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King: Ledley King: My Autobiography
By Ledley King. 2014
Born in Bow in 1980, Ledley King joined Tottenham Hotspur as a trainee at the age of sixteen, and was…
a White Hart Lane talisman from his 1999 debut through to his retirement in 2012. Telling it how it was behind the scenes at Spurs during his years progressing from schoolboy trainee to club captain, King dramatically chronicles the turbulent times and personalities of the modern White Hart Lane. Yet above all, King is the story of one of the most widely admired and respected English footballers of modern times - one of passion and roots, friendship, courage, grit; and of a role model of great strength yet rare humility.Murphy's Boy
By Torey Hayden. 1983
When Torey Hayden first met fifteen-year-old Kevin, he was barricaded under a table. Desperately afraid of the world around him,…
he hadn’t spoken a word in eight years. He was considered hopeless, incurable, but Hayden refused to believe it. With unwavering devotion and gentle, patient love, she set out to free him—and slowly uncovered a shocking, violent history and a terrible secret that an unfeeling bureaucracy had simply filed away and forgotten. But she never gave up on this tragic “lost case.” For a trapped and frightened boy desperately needed her help—and she knew in her heart she could not rest easy until she had rescued him from the darkness.Bradman: An Australian Hero
By Charles Williams. 1996
A masterly portrait of cricket's supreme batsman and Australia's greatest hero.Uniquely among biographers of Don Bradman, Charles Williams sets his…
subject's cricketing achievements within the context of a crucial period in the history of modern Australia, a time when, as the country felt her way towards something that the world would recognise as 'nationhood', Bradman became a focus for national aspirations, a figure of unique status.Brilliantly revealing the phenomenon of Bradman's cricketing genius - and the tensions that genius created for the man, his family, team-mates and the game's administrators - Williams' story is as much about Australia as it is a great Australian.Ghost Girl: The True Story Of A Child In Desperate Peril - And A Teacher Who Saved Her
By Torey Hayden. 2006
Jadie never spoke. She never laughed, or cried, or uttered any sound. Despite efforts to reach her, Jadie remained locked…
in her own troubled world . . . until one remarkable teacher persuaded her to break her self-imposed silence.Nothing in all of Torey Hayden’s experience could have prepared her for the shock of what Jadie told her—a story too horrendous for Torey’s professional colleagues to acknowledge. Yet a little girl was living in a nightmare, and Torey responded in the only way she knew how—with courage, compassion, and dedication—demonstrating once again the tremendous power of love and the resilience of the human spirit.Mr Struth: The Boss
By David Mason, Ian Stewart. 2013
Bill Struth is the most celebrated Manager in the history of Rangers Football Club. In his 34 year tenure, he…
led the club to 30 major trophies and nurtured many of the club's greatest players. To them, he was simply 'Mr. Struth' - a father figure who guided them with the principle that, '... to be a Ranger is to sense the sacred trust of upholding all that such a name means in this shrine of football.'If these words set the ideals for his players to attain, his own personal life was clouded by moments of indiscretion which were to influence the course of his life and career. Drawing on family accounts and Rangers archives, the book explores his early life in Edinburgh and Fife, as well as his celebrated years in Glasgow. It recounts his career in professional athletics and in football with Heart of Midlothian, Clyde and ultimately, Rangers. It reflects on the legacy of the Struth era and his influences that remain at Ibrox today.Playing with Feelings: Video Games And Affect
By Aubrey Anable. 2018
How gaming intersects with systems like history, bodies, and code Why do we so compulsively play video games? Might it…
have something to do with how gaming affects our emotions? In Playing with Feelings, scholar Aubrey Anable applies affect theory to game studies, arguing that video games let us “rehearse” feelings, states, and emotions that give new tones and textures to our everyday lives and interactions with digital devices. Rather than thinking about video games as an escape from reality, Anable demonstrates how video games—their narratives, aesthetics, and histories—have been intimately tied to our emotional landscape since the emergence of digital computers.Looking at a wide variety of video games—including mobile games, indie games, art games, and games that have been traditionally neglected by academia—Anable expands our understanding of the ways in which these games and game studies can participate in feminist and queer interventions in digital media culture. She gives a new account of the touchscreen and intimacy with our mobile devices, asking what it means to touch and be touched by a game. She also examines how games played casually throughout the day create meaningful interludes that give us new ways of relating to work in our lives. And Anable reflects on how games allow us to feel differently about what it means to fail.Playing with Feelings offers provocative arguments for why video games should be seen as the most significant art form of the twenty-first century and gives the humanities passionate, incisive, and daring arguments for why games matter.We Are Celtic Supporters
By Richard Purden. 2012
In We Are Celtic Supporters Richard Purden examines what created the culture, ideas and beliefs around Celtic football club. In…
new and exclusive interviews with supporters, he explores the Celtic way of life and the rich traditions that give context to much of the support while deconstructing some myths along the way. As a travelling supporter he visits a variety of fans in locations such as New York, Spain, Germany, Italy and various parts of the UK. He talks to well-known Celtic supporters such as James MacMillan about the often misrepresented Catholic roots, to Pat Nevin about why he fell out of love with the club and to a number of well-known rock 'n' rollers such as Noel Gallagher, Bobby Gillespie and Johnny Marr. We Are Celtic Supporters gives the inside story of how major events in Celtic's history have shaped the identity of the fans, and what it really means to follow this unique football club.Champions League Dreams
By Rafa Benitez. 2012
This is a stimulating and deeply insightful football narrative by Rafa Benitez which focuses on the legendary manager's dramatic six…
Champions League campaigns with Liverpool. Rafa expertly navigates fans through intriguing European adventures that embrace the triumph and despair of two Champions League finals, three semi-finals and five quarter-finals in what was a golden era for the Anfield club - an era that supporters felt gave them their pride back after years in the wilderness. What sets this apart is the unique ways in which Rafa allows fans into his high-pressured world, the fascinating glimpses he offers of a top manager's thought processes and decision making during the cut and thrust of a high-octane European campaign. Understand how a great manager prepares for, then executes, a master-plan for European success.The Official Biography of Rangers
By Graham Walker, Ronnie Esplin. 2011
Rangers have won 53 League Championships, more than any other club in the world. They have won the Scottish League…
Cup 26 times -- more than any other Scottish club -- and the Scottish Cup 33 times. In 1961 Rangers reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, becoming the first British club to reach the final of a UEFA club competition. They won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1972, having been the runners-up in 1961 and 1967, and were runners-up in the 2008 UEFA Cup Final.Devil's Child
By Jerry Coyne. 2012
Deserted by his mother and abandoned by his father at just three months old, Jerry Coyne was sent to live…
in a Catholic children's home run by nuns of the order of the Sisters of Nazareth. Life soon settled into a rhythm and then, one day, the beatings started. Harsh, vicious punishments became part of everyday life for the bemused little boy as the nuns attempted to beat the Devil out of him. Jerry began to hide behind bad behaviour and at the age of 12, his defiance resulted in him being sent to a boarding for boys with behavioural problems. Life then got worse when his housemaster, the man whose job it was to take care of him, began a regime of mental, physical and sexual abuse. Years of self-hatred and guilt led to Jerry suffering from a severe stammer and, eventually, he tried to hang himself. This was the turning point and, after finally finding the courage to go to the authorities, Jerry and numerous other victims came forward and were instrumental in the conviction and imprisonment of their abuser. Devil's Child is the devastating true story of a childhood destroyed by abuse and of a young man's struggle to try to come to terms with the past and believe in the future.Bend It Like Bullard
By Jimmy Bullard. 2014
A rip-roaring, life-enhancing, hilarious memoir from a football cult hero; very much in the same vein as recent bestsellers from…
Paul Merson and Jeff Stelling. Jimmy Bullard may not have had the perfect hair-do, his Granada Ghia may not have been the flashiest of cars, and he definitely didn't have a string of Page 3 girls trying to sell kiss and tell stories about him to the tabloids. But what he has in spades is a genuine love for The Beautiful Game that few of his peers can match. One of the last graduates from football's old school, Jimmy actually worked in the real world - including as a painter and decorator - before turning pro. Maybe that's why he played football with a smile on his face, always says what's on his mind, and is no stranger to a spot of mischief. Having played under the likes of Barry Fry, Harry Redknapp and Phil Brown, appeared alongside names as diverse as Neil Ruddock and Paolo di Canio, and as long as Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Jimmy has racked up an amazing collection of tales and pranks both on and off the football front-line. Told with candour, Bend It Like Bullard is the extraordinary story of his journey from cable TV fitter to cult hero. It will make you smile, chuckle and, occasionally, ROFL.Matt Dawson's Lions Tales
By Matt Dawson. 2013
Matt Dawson's Lions Tales gives rugby fans a satisfying dose of wonderful Lions anecdotes, epic stories of triumph and despair,…
of camaraderie and controversy, and stirring examples of that special bond that only competing in the white heat of battle, halfway round the world, against the mighty All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks, can engender.Lions Tales is peppered with insight and laugh-out-loud moments, dredged from the memory banks of Dawson's own time in the iconic red shirt, and also from his keen interest in the Lions' remarkable 125-year traditions.Black and Blue: How Racism, Drugs and Cancer Almost Destroyed Me
By Paul Canoville. 2007
Paul Canovilles story is one of extreme racist bigotry, shattering career-ending injury, a decline into drug abuse, battles against cancer,…
family tragedy and a determination to beat the odds. Canoville was Chelsea's first black first-team player, making his debut in 1982. But as he warmed up on the touchline, his own supporters began chanting 'We don't want the nigger!' The racist bile continued whenever he played, but within a year he had won over the terraces with his explosive pace and skill. Canoville fell out with the Chelsea board and moved to Reading in 1986, where injury suddenly ended his career at the age of 24. This started a downward spiral including the death of his baby in his arms, two bouts of life-threatening lymph cancer, drug abuse and homelessness. But Canoville fought back. In this explosive and shocking story, Paul finally explains why, despite everything, he is more positive than ever and has remained a fervent Chelsea fan all his life. This is a story of hope - eventually - overcoming adversity.Jonny: My Autobiography
By Jonny Wilkinson. 2011
Jonny Wilkinson's career has crossed three decades and four World Cups. He has accumulated phenomenal achievements, world points records, an…
impressive list of broken body parts, and a drop goal that will be remembered for ever. But the peculiar calmness with which he played the game masked a very different reality. In JONNY, he reveals the extraordinary psychology that he had to tame in order to be able to dominate his sport. For most of his life, he was driven by a quest for perfection and an obsession to be the best player in the world; here he shows how these two facets of his competitive mind took such a hold of him that they sent him to the top of the world, then swept him up and dragged him down into a spiral of despair. Jonny's career has spanned the far reaches: amazing highs and iconic moments, then a fight against injury that culminated in a battle with depression. Here he tells of the physical toll he knew his body was taking from rugby, even from his youth; he tells of how he never wanted to be a kicking fly-half but learned to adapt his natural game to play the style that Clive Woodward believed necessary to win a World Cup, and how he nearly walked out on Martin Johnson's England team 13 years later.Faithful Through and Through
By Richard Purden. 2013
Following on from We Are Celtic Supporters, Richard Purden tackles a variety of subjects in his second book Faithful Through…
and Through. Here he takes a fresh look at the people who have added to the wider culture, reputation and traditions on and off the park which have strengthened Celtic's position as a much valued institution. Purden talks to a selection of supporters, ex-players, managers and public figures, while travelling to a number of historical locations. While visiting the club's ancestral home in Ireland he discusses Celtic in the context of faith, politics and identity. The author channels the voices of secret millionaires, Irish troubadours, Scottish politicians and the club's most popular icons who take you on a Celtic odyssey in a continuing story that underlines why this team from Glasgow's East End personify a way of life that represents unwavering hope and positive life-affirming values around the world.Tuffers' Twitter Tales: The Best Cricket Stories From Tuffers' Twitter Followers
By Phil Tufnell. 2012
In this exclusive ebook-only edition, Phil Tufnell, aka 'Tuffers', the Sunday Times bestselling author of Tuffers' Cricket Tales, shares a…
selection of the most outrageous and hilarious cricket stories he has received from his Twitter followers.I Chose To Climb
By Chris Bonington. 1985
The early climbing years of Britain's greatest living mountaineer, from his schooldays to his ascent of the Eiger in 1962.I…
CHOSE TO CLIMB, first published in 1966, was Chris Bonington's first book. He was recognised then, as now, as one of the outstanding members of a brilliant generation of mountaineers, which included such personalities as Hamish MacInnes, Don Whillans and Ian Clough. Here he describes his climbing beginnings as a teenager as well as successful ascents all over the world: the first ascent of the Central Pillar of Freney, the first British ascent of the North Face of the Eiger in 1962, Annapurna II in 1960 and in an unhappy expedition in 1961, Nuptse, the third peak of Everest. The first volume of Chris Bonington's autobiography is written with a warmth and enthusiasm that he has made his own. It tells of his climbing tastes and practice, and of family, friends and partnerships cemented over many years.Space Below My Feet
By Gwen Moffat. 2013
A classic mountaineering memoir by one of the UK's foremost female climbers, now the subject of the acclaimed film documentary…
Operation Moffat.In 1945, when Gwen Moffat was in her twenties, she deserted from her post as a driver and dispatch rider in the Army and went to live rough in Wales and Cornwall, climbing and living on practically nothing. She hitch-hiked her way around, travelling from Skye to Chamonix and many places in between, with all her possessions on her back, although these amounted to little more than a rope and a sleeping bag.When the money ran out, she worked as a forester, went winkle-picking on the Isle of Skye, acted as the helmsman of a schooner and did a stint as an artist's model. And always there were the mountains, drawing her away from a 'proper' job.Throughout this unique story, there are acutely observed accounts of mountaineering exploits as Moffat tackles the toughest climbs and goes on to become Britain's leading female climber - and the first woman to qualify as a mountain guide.The Paralympics
By Nick Hunter. 2011
The Death of Marco Pantani: A Biography
By Matt Rendell. 2006
Intimate biography of the charismatic Tour de France winner and the world that caused his downfall At 9:30 pm on…
14 February 2004, former Tour de France winner Marco Pantani was found dead in Rimini. It emerged that he had been addicted to cocaine since Autumn 1999, weeks after being expelled from the Tour of Italy for blood doping. Conspiracy theories abounded - that he was injected in his sleep by a business rival, that the Olympic Committee had framed him, that Italian Industrialists had engineered his downfall, etc etc. If none of these is entirely true and none of them fully explains Pantani's personal tragedy, none of them is foundationless. This book debunks the myths and makes surprising revelations. About Pantani's personal tragedy, but also about the world of cycling. Matt Rendell had access not only to court transcripts but to many of Pantani's friends and the doctors who treated him. But Pantani's life is about much more than drug addiction. Lance Armstrong described him as 'more of an artist than an athlete - an extravagant figure ...' Despite being plagued with injuries he won both the Giro and the Tour in 1998, something very few cyclists even attempt. He was an inspirational icon, and the remarkable wins against all odds make gripping reading.