Dear sports fans: what are the most intense rivalries you can think of? Those in the US would list the Yankees versus the Red Sox or the Giants versus the Dodgers in baseball, Ohio State versus Michigan or Alabama versus Auburn in American college football, and Duke versus North Carolina in college basketball. European football fans would claim that the derbies between Arsenal and Chelsea, Olympiakos vs Panathinaikos, and Juventus and Internazionale are even more passionate. Rubbish! These rivalries are all playground dustups compared to El Clásico, the century long hate fest between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two premier teams in La Liga, the Spanish football first division.

Both teams are among the best in Europe, and their rivalry is enmeshed in the history of the two main Spanish cities; the difference in languages and cultures, with Madrid being the capital of Castilian Spain and Barcelona the capital of Catalonia, a region whose residents want nothing more than its independence from Spain; the suppression of Catalans during the nearly 40 year reign of Generalísimo Francisco Franco; and the meaning ascribed to the two teams by its followers throughout history. A win by FC Barcelona, known casually as Barça, over Madrid during the years of fascist rule meant a victory for the Catalan people over Franco and the Falangists, who were based in Madrid, whereas a win by Real Madrid meant, for some supporters, a victory for the Fatherland and Franco. That's right, isn't it?

Well, not entirely. Sid Lowe, a Madrid based English journalist who writes about football for The Guardian and other publications, does a masterful job in looking underneath the myths and claims by supporters of each side to find the truth about both clubs, and in doing so he has written a very readable and interesting story about the teams, their players and owners, and their often rabid fans. The book covers the teams' combined histories through the 2011-2012 seasons, and every important player and influential coach and owner is given due treatment, including László Kubala, the fun loving Hungarian who was one of Barcelona's first star players; Alfredo Di Stéfano, Madrid's Blond Arrow; Johan Cruyff, the Dutch footballer who changed Barça's approach to the game and turned it into a winner; Madrid's galácticos, the superstars whose egos got in the way of their successes; and the two best players in the world, Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who are pictured on the cover of the book.

Fear and Loathing in La Liga would be best appreciated by football fans, especially those who know something about these two clubs. However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book despite my relative lack of knowledge about Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and La Liga, and it kept my interest throughout its 400+ pages. ( )