Question and Comments

Did you find it difficult to keep your work current as revelations about the Beckhams appear on a daily basis?

Not really. I clearly followed the revelations, but steered clear from being drawn into a running narrative. While my latest book clearly covers Beckham's alleged marital problems, this is not my focus. You can get all the speculation you want from reading a tabloid newspaper. I have always set out to write books which will manage to have an extended life. It's a great joy to bump into readers and discover that they still regard what I've written some time back still relevant to their experience and interest, whether as a football fan or simply lover of things Spanish or Latin American. The joy I get from writing books is precisely that satisfaction, in contrast to the instant -here today, gone tomorrow - breaking news culture daily journalism suffers from. Sure there are instant books out there on Beckham just like there are on any other celebrity, but When Beckham went to Spain is not one of them. I set out to write a story that would use Beckham as a vehicle for writing about a much bigger subject -Real Madrid, and the politics of power and stardom in Spanish football, in the context of Spanish history.