Derek Air – författare

When the Covid-19 lockdown hit in March 2020, millions of people suddenly found themselves confined to their homes, with their lives on hold as the planet fought a deadly pandemic.

Land of the Giants: My Journey Through the World of Table Football chronicles the author’s discovery of a vibrant Subbuteo sub-culture and the emergence of an online community that was determined to keep alive a game under threat.

Over a period of three years Derek Air met and interviewed dozens of those dedicated to the game.

This book tells their stories: the collectors who scour the charity shops, collector’s fairs and online auction sites in search of that rarity they hope will complete their collections; the players who take the game so seriously that they train as hard for competition as their 11-a-side counterparts; the artists, who paint their figures and bring to life great teams, past and present and even those that recreate famous stadia at scale. Land of the Giants is a love letter to an old-fashioned favourite, a much-loved game, and one that simply refuses to die.