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Showing 21441 - 21460 of 21768 items
By Graham Johnson. 2004
Gangster Paul Grimes was a one-man crimewave with a breathtaking capacity to steal. Any villains who got in his way…
were made to pay - often with their blood. But when his son died of a drugs overdose, the old-school mobster swore revenge on the new generation of Liverpool-based heroin and cocaine dealers. Against all odds, he turned undercover informant. The first gangster to fall foul of Grimes' change of heart was Curtis Warren, aka 'Cocky', the wealthiest and most successful criminal in British history. Grimes infiltrated his cocaine cartel and led Customs to the largest narcotics seizure on record, putting Warren in the dock in the drugs trial of the twentieth century. After turning his attention to heroin baron John Haase, Grimes rose to become the boss of the villain's notoriously bloodthirsty 'security firm' - a professional gang of racketeers addicted to cocaine, explosive violence and non-stop criminality. But as his net began to tighten, Grimes was confronted with the ultimate dilemma. He discovered his second son was now a rising star in the drugs business. The life-or-death question was: should he shop him or not?Powder Wars also reveals the secrets behind one of the most controversial episodes in British judicial history - how former Home Secretary Michael Howard was duped into granting John Haase a Royal Pardon.Today, Paul Grimes has a £100,000 contract on his head and is a real-life dead man walking. Powder Wars is a riveting account of modern gangsters told in brutal detail.By John Hartson. 2010
In July 2009, former Celtic and Wales soccer star John Hartson was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which had also spread…
to his lungs and brain. But before his treatment even began, John came to the brink of death after contracting pneumonia, ceasing to breathe and undergoing emergency brain surgery. Against all the odds, he pulled through, and in Please Don't Go he documents his incredible fight for life.Profoundly moving, John's own story is interwoven with the poignant recollections of his pregnant wife, Sarah, as well as with extracts from his sister Victoria's personal diary. This remarkable book covers the five-week period during which John's survival was most in jeopardy.John's truly inspirational account of how he has managed to overcome a very aggressive form of cancer will offer hope and courage to others affected by the disease. It is a touching and ultimately uplifting insight into the bravery of the popular football hero, who has fought back to full health in the face of adversity.By Nasser Hussain. 2004
Nasser Hussain was acclaimed as England's best cricket captain since Mike Brearley. Under his leadership, a side more famous for…
its batting collapses and ability to seize defeat from the jaws of victory discovered its backbone. With coach Duncan Fletcher he put some steel into the side; they became a difficult team to beat.Hussain wore his heart on his sleeve: railing against complacency, defying critics of his place in the batting line-up and making a principled stand at the last World Cup when the ECB seemed incapable of it.Expect passion, integrity, insight and candour in his eagerly awaited autobiography.By David Tossell. 2003
A coach transported to the field in a hearse as he played dead. An English manager taken at gunpoint to…
an Argentinian jail after trying to sign that country's World Cup captain. The hero of 1966 who talked his team out of going on strike on the eve of a title decider. All are part of the British professionals' story of life in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 1970s and early '80s, when star turn and unsung journeyman alike had the chance to play alongside Pelé, Cruyff, Beckenbauer and Eusebio in the greatest galaxy of world stars ever assembled in one league. Playing for Uncle Sam recalls the British players and coaches who were part of an organisation that changed the face of football with its shoot-outs, offside rule and wacky marketing methods.It began with Stoke City and Wolverhampton Wanderers spending a bizarre summer posing as the Cleveland Stokers and Los Angeles Wolves in 1967. The late '70s saw the NASL, run by a former Welsh international, reach its peak, drawing crowds of 70,000 and featuring names like Banks, Moore, Hurst and Ball. Rodney Marsh pitched his tent in America by declaring famously that English football had become a grey game, while George Best used the NASL as an escape from the fishbowl of his life in Britain. Typically, the pair delighted and exasperated teammates and coaches in equal measure. Through approximately 60 interviews with members of the British contingent who accepted the offer of the Yankee dollar, Playing for Uncle Sam recalls one of the most fascinating episodes in football history: the remarkable rise and chaotic collapse of the NASL.By Tim Harris. 2009
It may be natural to play games, but the sports we love aren't natural at all. Each and every one…
of them has been invented, tweaked, pushed and pulled to come up with better rules, cleverer tactics and more effective techniques. There are no prizes for guessing who invented the Cruyff Turn or the Fosbury Flop - but who invented the header or the sliding tackle? The dive pass or the scrum? The lob or the smash? The sand wedge or the tee? The googly or the flipper?This book introduces 250 men, women and animals, each of whom has transformed at least one major sport. Famous or infamous, remembered or forgotten, god-like or god-awful, the game was never the same after them.In making his selection, Tim Harris, author of Sport, has drawn on years of passion, argument and research to produce a list that is at once personal and authoritative, provocative and challenging: the rogues, rulers and revolutionaries who shaped the games we play today.The St Andrews Old Course Starter's Box was sold in a controversial international auction on 10 September 2001, the day…
before the infamy of the Twin Towers attack. 'Play Away Please' recounts the glory of the little building in St Andrews, 'the home of golf', and tells the tale of those who used its services for 77 continuous years.Unlike many epics, the story does not centre on a rich dynasty or a heroic quest for the truth. Instead, it centres on the production of the perfect round of golf and the global marketing of the Box - one of the most celebrated buildings in the world of sport - as a brand and an icon. The book also chronicles the suspense and notoriety that greeted the Box after its voyage from Scotland to California, by way of the Panama Canal, and the role it assumed as an emotional balm for many in the aftermath of the 11 September atrocity.Alas, nothing is as simple as it seems and miracles are rare. The businessman who bought the Box was imprisoned before it reached Los Angeles, accused of stealing millions from the real-estate development that was to be its home. Eight years later, a happy ending was finally brought about, but only after a healthy dose of gut-wrenching fear and suspense became a part of the story.Supplemented with exclusive photographs, 'Play Away Please' is also a personal story of patronage and odyssey to assure the Box's preservation as the sporting world's consummate symbol of integrity and fair play. Along the way, the author brings to life the unforgettable local characters of Fife, celebrating their customs, lifestyle and unique command of the English language.By Tj Waterfall. 2021
HOW A PLANT-BASED DIET IMPROVES PERFORMANCE - AND HOW TO DO IT YOURSELF'A fantastic resource for any plant-based athlete looking…
to get stronger or fitter' James Wilks, winner of The Ultimate Fighter and producer of The Game Changers'Well-written, well-researched, highly recommended!' Gene Stone, co-author of How Not to Die'Whether you're looking to kickstart a healthier lifestyle or take your training to the next level, this book has you covered' Plant-Based Health Professionals UKThe scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows that a plant-based diet is one of the most effective ways to improve both long-term health and to see immediate results in terms of energy, recovery and performance. But what can you do to ensure your diet boosts your performance in your sport or training? In The Plant-Based Power Plan, registered elite sports nutritionist TJ Waterfall uses the cutting-edge research he applies with his clients - ranging from Premiership rugby players, competitive weightlifters and professional boxers, to Premier League footballers and ultra-distance triathletes - to bust the myths and explain how a well-planned plant-based diet can take your health and performance to the next level. With simple but comprehensive practical guidance - from maximising muscle protein synthesis and improving your recovery, to tweaking nutrition timing and getting enough energy to fuel highly active training schedules - TJ gives you everything you need to bring your A-game. He also shows you just how simple it is to incorporate the most important nutrients into your diet with a selection of 30 easy and delicious recipes. 'A definite "must read"' Fiona Oakes, four-time world-record-holding marathon runner'Brim full of the information you need to eat your way towards your full potential' Etienne Stott MBE, London 2012 canoe slalom gold medallist'A holistic lifestyle guide, from a scientist not a guru' Dale Vince OBE, Chairperson, Forest Green Rovers FC, the world's first vegan football club'Every athlete, coach, trainer and medical practitioner in all sporting organisations should read this book and utilise the insights it offers' Les Kiss, Head Coach, London Irish Rugby ClubBy Steve James. 2012
In 1999, England slumped to a new low in their tumultuous cricket history. Defeat at home by a mediocre New…
Zealand team saw them fall to the bottom of the world Test rankings, below even Zimbabwe. Yet only just over a decade later, England reached the top. It was a remarkable and profound transformation, brought about largely by two men with an insatiable desire to succeed, Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower.In The Plan, Steve James tells the story of the renaissance of English cricket from a unique perspective. As the former batting partner of ECB managing director Hugh Morris, a player under Fletcher at Glamorgan and Flower's closest confidant in the press corps, James is the perfect analyst of this period in cricket history. From crucial choices of captain to innovative coaching and a complete overhaul of training and preparation for matches, it is the tale of a refusal to be second best.And in examining Fletcher and Flower's background in Zimbabwe, where James himself played, he uncovers the continental shift behind the turnaround. It is the story of how English steel was melded with African fire to create the most potent combination in world cricket.By Hector MacLeod, Malcolm McLeod. 2009
Peter Manuel was an icy-eyed psychopath and sexual predator, a petty thief and a relentless liar given to violent and…
uncontrollable rages. His unprecedented crimes presented the Scottish police and public with a new sort of criminal: the ruthless serial killer. Manuel was hanged at the age of thirty-one and convicted of seven murders, but suspected of many more. He slew many of his victims as they lay sleeping in bed, while others were picked up in lonely places and strangled or savagely beaten to death. Right up to his final arrest, he played a taunting game with the police, mocking their bungling attempts to trap him and continuing to kill with impunity - that is until he was trapped by his own vanity and arrogance.This definitive definitive biography recounts Manuel's chilling story from his birth in the USA to the moment the hangman's rope snapped his spine in Glasgow's notorious Barlinnie Prison.By Peter Alliss. 2002
For millions of people around the world, Peter Alliss is the 'voice of golf'. In a long and distinguished career…
as a player and then broadcaster, he has become synonymous with the sport. Now fully updated with brand new material, this is his fascinating personal tribute to the fine players and wonderful characters who have stimulated his love affair with the game of golf for more than half a century.Featuring stars of yesteryear such as Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tony Jacklin; charismatic crowd-pleasers like Lee Trevino and Seve Ballesteros; modern legends Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie; and the pioneering women who have moved the ladies' game to new heights, this is a highly entertaining collection and a must for all golf fans.By John Stern. 2016
Welcome to The Periodic Table of Cricket. Here you'll find the essential elements - batsmen and bowlers past and present…
- that have left a lasting legacy on this great sport.As with chemical elements, these international personalities have been arranged based on their characteristics in and out of play. Instead of metals and non-metals, here we have patient and determined defensive players, from Jack Hobbs to Hanif Mohammad and Alastair Cook transitioning to fast-paced and attacking players including Shane Warne, Fred Trueman and 'white lightning' Allan Donald with a whole host of others in between.See how the best international players stack up against each other in this original guide to cricket.By Professor James Walvin. 1994
At the beginning of the twentieth century, soccer was widely accepted as the most popular game in the western world.…
In the space of a few decades, it had become the best-supported team game in Britain, watched and played by more boys and men than any other sport. Yet here was a game with strong traditional folk roots and a history that stretched back to the late Middle Ages. In the course of the nineteenth century, football was transformed, mainly within the British public schools, to become the codified and disciplined game of urban working men. The passion for the game spread from one town to another, a passion that, though familiar today, was new in the years after 1870. Thereafter, the game rapidly spread to much of the world: to Europe, South America and a host of other societies. This book tells the story of the rise of this remarkable British game and the way it became the game of the masses across the world. In the wealth of literature about football published in recent years, no other book provides so concise and colourful an account as The People's Game.Penthouse and Pavement is not a book for glory-hunters. It is a book about pain. It's about the anguish of…
watching your team lose 9-2 in the very first game you ever saw, about the horrible inevitability of defeat that so many feel so often. It's about despair, dismay and black, frightening, deathly gloom.But it's also about hope. About dreams. And about dreams which sometimes, just sometimes, come true. Like the once-in-a-lifetime ecstasy of winning the Cup or a league. And as anyone who's had that moment-of-a-lifetime knows, the joy is even greater because you've known the pain. For Bill Leckie, who has followed St Mirren since 1964, it all became worthwhile when they won the Scottish Cup in 1987. This book is about these clubs and the people who love them. It's about the kind of fan who doesn't go to games expecting to win . . . or, worse, demanding it. This book is about being willing to accept a lifetime of frustration in return for one day of utter wonderment.By Peter Owen Jones. 2015
'When we walk, we walk through two landscapes: an exterior land of trees, seas, cities, mountains and fields but we…
also follow the paths that lead into our own interior world.'This thoughtful, and beautifully written, book offers 21 circular walks. They span the length and breadth of the British Isles: Suffolk, Northamptonshire, Wiltshire, Wales, Staffordshire, Scotland, Sussex and Cornwall are just a few of the varied landscapes that they cover.As one of the prime 'walks correspondents' of The Sunday Times, Peter Owen Jones already has a loyal following. This book will only increase his audience, and will be both for those who love walking in the countryside and those who enjoy reading, and musing on it, in their armchair at home.By Bobby Cummines. 2017
‘The next stage meant that there was no going back. An Irish prisoner stepped forward and slipped a blade into…
my hand. I felt the ice cold metal and pressed it against the governor’s cheek. I thought to myself: would they ever release me after this?’Bobby Cummines was only 28 when he passed through the grim gates of Parkhurst, Britain’s Alcatraz, as a category-A prisoner with a host of crimes to his name. Joining the most notorious gangsters and criminals of the day – from the Krays, the Yorkshire Ripper and Charles Bronson, to high ranking members of the IRA – nothing could have prepared him for the brutal regime, violent convicts, vindictive screws and riots on the inside. It’s the story of Britain’s most hellish prison, from one of its hardest inmates.By Gary Edwards. 2003
In his dedication to Leeds United, Gary Edwards has no rivals. He has seen every Leeds game since 17 January…
1968, home and away. League, Cup and Europe. And pre-season friendlies.* Hell, he even watches the reserves in his spare time. Following Leeds, he's been there, done that and designed the T-shirt. Although a painter and decorator-cum-signwriter-cum-cartoonist, he's never taken a break from his life as a full-time football fan. He's made a name for himself covering over red paint with white for free. He's visited every country in Europe and flown all over the rest of the world to watch Leeds play. If Leeds organised a five-a-side on the moon, he'd be on the first shuttle flight there. Travelling the world to watch hundreds of players run around acres of grass, he's also found time to drink gallons of ale, see oceans of flesh and protect hundreds of animals. He's saved lobsters in Barcelona, clay pigeons in Worksop, frogs in Kuala Lumpur and worms - yes, worms - in Yorkshire. He's been shot at in Greece, run over in Denmark, frightened the king in Sweden and had a beer with an elephant in Bangkok. All this and still found the time to never miss a match or another chance to rid the world of the evil that is red in all its forms. Behind him are almost four decades of Leeds, lunacy, laughter and white paint.By Geordan Murphy. 2012
Geordan Murphy does not come from the leafy suburbs of south Dublin or the rugby hotbeds of Limerick or Cork.…
As a teenager he played Gaelic football for Kildare minors. But his greatest love, and his true genius, was for rugby. Now nearing the end of a career that has seen him win over seventy Ireland caps - a number that a great many supporters and pundits believe should be considerably higher - and attain the captaincy of the top English club, Leicester, Geordan Murphy tells his own story for the first time.'A delightful read ... brilliant' Rugby World'Bright, breezy, entertaining and revealing' Gerry Thornley, Irish Times'An open, honest and entertaining book' RTE GuideBy Duncan Alexander. 2017
In football, numbers are everywhere. From touches in the opposition box to expected goals, clear-cut chances to win-loss ratios. In…
the modern game, these numbers help provide the narrative, the drama, and the conversation. They are scrutinised in order to justify results and to predict future outcomes. They even dictate transfer policy and drive clubs to achieve the impossible.But when did the numbers become so important and what do they mean?In Outside the Box, Duncan Alexander looks back at twenty-five years of the Premier League and beyond, uncovering the hidden truths and accepted myths that surround the game. Using the archives of OptaJoe and never-before-seen data, we discover why Liverpool have gone 27 years without winning a league title and why Lionel Messi is the best player in the game’s history. Or is he? Insightful, wry, and hugely entertaining, Outside the Box is an enlightening and accessible account of football across the decades, analysing data from the some of the greatest seasons, players, teams and managers.By Ray Bishop. 2014
Follow Britain's most wanted man into London's underworld and back out again Ray Bishop was on the run, skulking in…
a dealer's house in north London, when an image of his face flashed up on the TV, accompanied by a public warning. The assembled company were aghast, and Ray felt sick at what he saw. How had he become Britain's most wanted man? Growing up in a council estate in South East London, where he and his friends were regularly brutalised by the police Ray tells all of his early days of petty crime. Being despatched to notoriously violent youth-detention centres where he was further criminalized he graduated with flying colours to a career in London's underworld as an armed robber, a drug smuggler and a people trafficker, developing a serious addiction to cocaine and heroin along the way. But Ray's is also story of redemption, of coming back from rock bottom and learning lessons the hard back. Enrolling in a rigorous rehabilitation programme, Ray turned his life around. He went on to realise his childhood dream of becoming British Middleweight Boxing Champion, setting up his own business and advocating for others along the way. Here's how he did it.By Kate Rew. 2022
'An important, inspiring book by someone that has encouraged million of people to experience the wonders and friendships of Britain's…
rivers, lakes and seas' ROBERT MACFARLANE'A treasured guide for anyone who wants to venture into rivers, estuaries, lakes and seas for a dip, a moonlit swim or a great adventure. I loved this book!' LYNNE COXCapturing the freewheeling spirit, community and wisdom that defines The Outdoor Swimming Society movement, founder Kate Rew reveals everything you need to know to explore rivers, lakes, seas and estuaries. Sharing tales of her own inspiring swims, Kate explores the rich and varied life of outdoor swimmers, from the physiology of cold to planning lazy hazy downstream swims. An exquisite guide for beginners and enthusiasts alike, The Outdoor Swimmers' Handbook will lead you to the shore and become your trusted companion for the adventures ahead.