Red or Dead
David Peace author Phillip Breen editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Nick Hern Books
Published:3rd Apr '25
Should be back in stock very soon

'That's all I ask from anyone. That we try to make the people happy.'
Bill Shankly had one aim: to make Liverpool Football Club invincible.
As its manager from 1959, he secured the team promotion, the First Division title, the FA Cup and success in Europe. For fifteen years, he defined what it was to be a Liverpool fan, and demanded total loyalty from his players and coaches. A loyalty that Bill hoped would be repaid when he retired...
David Peace's iconic novel Red or Dead is the fictionalised story of a game, a life, and a man of two halves. This stage version was adapted and directed by Phillip Breen, and first performed at Liverpool's Royal Court in 2025, with a cast including Peter Mullan as Bill Shankly.
The novel was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and has been widely acclaimed:
'David Peace brings perfect pitch to this ode to Bill Shankly's Liverpool reign' Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Observer
'A love letter to a great manager, an elegy to the beautiful game' Independent
'So hypnotic that even the football-averse might enjoy it' Guardian
'Captures the sense of a life lived in the public eye, each move scrutinised... Admirably ambitious, Breen's production is both inspired and inspiring, told with the quick humour, community spirit and full force of the Kop'
* Guardian *'Mesmerising... a rare glimpse of Shankly showing his grit, spark and spirit... There's a touch of King Lear to him too in the second half... extraordinary emotional penetration'
* The TimISBN: 9781839044571
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 10mm
Weight: 159g
144 pages
stage version