Virginia Woolf, born in 1882, was the major novelist at the heart of the inter-war Bloomsbury Group. Her early novels include The Voyage Out, Night and Day and Jacob's Room. Between 1925 and 1931 she produced her finest masterpieces, including Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Orlando and the experimental The Waves. Her later novels include The Years and Between the Acts, and she also maintained an astonishing output of literary criticism, journalism and biography, including the passionate feminist essay A Room of One's Own. Suffering from depression, she drowned herself in the River Ouse in 1941.

Virginia Woolf

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Dave Hadfield

Along the way he met the people whose enthusiasm for the game has made it so durable - current and former internationals as well as others involved at all levels - as well as a few miserable old gits for balance. In this intimate account, Hadfield observes the way rugby league fits into the history and sociology of towns like Wigan and Castleford, with which it is synonymous. His record of the journey is in the great tradition of writers from Wordsworth to Laurie Lee, who found in long walks the perfect medium to explore and reflect upon their surroundings. Up and Over is the definitive book about the game and the local passions it engenders, as Hadfield seeks out the poignant and the humorous on a personal journey of discovery. For those who follow rugby league, it will give a unique perspective on the parts of the world they know intimately; for others it will be an introduction to a different world, seen via one of the elements that gives it its identity.

Up and Over

A Trek Through Rugby League Land

Gareth Thomas

**WINNER British Sports Book Awards SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR** 
 
**Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award** 
 
Gareth Thomas had it all. He was a national hero, a sporting icon. He was a leader of men, captain of Wales and the British Lions. To him, rugby was an expression of cultural identity, a sacred code. It was no mere ball game. It gave him everything, except the freedom to be himself. 
 
This is the story of a man with a secret that was slowly killing him. Something that might devastate not only his own life but the lives of his wife, family, friends and teammates. The only place where he could find any refuge from the pain and guilt of the lie he was living was on the pitch, playing the sport he loved. But all his success didn’t make the strain of hiding who he really was go away. His fear that telling the truth about his sexuality would lose him everything he loved almost sent him over the edge. 
 
The deceit ended when Gareth became the world’s most prominent athlete to come out as a gay man. His gesture has strengthened strangers, and given him a fresh perspective. Gareth’s inspiring and moving story transcends the world of sport to tell a universal truth about feeling like an outsider, and facing up to who you really are.

Proud

My Autobiography

Ellie Kildunne

'Lukewarm is no good.' 
 
As a youngster, Ellie Kildunne was told girls don’t play rugby. But that’s what she was good at, and she was determined to find a way. 
 
Growing up in Yorkshire, Ellie started playing rugby aged six with a boys’ team, which she continued to do until she was 13, constantly having to prove herself as the only girl. Then, her mum found out about some local U15 trials for girls. She went along, made the team, and thus began the career of an England rugby great. 
 
But to achieve greatness in sport is not an easy journey. Ellie has faced prejudice. She has fought through career-threatening injury. While the hyperfocus superpower that is part of her ADHD has driven her to surpass the competition, it brings with it a difference in the way she processes information that has led to misunderstandings and conflict, at school, at college and in her professional life. 
 
Ellie’s guiding philosophy is ‘Lukewarm is no good’. Her passion for rugby was always white hot. The fire will never go out, and the setbacks have made her stronger. She’s smashing through barriers, and spurs us all on to achieve our goals, whatever our path in life. 
 
On and off the field, Ellie is a game changer. 
 
 
'An inspirational player who creates moments of outrageous brilliance from nowhere.' Sir Clive Woodward 
 
'What Ellie and the Red Roses achieved on home soil last year was a privilege to watch. We may play different sports, but wearing our country’s shirt is something that connects us all. Ellie sets incredible standards for herself and her team. The consistency behind her performances and the energy she brings lifts you off your seat. 
 
It’s not just about winning games, it’s about the example she sets and the belief she gives the next generation that we as women belong on the biggest stage.' Chloe Kelly 
 
‘The growth of women’s rugby in England has been a huge positive for sport in this country. Ellie Kildunne and the Red Roses have done an incredible job of inspiring the nation, not just through their successes but with the way they play the game.’ Ben Youngs

Game Changer

Murphy/Wilson

Nobody has ever been able to ignore Alex Murphy. In a glittering rugby league career stretching over forty years - from schoolboy days playing with St Helens, to international success for Great Britain, and years of glory as player, coach and manager of a host of high-profile clubs including Wigan and Warrington - fame and controversy have always been present: Murphy's row with Wigan chairman and one-time friend Maurice Lindsay, when he was accused of trying to strangle him with his own telephone cord; the time Syd Hines head-butted him at Wembley, believing Murphy had taken a dive to get him sent off; his two tours, including the 1958 'Battle of Brisbane', and how he 'spat the dummy', costing himself a third tour. . . All this, and a further fund of tales from the tough world of rugby league, is given Murphy's unique treatment in this uncompromising autobiography. SAINT AND SINNER is the tale of how a liittle man reached the summit of his sport, and helped other little men along the way. The cocky kid - youngest ever to tour with Great Britain, who could have chosen professional football as a career 'if it hadn't been too soft' - is known to millions today as Murph the Mouth: after-dinner speaker, TV commentator, outspoken newspaper columnist and now holder of the OBE, whose love for rugby league has never dwindled.

Saint And Sinner

The Autobiography of a Rugby League Legend

Josh Lewsey

Josh Lewsey is a household name in English rugby. He has been a Rugby World Cup winner, part of the prestigious British Lions squad and a crucial member of the Wasps team, one of the most successful UK premiership rugby sides of the last 10 years. Not content with just being a rugby player, his life off the pitch has been equally impressive. He is a graduate in both Law and Physiology, a former Army Officer and an avid adventurer. This fascinating and humorous autobiography follows the highs and the lows that inevitably come from being at the top of a professional sport. His refreshingly honest approach means that he offers real insight into the personalities and attitudes that make up the rugby world, as well as the lessons that he has learnt along the way to reach the pinnacle of his game.

One Chance

My Life and Rugby

Bobby Windsor

Peter Jackson

Lions legend Bobby Windsor has enjoyed triumphs beyond the dreams of most international players but has also suffered personal tragedy. His rugby career as the best hooker in the British Isles during the second golden era of Welsh rugby in the 1970s is a turbulent tale of blood and thunder on the pitch. There are riotous incidents off the pitch, including unscheduled fights with professional boxers, revelations about illegal payments during the so-called amateur era and what Windsor did to upset the Establishment and become blackballed by one of the most famous clubs in the world. 
 
Windsor's irrepressible sense of humour comes shining through on every page, except when he gives chapter and verse on the personal crisis that drove him to plan suicide. 
 
Bobby Windsor – The Iron Duke is the no-holds-barred, warts-and-all story of a working-class Welsh folk hero who rose from humble beginnings to become a permanent member of the greatest Lions team in the history of rugby union.

Bobby Windsor - The Iron Duke

The Life and Times of a Working-Class Rugby Hero

Kevin Sinfield

The extraordinary memoir of the sporting icon, devoted friend to Rob Burrow, and fundraising hero who has inspired the nation in his fight against MND 
 
NOW UPDATED WITH TWO BONUS CHAPTERS ON SINFIELD'S LATEST CHALLENGES 
 
THE INSTANT NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER 
 
&lsquo;A very British hero, the unassuming yet utterly superb Kevin Sinfield &ndash; rugby league great turned rugby union coach turned charity fundraiser, all while carrying a torch for the true meaning of sport and friendship. The Extra Mile tells how Sinfield set about raising money to combat motor neurone disease, the appalling condition that has gripped his former Leeds Rhinos teammate and best pal, Rob Burrow. If Sinfield weren&rsquo;t such a modest man, his story could be subtitled, How to Be a Decent Person.&rsquo; The Times, Sports Books of the Year, 2023 
 
'If you want inspiring, uplifting and empowering... give this amazing man some of your time' Jake Humphrey 
 
'Kevin Sinfield is adored and respected . . . he is the best of men' Brian Moore, Daily Telegraph 
 
'I've always thought Kevin Sinfield was a hero. His quiet, calm, committed leadership makes people want to support him and we are all doing that as he supports Rob Burrow and everyone living with MND' Clare Balding 
 
'The friendship between Kevin Sinfield and Rob Burrow gives you faith in humankind' Sir Chris Hoy 
 
The Extra Mile is no ordinary sports memoir. But Kevin Sinfield is no ordinary sportsman. A one-club legend of Leeds Rhinos, who has now crossed codes as a defence coach for the England national rugby union team, Kevin Sinfield is a rugby icon. But in recent years has shown heroism of a very different kind through his selfless and extraordinary fundraising for motor neurone disease (MND), the terminal illness that has affected his best mate and former teammate Rob Burrow. 
 
Sinfield's epic challenges have included running 7 ultra marathons in 7 days, and running over 101 miles in 24 hours. In the process, Sinfield has captured the hearts of the nation and over &pound;7 million for MND. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday honours for his efforts, along with the Freedom of Leeds and a special BBC Award for his fundraising. 
 
Told with Sinfield's characteristic warmth, dry wit and inspirational leadership, The Extra Mile is the story of an astonishing life, of an enduring friendship, of perseverance against the most difficult of challenges, and of a remarkable, humble human being who has defied the odds. The book equips readers with the tools and the mindset to embrace togetherness and to overcome their own challenges. It leaves the reader with the urgent question: Who would you go the extra mile for to help in life? 
 
PRAISE FOR KEVIN SINFIELD 
'Inspirational does not do him justice, he's that and much, much more' Matt Dickinson 
 
'Kevin Sinfield is an incredible human being' Gabby Logan 
 
'A total hero' Yvette Cooper 
 
'Britain's greatest sportsman (off the pitch) ... Kevin Sinfield's fundraising is a poignant story of friendship and human endeavour' The Times 
 
 
Number 1 Sunday Times bestseller, June 2023

The Extra Mile

Stephen Jones

Simon Roberts

Since making his national debut in 1998, Stephen Jones has emerged from the shadows of the true greats of Welsh rugby, such as Barry John, Phil Bennett, Jonathan Davies and Neil Jenkins, to make the fly-half position his own. In this revealing autobiography, he provides a rare insight into the demands and pressures of wearing the almost mythical number 10 jersey that has such a pre-eminent status in the Welsh psyche. 
 
As well as playing an integral role in Wales's two Grand Slam victories, Jones has appeared in three Rugby World Cups and was part of the 2005 British and Irish Lions squad. He has witnessed at first hand how the Welsh rugby establishment has struggled with the transition to professionalism, and in this candid memoir he recounts the many highs he has experienced, as well as the challenges he has faced, throughout his career so far. 
 
Jones gives an intriguing account of how he became one of the few Welsh players to play in France, recalling the brutality of the game there and how he became a cult figure amongst fans of Clermont Auvergne, where he was twice voted fly-half of the season. 
 
In Stephen Jones - A Thinking Man's Game: My Story, the Welsh rugby star reveals how his steely resolve, utter determination and sheer passion for rugby have allowed him to bounce back from numerous setbacks to become one of the most popular and respected figures in the game today.

A Thinking Man's Game: My Story

Andy Ripley

Winner of the National Sporting Club's prestigious British Rugby Book of the Year Award for 2008, Ripley's World transforms and redefines the genre of the sports autobiography. In a moving and intimate memoir, Andy Ripley, England rugby icon and victorious British Lion, television Superstar and world rowing champion, reflects on a life of sporting achievement and confronts his most powerful and dangerous challenge yet - his diagnosis with prostate cancer. Told with typical candour and courage, it is an absorbing and inspirational story.

Ripley's World

The Enthralling Story of the British Lion's Most Crucial Battle

England has contributed some of the greatest players and most colourful characters to the rich history of the Lions, and never more so than in recent years. During the course of little more than a decade, a golden era for the Red Rose yielded four Grand Slams en route to the thrilling climax of the World Cup victory in Sydney, a triumph which has catapulted some of the side's stars to a higher plane in the nation's affections. It is not surprising, therefore, that English players have dominated the last four Lions tours in a way which none of the home countries has done before. 
 
Lions of England presents the country's most famous players in a series of revealing portraits, each telling a fascinating story woven around monumental Test matches. Rich in previously untold anecdote and humour, these accounts illustrate the lives and times of the greats spanning three-quarters of a century - from one pre-war knight of the realm, Carl Aarvold, to a more recent one, Clive Woodward. All the evocative names of English rugby are featured here, from Dickie Jeeps to Martin Johnson, Jeff Butterfield to Jason Robinson, Dean Richards to Lawrence Dallaglio. Other chapters are devoted to Peter Jackson (a rather better player than the author), John Pullin, Roger Uttley, Fran Cotton, David Duckham, Bill Beaumont, Peter Wheeler, Jeremy Guscott, Rob Andrew, Jason Leonard and, of course, Jonny Wilkinson. 
 
Peter Jackson, the Daily Mail's award-winning rugby writer, has drawn on all his experience and eye for the unusual to give the reader an insight into what makes these talented players tick as people, the early influences which shaped their careers and the momentous events which made them household names. 
 
Bang up to date with the inclusion of the summer 2005 series against the All Blacks and a comprehensive records appendix, Lions of England is sure to inform and entertain rugby lovers of every generation in equal measure.

Lions of England

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 Hurt

The Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year

Liam O’Callaghan

Liam O'Callaghan's revelatory Blood and Thunder shows that the rise of Irish rugby is inextricable from the tensions, debates and divisions – of politics, religion and class – that have defined modern Irish history. 
 
Despite the political partition of the island, Ireland competes at rugby internationally with an all-island team – and with a bespoke anthem that nobody loves but everyone tolerates. Ireland has become a leading rugby nation despite its tiny population and the fact that the sport is only the fourth most popular team game on the island by participation. 
 
In Blood and Thunder, O’Callaghan traces the dramatic evolution whereby a rugby nation that was deeply attached to amateurism has made such a dramatic success of professionalism. From the sequence of events that led Ireland's private Catholic secondary schools to embrace rugby, to the controversies and crises that have shaken Irish rugby – including the Northern Troubles, the Belfast rape trial, and the rising toll of head injuries – Blood and Thunder tells the rich and fascinating story of Irish rugby. 
 
Blood and Thunder is more than a social and political history of Irish rugby. It is also a shadow-history of modern Ireland, rooted in brilliant original research and packed with terrific stories.

Blood And Thunder

Rugby and Irish Life: A History

Harry Edgar

Malcolm Reilly

Never before in the UK has a Rugby League man of Malcolm Reilly's legendary status issued such a full and revealling autobiography. Reilly has been a household name in Rugby League for over 30 years -three decades in which he strode like a colossus over the world of this toughest of team sports. He was a champion player, and a champion coach, in both England and Australia - and Reilly reveals one man's personal story behind many of Rugby League's most famous, and infamous, days of the last 30 years, told just as he played his football - with no holds barred. Malcolm Reilly developed a reputation as the most feared player in the game at a time when Rugby League was at its most brutal during the 60's and 70's. His book recalls that club career at home with highly controversial Lions tour in which he starred the last time a British team won the coveted Ashes. Rupert Murdoch's million dollar war to take control of the game, with Malcolm Reilly bang in the middle of it He also describes the fairytale triumph with his Newcastle team in Australia in 1997 followed by the drugs storm that broke around them less than a year later. Reilly has been adapted in this UK version with Harry Edgar, one of the most experienced writers on international affairs in the world of rugby.

Reilly

A Life In Rugby League

Nicholas Bishop

Alun Carter

What made Pontypool such a great seam of talent for the Welsh national team? Why were they hated and feared in equal measure by other clubs in Wales and across the Severn? What made Ray Prosser a coach ahead of his time? 
 
In this engrossing book, Alun Carter and Nick Bishop recount the dramatic story of the rise and fall of one of the great enigmas of Welsh club rugby: Pontypool RFC. They chart the glories and violence of the amateur era in the 1970s and ’80s before the club entered a period of steady decline in the age of professionalism, reaching the point of bankruptcy after a crippling legal battle with the Welsh RU. It is a symbolic tale of the disintegration of the social fabric that held a once-great club together, both on and off the playing field – often irresistibly funny, eventually tragic, but always larger than life.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Rise and Fall of Pontypool RFC

Joe Marler

SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR 
 
The hilarious, must-read memoir from everyone's favourite Celebrity Traitors Faithful - The truth about being a rugby player from the horsey's mouth. 
 
This book is not just about how a psychiatrist called Humphrey helped me get back on my horse and clippity-clop all the way to the World Cup semi-final in Japan. 
 
It's the story of how a fat kid who had to live up to the nickname Psycho grew up to play and party for over a decade with rugby's greatest pros and live weird and wonderful moments both in and out of the scrum. 
 
That's why I'm letting you read my diary on my weirdest days. You never know what you're going to get with me. 
 
From being locked in a police cell to singing Adele on Jonathan Ross (I'll let you decide which is worse), being kissed by a murderer on the number 51 bus to drug tests where clipboard-wielding men hover inches away from my naked genitalia, melting opponents in rucks, winning tackles, and generally losing blood, sweat and ears in the name of the great sport of rugby. 
 
This is how (not) to be a rugby player.

Loose Head

Confessions of an (un)professional rugby player

Tom English

Shortlised for the 2022 SBA Best Sports Book of the 21st Century prize 
 
The gripping inside story of when an England-Scotland rugby match become more than a game 
 
Murrayfield, the Calcutta Cup, March 1990. England vs. Scotland - winner-takes-all for the Five Nations Grand Slam, the biggest prize in northern hemisphere rugby. 
 
Will Carling's England are the very embodiment of Margaret Thatcher's Britain - snarling, brutish and all-conquering. Scotland are the underdogs - second-class citizens from a land that's become the testing ground for the most unpopular tax in living memory: Thatcher's Poll Tax. In Edinburgh, nationalism is rising high - what happens in the stadium will resound far beyond the pitch. 
 
Told with unprecedented access to key players, coaches and supporters on both sides (Will Carling, Ian McGeechan, Brian Moore and the rest), Tom English has produced a gripping account of a titanic struggle that thrusts the reader right into the heart of the action. Game on. 
 
'A priceless read' Guardian 
'Absolutely outstanding' The Times 
'An epic tale' Daily Telegraph 
'Gripping' Scottish Review of Books

The Grudge

Two Nations, One Match, No Holds Barred

Scotland vs. England, 1990

John Scally

Rugby is not a game for those who think that centres are what you find in a box of Black Magic or who confuse Jonah Lomu with Joanna Lumley. At the same time, it is not a game for the bright: what kind of tortured mind would invent an oval ball? Of course, it helps if you know the rules and don't have any fear. In this respect you are in the same boat as most referees, particularly if you have a problem with your eyesight. 
 
Odd-Shaped Balls captures the humour, the agony and the ecstasy of one of the world's most popular sports. It snoops inside sweaty, smelly dressing-rooms, reveals the passions of coaches and fans - without whom rugby would cease to exist - and delves deep into the sport's archives to recall its heroes, villains and victims, all of whom are part of the daily currency. 
 
The book is no less than a who's who of the game, with both old and young getting the opportunity to have their say. Lining out is a cast of mischief-makers, miscreants and mad-hatters: from Max Boyce to Keith Wood; from Sean Fitzpatrick to Austin Healy; from Bill Beaumont and his streaker to Gavin Hastings; from Gareth Edwards to David Campese; and from the man in the scrum to the man at the bar. All exponents of surrealism, comic genius and savage wit, they offer a quirky insight into the sporting psyche as well as providing some riotous good laughs. 
 
With hundreds of funny stories, Odd-Shaped Balls is a light-hearted romp through decades of rugby tomfoolery that is guaranteed to put a smile on the face of all sports fans.

Odd-Shaped Balls

Mischief-Makers, Miscreants and Mad-Hatters Of Rugby

Tony Hannan

**Shortlisted for the 2018 General Outstanding Sports Book of the Year** 
 
One of the founder members in 1895 of what became the Rugby League, Batley was once a thriving centre of commerce, one of the bustling mill towns in the Heavy Woollen District of West Yorkshire. More than 120 years on, times have changed, even if the town's Victorian buildings remain, but one constant is the importance of the club as the centre of the community. And in 2016, the Batley Bulldogs brought more than their fair share of pride to the town. They were Underdogs, but gave their professional Super League rivals a run for their money in a season that surpassed all expectations. 
 
Given unprecedented access to the team - players, staff and fans - Tony Hannan charts a fascinating year in the life of a lower-league club, of labourers spilling blood and guts on to Batley's notorious sloping pitch before getting bruised bodies up for work on a Monday morning, of hand-to-mouth existence at the unglamorous and gritty end of British sport. And at their centre is the Bulldogs captain Keegan Hirst, the first rugby league player to come out as gay, and inspirational coach John Kear, just two men in the most colourful cast of characters. It was also a year when the town was plunged into tragedy by the brutal murder of local MP Jo Cox, a great supporter of the club. 
 
Underdogs is more than just a book about Batley though. It is the story of northern working-class culture, past and present, and a report from the front-line of a society struggling to find its identity in a changing world.

Underdogs

Keegan Hirst, Batley and a Year in the Life of a Rugby League Town

Lions legend Bobby Windsor has enjoyed triumphs beyond the dreams of most international players but has also suffered personal tragedy. His rugby career as the best hooker in the British Isles during the second golden era of Welsh rugby in the 1970s is a turbulent tale of blood and thunder on the pitch. There are riotous incidents off the pitch, including unscheduled fights with professional boxers, revelations about illegal payments during the so-called amateur era and what Windsor did to upset the Establishment and become blackballed by one of the most famous clubs in the world. 
 
Windsor's irrepressible sense of humour comes shining through on every page, except when he gives chapter and verse on the personal crisis that drove him to plan suicide. 
 
The Iron Duke is the no-holds-barred, warts-and-all story of a working-class Welsh folk hero who rose from humble beginnings to become a permanent member of the greatest Lions team in the history of rugby union.

The Iron Duke

Bobby Windsor - The Life and Times of a Working-Class Rugby Hero

Johnny Sexton

No Irish rugby player has ever achieved more, or been a source of more inspiration to teammates and fans alike, than Johnny Sexton. 
 
The Sexton era - marked by four European Cups, four Six Nations championships (including two Grand Slams), a series win in New Zealand, two stints for Ireland at number 1 in the world, and the World Player of the Year award - was above all the time when Leinster and Ireland went from being underachievers to being overachievers. 
 
In his hotly anticipated autobiography, Johnny tells the story of his life and explores the sources of his unmatched will to win. Always outspoken on and off the field, Sexton offers an honest look at his childhood, his seemingly inauspicious early experiences in club and professional rugby, his relationships with key teammates and coaches (including Brian O'Driscoll, Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara, Joe Schmidt and Andy Farrell), and his ideas about the game. 
 
Obsessed is more than just a brilliantly detailed account of a legendary playing career. It is also a work of deep self-exploration, tracing the psychological arc of a player who almost always felt embattled, who struggled with self-doubt, and who was still learning new lessons about being a team-mate and a leader into his late thirties. Intense, witty, perceptive and frank, Obsessed is an autobiography worthy of its author and the essential chronicle of an extraordinary era in Irish rugby.

Obsessed: The Autobiography

Danny Care

An honest, end-of-career autobiography from widely adored Harlequins and England rugby star Danny Care 
 
'They say everything happens for a reason, and I think my life is proof of that. There have been a series of moments, some of them tough setbacks, that have proved over time to be pivotal to the person – and player – I am today. 
 
There was the time when my dreams of a football career came to an abrupt end but opened the door for rugby in my life; the ill-judged sledging outing that may have cost me the opportunity to go on a Lions tour; the times when my name made the headlines for the wrong reasons; the choice I made to miss an England tour, which led to meeting the love of my life on a party island halfway across the world; and the devastating moment when Eddie Jones dropped me from the England squad and I thought my international career was over. 
 
I sometimes wondered if it was meant to be but I kept on smiling and I worked hard as I kept my focus on playing the game that I love, that I owe everything to. And now, a little older and a little wiser – hanging up my boots with over 100 England caps, three Six Nations championships and two Premiership titles to my name – I want to tell you my story. The highs and lows, the good and the bad and everything in between.'

Everything Happens for a Reason

My Life in Rugby

Brian O'Driscoll

The bestselling autobiography of the Irish sporting legend and the greatest rugby player of our time: Brian O'Driscoll. 
 
Since 1999, when he made his international debut, there has been no greater player in world rugby than Brian O'Driscoll. In 2010 Rugby World magazine named him its world player of the decade - and since then the legend has only grown. 
 
Now, at the end of his amazing career - which culminated in fairy-tale fashion with Ireland's victory in the 2014 Six Nations championship - he tells his own story. 
 
Honest, gritty and thoughtful, Brian O'Driscoll's Autobiography is not just an essential sports book. It is an essential book about family, friends, hard work, courage and imagination. 
 
Praise for The Test: 
 
'Honest, charming and revealing - a thoroughly good read' Rugby World 
 
'A thoroughly enjoyable read ... After reading The Test I warmed even more to O'Driscoll as a player and a man. He stood for a new ethos in Irish sport that refused to accept mediocrity or glorious failure' Fergal Keane, Irish Times 
 
'O'Driscoll's honesty ... takes the reader to a place they simply have not been before' Vincent Hogan, Irish Independent 
 
'A must-read insight into the life and mind of Ireland's greatest rugby player' Irish Mail on Sunday 
 
'There are fascinating insights into the lengths he was willing to go to perform at the highest level' Sunday Business Post

The Test

Stephen Ferris

SHORTLISTED FOR RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 
 
'When I came into the Ulster team,' Stephen Ferris says with typical candour, 'we were crap'. It was, however, preferable to his day job of paving driveways, and that day in 2005 saw the start of an incredible journey for Ferris, Ulster and Ireland rugby. A Celtic League title in his very first senior season with Ulster. A Grand Slam in 2009, followed by a sensational Lions breakthrough. A starring role in Ireland's greatest World Cup win, over Australia in 2011, when Ferris famously picked up Will Genia and carried him ten yards. And leading Ulster from nowhere to the Heineken Cup final. 
 
Stephen Ferris had an incredible rugby career, tragically ended by ankle injuries so severe they will never properly heal. He is an inspiration to the population of Ulster, an emblem of the sport that serves as such a positive expression of its culture and identity, and earned the respect and admiration of fans across Ireland for his strength, pace, skill and courage. Fearless, funny and full of an incredible array of stories from behind the scenes of Ulster, Ireland and the Lions, this is the must-have rugby book of the year.

Man and Ball

Huw Richards

'The Bounce of the Century' they called it. A ball kicked across Cardiff Arms Park in the dying minutes of a match between two of international rugby's fiercest rivals. The world's two greatest wingers waited as it bounced towards them, knowing that whoever caught the ball would score and win the match for his country. 
 
Dragons and All Blacks tells what happened when Wales played New Zealand in 1953. The story is written from contemporary accounts and the memories of the men who played that day, including Bob Stuart and Bleddyn Williams, for many of whom the match was the highlight of a career. 
 
The book retells the stories of the two teams and the men who played for them, and charts the events of their lives: how they got to that meeting point in Cardiff in December 1953 and what has happened to them in the half-century since. 
 
Dragons and All Blacks examines the remarkable relationship between two countries on opposite sides of the world, brought together by a mutual passion for rugby with few parallels elsewhere. It shows how their rivalry has developed over a century - from perhaps the greatest of all rugby matches in 1905 to the single-point thriller of 2004 - and looks to its future in the aftermath of the 2005 Welsh Grand Slam and Lions tour of New Zealand.

Dragons and All Blacks

Wales v. New Zealand - 1953 and a Century of Rivalry

Hunter Davies

Hunter Davies's first major interview was with John Masefield for The Sunday Times in 1963. In the years since, he has interviewed many of the most famous people that the late twentieth century has to offer, from James Baldwin and Orson Welles to Jack Nicholson and Salman Rushdie. in an eclectic and highly readable selection, we learn that Noel Coward enjoyed watching operations and considered himself 'about as decadent as a suet pudding', David Hockney dyed his hair because 'blonds have more fun', and Anthony Burgess had yet to touch the body of an Englishwoman. Christy Brown concedes 'I'm just a run-of-the-mill genius', while Alan Sugar admits 'I'm a miserable sod'. The book opens with a specially written introduction in which Hunter Davies explores the art of the Celebrity Interview, and turns the tables to interview fellow practitioners, such as Lynn Barber and Angela Lambert.

Hunting People

Thirty Years of Interviews with the Famous

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

Gerry Thornley

Front Up, Rise Up is the story of Connacht’s remarkable journey to becoming the 2016 Pro12 champions. The story goes inside the dressing-room, takes in their unscheduled, week-long, bonding trek to Siberia and back for a European Challenge Cup game, and all the key twists and turns along the way. 
 
It brings us the characters in this Band of Brothers, from the locals such as captain John Muldoon from Portumna to their iconic fans’ favourite Bundee Aki – who like their talismanic coach Pat Lam is a Kiwi from Auckland of Samoan descent – and their Nigerian-born and Dublin-raised match-winner Niyi Adeolokun. 
 
The story takes in the province’s troubled professional history, which had them on the brink of extinction as a professional entity in 2003 and led to Connacht and their supporters marching to the IRFU offices in a successful bid to keep them afloat. 
 
It covers their dethroning of the champions Glasgow in the Sportsground in Galway and their stunning performance in the final against Leinster in Edinburgh. In more than two decades of professional rugby, there has been no story quite like it.

Front Up, Rise Up

The Official Story of Connacht Rugby

Stewart McKinney

Roars from the Back of the Bus is an absorbing, amusing and at times moving collection of tales that give a rare insight into the camaraderie that exists between players at the top of their game, showing that relationships forged through experiences on a Lions tour last a lifetime. 
 
From the first Tour in 1888, it showcases characters with immense personality who fought together in wars or on rugby pitches in foreign lands, and who shared a bond developed through touring as representatives of the home nations. Despite the changes to the game after the advent of professionalism, the experiences of Jamie Heaslip, Brian O’Driscoll and Joe Worsley are still similar in some ways to those of earlier intrepid tourists like Blair Mayne, Lewis Jones, Sir Carl Aarvold or David Rollo. 
 
Containing defining memories and private insights from across the tours and the decades, Roars from the Back of the Bus shows that the Lions ethos remains strong at the heart of every team.

Roars from the Back of the Bus

Rugby Tales of Life with the Lions

Alun Carter experienced the highs and lows of the Wales national rugby squad throughout his 12 years working for the WRU. During this time, he saw a number of high-profile coaches come and go, and in Seeing Red he delivers a brutally honest account of what it was like to work with each of them. From the inspirational successes of the Graham Henry and Mike Ruddock eras to the disappointments and failures of the Steve Hansen and Gareth Jenkins regimes, the reader is given an insider's version of what really went on. 
 
Carter does not shy away from controversy, and he pulls no punches in his assessment of the rift between Graham Henry and Sir Clive Woodward, the personal and political situation that led to Mike Ruddock losing his job, and the difficulty of handling the group dynamics within the national squad. The former analyst also provides an informed appraisal of the remarkable 2005 and 2008 Grand Slam victories. 
 
Winner of best rugby book at the 2009 British Sports Book Awards, Seeing Red provides a warts-and-all account of more than a decade of Welsh rugby and is packed with revelations, exclusive contributions and untold stories that will intrigue and delight all fans of the sport.

Seeing Red

Twelve Tumultuous Years in Welsh Rugby

Mervyn Davies

David Roach

Few rugby players have matched the achievements of Welshman Mervyn Davies, the shrewd, gutsy number 8 with the heart of a lion. In what was a remarkable career, he won two Grand Slams, three Triple Crowns, earned thirty-eight consecutive Wales caps, was captain of his national team and played in two victorious Lions tours. 
 
 From the tail end of the 1960s through the first half of the glorious '70s period, 'Merv the Swerve' - with that mop of black hair and trademark headband - cut an iconic figure in the world's great rugby arenas. Teammates and opponents respected him, fans loved him and he was a natural leader of men both on and off the field.Then, in March 1976, everything changed. Mervyn was leading Swansea in a semi-final cup clash when he suffered a massive brain haemorrhage. He began that fateful Sunday preparing for just another high-profile game but ended it fighting for his life. Wales, and the watching sporting world, could do nothing but wait and hope. And just when the odds seemed stacked irreversibly against him, Mervyn did what he had always done: he beat them. 
 
 Mervyn's life story is one of what was and what might have been. From locker-room tales to the loneliness of rehabilitation, Mervyn's account is funny, moving and honest. He writes about his many highs and lows, about losing rugby but regaining his life, and shares his thoughts on the days he spent in shadow and in strength.

In Strength And Shadow

The Mervyn Davies Story

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