For too many years followers of Gaelic games had little to put on their shelves in the way of books about 'Dese Great Games of Ours' recalls An Fear Rua... Over the years, there was no shortage of comics, annuals and books about soccer - in particular - as well as about rugby and other foreign games. The likes of 'Roy of the Rovers' had no real equivalent in Gaelic games. True, up to the Sixties, there was the occasional stirring article by a Christian 'Butcher' in the long defunct organ 'Our Boys' - sold to pupils of the CBS schools - and older readers had to be content with 'Carberry's Annual', edited by the celebrated GAA writer and Radio Éireann match commentator, PD Mehigan, a work really designed to be read by the light of a 'tilly' lamp in front of a roaring turf fire.

Thankfully, the sterling efforts of GAA journalists and writers at both local and national level have changed all that. Now, the GAA bookshelf is extensive, varied and, often enough, well written. And every Christmas sees five or six GAA books launched to cash in on the annual buying spree, helping to solve the perennial problem of what to give Uncle Páidí or Auntie Nora. There are scores, if not hundreds, of worthwhile club histories available now. There are some fine general histories of the GAA. Brendan Fullam's pioneering works on major GAA heroes deserve special mention, as do the well-written books of Thurles-born Norman Freeman, who recalls great hurling games over the decades. While he may have had his differences from time to time with the late Raymond Smith, AFR would be the first to acknowledge the excellence of his final work, his timely book on GAA results and statistics. JJ Barrett's book on the GAA in Kerry is a fine work, though JJ could have done with a good sub-editor at this elbow at times. In AFR's opinion, however, An Bráthair Ó Caithnia's magisterial work on the history of hurling, 'Scéal na hIomána', occupies a special place in the pantheon of GAA books.

Just recently, another fine GAA book has made its way on to AFR's bookshelf. It's called 'To Hell and Back - The Inside Story of the Clare Hurling Revival', written by the team's legendary trainer, Mike McNamara, ably assisted by 'The Star' newspaper's GAA Correspondent, Dubliner Cian Murphy.

Now, AFR admits to having had some doubts about this particular work before he read it. After all, how could anyone - writing mere words on paper - do justice to the Clare spirit and achievement of '95, let alone '97? AFR concedes he was wrong. His reservations were not justified. Just as he helped produce great Clare hurling teams, McNamara has produced a great book. AFR also doubts the efficacy of journalists collaborating with sports personalities in 'ghosting' books. You need look no further than the recent Tony Cascarino/Paul Kimmage literary omelette to understand the reasons for that viewpoint. However, 'To Hell and Back' is a seamless collaboration between McNamara and his journalistic amanuensis. While Cian Murphy may have written the words on paper, and polished them, the 'voice' in this book is clearly that of McNamara alone. It takes a great journalist to sublimate his own ego in this way and to become a true conduit for the thoughts, feelings and motivations of the sportsperson in the partnership.

Organisation... preparation... determination... confidence... controlled aggression... No one privileged to watch that Clare team in action will be surprised to learn that these key words of McNamara's are scattered throughout the text. They sum up the foundations of the funeral pyre on which the curse of Biddy Early was immolated after eighty-one years. It's no denigration of McNamara's methods to say he seems to have imported some key rugby thinking on training and fitness into the preparation of the teams in his charge. But the real catalyst to the later success seems to be the benignly conspiratorial relationship he forged with Ger Loughnane (all present face Feakle and bow three times to the waist!) in the years when the Clare County Board had cast both of them into that outer GAA darkness reserved for 'failed' managers who are 'too big for their boots'.

The book gives a racy, pacy description of Clare's ineffable glide to success in the 1995 senior hurling championship. For that alone, the book is worth the money. But, in addition, McNamara gives revealing and insightful pen pictures of all the key Clare hurlers he encountered on this great odyssey as well as a cornucopia of mirthful anecdotes.

If there are quibbles, they are these as follows. Firstly, in the matter of photographs, the book contains an excellent selection. However, these are reproduced in a smaller format, less than a page size, and on matt rather than gloss paper. Perhaps in the inevitable second edition this could be looked at. One of the pleasures of the book is the 'no-punches-pulled' approach in criticising where this is called for but - unless the defamation lawyers argued to the contrary - there is still scope to name even more names. There are a number of irritating instances where references are made to 'a leading player' or 'a former manager', where it would be better to say 'Johnny So-and-So, the former manager'. This would greatly convenience the less initiated reader.

These, however, are but minor quibbles. Overall, this is a well written, enjoyable and - at times - inspirational book. But it is not just a book for Clare people or even just for hurling folk or GAA followers. This is a book to be savoured and enjoyed by all sports people and by students of the general human condition...

'To Hell and Back - The Inside Story of the Clare Hurling Revival', by Mike McNamara with Cian Murphy. Published by the Blackwater Press, c/o Folens Publishers, Hibernian Industrial Estate, Greenhills Road, Tallaght, Dublin 24, with support from 'The Star' newspaper. 115pp IR£10