For Liverpool FC, entry into the 21st century began with modernization and trophies under manager Gérard Houllier and development was then underpinned by improbable Champions League glory under Rafael Benítez. Yet that is only half of the story. The decade ended with the club being on the verge of administration after the shambolic reign of American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. In Ring of Fire, Hughes' interviewees--including Jamie Carragher, Xabi Alonso, and Michael Owen--take you through Melwood's training ground gates and into the inner sanctum, the Liverpool dressing room. Each person delivers fascinating insights into the minds of the players, coaches, and boardroom members as they talk frankly about exhilarating highs and excruciating lows, from winning cups in Cardiff and Istanbul to the political infighting that undermined a succession of managerial reigns. Ring of Fire tells the real stories: those never told before by the key players who lived through it all.