LONDON, June 30 — The entire planet is caught up in World Cup fever at the moment, but The Age of Innocence, football in the 1970s by Reuel Golden takes a look at what was arguably the game's most glittering decade.

The “photographic tribute to football's most beautiful era” documents the point when “the beautiful game” (a phrase first coined by Pelé) became truly international thanks to a raft of superstar players.

The book explores the global and cultural impact of the game, from the fashions it inspired to the players' girlfriends, cars, politics, fans, passions and hairstyles.

The images span the first color televised World Cup in Mexico in 1970, the 1974 World Cup, dominated by the intense rivalry between the West Germans and the Dutch, and Argentina's victory in the 1978 World Cup.

Photographers featured include Neil Leifer, Peter Robinson, Gerry Cranham, Terry O'Neill and many more, with stars ranging from England's darlings George Best and Bobby Moore to the aforementioned Brazilian legend Pelé, the Italian striker Paolo Rossi and the West German midfielder Heinz Flohe.

Compiled by author Reuel Golden, former editor of the British Journal of Photography, The Age of Innocence will be published by Taschen in July for £34.99 (RM191.30).