Fighting Men of London: Voices from Inside the Ropes - Hardcover

"The rich history of British boxing is not just about the glitz and glamour of box-office superstars like Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno. There are many fascinating untold stories that predate the television age. Fighting Men of London is a captivating collection of seven very different tales set in a lost fistic era. Delving deep into their individual stories, Alex Daley gets up close and personal with some of British boxing's unsung heroes and forgotten stars. You can almost feel the blood, sweat and tears." --Colin Hart, The Sun

"To read Daley's book is to be taken back, very deliberately, to a London - to an England - just the other side of the memory of most of us... Daley's London is very much a working-class city: a city of Irish, Jewish and, later, of Caribbean immigrants; a city of poverty and its constant companion, crime; a city of community and togetherness; a city blighted by war; a city of evacuated children... this is a fascinating book... East End boxing history at its best." --Boxing Monthly

"Daley and the fighting men shine a guiding light on a time when British boxing boomed, bringing to life the characters, the venues and the generation as they embark on a colourful journey through a golden era." --Tris Dixon, Editor, Boxing News

"Fighting Men of London is a book about a throwback era in boxing, when brave men fought in smoke-filled halls for small purses... Daley is to be congratulated on his book, bringing to life the stories of proud fighters of the past with stories to tell - warts and all." --Blackpool Gazette

"I'm no expert on British boxing, and except for one or two of them the names and exploits of Sid Nathan, Jock Taylor, Teddy Lewis, Jack Streek, Albert Carroll, Ted Berry and Sammy McCarthy were unknown to me. Making their acquaintance through Daley's and their own captivating narratives was a pleasure and honor." --Pete Ehrmann, Boxing.com

"Daley revives the days of cards in baths, small halls and open air arenas so the reader can vividly capture the gritty reality of trading leather in London over 50 years ago... Interwoven into the chapters are stories of love and loss, air raid sirens and evacuations and boxing in the booths that throw light on a distant yet golden era of British boxing... The journeys are exhilarating and candid." --Will Hale, BoxRec News

"The author provides an insight into the lives of the fighting men of the past. Their memories provide many interesting stories. A good read!" --Len Whaley, East London Advertiser

"Daley's labour of love brilliantly transports you to a forgotten era. It brings to life a magical age in vivid colour through emotive memories with reflections on boxing booths, World War II, the Krays and many other personalities. The stories all provide superb insight, casting a much-needed light on an era that might have otherwise been forgotten." --Boxing News

"Told through seven former fighters with an eye for detail that makes you think of Gerald Kersh... As a history of East End culture, it's illuminating." --Peter Watts, The Great Wen, a London blog

"Alex Daley has said his inspiration for the book was the thought that the stories of these men might soon be lost forever... The passion comes through in both Daley's words and those of his subjects. The book contains many intricate details of the various fights these seven pugilists can remember, in pretty healthy detail. For non-fight fans there's interest in the men's lives outside the ring, hearing first-hand accounts of Ted Berry's dealings with the Kray twins and Albert Carroll's stark honesty about his post-boxing career in armed robbery." --Matt Brown, Londonist.com

"A delightful book... Daley spent a lot of time interviewing the men and used the information in an innovative way." --Ron Jackson, SuperSport.com

Fighting Men of London explores the lives of seven former professional boxers who fought in the capital between the 1930s and 1960s. Set around a series of interviews, it resurrects a golden age of the sport when boxing was as popular as football and Britain's leading fighters were working-class heroes. Dramatic, poignant, inspiring and at times funny, the book covers such subjects as booth fighting, exploitation in boxing, East End poverty, World War Two London, Jewish culture, fame and success, crime, prison life and encounters with such figures as the Kray twins, the Great Train Robbers and Britain's most infamous inmate, Charles Bronson. Fighting Men of London takes us on a journey through a lost era of smoky fight halls, ramshackle boxing arenas and courageous fighting men. It features the previously untold stories of 1950s boxing star Sammy McCarthy, Bethnal Green knockout specialist Ted Berry (an associate of the Kray twins) and Sid Nathan, who as one of Britain's last surviving 1930s boxers once shared a fight bill with the great Jack Kid Berg. This isn't a single story, but seven stories of seven very different men. The common bond they shared was boxing.