Showing titles in Sports History

The incredible story of two wrestling legends who defined the sport in Britain in its glorious heyday. Big Daddy vs Giant Haystacks is a rags-to-riches tale of unlikely fame, family loyalty, tragic death and a uniquely British pop culture phenomenon. From the acclaimed author of Dynamite & Davey: The Explosive Lives of the British Bulldogs. As the 1970s began, Shirley Crabtree (Big Daddy) was a semi-retired wrestler, aged 40; the younger Martin Ruane (Giant Haystacks), a down-on-his-luck father of three.

For wrestling fans, Jim Ross’ voice is the soundtrack of an era. This book is your ringside ticket to wrestling’s most unforgettable moments—from the announcer who made them iconic. In the last 50 years, professional wrestling has risen up from a collection of regional territories to become a global phenomenon—and Jim Ross has been there for it all. From the grit and glory days of the 1970s with NWA, to the rise of WCW and the heyday of WWF and WWE, to signing on as on-air talent and senior advisor for wrestling’s newest chapter at AEW, Jim Ross has long had the best seat in the house.

'A master at telling football's greatest ever stories... Breathtaking. Wilson's eye for detail and his elegant writing brings the World Cup to life like no other book on the topic I have ever read' ELIS JAMES 'Epic in scope, awesomely rich in detail, and compulsively entertaining' TOM HOLLAND...

After entertaining countless radio listeners around the world for decades, who better to convey the breathless drama of a Test match cliffhanger than Henry Blofeld? Now, in Ten to Win...and the Last Man In, he has personally selected 30 matches featuring unforgettable finishes and brought them vividly to life again in his own inimitable way. 

Boxing is Steve Bunce's game. He has filed thousands and thousands of fight reports from ringside. He has written millions and millions of words for national newspapers previewing boxing, profiling boxers and proselytising on the business. He has been the voice of British boxing on the airwaves, both radio and television, with an army of loyal fans. And now it's time to put those many years of experience into penning his history of the sport of kings on these isles. It's Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing. 

In football, as in life, the value we place on people changes with the rules of the games they play. When we first meet the young man at the center of this extraordinary and moving story, he is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father...

A brilliant, funny and insightful analysis of Paul Gascoigne’s crazy up and downs during his three years at Lazio – a period which shows his entire career in microcosm. 4th July, 1990. Turin, Italy England are on the brink of reaching their first World Cup final in 24 years...

Brought to you by Penguin. As lead presenter for Sky Sports Formula One live coverage, Simon Lazenby is at the centre of Grand Prix race-weekend action. In this book, he takes us off camera to give us exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to the people who power this multi-billion-pound sport...

Answered Prayers is a definitive history of the most famous event in British sporting, the triumph of the 1966 England world cup football team and the disastrous effect that victory had on the game.

One of golf’s most popular and funny personalities reveals the ups and downs of a life playing the world’s most infuriating sport. ‘Even professional golfers hit bad shots. I guess that’s why it holds people like you and I in its grip. Because no matter how bad a day you’ve had out...

'Magnificent . . . Goldblatt is the doyen of sports historians and brings to this account his forensic and telling eye for detail' - Mail on Sunday A Sunday Times Best Sports Book of the Year The epic exploration of society, politics, and economics in the twenty-first century through the prism...

Brought to you by Penguin. A provocative look at how grassroots GAA interacts with life in Ireland, from the wittiest Gaelic games pundit at work today The GAA is Ireland's largest civil society organisation, woven into the fabric of families and communities - and yet most books about Gaelic...

WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD SHORTLISTED 2025 THE CRICKET SOCIETY/MCC BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD SHORTLISTED 2026 'Wonderfully wide-focused, unfailingly readable and laced with passages of insightful analysis, Tim Wigmore's history of test cricket is a true tour de force.' David...

Folk tales of the Shaolin Temple depict warrior monks with superhuman abilities. Today, dozens of East Asian fighting styles trace their roots back to the Buddhist brawlers of Shaolin, although any quest for the true story soon wanders into a labyrinth of forgeries, secret texts and modern retellings. This new study approaches the martial arts from their origins in military exercises and callisthenics. It examines a rich folklore from old wuxia tales of crime-fighting heroes to modern kung fu movies.

Eddy Merckx. Fausto Coppi. Jacques Anquetil. Bernard Hinault. Beryl Burton. Marianne Vos. A sole cyclist battling over a pass high in the mountains is one of the most romantic of sporting images. In the past 150 years road cycling has been dominated by a series of iconic people who have...

The 1989 Ironman World Championship was the greatest race ever in endurance sports. In a spectacular duel that became known as the Iron War, the world's two strongest athletes raced side by side at world-record pace for a grueling 139 miles. Driven by one of the fiercest rivalries in triathlon, Dave Scott and Mark Allen raced shoulder to shoulder through Ironman’s 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race, and 26.2-mile marathon. After 8 punishing hours, both men would demolish the previous record - and cross the finish line a mere 58 seconds apart.

A little over 100 years ago, East Africa was terra incognita to most whites: a land largely unmapped, sparsely settled by Europeans, and teeming with wildlife. It was the hunter-adventurer's paradise, and by the early 20th century, a small, lionhearted clan of explorers and big-game hunters began leading safaris there for money.

A cycling race from frost to palm trees, this is the untold story of the celebrated Paris–Nice where the world’s greatest riders are made The annual Paris–Nice race – aka the Race to the Sun – takes frostbitten riders from the chill of the Paris suburbs to the palm tree-fringed balm of...

'ABSORBING' Guardian 'ENTHRALLING' New Statesman 'EPIC' Evening Standard 'INESCAPABLE' The Sunday Times 'MAGISTERIAL' Irish Examiner Fully revised and updated, the definitive history of Argentinian football from the award-winning author of Inverting the Pyramid Alfredo Di Stefano, Diego Maradona...

In over 75 chapters, Alex Jacques tells the story of Formula 1’s rise, fall and recovery through the extraordinary moments that shaped the direction of the world’s most dramatic sport. Covering the teams, the drivers, the bosses, and the pit crews, Alex Jacques truly takes us trackside to feel the energy and hear from the personalities we love to watch.

After a lifetime of writing about the professional sport, Michael Bamberger, “the poet laureate of golf” (GOLF magazine), delivers an exhilarating love letter to the amateur game as it’s played—and lived—by the rest of us. Over Michael Bamberger’s celebrated writing career, he has...

Though it remains by far the world's most famous mountain, in recent years, Everest's reputation has changed radically, with long queues of climbers on the Lhotse Face, lurid tales of frozen corpses and piles of high altitude trash. It wasn't always like this though. Once Everest was remote and inaccessible, a mysterious place, where only the bravest and most heroic dared to tread. The first attempt on Everest in 1922 by George Leigh Mallory and a British team is an extraordinary story full of controversy, drama and incident, populated by a set of larger-than-life characters.

Bloomsbury presents The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman written and read by Harry Pearson. SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2020 – CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 'A joy.' – Ned Boulting Every nation shapes sport to...

Obscure documents, Korean-language books, and in-depth interviews with tae kwon do pioneers tell the tale of the origin of the most popular martial art. In 1938, tae kwon do began at the end of a poker game in a tiny village in a remote corner of what is now North Korea by Choi Hong-Hi, who began the martial art, and his nemesis, Kim Un-Yong, who developed the Olympic style and became one of the most powerful, controversial men in sports. The story follows Choi from the 1938 poker game where he fought for his life, through high-class geisha houses where the art was named, and into the Vietnam War where the martial art evolved into a killing art. The techniques cut across all realms – from the late 1960s when tae kwon do trained Korean CIA agents kidnapped people in the United States and Europe to the 1970s when Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and other Hollywood stars mastered the art’s new kicks. Tae kwon do is also a martial art for the 21st century, one of merciless techniques, indomitable men, and justice pumped on steroids.

Downloaded over 10 million times a year, The Football Ramble podcast has established itself as the essential independent voice of football punditry. The weekly podcast has resonated with supporters around the world, and their sold-out live shows have been a massive hit with supporters. This audiobook is a collaboration by all four presenters and tackles the real issues from fans you won't see or hear on Sky Sports - or anywhere else, for that matter.

Swift, brutal, and utterly final: with knockouts, there are no grey areas; a KO is a KO. But what actually is a knockout, and why are we so fascinated by it? The Knockout is the most dramatic and devastating moment in sport. There is nothing to rival it: Not the last second goal, not the basket...

Bloomsbury presents BBC Sports Report written and read by Pat Murphy. SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023 – SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR Sports Report is as much a 75-year history of sport as a BBC radio institution and Pat Murphy pays handsome tribute to a...

Bloomsbury presents Bazball by Nick Hoult and Lawrence Booth, read by David Thorpe. A TIMES, GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH AND WATERSTONES BEST SPORT BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘Gripping’ Roger Alton, Sunday Times The inside story of how England transformed the way Test cricket is played. After one win in 17 by...

*THE INSIDE STORY OF HOW ENGLAND REACHED THE EURO 2024 FINAL* *Written by the European Football Writer of the Year and the Chief Football Correspondent at the Sunday Times* *Includes interviews with Gareth Southgate, Harry Kane, Declan Rice, John Stones, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Wayne...

‘Our incredible story under a supreme manager shared in all its glory.’ Jordan Henderson The definitive account of Jürgen Klopp’s astonishing revival of Liverpool Football Club. Liverpool Football Club’s stunning 2020 Premier League title victory deserves a place in the official record...