Michael Holding's masterpiece might be the most important sports book you read

Why We Kneel, How We Rise by Michael Holding, published by Simon & Schuster, £20 hardback

You have heard of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, of athletes taking the knee and the resulting conversation it has generated.

A lot of that conversation has been positive, and why wouldn't it be? The twin concepts of wanting to end police brutality and racial inequality are hard to argue with. And yet . . .

There are those who would rather brand it a 'controversy' and label those who have silently and respectfully protested as Marxists, or accuse them of disrespecting the flag and those who have fought and died for their country.

The problem with that sideshow is there is most definitely a conversation about racial inequality that needs to be had, but for many it is an uncomfortable subject they would rather avoid because they are aware it is a hugely emotive and important matter on which they are not well enough informed to feel comfortable having it.

However, that only helps the status quo to remain in place and this is where Michael Holding's brilliant book Why We Kneel, How We Rise comes in.

It is a book that was born on a wet Southampton morning six weeks after George Floyd's murder. With no cricket to cover, Sky Sports showed a short film in which Holding and Ebony Rainford-Brent discussed the Black Lives Matter movement, the protests and their own experiences of racism. Afterwards Holding was asked how he felt and spoke with such knowledge and passion that it went viral.

Holding hammered home the importance of education that morning and this is a book that aims to do just that. With help from Usain Bolt, Naomi Osaka, Hope Powell, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Michael Johnson, Thierry Henry, Makhaya Ntini and Adam Goodes, Holding blends the lived experiences and deeply considered thoughts of some of sport's biggest names with the good and bad of black history.

Good or bad, it is a history that has been omitted. From the process of dehumanising that prefaced slavery, the lynchings, apartheid and the displacement and massacre of indigenous populations to the whitewashing of black achievement, you will learn things you did not know. Christopher Columbus does not fare well, but Matthew Henson does. If you are unsure who Henson is, he was the first person to reach the North Pole in 1909 but he happened to be black, so officially that honour went to Robert Peary.

And therein lies the beauty of Holding's book. He does not omit anything to make it an easier read – he writes: "To fix the present and future, we have to confront the past" – but equally it is not just a series of atrocities. The son of a headmistress is keen to educate about the role models history has tried to forget and his ghostwriter Ed Hawkins does a wonderful job of weaving it all together in a conversational manner that makes it read like Holding is talking to you rather than lecturing you.

The simple act of taking a knee may have cost Colin Kaepernick his playing career in the NFL, yet the England football team kneeled before every game this summer en route to their best performance at a major tournament in 55 years and Holding recognises the hope the youth represent and, as the title suggests, he and his collection of sporting giants offer their thoughts on how we rise.

All they have achieved has elevated them above most things in life, but they have not managed to escape the impact of racism and consequently it is something they have put a great deal of thought into.

Simply put, it is a must read. Very few sports books are this important.

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