But with respect to Federer and Sharapova, they still have some way to go before matching the sartorial successes of the legendary Fred Perry, and Rene Lacoste, one of the famous "Four Musketeers" from France.

CNN: Tennis fashion brands serve up a healthy return for players

As the reader is reminded, Austerlitz was Fred Astaire's real name as well as a famous Napoleonic battle, and the experiences of Austerlitz the man merge with other traumas in European history, and with the thoughts of Mr Sebald's hypersensitive narrator.

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