Mostly, though, the fear is in our heads, and not related to actual physical danger to our lives; and even in the 1950s, when commercial air travel was a fairly new thing, the completion of a journey without incident was common enough to take for granted. What could and would have been is the mystery of this book and the reason why Manchester United is what it is today. The book, which will be released on February 16, includes new interviews from United and English football heroes as well as unseen photographs and is written with contributions from Edwards’ friends and family. The most forensic account of this remarkable life and career includes new interviews, as well as contributions from icons of United and the wider English game - plus quotes from Edwards himself.

Duncan Edwards: Eternal : An intimate portrait of Manchester

I was sitting next to him, and felt somewhat relieved, too, when he suggested that we should move a few yards farther from the entrance. As with other titles by this author, you live and breathe football and especially Manchester United. Duncan Edwards died before I was born but I feel I knew him and saw him play after reading this marvellous book. Team-mate Bobby Charlton summed Edwards up best: "Sentiment can throw a man's judgement out of perspective.Dudley’s favourite son was 21 when he died from injuries sustained in the Munich Air Disaster, yet his legacy lives on and he is still described by many as the greatest player there ever was. On the evening in Bucharest, some of the players went out to the circus, where Ronnie remembered how Duncan had, “for the second time within a matter of hours.

Duncan Edwards: Eternal – Stanchion Duncan Edwards: Eternal – Stanchion

Ahead of its anticipated release, Barton spoke to us about the biography's inception and how he got involved. People might disagree, but if you were to name five precious people in United history, Duncan, Jimmy and George are probably in that five. The book, which will be released on February 16, includes new interviews from United and English football heroes as well as unseen photographs from an iconic career and life that was agonisingly cut short by the Munich Air Disaster in 1958. I’ve tried to tell Duncan as he was and try and remove the hyperbole of the post-Munich stuff, so you get an idea of how he actually was.Whether or not this particular story would be one of embarrassment more than it might stir some political unrest was not quite certain – Duncan was due to be demobbed, and may well have had that on his mind too.

Duncan Edwards: Eternal: An intimate portrait of Manchester Duncan Edwards: Eternal: An intimate portrait of Manchester

And – only a couple of yards away, it seemed – we saw another aircraft, bearing on its fuselage a red star.Some of the current players and all of the parasitic owners could do a lot worse than read this book to remind them what an institution Manchester United is and to treat the club with the dignity and respect it deserves. That seat was splintered into hundreds of pieces – and if Dunc had stayed there’s no doubt he would have been crushed to a pulp. At half-time Jimmy was a bit quiet, and we were all thinking he was going to blow,” McGuinness said. Writing about Edwards and indeed Munich is a serious task, but Barton is confident fans will enjoy the book and learn more about Duncan's life.

Duncan Edwards: Eternal by Wayne Barton | Waterstones

The Manchester Evening News will publish a series of excerpts from the upcoming biography, including this story that epitomises Edwards' remarkable skill on the pitch.This would have been a traumatic event for anyone, and yet, it was not Duncan’s last brush with death on this day. But they just wanted some sort of record on him that portrayed him as a normal, every-day lad, and the person they knew. Dunc turned to me and, in a voice which sounded strangely unlike his own, said: ‘You don’t look so good. Written by author Wayne Barton, the book attempts to interpret Duncan’s life and career, and it has been fully authorised by the family of the lost genius.