Customer Reviews
Slightly Confusing - By: Mr. Peter Steward, 14 Mar 2008 
Despite dying many years ago, Uncle Eddie is remembered fondly for his days as the country's top rugby league commentator thanks to his unique northerness & strangled vowels.
Eddie went on to perpetuate the myth of "ordinariness" with stints on the ridiculous It's A Knockout. This is a rather strange bookin many ways. I loved the opening pages which set Eddie's world into the context of the times & gave a strong insight into the history & cultures of Yorkshire's West Riding - an area I know well through marriage.
Unfortunately that is the high point of the book. From there it goes on something of a rambling journey, dotting & diving all over the place & rather suggesting that the author is short of solid material.
Hannan obviously never met Waring & really reveals relatively little about the man, often hiding under the premise that Eddie was a private person. We understand that basically he was "a fine chap" with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Rugby League who,in some circles, was viewed as an anachronism & someone who helped southernersin their views that rugby league was a sport for violent thickies from the north of England (my words & not those of the author).
Many of us of a certain age grew up with Eddie's commentaries on Grandstand & an interesting aspect of the book is the fight to get rugby league accepted as a serious sport, particularly when the BBC seemed to take pleasurein laughing at it. So we start off with a social history of Eddie's home town of Dewsbury, The author then seems to be undecided whether he wants to write a socio-economic history of West Yorkshire, a history of rugby league or a biography of Eddie Waring. The result is the book falls somewhere between the three categories - into a kind of no man's land.
It is undeniably a good read but flies off at too many tangents, almost as if the author has a butterfly brain & must move into a different area before he forgets something. We leap backwards & forwardsin time & seemingly irrelevant events are afforded a great amount of space - which once again suggests that he doesn't have enough about Eddie to fill a book.
Waring's success as a character lay simplyin his love of the sport & the way he promoted it both as a commentator, administrator & coach. There's no great controversiesin Eddie's life. His first marriage broke down but we never really find out why & that's the great failing of this book. We just learn too little about our subject.
His life is put into the context of the sport but we don't get an insight into just what made him tick. As a sports book it's a good read, but it falls shortin a number of areas as if the author has had a good idea, is determined to follow it through but then finds his material is not as strong as he would have hoped.
A colourful and detailed picture of a true one-off! - By: D. Spencer, 10 Mar 2008 
As this book says, it is over 21 years since Eddie Waring died & 26 years since he made his last Rugby League commentary on the BBC. So it is a measure of his standing back then that this belated biography is still of great interest. 'Being Eddie Waring' is an impressive piece of work that paints a colourful & detailed picture of a true one-off.
The life of Eddie Waring paralleled the growth of radio & television broadcasting, & ambitious 'Uncle Eddie' - also a tabloid journalist & successful RL coach - was just the man to take advantage, bothin terms his own career & furthering the cause of the sport he grew up with & loved. There is lots for the nostalgic fan or thosein need of an RL history lesson to enjoy. It tells of Eddie's partin the 'Watersplash' Challenge Cup final of 1968, for example, when Don Fox's missed goal fromin front of the sticks led to rugby league's Kenneth Wolstenholme moment - "eee...poor lad", & it recounts his adventures on the historic 1946 Indomitables tour of Australia & New Zealand among much much more.
'Being Eddie Waring' also features Eddie's stint as a co-presenter on 'It's A Knockout', & chronicles his appearances alongside the likes of Morecambe & Wise, Mike Yarwood, Cilla Black & the Goodies. In the seventies, his fame became huge. But as Eddie's star rose, Rugby League's didn't. The game wasin decline & many blamed it on the BBC & Waring himself. This conflict with those who shared his roots is dealt within fascinating & thought-provoking style.
Even if you are one of those people who regret the image of Rugby League that the BBC & Eddie Waring embeddedin the nation's consciousness, don't let that persuade you not to buy this hugely entertaining & informative book. It really is a belter.
Being Eddie Waring - By: Mrs. H. James, 10 Mar 2008 'Being Eddie Waring' is a DO NOT MISS if, like me, you are a relatively new rugby League fan.
My acquaintance with this excellent game began just five & half years ago, & for me Eddie Waring had emerged only as a name; some fella from the past, mentioned occasionally, who everyone seemed to think had been bad for the game. Tony Hannan has slit the chrysalis & released a full-grown man, &in so doing he has cleared up one massive misconception. Eddie Waring was not "bad for rugby League". It was only bad that the BBC, for whatever reason, allowed a dynamic & dedicated human being to make an increasingly sad fool of himself, as he fell gradually victim to the dreadful symptoms of the Alzheimer's that killed him.
A mite more human decency would have eased him gently out of the public eye sooner. Eddie Waring lived a full & very positively contributing life. Tony Hannan's well researched, well written & entirely readable book has brought that into the light. I am glad I bought my copy.
Everyone's favourite Uncle, From 'Up and Under' to 'Its a Knockout' - By: Darky Knight, 06 Mar 2008 This is a book I couldn't put down. It reveals a very human being who pursued his dream of bringing Rugby League football to the drawing rooms of the nation. For four decades he new the stars of both Rugby League & light entertainment & he himself became so big a BBC personality that a significant minority Rugby League diehards from his own northern stock called for his head & petitioned the Rugby League to abandon the man who had put their game on the national map. A journey from school through club management & journalism to an unsurpassed television career is a story that not only inspires but endsin tragic circumstances.
Without hesitation I recommend this brilliant biography.
Brian Knight
