the English phenomenon of soccer hooliganism by immersing himself into its characters, events, and lifestyles. He starts as an outsider, an American living in London for many years without ever attending a soccer game. Intrigued by the stories of violence and lawlessness the games ignite in the supporters of the teams, he sets out to understand how and why so many young and working-class people are continu...moreA stunning work of non-fiction, Among the Thugs chronicles Buford's attempts to understand the English phenomenon of soccer hooliganism by immersing himself into its characters, events, and lifestyles. He starts as an outsider, an American living in London for many years without ever attending a soccer game. Intrigued by the stories of violence and lawlessness the games ignite in the supporters of the teams, he sets out to understand how and why so many young and working-class people are continuously worked into a fervor attending soccer games.

But the deeper goal of this book, and this is where it gets interesting is: what are the societal factors which have produced this demographic? Buford comes to the conclusion that the problem is that England's former working class, which has a strong sense of cultural pride attached to it, is no longer the working class. Their income now puts them in the middle class, and the awkwardness of this shift has left them disaffected, in need of the jolts of adrenaline that rioting produces. When they riot, they riot against everything and everyone: their dreary suburban lives, as they randomly assault passersby and destroy property; state power, as they provoke, outsmart, and attack police forces which seek to contain them; and even each other, as they reserve their most vicious attacks for the fans of competing soccer teams. They riot to feel on top of the world, even for only a few minutes, in spite of the danger.

Bill Buford is living the good life. As a highly successful non-fiction author, he puts himself in reality-show-like situations which place him in a lot of potential bodily harm. In Among the Thugs, Buford is often in sketchy situations without a safety net-- in this book he participates in a number of soccer riots, attends a white power party in a pub in England, makes friends with the sketchiest thugs he can find. Basically, he gets your heart pumping from time to time. And not surprisingly, these situations render increasing returns. He gets your attention for when he schools you with the social insights.

In the hands of a lesser writer, this book could've been a lot more annoying. The premise-- studying the soccer hooligans by "becoming one," inasmuch as that is possible-- is a little X-treme for my tastes. But Buford really makes it work, as he seamlessly and realistically combines an interesting, compelling story with his spot-on insights into the English working class.(less)

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Apr 26, 2009

Eric_W rated it

Shelves: current-affairs

Bill Buford, an American export to Britain, began an exploration of sports violence after he had the misfortune to take a train that was being systematically destroyed by hundreds of Liverpool soccer team supporters - the police seemingly unable to control the riot, indeed as afraid as the other passengers. There is a particularly savage image of a drunk "supporter," as Buford calls the hooligans, throwing lighted matches on the shoes of a well-to-do businessman riding in first-class, ...moreBill Buford, an American export to Britain, began an exploration of sports violence after he had the misfortune to take a train that was being systematically destroyed by hundreds of Liverpool soccer team supporters - the police seemingly unable to control the riot, indeed as afraid as the other passengers. There is a particularly savage image of a drunk "supporter," as Buford calls the hooligans, throwing lighted matches on the shoes of a well-to-do businessman riding in first-class, perhaps hoping to set the man's pants on fire, the man trying to ignore the barbaric gesture. To Buford, this act became symbolic of the revolt of the unemployed and uneducated against class distinctions: sports fans "determined to break or destroy the things that were in their way."

Buford's English friends were not surprised; this was normal behavior for the "lads." What did surprise them was that Buford had never been to a soccer match. So they took him. It was quite an event:
spectators urinating on one another, fighting, manhandling the police, wrestling for their seats. Buford decided to investigate "them."
Some of the behavior Buford attributes to the design of English football (soccer). The spectators become crowds. There are not enough seats for all; most stand to watch and are pressed together in a remarkable intimacy during the game. When they leave, the observers must exit through narrow gates and are forced to herd together in a fashion Buford could only describe as a stampede. Indeed, they are fenced in (often with chain linked fences topped with several rows of barbed wire curved ill towards the spectators) during the match in conditions much like a stockyard. Buford recalls one match: "the single toilet facility overflowing, and my feet slapping around in the urine that came pouring down the concrete steps of the terrace, the crush so great that I had to clinch my toes to keep my shoes from being pulled off, horrified by the prospect of my woolen socks soaking up this cascading pungent liquid still warm and steaming in the cold air. The conditions are appalling, but essential: it is understood that anything more civilized would diffuse the experience."

Unfortunately, the type of fan that enjoys this experience is also one that the British National Front, the neo-Nazi party, believes is most responsive to its race-baiting, jingoistic, xenophobic literature and propaganda, and they do their very best to enlist cadres of football fans into groups that revel in violence and class hatred.

The truly scary revelation of this book is Buford's discovery of how easily he became part of the crowd and began to act just like them. Crowds are mindless. Crowds are primitive, barbaric. childish, fickle, unpredictable, capricious, dirty. and vicious. Crowds kill. They killed Jesus and Socrates. They murdered at the Bastille, in Mississippi, and in front of the Wmter Palace. People in crowds are typically those who have "abandoned intelligence. discrimination, judgment. " They are "unable to think for themselves, are vulnerable to agitators, outside influences, infiltrators, communists, fascists, racists, nationalists, phalangists, and spies."

Why have people adopted this manner of behavior? Is it biological, innate to our species, or does it result from environmental conditions, overcrowding and poverty? Buford theorizes that the English working class has essentially disappeared, that most jobs are "service" or white collar. "This bored, empty, decadent generation consists of nothing more than what it ap~s to be. It is a lad culture without mystery, so deadened that it uses violence to wake itself up. It pricks itself so that it has feeling, bums its flesh so that it has smell."

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Apr 12, 2008

Roy rated it

Recommends it for: anyone who thinks Europe is perfect

The English disease in all its gory. This book does a wonderful job of reporting and commenting on the horror of soccer crowds. For me, this comes after a six month fascination with soccer violence. There is very little to explain why hooligans do what they do, but what interests me is that this is a problem that seems to effect most western "civilized" nations except the good old U. S. of A. In discussing this issue with a friend, we both expressed surprise. Surprise not in the p...more

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Apr 18, 2011

Paul rated it

Shelves: i-laughed-how-i-laughed, misc

I'd forgotten about this one. It's hilarious, in a grim kind of way, which is how hilarious should be. Expat American infiltrates the notorious English football hooligan sub-culture of the late 80s/early 90s, you may remember those horrible violent yobs. These were hard nuts like the Inter-City Firm from West Ham who yould beat the daylights out of you and leave you broken, bleeding and barfing in a back alley but always remember to leave a smartly printed business card in one of your pockets sa...moreI'd forgotten about this one. It's hilarious, in a grim kind of way, which is how hilarious should be. Expat American infiltrates the notorious English football hooligan sub-culture of the late 80s/early 90s, you may remember those horrible violent yobs. These were hard nuts like the Inter-City Firm from West Ham who yould beat the daylights out of you and leave you broken, bleeding and barfing in a back alley but always remember to leave a smartly printed business card in one of your pockets saying

YOU HAVE BEEN SERVICED BY THE INTER-CITY FIRM

Bill Buford got in with Millwall, who were one of the loutiest, and Cambridge United fans too, who weren't much better, and he writes with a fabulous gusto about it all. Recommended for afficionados of British working class culture. Of course it's all now changed, hardly any football violence happens now. It's a problem that's almost been solved. How did they do that, then? Well, two things happened. The first was Hillsborough, a stadium in Sheffield, in which not quite controlled supporters were allowed by panicking police to pile into a fenced-in spectator area to such an overwhelming extent that a crowd crush built up against the restraining fence, and 96 young people died, right there live on television. That was in 1989. It shook the whole nation. The football authorities drew up new rules for every stadium in Britain : no spectator's standing areas (they were called terraces) any more - football will be all-seating from now on. This was the first major change in football for donkey's years. After that came wholesale gentrification and prices of season tickets going through the roof.
But the second thing which rendered the gruesome football violence a thing of the past was

ECSTACY

Irvine Welsh spins this (to me convincing) theory in his excellent novel Maribou Stork Nightmares. The dance/rave culture that boomed in the early 90s in Britain sucked in all the working class delinquents who had been happily inflicting grievous bodily harm on each other, and infused their bloodstreams with the wonder drug Ecstacy, which was a major component of rave culture. It took a few years but the violence began to melt away. So the all-seater stadiums and the soaring prices, plus the beatific state of mind achievable at 150 beats per minute, solved what had previously been seen as ugly and intractable. Curious how these things work out sometimes.(less)

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Feb 21, 2010

Moira Burke rated it

"Ira Glass recommended this biography of soccer hooligans—erm, football supporters—in England in the 1980s. Buford is an editor for Granta, and so the book reads more like a lengthy New Yorker profile, rather than A Clockwork Orange. Thus, the violence is palatable because it's sheathed in a discussion of group psychology. It's fascinating how men with decent paying jobs revel in freeloading (in fact, being \on the jib\"" while traveling to playoffs implies that the fans not on...more

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Sep 24, 2010

Allison rated it

I was interested in this book after seeing it recommended by Ira Glass and reading an excerpt. It is a really good book, a great example of narrative non-fiction. The way the book develops is smooth and logical, as the author peels back layer after layer of football hooligan culture, and investigates the nature of The Crowd. The book is divided into three parts and 10 chapters.

The first part is setting the scene: notes as an observer, and then he is brought into the circle and the cro...more

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Dec 06, 2009

Nathaniel rated it

Shelves: nonfiction

At its finer moments, “Among the Thugs” conveys a powerful and contagious desire for violence. Maybe this is easier to do than I realize—many Hollywood films fill me with bloodlust and I’ve got enough disdain for hooligans to think they deserve one another—but Buford walks a fine line. He’s keenly aware that he could write a jaw-breaking work of pure sadistic voyeurism; but he largely refrains from doing so.

He dips into the mayhem enough to establish his credibility and by highlight...moreAt its finer moments, “Among the Thugs” conveys a powerful and contagious desire for violence. Maybe this is easier to do than I realize—many Hollywood films fill me with bloodlust and I’ve got enough disdain for hooligans to think they deserve one another—but Buford walks a fine line. He’s keenly aware that he could write a jaw-breaking work of pure sadistic voyeurism; but he largely refrains from doing so.

He dips into the mayhem enough to establish his credibility and by highlighting instances with totally innocent victims or prolonged, lopsided beatings, he ensures that his readers can’t romanticize or dismiss the violence. But, more often than not, Buford turns soberingly away from the spectacles that he spends dozens of pages deftly working up to. For instance, after a long and gripping description of two rival firms chasing one another around Fulham in an effort to find an area with no police presence that they could use to knock one another senseless, he writes, “I will not describe the violence because what I want to depict is this precise moment in its complete sensual intensity—before chronology allows the moment to evolve into its consequence.” A few paragraphs later he writes (and it really feels like he’s rubbing it in your face that he won’t tell you what happened), “Crowd violence was their drug. What was it like for me? An experience of absolute completeness.”

Here is Buford’s niche: “Crowd theory tells us why . . . but crowd theory rarely tells us what: what happens when it goes off, what the terror is like, what it feels like to participate in it, to be its creator.” It’s a bold and eccentric task to set oneself as an independent journalist; but Buford seems to pull it off. “Among the Thugs” is written from a rare and imbedded perspective; it spills over with pathetic and villainous drunks and it made me unusually sympathetic to law enforcement professionals all over Europe.

Because it stuck in my mind, I leave you with this sentence, “For Neil the evening represented a chance to prove himself, and, if things went wrong, then his career as a fascist would advance no further.”
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Dec 09, 2011

Craig Buno rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: england, read-from-library, nonfiction, football-soccer

This was an interesting look into the world of football hooligans of the late 80s and early 90s. Most of the trouble was had when he followed Manchester United, but he also meet skin heads from Chelsea, thugs from West Ham and Liverpool lads. It was interesting to see Buford try to explain the cause and reasons for most of the trouble. At first I assumed the thugs were trouble makers with not much at stake in life, but Buford meet family men who own their own business and came from affluent ...more

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Jan 09, 2010

Tyler Jones rated it

Shelves: violence

Bill Bufords' Among the Thugs is an unflinching examination of mob violence. An American who had been living in London for years, Buford became fascinated by the violence that accompanied football matches. Immersing himself in the world of the football thug, Buford shows how even some reasonably likable and intelligent individuals can be seduced by the high that comes from being a part of the rioting mob. While more personal than academic, much of what Buford discovers is much more immediately ...more

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May 05, 2011

40 Forte rated it

I started out hating this book...but not b/c it was poorly written. I hated it because I loathed the characters...the real life "characters" of the soccer hooligan community. That's actually a lot toward Bill Buford's credit. What I can't really figure out though, is the quality of his writing, I mean normally when a book elicits an emotional response the writer is of some quality. However, here the events are so mind bogglingly maddening that simply listing them in any form is e...more

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Jun 19, 2010

Colleen rated it

Just in time for the World Cup. I always wondered what drove these guys to go crazy and trash the cities they went to soccer games in. Buford, an American, meets up with a few of them in bars near the stadiums. He's in Manchester, the most unruly of the fan clubs live there. He's actually a sociologist who doesn't understand British sports. Americans just go to football games and drink beer and cheer. These guys like to beat each other up. He explores why and what they do. Most of them have dece...more

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Jan 11, 2010

Paul Leddy rated it

What makes a crowd of people turn into a violent gang...working together as one to destroy? Bufford's personal account of the violence with soccer "hooligans" in the late 80's and early 90's is frightening. His writing is easy to follow with his accounts of the violence particularly well written to feel that you are there in the moment. The book ends abruptly as to say that the violence continues, it will never end.

The crowd craves violence; it is their drug. He writes,...more

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Dec 18, 2011

J rated it

As was the case with Heat, Buford is overly conversational (really never a reason to put "I must admit" in writing) and in need of a friend with a red pen. "I didn't need to be told, I was told" might be clever, but it is not reader-friendly writing.

It would have been interesting to read this book in its time, since the Hillsborough disaster changed so much, and for that matter a follow up, even a brief one (in the New Yorker?) would be compelling. Still, although ...more

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Sep 07, 2011

Cory Boudreaux rated it

Why does the game of football -- a fairly simple game involving merely two teams, two goals, and a ball -- inspire violence and fanaticism across the world?

That's the premise behind Bill Buford's "Among the Thugs."

An American reporter studying in England, Buford attempts to discover the motivations behind hooliganism by befriending "them," the lads whose Saturdays consist of large quantities of football, alcohol, and ultimately, violence.

The end ...more

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Oct 12, 2010

No Remorse rated it

Lots of violence in this one... starting out early in the book with 2 blacks getting stabbed in the subway. Filled with stories of mass rioting, street fighting, drinking, drugs, police brutality, destruction of property, etc. Young kids acting as lieutenants too getting stomped out on the streets. One instance that stuck out was a fight that involved one guy sucking the eyeball out of another and biting it off. One chapter is Buford's account of attending a skinhead party, which he finds disgus...more

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Jan 30, 2012

Julia rated it

Shelves: read-in-2012

I had put this on hold so long ago that I couldn’t remember what exactly it was about. Uh, something about a chef, maybe? Turns out Bill Buford’s OTHER book was about working with the chef Mario Batali, but this one was about English football hooligans.

This is an absolutely shocking read. I can’t tell you how many times I gasped. Anyone who is worried about excessive Anglophilia might want to read this book which gives you a pretty distressing glimpse of the violent, racist, drunken, ...more

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Jan 26, 2012

Dustin Byer rated it

Among the Thugs provides a brilliant window into crowd psychology. Buford explores the world of English Football hooligans and discovers striking insights into what drives violent crowd behavior. Contrary to common stories about alcohol, greed, and despair fueled riots, Buford suggests something more may be at play. By integrating himself among the thugs Buford captures the spirit of what it feels like to be one with the crowd and the ecstasy-like experience it evokes. The series of narratives i...more

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Oct 17, 2011

Susan rated it

Anyone that knows me, myself included, would say "why the hell is she reading THAT?!" I don't like sports. I don't get the fandom thing. I certainly don't get random violence in the name of allegiance to some sports team. But this ended up in my hands so I read it. Given my decided non-interest in the subject, I was really surprised to find myself wrapped up in this pretty quickly. Buford's writing style is engaging and intelligent. He treated the people he profiled with respect. The o...more

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Nov 12, 2007

Jessica rated it

Recommends it for: hooliganologists

Shelves: kind-of-depressing, groups-of-people, dicklits

Topical this week!

I know this is a terrible thing to say, but I do take some perverse comfort in knowing there is at least one bizarre, violent social problem occuring in modern industrialized nations, that the United States does not have.

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Nov 02, 2010

Rui Carlos da Cunha rated it

Shelves: britain, football-soccer

I'm embarrassed to say that I loved this book, even though the senseless violence and heartless brutality are graphic in nature. The writing is amazing, completely engrossing, and action-packed. I just wish that the ending wasn't so abrupt, like he didn't want to write or think about English football hooligans anymore. It would be nice if Random House put out a 20th anniversary edition in 2011 with an afterword by Buford. I learned so much about English football culture & how terribly fright...more

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Dec 01, 2009

Mk100 rated it

This book is much more a work of sociology than a book about sports. Buford spent a great deal of time with football holligans of various stripes, and takes you inside their mentality in a way that illuminates how frightening and sad these people are. But one can also see why, in a perverse way, these people have an obsession with their football teams and an attraction to group violence - many of the thugs have no other meaningful attachments in their lives. For an hour on Sundays, they are "...more

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Mar 08, 2011

Scott rated it

An American in England gets involved in football supporters culture and reports his findings. Great "outsider" analysis of working class frustrations which are remedied by the excitement of being part of a crowd, something larger than themselves and the daily grind. Football terraces are also, sadly, recruiting grounds for far-right political groups that prey upon angry young men. The author is not among the right-wing sympathizers, which is most hilariously exemplified by a night at a...more

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Nov 21, 2011

Shannon Windham rated it

In the book department, this has been a pretty great year. I have not read that many books but the ones that I did get from cover to cover were all really exceptional books (with the exception of one). This however, is not that exception. Among the Thugs will be a book that wont let me forget it. It kept be gasping for air page by page from the alley chases and bar brawls, laughing out loud from the brilliantly timed interjections of humor, and shrieking to avoid reading another word of its ...more

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May 22, 2010

Mike rated it

A stunning view into the mentality of a mob. Bill Buford's book, although a bit dated, was one of the most interesting books I have read this year. Buford did an excellent job explaining how a soccer hooligan acts, thinks and lives. Having heard about the hysteria of an English soccer match during the eighties I went into this book with some reservations, the news must be exaggerating... Buford showed me that the news made the stories family friendly for television, under-reporting the true viol...more

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Sep 13, 2011

Bender rated it

A book about soccer without really being about soccer, Among the Thugs illuminates England's soccer hooligans through several different narratives. The book starts strong with the author's trip to Italy with Manchester United supporters and a birthday party for a skinhead at a pub. The reader goes along with the author in his journey from finding a soccer riot thrilling to disgusting to somewhat boring. While the book lags in the middle during an explanation of crowd theory, it is well worth ...more

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Jan 18, 2011

Dan Logue rated it

I was expecting a book about the origin of soccer hooliganism in England. I was not expecting a first-person account, by an American no less, of some the most famous incidents of the the hooligan heyday, including an incredible account of Man U fans destroying parts of Turin, Italy before getting completed throttled by Italian riot police. While Buford's writing is fantastic, it is his level of involvement with, and access to, the subjects that makes this an incredible piece of journalism. He a...more

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May 17, 2011

Ryan O'sullivan rated it

The violence, it's all so pointless.

That was the thought I had continually while reading the book.

I see this as a bit of a period piece. You often hear the match day commentators of today refer to the cliche of the "modern game". The commentator is usually talking about the play on the pitch: it was more physical, men were men and a rash tackle would mean you get up, dust yourself off and carry on.

I think after reading this I understand that the "m...more

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Mar 09, 2011

Peter Knox rated it

Shelves: non-fiction

Loved the gonzo style immersion journalism into the holy world of soccer hooliganism. Really well written and funny.

What Hunter S. Thompson did for 1960s motorcycle gangs, Bill Buford here does for 1980s English soccer fan culture and it's well worth reading if that interests you as it did me.

A New Yorker writer, Buford is the straight man to the crazy brutal violent world around him and he tells how he got sucked in only to emerge lucky to keep his life. Lots of wonderful s...more

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Jan 25, 2010

Nicole rated it

When Bill Buford started investigating the extreme violence among the soccer “firms” in the UK he was early into his tenure of being an American in England and as a result looked upon as an outsider when approaching the members of the different groups. With perseverance through continued attendance at soccer matches and his presence at several brawls between the firms and other soccer fans, he became more accepted as part of them and gained access to the leaders of these ultra-violent clubs. B...moreWhen Bill Buford started investigating the extreme violence among the soccer “firms” in the UK he was early into his tenure of being an American in England and as a result looked upon as an outsider when approaching the members of the different groups. With perseverance through continued attendance at soccer matches and his presence at several brawls between the firms and other soccer fans, he became more accepted as part of them and gained access to the leaders of these ultra-violent clubs. Buford started out wanting to understand everything about the culture of the firms and what motivated such behavior, but by the end he seemed to be as involved in the culture as the other members.

I was shocked by the violence in this book and completely horrified by the behavior of these most ardent soccer fans. Though these men chose the life of being in these firms and fighting amongst one another which is appalling enough, they often brought innocent bystanders into the fray. The willful destruction of property and the lack of respect that they had for the establishments they visited and the people that waited upon them were extreme. I cringed while reading the entire book- there were several violent beatings that made you wonder if the person could have possibly have escaped without being extremely disfigured and handicapped for life, if indeed they were able to survive at all- along with the destruction of property, excessive drinking and aggressive acts towards women. It is hard to talk about because the events that occurred and the level of violence is so fantastical as to almost not be believed.

I was ambivalent about the author’s role in reporting on what he saw and where he went, and was acutely conscious of my own complicity while reading this book. As it progresses he was more deeply involved with the soccer hooligans and swept along in the power of the crowd and the adrenaline rush of each mounting situation. I could see his excitement about being one of the boys and was disturbed by it, but aware that I wouldn’t be privy to this information without his investigation. At the same time I don’t think equal consideration was given to finding the underlying causes and motivations of the violence, nor to any of the solutions which law enforcement might have be been considering to confront this issue. One of the things that made this book so scary is the groups seemed to be unchecked and virtually unstoppable and it was much like a weekend job for the participants, who throughout the week held down jobs, which though blue collar were usually highly paid, and had families.

Some of the firms were linked to virulently nationalistic groups that pretty much hated everybody and had no qualms with using deadly force against those not fitting into their definitions of what was racially or culturally acceptable. Buford attended their meetings, leaving when overcome with disgust for their politics and violence. He would eventually stop his investigation of the firms when he reached a breaking point with what he had immersed himself in. He had become overwhelmed by what he sought to understand.

While Among the Thugs may not have provided the reassurance that there are workable solutions to the mob mentality and group violence, it certainly provided a startling look at and overview of the situation, and it definitely paints an indelible picture in the mind. It’s a book that I will not soon forget.(less)

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Sep 18, 2009

Peter rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: in-dutch, non-fiction

Bill Buford has an encounter with a group of English hooligans and decides to dive into this fenomenon, to find out what drives these people and why they choose to fight and seek out violence without any obvious reason.

What happens when Buford gets mixed up with several of these characters and moves within these clans of hooligans, is captivating. He tries to understand and in the process almost becomes one of them. He awes at the mighty forces of a mass crowd, but at the same time ...more

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About Bill Buford

Bill Buford is an American author and journalist.
Buford is the author of the books:
Among the Thugs and Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany.

More about Bill Buford...

Books by Bill Buford

Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany

Calore: Le Avventure Di Un Dilettante Come Sguattero, Cuoco Di Artista, Pastaio E Apprendista Di Un Macellaio Toscano Che Recita Dante

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Quotes from Among the Thugs

“The crowd is not us. It never is.” — 1 person liked it

“All this intelligent and careful work revealed a man of great forethought. Yet you could see in Mr. Wicks's eyes--as he stood in the shade of the terminal awning, all that tweed and education waving to us, as one by one each bus pulled out for the noisy drive into the city--that he had failed.” — 1 person liked it

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