Modern day - well, from the end of the Attitude Era - wrestling fans don't really know a lot of the history of the business, the British wrestling days from the World of Sport, the Jim Crockett Promotions days, the early days of New Japan Pro Wrestling etc. Many rummage the Internet to dig up old matches and story-lines. However, in my opinion nothing helps someone understand wrestling history as much as a good book. The wrestling book boom seemed to happen over night. Nowadays, there are so many autobiographies, memoirs and exposes. Any event with any importance seems to have numerous books written about it. Here are five books I believe every wrestling fan should read at least once.
5. "The Wrestling" By Simon Garfield
You may not be able to get a hold of it where you live, but "The Wrestling" by Simon Garfield is a brilliant book about the popularity and decline of British wrestling. The writer basically interviewed a ton of the old stars and people from the industry, and the book is transcriptions of the interviews, but the transcriptions are cut-up and arranged so each chapter covers a theme or issue and it gives the whole work a narrative flow, rather than just lurching from one interview to the next. Also, it makes it a damn easy read as you can just pick it up and read a quick passage in a spare minute (the same as reading a book written as diary entries, for instance), as well as reading it at length. It's informative, interesting, very funny at times yet can also be genuinely moving. Definitely worth checking out.