Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Damian Lawlor

These are exceptional times for the game of hurling. The skill, speed and summer long edge of the seat drama of recent All Ireland championships has led many to conclude that something very special is happening in the ancient game. 
 
The Kilkenny team of the last decade has undoubtedly been the greatest in the history of hurling. Their extraordinary record speaks for itself. But has a chink finally begun to appear in Kilkenny’s armour? Or is it that the challengers have begun to catch up, at last recognising the immense effort required to compete at the highest level? 
 
Fields Of Fire tells the story of Kilkenny’s phenomenal success and explores how the Cats became an almost indomitable force. But it also looks at the profound challenge which their supremacy presented to other counties, revealing how the struggle for competitiveness has positively transformed the game. Old rivals have adapted and learned. But new powers too have emerged – from Clare and from Limerick, from Dublin and from Waterford - young bloods who do not fear the Kings of the Game. 
 
Drawing on exclusive interviews with dozens of current and former legends, among them Eddie Brennan, Cha Fitzpatrick, Brendan Cummins, John Mullane, Davy Fitzgerald, Damien Hayes, Liam Dunne, DJ Carey and Ger Cunningham, award-winning journalist Damian Lawlor offers a unique and compelling insight into hurling’s spectacular renaissance.

Fields of Fire

The Inside Story of Hurling's Great Renaissance

Dan Shanahan

Dan Shanahan is a legend in modern hurling, a three-time All Star and winner of 'Player of the Year' in 2007. His time as an inter-county senior hurler coincided with the remarkable revival in Waterford's fortunes, which saw them win the Munster Final four times in the last decade. 
 
In this candid and revealing autobiography, Dan speaks about his love of the game, which grew out of an idyllic childhood in Lismore and his apprenticeship with the Lismore club. He first made his mark as a senior player with Waterford in 1998, under the management of Gerald McCarthy. But it was when Justin McCarthy took over as manager in 2002 that the Waterford team really began to shine, Dan sharing the glory with such outstanding players as Tony Browne, Eoin Kelly, John Mullane and Ken McGrath. 
 
Yet tensions between the players and manager built up in 2007/2008, culminating in a frustrated Dan famously refusing to shake Justin's hand in public. McCarthy resigned and was replaced by Davy Fitzgerald, who led Waterford to the 2008 All-Ireland Final. 
 
Dan's charisma and extraordinary goal-scoring ability earned him a place in Waterford hearts. His goal in extra time in the 2010 Munster Final against Cork proved what a vital player he remained, and was a fitting climax to a great career. He retired from inter-county hurling shortly after. 
 
A tattoo on Dan's arm reads: If you don't know me, don't judge me. It's a testament to Dan's determination to succeed in the face of adversity.

Dan Shanahan - If you don't know me, don't judge me

My Autobiography

John Doyle

In The World is a Ball, critic and author John Doyle travels the world in pursuit of his first love - football. In dispatches from Italy to Ireland and from Buenos Aires to Bratislava, and between encounters with crazed taxi drivers and drunken fans dressed as leprechauns or in lederhosen, Doyle celebrates the evolution of soccer as a global phenomenon. 
 
He begins his journey with the first game he saw in repressed 1960s Ireland - a match which left a lasting impression on him - and then skips through the decades to concentrate on football in the twenty-first century. Here he focuses on the World Cups of 2002 and 2006, the European Championships of 2004 and 2008, and the key games and teams involved in qualifying for the historic 2010 World Cup in South Africa. 
 
With eyewitness accounts that are both hilarious and nostalgic, The World is a Ball brilliantly weaves together travelogue, match-reporting and compelling social history. It's an insightful and thought-provoking vision of the beautiful game which for some is more a religion than a sport: where colonized nations can triumph over their colonizers, the poor are rich in the pleasure of play, and for ninety minutes, anything seems possible.

The World is a Ball

Steve James

A century has always had a special resonance, in all walks of life, and none more so than in cricket. Scoring one hundred runs is the ultimate for a batsman. As former England captain Andrew Strauss admits, it's incredibly hard to do; for Ricky Ponting, it's a transformational moment in the career of a cricketer. Or in the words of Geoffrey Boycott, 'a century has its own magic'. 
 
In The Art of Centuries, Steve James applies his award-winning forensic insight to the very heart of batting. Through interviews with the leading run-scorers in cricket history and his own experiences, Steve discovers what mental and physical efforts are required to reach those magical three figures. Despite his own haul of 47 first-class tons, he himself felt at times that he was poorly equipped for the task. 
 
So working out how to score centuries is an art. And bowlers might not agree, but there really is no better feeling in cricket.

The Art of Centuries

Bear Grylls

Bear Grylls is no stranger to extremes. During a three-year stint in the SAS he was involved in a horrific parachuting accident in Africa and broke his back in three places. Months of rehabilitation followed but, never losing sight of his childhood dream of climbing Everest, Bear went on to become the youngest Briton ever to reach the summit and survive. It was a close-run thing, however, as during the descent he was almost killed in a crevasse, his life saved only by his team-mate and a rope. In 2003 Bear completed another world-record-breaking expedition, leading his team through freezing spray and icebergs across the North Atlantic Ocean in a small inflatable boat. More drama followed as Bear, a karate black belt, set out to show the viewers of Channel 4 what it is really like to complete the gruelling basic training of the Foreign Legion. 
 
Now, in Born Survivor which accompanies a brand new eight-part series for Channel 4, the world's ultimate survivor shows us how to stay alive in the most unforgiving conditions on Earth. From crossing piranha-infested rivers and finding fresh food to building bush fires and fighting off grizzly bears - all manner of survival techniques from our most dangerous environments are covered. So, whether you find yourself stranded on a desert island in the Pacific, lost in the Lake District, or stuck in the snow on Greenland, once you've read this book, you too will be able to beat the elements and survive the wild.

Born Survivor: Bear Grylls

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