At half-time Jimmy was a bit quiet, and we were all thinking he was going to blow,” McGuinness said.

New Duncan Edwards book tells tales of Manchester United

Suddenly the MiG (Mikoyan- Gurevich, a Soviet fighter aircraft) shot beneath our plane – and we zoomed upwards. Dunc turned to me and, in a voice which sounded strangely unlike his own, said: ‘You don’t look so good. This fascinating new biography, with support from friends and relatives, includes rare and unseen pictures and tells the story of the boy who left his home in Dudley to earn his Manchester United debut at the age of 16 - and made such an impression that he was an England international at 18. 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. Duncan Edwards was the jewel in the crown of the Busby Babes, an all-time legend at just 21, who was denied the chance to hit even greater heights by the Munich Air Disaster in 1958.That’s how I connected with some of them – Keith [Edwards, first cousin], Lawrence [Brownhill, second cousin].

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

As with other titles by this author, you live and breathe football and especially Manchester United. Team-mate Bobby Charlton summed Edwards up “Sentiment can throw a man’s judgement out of perspective. Eternal' is the complete story of an extraordinary footballer, whose influence on Manchester United and the success that followed can still be felt today. For a giant spotlight toppled from its mast high above the area and crashed – smack into the seat where Dunc had been sitting.But once I knew the angle they wanted to go at, and that it was something different to the way that the story has been told before, I was excited. For 15 minutes that MiG tried everything to shake us out of our steady flight; and as we sweated through the whole ghastly performance it seemed like 15 hours. Duncan Edwards' heart-breaking yet remarkable story is one entrenched into the folklore of Manchester United and the minds of every single supporter. 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.

Duncan Edwards: Eternal by Wayne Barton | Waterstones

They might even be the top three you’d speak of, in terms of how precious the stories are and how careful you’ve got to be in telling that story. Ahead of its anticipated release, Barton spoke to us about the biography's inception and how he got involved. Eternal’ is the complete story of an extraordinary footballer, whose influence on Manchester United and the success that followed can still be felt today. Finding the faults and identifying them and talking about them… firstly it humanises him and, secondly, it finds a clearer way to articulating how good he could have been.

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.