The Little Wonder: The Remarkable History of Wisden

by Robert Winder

John Wisden, at his peak known as "The Little Wonder," was a key member of the England cricket team who in 1859 sailed across the Atlantic on the world's first overseas cricket tour. In 1864, after his retirement, Wisden published the first edition of the book that would make his name immortal. He printed "full and accurate scores" along with indispensable facts about the Derby, the St Leger, the university rowing matches "and other Interesting Information," including potted histories of the Wars of the Roses. The 1864 edition is now valued at anything up to £25,000, and Wisden Cricketers' Almanack has been published continuously ever since-not for nothing is it known as "the cricketer's bible."

The Almanack has, despite some close shaves, never missed a year. In 1937 it was just 48 hours from liquidation, and in the Second World War a German bomber set fire to the company's headquarters, destroying its records. And yet somehow, the yellow (since 1938) book has retained its antique, rugged character. It is a labour-of-love collection of records for cricket obsessives, but also a hearty eccentric. It loves to count the number of wides in a season, but also delights in relating tales from far-flung pavilions.

Through the telling of Wisden's story, we also glimpse the history of English-and world-cricket. The book is a window onto the game's most charismatic characters, its high points, lows and political storms. In The Little Wonder Robert Winder traces the central role the game has played in national life for so long. The book's 150th anniversary in 2013 is the ideal time to tell the extraordinary story of Wisden's-and cricket's-journey from Victorian times to the modern world. New every year, it feels as though it has been with us for ever.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Sports

464 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2013

About the author

Robert Winder, formerly literary editor of The Independent for five years and Deputy Editor of Granta magazine during the late 1990s, is the author of Hell for Leather, a book about modern cricket, a book about British immigration, and also two novels, as well as many articles and book reviews in British periodicals. Winder is a team member of the Gaieties Cricket Club, whose chairman was Harold Pinter.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely entertaining and informative account of the history of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. I didn't know an awful lot about Wisden before listening to this audiobook, assumed it to be a rather dry and stuffy book of cricketing statistics.

I am pleased to say I have been proved wrong, as the history of the book is both fascinating and at times poignant, especially during the period of the First World War. The narrator has a clear and pleasant voice and I found myself drawn into the story very easily.

I am already a cricket fan, but this audiobook has helped to spark an interest in Wisden too, to the point where I have ordered the Wisden from the year of my birth and the 150th Anniversary edition.

Would recommend to any fan of cricket, whether or not you are a Wisden aficionado.

[Matthew Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the cricket correspondent Jim Swanton was interned in a Japanese Prisoner of War camp he had the 1939 Wisden in his rucksack. The Japanese soldiers saw him poring over it, day after day, month after month. In the end they confiscated it, thinking it must be a code book. It was returned with a slip in Japanese which he used as a bookmark. After the war, he took it to the British Library to be translated: it read: if this is a code book, it cannot be cracked! Thus, Wisden the greatest sports book of them all. The bibliophile Carl Auty kept his complete collection on a complicated system of runners so he could select a year by turning a handle and waiting until it came past his chair, or even his bed! Thus Wisden, to some incomprehensible, to others a life support system...

[Vic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating history of a book and a sport. Even for someone like me with only a passing interest in cricket, this was interesting - both in the changes that the book and the sport have seen and for the anecdotes that provide a counterpoint to the story. I now probably need to find a copy of Wisden and see what the fuss is about.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the fan of sport and literature. A fascinating read that serves as a kind of history of the decline of the British empire, an amazing publishing success story, and a love affair with the game of cricket.

[Richard Coombs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful history of the Wisden Cricketer's Almanack - all 150 years of them! The true cricketer's Bible!

[Mark Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book full of interesting facts and gave me good understanding of the history and evolution of this great institution.