Title search results
Showing 1881 - 1900 of 4181 items
The Triumph of Henry Cecil: The Authorised Biography
By Tony Rushmer. 2019
Dr Tony Ryan Award finalist, 2019'A wonderfully insightful, detailed and emotional biography of the legendary trainer's later years' Racing Post'[Cecil's]…
is a remarkable story and it has now been told with compassion, love, honesty and wonderful insight by Tony Rushmer' David Walsh, Sunday TimesWith a foreword by John GosdenWhen Henry Cecil sent out just 12 winners in 2005 it seemed as if the 10-time champion racehorse trainer's career was in terminal decline. The masterly touch that he'd shown through the glory-days of the two previous decades appeared to have deserted him after a series of painful professional and personal blows, including the death of his twin brother David. When Cecil was diagnosed with cancer in June 2006, it would have been enough to break many a man. But behind the scenes, the master of Warren Place in Newmarket was determined not to be labelled - in his words - a 'has-been'. Showing an iron resolve to fight for his professional reputation as well as his life, Cecil staged one of the great sporting comebacks. It was a story that captured the imagination of the racing public and beyond, peaking with his supreme handling of the unbeaten champion Frankel. Cecil's astonishing revival was witnessed in close-up by Tony Rushmer. The sports journalist became a trusted stable insider after being engaged in spring 2006 to help with the trainer's website and PR. He would remain part of the team right up until Cecil died in June 2013. Rushmer's unique access over seven years - in which he saw Cecil at the best and worst of times - allows him to provide a fresh perspective on an incredible part of the trainer's career. He is helped by many of those who were closest to the story, having interviewed numerous people during his extensive research. Containing fascinating detail and a wealth of new material, The Triumph of Henry Cecil shows how Cecil emerged from his slump, displayed relentless strength in the face of a cruel disease and trained the magnificent Frankel - as brilliant a racehorse as the sport has ever known.George Best: A unique biography of a football icon perfect for self-isolation
By Michael Parkinson. 2018
One of the most famous footballers of all time, George Best is an icon to football fans all over the…
world. He lived a tumultuous life, and died in 2005 after battling with alcoholism. He is someone who has crossed over into legend status, with his personal life sometimes overshadowing his footballing prowess. There have been many books written about George, but here, Michael Parkinson combines his professional and personal knowledge of George with his classic and much loved writing style to produce a new, and interesting biography of a football and cultural icon.On Fire: My Story of England's Summer to Remember
By Ben Stokes. 2019
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR SPORTS AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR AT THE 2020 TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS.BEN STOKES: WINNER OF…
THE 2019 BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR AWARD'He is the Special One, and I intend to call him that for the rest of his career' Sir Ian Botham, Daily Telegraph'There are not enough superlatives to describe Ben Stokes' Nasser Hussain, Daily Mail'The undisputed hero of English cricket' The TimesEarly evening on Sunday 14th July 2019. Lord's Cricket Ground in London. Something unprecedented had just happened: England had won the Cricket World Cup for the very first time since the tournament's inception in 1975. At the epicentre of England's historic triumph was Ben Stokes, the talismanic all-rounder with an insatiable appetite for The Big Occasion. He contributed a critical 84 runs off 98 balls when England batted, a seemingly nerveless innings of discipline and maturity. Thrillingly, it was enough to tie the scores at 241 runs each, so the match reverted to a Super Over - just six balls for each side to bat in the ultimate in sporting sudden-death. Stokes and Jos Buttler saw England to 15 runs off their over. When it was finally confirmed that Martin Guptill had been run out off the very last ball of New Zealand's Super Over with the scores level once again, England had astonishingly won on the boundary count-back, and the nation could finally breathe again.Early evening on Sunday 25th August 2019. A sun-drenched Headingley in Leeds. Having been bowled out for just 67 earlier in the Third Test, England were facing the prospect of failing to regain the Ashes. In their second innings England were still 73 runs short of victory with a solitary wicket remaining. Australia were near certainties to retain the Ashes there and then. Cue one of the most amazing innings ever witnessed as Ben Stokes thrashed the Australian bowlers to all corners of the ground, in the process scoring 135 not out, driving England to a barely-believable one-wicket victory, and keeping the series very much alive. The nation took another breath.On Fire is Ben Stokes' brand new book, and in it he tells the story of England's electrifying first ever Cricket World Cup triumph, as well as this summer's momentous Ashes Test series. It is the ultimate insider's account of the most nerve-shredding but riveting three-and-a-half months in English cricket history.Kieran Read - Straight 8: The Autobiography
By Kieran Read. 2019
SHORTLISTED FOR INTERNATIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR AT THE 2020 TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS.As Kieran Read calls time on his…
distinguished New Zealand career at the end of the Rugby World Cup, this is the open and honest life story of one of rugby's greatest players, a legendary All Black and a two-time World Cup winner.Kieran Read first played for the All Blacks as a 23-year-old in 2008 and since then has amassed more than a century of Test appearances in the famous jersey. Now, after a stellar provincial, club and international career - including back-to-back World Cup victories - the New Zealand captain writes openly and honestly about his time in the game.Read takes to these pages with his trademark determination, lifting the lid on the unique pressures of succeeding as captain the most celebrated All Black of all time (Richie McCaw). He outlines the decisions that molded his career and uncovers the skills of the coaches who shaped him, while offering readers an inside account of how the world's greatest team functions and thrives.Read unpacks the emotional toll of injury and the ignominy of defeat, neatly illustrating the intense experience of representing a rugby-obsessed nation while delivering a masterclass in how to manage the many demands on the mind and on the body.Forthright and frank, Read's well-respected views on the game and its future are a must-read for rugby fans, and his take on the myriad personalities and the peccadilloes of his team-mates, coaches and opponents will be sure to surprise and delight. From the playing fields of Papakura to the summit of the sport, Read has faced every challenge head on. His life story if no exception.Rugby: The Perfect Gift for Rugby Fans
By Ian Robertson. 2018
Ian Robertson joined the BBC during the golden age of radio broadcasting and was given a crash course in the…
art of sports commentary from some of the greatest names ever to sit behind a microphone: Cliff Morgan and Peter Bromley, Bryon Butler and John Arlott. Almost half a century after being introduced to the rugby airwaves by his inspiring mentor Bill McLaren, the former Scotland fly-half looks back on the most eventful of careers, during which he covered nine British and Irish Lions tours and eight World Cups, including the 2003 tournament that saw England life the Webb Ellis Trophy and "Robbo" pick up awards for his spine-tingling description of Jonny Wilkinson's decisive drop goal.He reflects on his playing days, his role in guiding Cambridge University to a long spell of Varsity Match supremacy and his relationships with some of the union code's most celebrated figures, including Sir Clive Woodward and Jonah Lomu. He also writes vividly and hilariously of his experiences as a horse racing enthusiast, his meetings with some of the world's legendary golfers and his dealings with a stellar cast of sporting outsiders, from Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor to Nelson Mandela. It is a hugely entertaining story that begins in a bygone rugby age, yet has much to say about the game in the here and now.Pride and Passion: My Autobiography
By Warren Gatland. 2019
SHORTLISTED FOR RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE 2020 TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS.'excellent' Donald McRae, The Guardian'Gatland is the…
master' Sir Ian McGeechan'Gatland is a coaching star' Sir Clive Woodward'Gats is one of the all-time great coaches' Sam WarburtonWarren Gatland is one of the world's most renowned and intriguing rugby coaches of the modern era, leading Wales to four Six Nations titles, three Grand Slams and two World Cup semi-finals and masterminding two history-making tours as Head Coach of the British and Irish Lions.As he leaves his post as Head Coach of Wales at the end of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Gatland's definitive autobiography provides a colourful and vivid chronicle of an extraordinary three decades at rugby's dynamic coal-face. The personal journey has been rewarding and challenging in equal measure, spanning many of the sport's most passionate heartlands such as New Zealand, Ireland, England and, of course, Wales. Gatland reflects in characteristically forthright and intelligent fashion on a lifetime spent playing and coaching the sport which has been his passion since as a young boy he first picked up an oval ball on New Zealand's North Island, dreaming of joining the ranks of the mighty All Blacks.Along the way we encounter the greatest matches, players and rivalries the sport has to offer, get introduced to a stunning cast of unforgettable characters who grace the story with their humour and humanity, and emerge with a striking appreciation of what makes this outstanding rugby man tick.My Story: From Foster Care to Footballer
By Kevin Brennan, Mark Bright. 2019
'Inspirational' Sunday Express'Moving and forthright' Mirror'Like so many of the stories in his book, Bright's account of meeting his father…
for the first time in more than 20 years is told with brutal honesty' GuardianWith a foreword by Gary LinekerMark Bright's 1990s partnership with Ian Wright at Crystal Palace earned them legendary status with the club. Bright played top-level football for most of his career, after starting in non-league while working as an apprentice engineer. He appeared in FA and League Cup finals, played abroad and experienced the change which swept through the game with the introduction of the Premier League.But this book is not just about Bright's time in the game. This is the story of someone who battled against the odds to achieve his dream. It is the story of a boy coping with the bewildering and frightening circumstances of being taken into care with his brother when both were very young. It is the story of his fractured family with a father who arrived in England from the Gambia, met a girl from Stoke-on-Trent, and then very quickly disappeared from his children's lives.It is the story of a mother who was unable to take responsibility for the boys she had given birth to, and it is the story of how a young Mark and his brother Philip found comfort and security after being fostered by a caring, loving white family whilst having to endure racism throughout their childhood. Above all, it is the story of a boy who had an unshakeable belief in his own ability to succeed in one of the most ruthless and high-profile professions in the world of sport. My Story explores Mark's life both on and off the football pitch, containing material he has never spoken of or addressed in the past. It delves into the highs and lows he experienced as a player and as a human being. He writes candidly about the racism he encountered, about the game itself, about those who work in it, about the way in which football has changed, the money it now generates, and about the characters he met along the way.The World According to Foggy
By Carl Fogarty. 2018
Published to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the Superbike World Championship, The World According to Foggy will delight the…
legions of motor sport fans in the UK and beyond, and will be lapped by those who have enjoyed books by Valentino Rossi, Guy Martin, Michael Dunlop, John McGuinness, Ian Hutchinson and Freddie Spencer.This is a full-throttle, rip-roaring, white-knuckle pillion ride with motorcycle racing icon Carl Fogarty, a man the nation took to their hearts as 'King of the Jungle' in the 2014 series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!The World According to Foggy is packed with hilarious tales from inside and outside the sport. Racers past and present, including Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, Steve Hislop and Guy Martin, all come under Foggy scrutiny.He dips into the memory banks to relive those special moments of his career in World Superbikes and at his 'spiritual home', the Isle of Man TT, and talks candidly for the first time about his venture into team ownership, as well as his inner demons.Carl lifts the lid on his madcap mates and their daft antics and shares his quirky wisdom on topics as diverse as cricket, hikers, News at Ten, fainting goats, traffic lights and the full English breakfast on trains.Ultimately, The World According to Foggy reveals the real man behind the visor: cheeky, witty, down-to-earth ... and every-so-slightly bonkers.My Notebook
By Eric Cantona. 2017
On the field or off, Eric 'The King' Cantona has always been known as an artist. Passionate about painting and…
photography from a very young age, he more recently took to writing, drawing and sketching out his thoughts in small Moleskine diaries. This book is the reproduction of his notebooks.Through these never-before-seen drawings, in his faux-naive style, Eric Cantona questions every aspects of the world around us - whether it's love, death, absurdity or society. With his trademark wit and wordplay, Cantona interrogates our paradoxes and contradictions, and the absurdity of the world as only he knows how.These notebooks are as funny as they are poetic and philosophical. But foremost, they're an ode to living, loving, sharing and contemplation.A dramatic account of the deadly avalanche on Everest—and a return to reach the summit.On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson…
was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in eighty-one years and killed nearly 8,900 people. That day also became the deadliest in the history of Everest, with eighteen people losing their lives on the mountain.After spending two unsettling days stranded on Everest, Davidson's team was rescued by helicopter. The experience left him shaken, and despite his thirty-three years of climbing and serving as an expedition leader, he wasn’t sure that he would ever go back. But in the face of risk and uncertainty, he returned in 2017 and finally achieved his dream of reaching the summit.Suspenseful and engrossing, The Next Everest portrays the experience of living through the biggest disaster to ever hit the mountain. Davidson's background in geology and environmental science makes him uniquely qualified to explain why the seismic threats lurking beneath Nepal are even greater today. But this story is not about “conquering” the world’s highest peak. Instead, it reveals how embracing change, challenge, and uncertainty prepares anyone to face their next “Everest” in life.We Got Game!: 35 Female Athletes Who Changed the World
By Aileen Weintraub. 2021
Inspire kids to be their best selves and get involved in social change with this stunning anthology about thirty-five amazing…
women in sports around the world and throughout history. Do you play sports? Maybe you dream about scoring a goal on the soccer field or hitting a home run in baseball. Perhaps you're thinking about trying a new sport, but you're still not sure. In We Got Game! you'll meet thirty-five female athletes who played hard, broke records, and inspired girls around the world. Some of these athletes have retired. Others are still competing. But they have one thing in common: they all got game! You'll read about the first woman horse jockey to compete in the Kentucky Derby, the number one tennis player in the world, a surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack, and a snow boarder who landed a death-defying jump, along with many others. These female athletes prove that girls can do anything! Simone Biles * Gretchen Bleiler * Hannah Cockroft * Misty Copeland * Diane Crump * Sasha DiGiulian * Gabby Douglas * Grete Eliassen * Marlen Esparza * Lisa Fernandez * Althea Gibson * Bethany Hamilton * Mia Hamm * Jackie Joyner-Kersee * Billie Jean King * Phaidra Knight * Silken Laumann * Nancy Lopez * Tatyana McFadden * Ibtihaj Mohammad * Danica Patrick * Megan Rapinoe * Mary Lou Retton * Manon Rhéaume * Ronda Rousey * Wilma Rudolph * Junko Tabei * Dara Torres * Elana Myers Taylor * Marianne Vos * Abby Wambach * Maria Toorpakai Wazir * Jen Welter * Serena Williams * Kristi YamaguchiMuhammad Ali Was a Chicken? (Wait! What? #0)
By Dan Gutman. 2021
From the best-selling author behind My Weird School: a quirky new biography series that casts fresh light on high-interest historic…
figures. Did you know that Muhammad Ali was so terrified of flying on planes he would bring a parachute? Or that he won the Presidential Medal of Freedom? Bet you didn’t know that he had an official sweat-taster to determine how salty his sweat was after each match! Siblings Paige and Turner do—and they’ve collected some of the most unusual and surprising facts about the legendary boxer and civil rights activist, from his childhood and the spark of his boxing career through his time as heavyweight champion of the world. Narrated by the two spirited siblings and animated by Allison Steinfeld’s upbeat illustrations, Muhammad Ali Was a Chicken! is an authoritative, accessible, and one-of-a-kind biography infused with Dan Gutman’s signature zany sense of humor.Pointless
By Jeff Connor. 2016
The inside, in-depth and indiscreet story of a season with Britain's worst football club, East Stirlingshire. The Shire are lucky…
if all eleven players make it to a game, they have an average home attendance at their dilapidated Firs Park ground of 200 and they ended the 2004/05 season bottom of the Scottish Third Division – for the third consecutive year. Granted access to all areas, Jeff Connor gets into the dressing room, the board room and the dug-out. But, above all, he gets into the spirit of the club. He began the season a scoffing cynic and finished it lost in admiration for one of the dottiest sporting institutions in Britain as the Shire attempted to reach the promised land; SECOND bottom of the Scottish Third Division. At times funny, sad, heart-warming and embarrassing, as events on and off the pitch unfold, Pointless is an unmissable insight into a unique football teamMince Pie for Starters
By John Oaksey. 2003
John Oaksey has seen it all in racing, as a jockey, commentator and newspaper reporter. After a lifetime devoted to…
the sport he recalls the splendid characters, horses and races that have made horseracing the great passion of his life, a passion that he is so brilliantly able to convey to others. One of the most respected and loved people in the sport, partly due to his work with the Injured Jockeys' Fund, John Oaksey has a fund of fascinating and hilarious stories to tell. This book is not just a wonderful self-portrait, it is also a definitive account of racing since the war.Dare to Do: Taking on the planet by bike and boat
By Sarah Outen. 2016
SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD ADVENTURE TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAROn 1 April 2011, rower and adventurer Sarah Outen set…
off in her kayak from Tower Bridge for France. Her aim was simple: to circle the globe entirely under her own steam - cycling, kayaking and rowing across Europe, Asia, the Pacific, North America, the Atlantic and eventually home. A year later, Sarah was plucked from the Pacific ocean amid tropical storm Mawar, her boat broken, her spirit even more so. But that wasn't the end. Despite ill health and depression, giving up was not an option. So Sarah set off once more to finish what she had started, becoming the first woman to row solo from Japan to Alaska, as well as the first woman to row the mid-Pacific from West to East. She kayaked the treacherous Aleutian chain and cycled North America, before setting out on the Atlantic, despite the risk of another row-ending storm...Dare to Do is more than an adventure story. It is a story of the kindness of strangers and the spirit of travel; a story of the raw power of nature, of finding love in unexpected places, and of discovering your inner strength. It is about trying and failing, and trying again, and about how, even when all seems lost, you can find yourself.Part Reptile: UFC, MMA and Me
By Dan Hardy. 2017
For fans of Ronda Rousey's My Fight Your Fight and John Kavanagh's Win or Learn comes the first book from…
UFC fighter and now analyst Dan Hardy, who lifts the lid on his own career and writes with insight and eloquence on all things MMA and UFC, the brutal and ever-evolving sport that launched such superstars as Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping, Georges St-Pierre, Nate Diaz and Amanda Nunes.Dan Hardy's first book is much more than a straightforward MMA autobiography. Taking the key fights from his career, Hardy explores the sport with the unparalleled insight that has made him the best analyst working today.From training in China with Shaolin monks, to how MMA helped him channel his rage, to psychedelics and the ceremony in Peru that changed his life, to tapping into his 'reptilian brain' and the psychological warfare of UFC, to his epic title fight with Georges St-Pierre.Hardy also speaks eloquently of the heart condition that forced him to stop fighting, the road to recovery, and the evolution of a sport that flies in the face of mainstream disapproval to entertain and thrill millions of obsessives around the globe.The 1966 World Cup Final: Minute by Minute (Minute By Minute)
By Jonathan Mayo. 2016
30th July 1966. For millions it was the greatest day of the greatest decade. They may never have seen the…
Beatles in the Cavern or danced at Woodstock, but they got to see the finest moment in English sporting history. Everything came together that sunny afternoon. The country was the centre of the world in fashion, film and music - so why shouldn't the World Cup be England's as well? This is the story of that extraordinary 24 hours, told through the eyes of the players, the fans on the terraces, and those watching and listening at home and abroad. Take the young policeman with the tricky task of swapping the real Jules Rimet trophy for a replica; the former German POW on holiday in Wales keeping his nationality secret as he watches the match in a stranger's house; and the Kent firecrew dousing a chimney fire as they watch the final on television. Full of fascinating details, this book evokes a period when football fans wore suits to matches, traffic policemen were invited into homes to watch the game, and the England squad could walk to the cinema undisturbed the evening before the biggest game of their lives.Man Buys Dog
By David Matthews. 2005
David Matthews, author of the critically acclaimed LOOKING FOR A FIGHT, needed a fresh challenge after he had recovered from…
being a professional boxer. Drawn to the slightly shady appeal of greyhound racing, and not averse to making some easy money, he decided to learn the tricks of the trade from the inside and buy a greyhound. Unfortunately Zussies Boy, aka Kevin, turned out to be something of a dud, and Matthews soon found out the hard way that in the world of greyhound racing there is only one winner - the hare.Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant
By Roland Lazenby. 2016
Shortlisted for the 2017 Cross Sports Book Awards Best Biography of the YearBryant is one of basketball's greatest-ever players, a…
fascinating and complicated character who says he knew when he was a boy that he would be better than Michael Jordan.Aloof and uncompromising, Bryant is the grand enigma of American professional basketball, easily the most driven player in the history of the sport, the absolute master of study and preparation. But his career has also been one of almost constant conflict: with his teammate Shaquille O'Neal; with Phil Jackson, coach of the championship-winning Lakers team that Kobe led; with the law; with his wife Vanessa; and with so many of his contemporaries, opponents and teammates.Comprehensive and unflinching, Showboat unravels the conundrum that is Kobe Bryant.More Than a Game
By Phil Jackson, Charley Rosen. 2001
More than a Game is the odyssey of Jackson's journey--from New York Knick and world champion, to CBA coach, to…
six-time Chicago Bulls world champion, to this year's L.A. Lakers world champion--and the lessons in leadership he learned each step of the way. It is the tale of Rosen's journey as well, carrying the torch for the game of basketball through careers as star college player, CBA coach, and preeminent novelist of the game. It is also the story of the system Jackson coaches, the power triangle, as put forth by Lakers assistant coach Tex Winter. The triangle can be understood as a philosophy of basketball and life--one that values role players almost as much as star players, and where fundamentals rule. More Than a Game is also a story of the friendship between Jackson and Rosen, forged in the sacred brotherhood of the hoop.