Historian Hans Woller tells the story of this exceptional career – with critical distance and yet with warmth and empathy. The history of the FC Bayern München underpins the narrative; in the 1960s and 70s, Müller’s club established itself at the top of European football despite its precarious proximity to financial ruin. How was bankruptcy averted? What was the dubious role played by the federal state government of Bavaria and the conservative CSU party? How did the club’s superstars Müller and Beckenbauer profit from these machinations? Woller’s book answers these questions with unprecedented and thrilling detail; here, football history becomes significant as the history of the present.