The brand new book All The Saints is now flying off the shelves aided by a number of ex Saints players doing signing sessions, but actually how good or bad is the book ? Here we take a look and answer the question.

Hagiology publishing's latest offering "All The Saints" has been the subject of quite a few news stories on this site of late not to mention the message board, where it has been the subject of much debate after the club itself refused to stock it due to the involvement of certain ex players etc, but their initial involvement, not to mention the Daily Echo and of course many ex footballers who have plied their trade with Saints over the years, has helped Gary Chalk, Duncan Holley & David Bull pull together perhaps the best book that has come out under the name of the company.

It could be said of previous releases that they were books for the purists, In That Number for instance was and remains up to this moment, the most comprehensive book written on the club, essential to those who like myself spent time writing about Saints, it did though have the drawback that it was more about facts and figures and not so much about the story behind those statistics, it was excellent in doing what it did, it was a book that was a great reference tool, it settled many arguments in the pub and on line and never again did Saints fans have to agree to disagree on exactly who had scored in what game and what was the time of the goal etc, in fact it was so comprehensive it didn't just give the crowd of each game it nearly went as far as to name them.

But it wasn't a great read as such ! I would recommend it to any Saints fan, in fact I would go as far as to say it should be compulsory, but although it did give a few stats and facts on each player, it didn't from constraints of space have the room to expand on the details.

All The Saints however does, it follows on from the 1992 Chalk & Holly book "The Alphabet of the Saints" that book was then the definitive bible on Saints players, but this latest tome goes so much further, but although like all the Hagiology releases its packed with facts and statistics, this puts the meat on the bones and contains so much more in the way of anecdotes and stories behind the scenes, yes like In That Number its a book that yo can keep to hand to refer to, but its a book that you can sit down and read.

Large A4 size and containing over 520 pages though, its a long read, on congratulating David Bull on his efforts at the recent launch he commented that perhaps I should get back to him after I had read it through, I retorted that would probably be about July then, I was half joking but there is so much info in there, even the most prolific reader would find themselves needing to spend a lot of time reading it, this is no bad thing, but I suspect most Saints fans would do as i did, not start at the front, but head for my favourite players and then after that work my way though.

So what do you get inside its covers.

Well each player is listed alphabetically and his stats are given including birthday etc alongside a photo, sometimes more than one, also included is a resume of his career, any notable achievements or anecdotes, as well as what he did after leaving the Club and what he is doing now where possible, of course the size of the players profile will depend on how important he was to the cause, ranging from someone like Derek Digby who played 15 times between 1953-55 will be granted around a quarter of a page, up to the likes of Matthew Le Tissier, Terry Paine or Mick Channon who get a full two pages dedicated to them.

But it is more than just a book detailing player biographies, along the way it not only is an intensive pictorial record of the club, bigger and more comprehensive than anything else ever published, but it is a snapshot of the life of the club and the part each and every player who played in a competitive match played in it, it tells you so much more than a history book usually would and that is because like good history books it doesnt just tell you about the events, it tells you about the men who took part often from their own perspective due to the extensive interviews conducted with those who are still alive.

So this is a book I would recommend to any Saints supporter, young or old, whether its bought as a present or bought for yourself, I would recommend that you buy it on two levels, firstly for the many reasons I have just explained ie that is it informative and interesting, but secondly due to the fact that his has been a labour of love by the authors, like all their other books it has not been about profit, its been about a lifelong love of Southampton Football Club, however the decision to not stock the book in the club shops has been a big blow financially for them, they have financed this book from their own money and now need to recoup that or face a loss, there is much talk of late of the Southampton Way or the Southampton Family, in truth as you will read in this book, these things are not a new invention, they have been going on for years, over 128 to be exact and will hopefully continue for that and that again.

The Southampton Way though has always been about looking after our own, Duncan Holley, Gary Chalk & David Bull have always been "our own" their writings will have touched you perhaps without you even realising, whether its been through buying a book, reading the match day programme to which they have contributed for many years, or perhaps indirectly in that there is barely an historical article written by the Echo or other media outlets including myself that hasn't used one of their books for reference to make sure the facts are correct.

Now they need the help of the Southampton family to make sure that without the aid of having the book sold in club megastores, that they can sell enough books to recoup their substancial outlay, so buy a copy, but if you can't do that for whatever reason or even if you have, help them in other ways be getting the word out there to Saints supporters that the book has been produced, in reading this you are probably on line, use your social media to get the word out to all your friends, send the link to this and other stories about the book via Facebook, twitter and your own e mail box to spread the news, with christmas coming up there will be many people looking to buy presents for aints supporting friends and relatives, they might not follow Saints themselves or go into the only retail outlet Waterstones to look for a Saints themed gift but usually go into the Saints shop, lets get behind the authors and show them that the Southampton Way is about supporting our own.

The book is available in all local branches of Waterstones retailing at £35, but if you contact the publishers direct then more of the cover price will go to funding this project, you can order it at Hagiology Publishing

There you can buy it for only £30 if you live locally and it can be hand delivered or if it needs to be posted then for £37 including postage etc.

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