Immortal Harlequin: The Story of Adrian Stoop

brilliant insight to how and when the Quins brand came about.

What a excellent book to read with some interesting things I never knew , really enjoyed reading this book highly recommend

A great book on an even greater rugby player. Thank you. JW

if you love rugby and the time during early years of rugby, you should read and find so many notes and fact of the history of one of the greeters rugby player Mr Stoop , well known for the Queens stadium. just look and for that price you can have a real time and sometime to repeat reading the same book again and again. well done Mr Cooper.

I met the author at a rugby match last month (surprisingly it wasn't a Quins game!) and recieved some inside gen on the book. I can't wait for my copy to arrive. I'd recommend to any sports fan :-)

Rarely does such an un-put-downable biography come along. I was rivetted to the text from the moment I opened it up. It links the beautiful game with Douglas Bader and the swan joke. This is an insight into the game, the man and a better age. One particular passage describes when Stoop was captain of a team is awarded a penalty when it was not merited and he misses deliberately. Later, when one of the opposition's players is sent off unfairly, he sends one of his team off to balance matters. This is truely a novel from when sport was just that. Outstanding

I actually bought it for someone else. But without even reading it, got attracted to the way the author has set out the start to each chapter. So I read it, and pretended I hadn't. I know no more about rugby having read it than when I started (although it is clear for anyone who does want to know that this is as good as any place to start), but it is actually the story of the Stoop family itself that reads out like any good novel should do. At times it brought a tear to my eye. If you have know a guy who likes rugby, buy it!

If ever a man is deserving of an autobiography, it is Adrian Stoop. The author has perceptively uncovered this story and may be, in some ways, fortunate to have unearthed such a wealth of information. Stoop embodies the classic British Hero and were he to have been American, would no doubt have had his tale immortalised by Hollywood. However it may also just be that it is Stoop himself who is more fortunate, having had his life story told by such a committed and rousing author. This book will appeal to Sports Historians, Rugby fans and anyone who is interested in the lives of truly remarkable individuals. I think Adrian Stoop would have agreed that Cooper is very much 'On his game' with this work.