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Dylan Hartley

'Rugby is great for the soul,' he writes, 'but terrible for the body.' 
 
Rugby hurts. It demands mental resilience and resistance to pain. It explores character, beyond a capacity to endure punishment. 
 
Dylan Hartley, one of England's most successful captains, tells a story of hard men and harsh truths. From the sixteen-year-old Kiwi who travelled alone to England, to the winner of ninety-seven international caps, he describes with brutal clarity the sport's increasing demand on players and the toll it takes on their mental health, as well as the untimely injury that shattered his dreams of leading England in the 2019 World Cup. 
 
The Hurt is rugby in the raw, a unique insight into the price of sporting obsession. 
 
'Few have had more twists and turns in a pro rugby career' Robert Kitson, Guardian 
 
'Anyone who cares about the game, in which he won 97 caps for England and played 250 times for Northampton, should read Hartley's book' Don McRae, Guardian 
 
The Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year, December 2020

The Hurt

The Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year

Clare Balding

'I had spent most of my childhood thinking I was a dog, and suspect I had aged in dog years. By the time I was ten I had discovered the pain of unbearable loss. I had felt joy and jealousy. Most important of all, I knew how to love and how to let myself be loved. All these things I learnt through animals. Horses and dogs were my family and my friends. This is their story as much as it is mine' 
 
Clare Balding grew up in a rather unusual household. Her father a champion trainer, she shared her life with more than 100 thoroughbred racehorses, mares, foals and ponies, as well as an ever-present pack of boxers and lurchers. As a toddler she would happily ride the legendary Mill Reef and take breakfast with the Queen. 
 
She and her younger brother came very low down the pecking order. Left to their own devices, they had to learn life's toughest lessons through the animals, and through their adventures in the stables and the idyllic Hampshire Downs. From the protective Candy to the pot-bellied Valkyrie and the frisky Hattie, each horse and each dog had their own character and their own special part to play. 
 
The running family joke was that "women ain't people". Clare has to prove them wrong, to make her voice heard - but first she had to make sure she had something to say. 
 
My Animals and Other Family is a funny, brave, tender story of self-discovery.

My Animals and Other Family

Haruki Murakami

'Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional' 
 
The must-read gift for every runner: a compelling meditation on the power of running and a fascinating insight into the life of this internationally bestselling writer. 
 
In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he'd completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and on his writing. 
 
Equal parts travelogue, training log and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and settings ranging from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston. 
 
By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, this is a must-read for fans of this masterful yet private writer as well as for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running. 
 
*Murakami's new book Novelist as a Vocation is available now* 
 
'There can never have been a book quite like this memoir of running and writing before. In its self-contained way, it's nothing less than an inspiration' Evening Standard 
 
'Hugely enjoyable...You don't have to have run a marathon to be captivated' Sunday Telegraph 
 
'Comical, charming and philosophical...an excellent memoir' GQ

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

J Cooper Ramo

Aerobatic pilots pull through impossibly elegant figures, twisting their planes at hundreds of miles per hour. In a bad year no sport kills more of its participants. To fly well you must depart the land of the possible and enter the place of pure faith. In this book, the author places the seductive art of aerobatic flying within a larger context of the buzz of extreme sports. It is partly an autobigraphical journey through his own ambition to transform himself from an everyday flyer into a serious competitive pilot capable of winning the US national championships, and partly the unforgettable life stories of the greatest aerobatic geniuses who redefined what it is possible to do in the air with a plane. People like Leo Loundenslager, a mild mannered American Airlines pilot who flew figures so hard they made his eyes bleed as he whimpered with pain in the cockpit. This book is an exploration, not simply of a pilot's physical battle against gravity, but of his dream of perfection and his quest for faith.

No Visible Horizon: Surviving the World's Most Dangerous Sport

Alex Scott

From the football cages of East London to broadcasting to millions, the engine powering Alex Scott's remarkable journey has always been her resilience. But thanks to a 'push-through mentality' the world has only ever seen the 'strong' side of Alex. Now, she is ready to lower the shield. 
 
In her candid memoir How (Not) to Be Strong, Alex shares the lessons that have shaped her, from finally confronting the legacy of a tumultuous childhood to tarnished truth behind the gleaming football trophies. 
 
With raw honesty, Alex shows how she's tackled life's challenges and that sometimes the strongest thing you can do is show your most vulnerable side to the world.

How (Not) To Be Strong

The inspirational instant Sunday Times Bestseller from the legendary Lioness

Joe Simpson

Joe Simpson has experienced a life filled with adventure but marred by death. He has endured the painful attrition of climbing friends in accidents, calling into question the perilously exhilarating activity to which he has devoted his life. Probability is inexorably closing in. The tragic loss of a close friend forces a momentous decision upon him. It is time to turn his back on the mountains that he has loved. Never more alive than when most at risk, he has come to see a last climb on the hooded, mile-high North Face of the Eiger as the cathartic finale. 
 
In a narrative which takes the reader through extreme experiences, from an avalanche in Bolivia, ice-climbing in the Alps and Colorado and paragliding in Spain - before his final confrontation with the Eiger - Simpson reveals the inner truth of climbing, exploring both the power of the mind and the frailties of the body. The subject of his new book is the siren song of fear and his struggle to come to terms with it.

The Beckoning Silence

Robert Howley

Graham Clutton

Rob Howley was a late developer in terms of playing international rugby. But the Cardif, Wales and British Lions scrum half has more than made up for lost time. In Number Nine Dream, Howley looks back at his career, including his injury heartache, his late development, the pain of seeing a friend temporarily paralysed and the various scrapes with officialdom he has been involved in throughout his career. He talks in detail about the teething problems of professionalism and how he, one of Welsh rugby's all-time great players, has on more than one occasion been issued with an ultimatum by the West Wales Under 11s, Rob Howley was desperate to realise his boyhood ambition - to play senior reugby for his country. Injuries and subsequent operations set back his progress and when he finally returned to action, courtesy of a local valley faith healer, he found himself involved in one of the most controversial transfers in Welsh rugby history. Now a seaconed international and British Lion, Howley tells a story of pride, passion and extreme personal pain. Number Nine Dream is a compelling recollection of events on and off the pitch and highlights exactly what goes on in rugby's corridors of power and behind the changing-room doors.

Number Nine Dream

An Autobiography Of Rob Howley

Jens Voigt

Push until it hurts, then push some more 
 
Even by the standards of a sport that requires enormous stamina and capacity for suffering, Jens Voigt is in a class on his own. Beloved by cycling fans for his madcap one-man breakaways as much as his sense of humour and quotable catchphrases, Jens is one of the most popular personalities in cycling. 
 
Jens was born near Hamburg, and came up through the East German system before the Wall came down. He got into the national team through the German army, before signing for his first big team. In many ways he is cycling’s anti-star; despite arguably spending more time at the front of the Tour de France than any other rider he has only worn the yellow jersey twice as his efforts have always been in the service of others. 
 
Jens embodies the best of cycling’s qualities – loyalty to his team, sacrifice, and devotion to the sport. He says, ‘I’m not a head person, I’m more of a heart and guts guy. That’s how I race.’ Shut Up Legs is a funny, insightful and entertaining look at the tough realities of professional cycling, told in Jens’s trademark irreverent and inimitable style.

Shut up Legs!

My Wild Ride On and Off the Bike

Sue Barker

'The thing about our Sue is that she just is Wimbledon.' John McEnroe 
 
Sue Barker first walked through those famous wrought-iron gates aged 13 in 1969 to play in the National Schools event. What Sue didn't know then, was that every year for the next half century, she would be back in some capacity. As a junior, aged 15, as a semi-finalist and Grand-Slam winner ranked No.3 in the world, as a broadcaster leading the BBC coverage for thirty years and for the first time, as a fan in 2023. 
 
And now she returns as a storyteller. 
 
The magic has stayed the same,but times have changed. With her first-hand insight and perspective, Sue paints an intimate portrait of the place, past and present, full of behind-the-scenes details drawn from her own experiences as well as personal conversations with her former mentors, contemporary players, friends and colleagues - giants of the game such as Rod Laver, Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, Roger Federer, Venus Williams and many others. They share poignant memories with her and some startling revelations, from Sampas's deep regret that he didn't involve his parents more in his Centre Court triumphs to Borg divulging that McEnroe was always the quietest presence in the locker room ... You cannot be serious! 
 
From the most talked-about matches and famous rivalries to the fashions and trends, from the stunning breakthroughs, to the near wins and gut-wrenching disappointments, Sue's personal history of Wimbledon is touched throughout by Championship stardust and is as tightly packed with stories as the courts are with blades of grass.

Wimbledon

A personal history

Jeanne Marie Laskas

The brilliant young forensic pathologist had no idea that the body on the slab in front of him would change his life, and ultimately change the world. 
 
The body belonged to legendary American Footballer Mike Webster, whose mental health had rapidly declined - he had ended up treating his back pain with a Taser and using Superglue to fix his rotting teeth. 
 
Dr Bennet Omalu found that Webster's psychosis was no accident. His autopsy unearthed evidence of a trauma-related disease - the consequence of years of head clashes in games. He knew it would kill scores of other sportsmen unless something was done, and believed the NFL would welcome the discovery. Instead America's most powerful corporation tried to destroy him. 
 
Taut and gorgeously told, this is the intensely personal story of one man's fight against a multibillion dollar colossus. A man who stood up for what was right, whatever the cost.

Concussion

Freddie Spencer

Feel is the story of how a small-time boy from humble beginnings in Louisiana rose to the pantheon of greats, to win the 500cc and 250cc GP Championship in the same year – an historic achievement over three decades ago which has never been repeated. 
 
Growing up at the time of the assassination of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Freddie judged by feel, not by colour. Blind to prejudice and discrimination, he formed dynamic connections with people and events, but only years later during his racing afterlife could Freddie come to understand the true power of the things he learned. 
 
Spencer is an articulate and compassionate guide as he describes the thrill and horror of racing in an era when death was a perennial threat. He recalls in pin-sharp detail the frenetic high-octane racing duels with the ‘King’ Kenny Roberts, but also describes a parallel internal journey as he struggled to make sense of it all. 
 
Driven by a search for the personal fulfilment that comes through finding your purpose, Freddie’s story is a universal one. In its message of hope, Feel transcends its genre to offer a story for everyone. Part thriller, part philosophical self-exploration, it is a remarkably insightful account of what it is like to have it all, but wonder why. 
 
“For the first time I will talk about the traumas of my childhood, the contrast between the leaf fire burns, the mistrust and discomfort and the peace and purpose I felt when riding my bike. I didn’t tell my parents about something that happened to me. Why? I felt ashamed, but when I rode I felt connected to everything and the pain in my hand and heart would go away. It gave me the feeling of hope”.

Feel

My Story

In Clare Balding's family, walking just took too long - she galloped through the countryside and she galloped through life. 
 
Then, starting out in her broadcasting career, she was asked to present a series discovering the glories of Britain and Ireland. Clare caught the walking bug. 
 
Now she wants her family to share some of that pleasure. She and her brother Andrew are determined to conquer the Wayfarer's Walk, a 71 mile route. What could possibly go wrong? 
 
This is a story of paths and people, of (mis)adventures, and of life-changing rambles. This is Clare's story of walking home.

Walking Home

Great British Adventures . . . and Other Rambles

My Family and Other Rambles

John Bryant

'If you want to win something, run 100 metres. If you want to experience something, run a marathon' - Emil Zatopek 
 
The London Marathon salutes 25 years of the London Marathon by exploring the incredible physical and mental challenge that lies at the very heart of marathon running. It begins with the author standing on the start line at Blackheath for the very first London Marathon in March 1981. And it ends 26 miles and 25 years later, as the author emerges, still running, past Buckingham Palace and on through the miles and memories to the finish. 
 
From the legend of Pheidippides and the mystery of Spiridon Louis - who won the first modern Olympic marathon in 1896 - to the agony of Paula Radcliffe, reduced to tears on the long road to Athens more than a century later, this is a story of dreams, pain, struggle and achievement. The courage and the craziness of the characters who for 25 years have run the streets of London, have turned this race into the greatest marathon in the world. 
 
The London Marathon is a testament to their endeavour, and to the spirit that leads them each spring to tackle their own suburban Everest. This is their story.

The London Marathon

Rick Broadbent

MotoGP is enjoying a period of unprecedented popularity and Ring of Fire details the acclaim, the heroism and the pressures of riding motorbikes at speeds of more than 200mph. This is a world where manufacturers invest millions and the world champion celebrates by staging mock jail breaks and giving pillion rides to a blow-up doll. One rider warms up for major races by singing Hank Marvin songs on his karaoke machine and a rising Italian star sees the world in terms of black and white energy tubes. Another sees nothing strange in racing with two broken ankles. 
 
Ring of Fire covers the recent history of MotoGP, from American Nicky Hayden spectacularly overturning established champion Valentino Rossi in 2006, through the emergence of wild young Australian Casey Stoner as the new champion in 2007, to the fierce rivalry between them and Spaniards Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo in what would prove to be one of the most closely-contested years of racing in 2008. It gives a behind the scenes look at World Superbike Champion James Toseland's attempts to break into this elite, and looks back at the tradition of reprobates, romance and debauchery in the paddock dating back to the 60s and stars like Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostino. 
 
Rick Broadbent introduces us not just to the stars and the multi-million pound contracts, but also to the officals, mechanics, doctors, team owners and fans who make up this white-knuckle ride of a sport. By turns funny, sad, shocking and uplifting, Ring of Fire brings us face to face with those who battle to emerge unscathed, or who just ignore the pain and ride to win against all odds.

Ring of Fire

Billie Jean King

In this spirited account, Billie Jean King details her life's journey to find her true self. She recounts her groundbreaking tennis career -- six years as the top-ranked woman in the world, twenty Wimbledon championships, thirty-nine grand-slam titles, and her watershed defeat of Bobby Riggs in the famous "Battle of the Sexes." She poignantly recalls the cultural backdrop of those years and the profound impact on her worldview from the women's movement, the assassinations and anti-war protests of the 1960s, the civil rights movement, and, eventually, the LGBTQ+ rights movement. 
 
She describes the myriad challenges she's hurdled -- entrenched sexism, an eating disorder, near financial ruin after being outed -- on her path to publicly and unequivocally acknowledging her sexual identity at the age of fifty-one. Hers is the story of a pathbreaking feminist, a world-class athlete, and an indomitable spirit whose impact has transcended even her spectacular achievements in sports.

All In

The Autobiography of  Billie Jean King

Katherine Lambert

On 29 March 1912, as Scott and his two companions lay dying in their tent, elsewhere on the polar ice-cap six members of his ill-fated expedition were fighting for their lives.  This was the so-called Northern Party, hand-picked by Scott to undertake his most significant programme of scientific research.  The unsung hero of this group was Dr Murray Levick, whose attention to diet and mental and physical fitness played a major part in their survival.  The doctor was a sensitive recorder and a talented photographer, it is on his previously unpublished diaries, monographs, photographs and sketches that this book is based. The six men were landed by Terra Nova in January 1911 at Cape Adare, 450 miles north of Scott's base camp at Cape Evans.  They spent nearly a year there, living in a rudimentary hut, surveying and collecting specimens from the beautiful but inhospitable bay and shoreline fringed by inaccessible mountains.  They were then dropped off mid-way between the two Capes to continue their work.  The ship was due to pick them up on 17 February 1912.  A month later she still hadn't come, and the men were forced to face the Antarctic winter in an igloo dug out of a snowdrift on 'Inexpressible Island'.  After spending six-and-a-half months entombed in their underground ice-cave,in conditions of unimaginable physical and mental hardship,

Hell With A Capital H

A New Polar Hero

Ellen MacArthur

When Ellen finished the Vendee Globe, yachting's toughest race aged just 24 the nation took her to it's heart. The depth of the affection for Ellen is extraordinary - she makes people feel like they can do anything! 
 
This is her story, written intrue Ellen style, in her own words, without the help of a ghost writer. 
 
Passionate, dramatic and and deeply affecting, her story will move and inspire all who read it.

Taking on the World

Charlotte Dujardin

*THE TOP 10 BESTSELLER FROM THE MOST DECORATED BRITISH FEMALE OLYMPIAN IN HISTORY* 
 
'Refreshingly honest [...] a highly enjoyable, fascinating read.' Horse and Hound 
_______________________________________________ 
"To ride into that arena, next to a sea of British flags and hear the roar of clapping and cheering, was so exciting. It's a sound I will never, ever forget." 
 
Charlotte Dujardin and her charismatic horse Valegro burst onto the international sports scene with their record-breaking performance at the London, 2012 Olympics. The world was captivated by the young woman with the dazzling smile and her dancing horse. 
 
But no one quite knew what it took to get there, nor how hard the path to success would be - until now. Dujardin began riding horses at the age of two, but dressage was firmly the domain of the wealthy, not the life of a girl from a middle-class family. Her parents sacrificed all and with a undeterred focus, Charlotte left school at 16 to follow her dream. When she was invited to be a groom for the British Olympian Carl Hester, she began to ride Valegro, a dark bay gelding and an unbreakable bond was formed. 
 
This is their incredible story.

The Girl on the Dancing Horse

Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro

Alexandra Heminsley

'Remarkable' Observer 
'A joy to read' Daily Telegraph 
'Soaringly beautiful' Sunday Times Magazine 
'Genuine and persuasive' Guardian 
 
Alexandra Heminsley thought she could swim. She really did. 
 
It may have been because she could run. It may have been because she wanted to swim; or perhaps because she only ever did ten minutes of breaststroke at a time. But, as she learned one day while flailing around in the sea, she really couldn’t. 
 
Believing that a life lived fully isn’t one with the most money earned, the most stuff bought or the most races won, but one with the most experiences, experienced the most fully, she decided to conquer her fear of the water. 
 
From the ignominy of getting into a wetsuit to the triumph of swimming from Kefalonia to Ithaca, in becoming a swimmer, Alexandra learns to appreciate her body and still her mind. As it turns out, the water is never as frightening once you're in, and really, everything is better when you remember to exhale. 
 
 
What Hemmo's readers are saying: 
 
‘This book is funny, engaging, entertaining, informative, suspenseful, motivating, and inspiring... I've never read anything quite like it’ 
 ­– Nina on Goodreads, 5 stars 
 
 ‘Just like Running Like a Girl, this was an absolute joy to read. A beautifully written story of swimming, family and being a woman’ 
 – Violet on Amazon, 5 stars 
 
‘Fantastic book… Entertaining – often laugh-out-loud funny – and full of really useful advice’ 
 – J. Edwards on Amazon, 5 stars 
 
‘A fabulous book that’s beautifully written’ 
 – Nik on Goodreads, 5 stars 
 
‘I can't recommend this book enough! I absolutely love Alexandra Heminsley's writing, her attitude towards exercise and her passion for swimming’ 
 – Sarah on Goodreads, 5 stars 
 
‘an inspirational and encouraging read’ 
 – Stephanie on Goodreads, 5 stars 
 
‘the author’s enthusiasm is contagious… one cannot help but yearn to join in. … A thoroughly inspiring book with a likeable narrator unafraid to share her personal life’ 
 – Eleanor on Goodreads, 5 stars 
 
 ‘This is a delightful book, a pleasure to read… Unbelievably well written, it flows like the water she loves’ 
 ­– Bobby on Amazon, 5 stars

Leap In

A Woman, Some Waves, and the Will to Swim

Sid Waddell

Bellies and Bullseyes is simply the greatest account there will ever be about the sport of darts - as told by one of its most legendary characters - Sid Waddell. It mixes Sid's own personal journey from the coalfields of the North East with the entire history of the sport. What is revealed is a hilarious yet epic Darts Babylon, covering every significant event and every character to walk the oche from Eric 'The Crafty Cockney' Bristow to Phil 'The Power' Taylor. 
 
In words as ripe as his commentaries, Sid brings an authentic whiff of fags, hard drink, hot tungsten and moist polyester to the whole cabaret. Sid has been friend and confidante to most of darts' stars over the years as well as being instrumental in the game's progress himself. Nobody is equipped to tell the story quite like he is. 
 
From the early days of hustling in bars and the 1960s money-race pub competitions that spawned the likes of John Lowe and Leighton Rees, to ITV's brilliantly daft The Indoor League and the glory days of BBC's coverage; from the bling of Bobby George and the belly of Jocky Wilson to the awesome professionalism of Phil Taylor; from smoky Northern working men's clubs to the Houses of Parliament; this is the complete, incredible story of darts.

Bellies and Bullseyes

The Outrageous True Story of Darts

In October 2009 Ellen MacArthur, one of the greatest sportswomen in the world, announced her retirement from competitive sailing. Many were in disbelief. How could the woman who had fought so hard to set so many records give up racing? But Ellen had found an even tougher challenge than sailing solo round the globe. 
 
Now Ellen is ready to write about her incredible last ten years, including the trip which changed her life. 
 
She speaks honestly about the trials of fame after coming second in the Vendee Globe in 2001; about her frustrations in missing the record for the West-East transatlantic crossing by just 75 minutes in 2004; the dramatic capsize and dismasting she experienced prior to her record attempt, and then the ultimate triumph of her spectacular, record-breaking, non-stop solo circumnavigation of the globe in 2004-5, sharing every painful and exciting moment of her 71 days alone at sea. 
 
And of course she tells of the fateful trip to South Georgia in 2005 which caused her to decide to leave competitive sailing behind for ever and focus all her ambition and energy towards a new and much bigger race . . . 
 
Ellen's searingly honest story is a story of triumph over incredible adversity and will inspire others to follow in this remarkable woman's wake.

Full Circle

Jamie Carragher

For the Anfield faithful, Jamie Carragher represents everything that is great about Liverpool Football Club, prompting the Kop to sing 'we all dream of a team of Carraghers'. The club's vice-captain, longest-serving player and one of a select band of players to have made more than 500 appearances for the Reds, Carra never gives less than 100 per cent for the cause. He is the embodiment of old-fashioned football values - a rarity in the modern game - honest and uncompromising. 
 
In Carra: My Autobiography, the Liverpool defender takes us deep into the heart of Anfield, into the club's past glories and its uncertain future. In his typically down-to-earth style, Carra reveals what made him discard his blue Evertonian roots to become a fully fledged Red, how he mended his wild ways to become a true professional and a multiple trophy-winner, and the truth about a succession of managers - Evans, Houllier, Benítez - in the hottest seat in football. A Scouser through and through, Carra also has some forthright views on the England team, and tells why he rejected calls to return to the international fold. 
 
Full of sensational stories and controversial opinions, of glory and heartbreak on and off the pitch, Carra: My Autobiography is a football book unlike any other. The authentic voice of Anfield, Carra is one of the Bootroom Boys in true Liverpool tradition, and is as committed on the page as in every game he has played.

Carra: My Autobiography

Michael Calvin

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2015* 
 
A man punches the wall in a strategic show of anger. Another complains he has become a stranger to those he loves. A third relies on “my three a day: coffee, Nurofen and a bottle of wine.” Yet another admits he is an oddity, who would prefer to be working in cricket. A fifth describes his professional life as “a circus”. These are football managers, live and uncut. Arsene Wenger likens the job to “living on a volcano: any day may be your last”. He speaks with the authority of being the longest serving manager in the English game, having been at Arsenal for 17 years. The average lifespan of a Football League manager is 17 months. Fifty three managers, across all four Divisions, were sacked, or resigned, in the 2012-13 season. There were fifty seven managerial changes in the 2013-14 season. What makes these men tick? They are familiar figures, who rarely offer anything more than a glimpse into their personal and professional lives. What shapes them? How and why do they do their job? Award-winning writer Michael Calvin provides the answers. 
 
Insecurity is a unifying factor, but managers at different levels face different sets of problems. Depending on their status, they are dealing with multi-millionaires, or mortgage slaves. Living on the Volcano charts the progress of more than 20 managers, in different circumstances and in different phases of their career. Some, like Brendan Rodgers and Roberto Martinez, are at the peak of their profession. Others, like Chris Hughton, Brian McDermott and Gary Waddock, have been sacked, and are seeking a way back into the game. They offer a unique insight into a trade which is prone to superficial judgement and savage swings in fortune. Management requires ruthlessness and empathy, idealism and cunning. Stories overlap, experiences intermingle, and myths are exposed.

Living on the Volcano

The Secrets of Surviving as a Football Manager

Duncan Hamilton

'Without football, we were strangers under a shared roof. With it, we were father and son.’ 
 
Inspired by his father’s devotion to Newcastle United and the heroes of yesteryear, Duncan Hamilton brings to life a bygone age telling the story of British football from the hardscrabble 1940s and the ‘never-had-it-so-good’ ’50s right through to the dowdy First Division of the ’70s and ’80s, and today’s slick Premiership. Hamilton recalls some of football’s most sublime players, managers and characters, from Bill Shankly and Jackie Milburn to George Best and Lionel Messi. 
 
But at the heart of The Footballer Who could Fly is Hamilton’s relationship with his own father. Here he tells how football became the only real connection between two people who, apart from their love of the beautiful game, were wholly different from one another.

The Footballer Who Could Fly

Andy Kirkpatrick

WINNER OF THE BOARDMAN TASKER PRIZE 2008 
 
Metro magazine recently wrote that Andy Kirkpatrick makes Ray Mears look like Paris Hilton. Words like boldness, adventure and risk were surely coined especially for him. As one of the world's most accomplished mountaineers and big-wall climbers, he goes vertically where other climbers (to say nothing of the general public) fear to tread. 
 
For the first time, this cult hero of vertical rock has written a book, in which his thirteen-day ascent of Reticent Wall on El Capitan in California - the hardest big-wall climb ever soloed by a Briton - frames a challenging autobiography. From childhood on a grim inner-city housing estate in Hull, the story moves through horrific encounters and unique athletic achievements at the extremes of the earth. As he writes, 'Climbs like this make no sense ... the chances of dying on the route are high.' Yet Andy, in his thirties with young children, has everything to live for. This is the paradox at the heart of the story. 
 
This book - by turns gut-wrenching, entertaining and challenging - appeals to the adventurer in all of us.

Psychovertical

Kellie Harrington

Roddy Doyle

THE PHENOMENAL MEMOIR OF A NATIONAL TREASURE 
 
After Kellie Harrington won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, the Irish public recognized her as not merely a sporting hero, but a deeply inspirational human being. Now, Kellie tells the story of her unlikely journey to the top, and of the many obstacles and setbacks she overcame along the way. 
 
Growing up in Dublin's north inner city, Kellie was in danger of going down the wrong path in life before she discovered boxing. The local boxing club was all-male and initially wouldn't let her join, but she persisted. 
 
She was not an overnight success. For years she struggled in international competition. At times she felt unsupported by the national boxing set-up. More than once she considered giving up the sport. But some spark of ambition and love for boxing kept her going, and gradually she made herself world class. 
 
Writing with Roddy Doyle, the award-winning author of The Commitments, Kellie tells the story of her unlikely rise to greatness and her continuing dedication to living a normal life - which has involved remaining an amateur boxer and keeping the job she loves, at a Dublin psychiatric hospital. She shares exceptionally vivid and revealing details about being a woman in a historically male sport, and about how she manages her body and her mind. It is a vastly inspiring look inside the life and psychology of a woman who is both brilliantly ordinary and utterly exceptional.

Kellie

Barney Ronay

Fast approaching 30, Barney Ronay is a Sunday League left back with some tough choices to make. Is staying in with his girlfriend and Gardeners' World on a Friday night doing much for his match fitness? Would he be better off back with his best mate Dan in the bachelor pad of pizza boxes, lager and Playstation into the early hours? And at their age can they still afford to spend weekends in their desperate struggle to keep Bolingbroke Athletic afloat? Shouldn't they be growing up, getting married, spending their Sundays at Homebase? 
 
This is the hilarious story of a team in early mid-life crisis, hiding from responsibility in the strange masochism at the ugly end of the beautiful game - the smell of Deep Heat, naked fat men, hangovers and the eternal belief that next week you might just rediscover your first touch.

Any Chance Of A Game?

Nick Tosches

"[Night Train] is as much about Liston and boxing as it is about the darkest side of the American Dream. Liston's story comes alive though clean, evocative prose, hard facts and lyrical, occasionally breathtaking writing"  Time Out

Night Train

A Biography of Sonny Liston

Dónal Óg Cusack

Dónal Óg Cusack is the most compelling and controversial figure in the GAA today. In Come What May, Dónal Óg tells the story of the highs and lows on the pitch - including three All-Ireland victories - and off it with candour and courage. This is a book about friendship and loyalty and conflict and being true to yourself. It is unlike any other Irish sporting memoir ever published.

Come What May

The Autobiography

George Best

'We were the first generation to have to deal with the modern stardom of football. Some handled it better than others' George Best 
 
Written in the months before he died, Hard Tackles and Dirty Baths is George's farewell letter to the great footballing era in which he burned so brightly - a personal history of the golden years before TV and agents changed everything. From the breaking of the maximum wage to the cusp of the first million-pound player, it follows the triumphs and tragedies of every season from 1960 to 1974. It is the story of our greatest footballing generation - Greaves, Moore, Law, Charlton, Osgood, Lorimer, Jennings, Hurst and, of course, Best himself.

Hard Tackles and Dirty Baths

The inside story of football's golden era

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