*** Before Running with the Firmcame Among the Thugs- the bestselling classic account of football violence in English football *** Welcome to the world of football thuggery. They have names like Bonehead, Paraffin Pete and Steamin' Sammy. They like lager, football, the Queen, and themselves. They love England. They dislike the rest of the known universe. The beautiful game remains ugly. From following Manchster's Red Army to drinking with Skinheads, acclaimed writer Bill Buford enters this alternate society and records both its savageries and its sinister allure with the social imagination of George Orwell and the raw personal engagement of Hunter S. Thompson. Among the Thugsis a terrifying, malevolently funny, supremely chilling book about the experience, and the eerie allure, of crowd violence and football culture.