Win or Else

"In his last work, the meticulous scholar and passionate fan Larry Holmes has given us a work that tells two stories. The product of years living and working in the Russian heartland, this book offers a short account of Soviet soccer history and a local study of a provincial club, Dinamo Kirov. It is a thoroughly researched, archivally based account of center-periphery relations and passionately contested terrain – the people's game in a hierarchical authoritarian state. The corruption and irrationality Holmes reveals are emblematic of the late Soviet experiment, demonstrating how the subject of sport can answer the big questions of history. If one wanted to know why the Soviet Union collapsed, she or he could do well to start with this account. It is said the soul of the world's most popular game can be found at its lower levels. This fine volume proves the wisdom of the author's chosen path."—Robert Edelman, author of Spartak Moscow: A History of the People's Team in the Workers' State

"In his final work, Larry E. Holmes tells the captivating history of Kirov Dinamo, a scrappy local football club that rose to football glory in 1980 only to fall back to earth again. This regional team's ascent to the First League has it all—charismatic coaches, great players, Party politics, bribery, lavish off-the-books spending, and a rabid fanbase. The only way to stay ahead of the game, and to keep the money flowing, was to win, or else. In an exemplary regional history, Holmes uses Kirov Dinamo to show how the whole Soviet sports worked to give the people an escape from everyday troubles and he captures the local flavor—from games played in a crumbling stadium with a flooded pitch to local officials who would do anything for their beloved football team. Holmes writes as a fan of Kirov Dinamo and his love of football and of Kirov jumps off the pages."—Aaron Retish, author of Social Control under Stalin and Khrushchev: The Phantom of a Well-Ordered State