Via Garibaldi
Che Guevara once observed that ‘the only hero the world has ever needed is Giuseppe Garibaldi.’ Italy’s greatest national hero, Garibaldi is the man most responsible for creating the modern, unified country we know today. In Via Garibaldi, Jim Holden tells his incredible story by means of a journey to cities and towns that were central to Garibaldi’s life. The path across Italy follows his actions in chronological order, recounting his immense courage amid bloody battles, his often turbulent private affairs, and the clashes with authority that put him in jail several times.
The story, however, begins in London, to which he travelled 160 years ago and was feted by an astonishing half a million people in the streets around Trafalgar Square. Via Garibaldi is for history lovers, travellers, Italophiles, and anyone who relishes an adventure story. It is also an excellent travel companion for people visiting the Repubblica Italiana.
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Published: 15 January, 2026
Stan Cullis: The Iron Manager
Few men have made a greater impact on football than Stan Cullis. He was a fine centre half, but Cullis became an even greater manager, winning three Football League championships and two FA Cups for the Wolves. This is his story. The dramatic claim that Cullis’s Wolves team were ‘champions of the world’ after beating Honved in 1954 sparked the creation of the European Cup tournament. That, in itself, would guarantee his place in soccer history. There is much more, however, to the story of Stan Cullis. He emerged from a bleak childhood to be appointed captain of Wolves in the week of his 20th birthday, and at the age of 22 he became the youngest skipper of the England national side. Cullis was a great player; Ferenc Puskas, the great Hungarian, described him as ‘the most classical centre-half of his time’. Cullis became an even greater manager, thanks in part to ‘long-ball’ tactics that provoked endless controversy. His reputation was worldwide. When Wolves brutally sacked him in 1964 the first offer of a new job came from Italian club Juventus. He turned it down. Stan Cullis fully merited the unique title he loved to live up to; he was the Iron Manager.
Publisher: Breedon Books
Published: October 2000
Jim Holden - Author 