Publication date: 2000-05-04
RRP: £16.99
Price: £16.98
Review Boycs: The True Story / Partridge Press:Billing Geoff Boycott (as the inside cover of this biography does) as a "charismatic, single-minded and often exasperating personality" may be, to some, not unlike calling Attila the Hun somebody "who liked to pick an argument". Coupled with the claim that this account is "the true story", Leo McKinstry has certainly set himself a challenge in terms of convincing what can only be described (at the best of times) as a doubtful public. McKinstry, to give him his credit, certainly goes for the holistic approach, tracing Boycott's life from his childhood as a miner's son in the West Yorkshire village of Fitzwilliam, through his professional career at Yorkshire and his international success to his time after retirement as commentator and media personality. (As for the "squalid" court case-make up your own mind!) Collecting testimony from friends, colleagues, relatives and "some enemies", McKinstry attempts a balanced picture of a difficult subject-known throughout the cricketing and media world for his acerbic, forthright and often downright rude manner, this portrait of a "charismatic" and "enigmatic" figure might be more "comprehensive and balanced" for some than others. Whatever your view of Geoff Boycott, it is unlikely to be vastly changed by this fascinating and certainly well-researched biography. Love him or hate him, very few people are ambivalent about the professional Yorkshireman and he may very well be a figure who is misunderstood and misrepresented because of his refusal to play the PR game. For that reason alone, this is a book which probably deserves to be read as much, if not more, by those who hate him than those who remain forever devoted to one of the greatest cricketing talents of the last century. Read, enjoy, and draw your own conclusions. -Jane Smith.
Publication date: 2005-10-06
Dewey code: 796.3330922429
RRP: £15.99
Price: £10.44
Review The Priceless Gift: 125 Years of Welsh Rugby Captains / Mainstream Publishing:
Publication date: 1999-08
Dewey code: 791.43028092
RRP: £9.95
Price: £29.95
Review Unsettled Matters: The Life and Death of Bruce Lee / Paul H. Crompton:
Edition: New edition
Publication date: 2004-06-07
RRP: £7.99
Price: £4.79
Review Tom Finney Autobiography / Headline:
Edition: Reprint
Publication date: 2007-04-03
Dewey code: 796.357092
RRP: £9.82
Price: £3.13
Review Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero / Simon & Schuster:
Publication date: 2007-05-03
RRP: £18.99
Price: £10.91
Review George Lohmann Pioneer Professional / SportsBooks Ltd:
Publication date: 2003-08-04
RRP: £20.00
Price: £0.97
Review Johnners: The Life of Brian / Hodder & Stoughton Ltd:
Edition: New Ed
Publication date: 1996-12-21
RRP: £6.99
Price: £6.98
Review The Glory and the Grief: The Life of George Graham / Andre Deutsch Ltd:
Publication date: 2007-06
RRP: £15.00
Price: £16.99
Review It Wasn't That Easy: The Tommy Godwin Story / John Pinkerton Memorial Publishing Fund:
Publication date: 2000-09-22
RRP: £16.99
Price: £35.00
Review Safe Hands: My Autobiography / Orion:Gordon Strachan came up and was screaming at the ref that I was faking it, that I wasn't hurt and was just a. pansy, a Southern softie. And me a Rotherham lad too. The physio was treating it when he spotted all this blood. He looked closer and found the studs had ripped into my balls as well and I needed a couple of stitches in them. It's a tough game, and calling your autobiography Safe Hands is asking for trouble, but that's just what David Seaman is doing every time he puts on the No. 1 shirt. As he says: "Goalkeeping can be a lonely business. [+]" Thankfully he doesn't overdo the existential angst, and offers instead an affable account of his career between the sticks-from formative years as an apprentice with Leeds, through Peterborough, Birmingham, QPR and of course, Arsenal and England. Seaman reveals his thoughts on some of the controversial characters he has worked with-Ian Wright, Paul Gascoigne, Nicolas Anelka, and four England managers, among them-and the key events on and off the pitch-Euro96, France98, the backstage story of George Graham's reign, the impact of Arsene Wenger-from what has been an immensely successful career. The book is lavishly illustrated with colour snaps of important personal and career moments-with plenty of photographic proof that England's number 1 has been having dodgy haircuts for years. With confessions of his peculiar gloves fetish, his passion for carp fishing and a few pointers on keeping doves, as well as his thoughts on the future for football and himself, this is an entertaining, light-hearted read that succeeds in spilling a few beans along the way-but always keeps a clean sheet. Alex Hankin.
Publication date: 2007-04
RRP: £12.99
Price: £6.47
Review Peter Broadbent: A Biography / Breedon Books Publishing Co Ltd:
Creator: Gerald Davies
Edition: 2nd Revised edition
Publication date: 2002-11-29
Price: £8.95
Review Carwyn: A Personal Memoir / Christopher Davies Publishers:
Publication date: 2007-05-31
RRP: £18.99
Price: £0.01
Review From the Eye of the Hurricane: My Story / Headline:
Publication date: 2001-08-02
RRP: £15.99
Price: £8.50
Review The Celebrated Captain Barclay: Sport, Money and Fame in Regency Britain / Headline Book Publishing:
Publication date: 2000-06-01
Dewey code: 796
RRP: £14.99
Price: £39.12
Review The Crossing: The Extraordinary Story of the First Man to Swim the English Channel / Headline Book Publishing:The tribe of Longitude continues to expand; myriad little books casting illuminating and entertaining light upon little-known crannies of cultural history. However, Kathy Watson's account of Captain Matthew Webb and his heroic 22-hour swim across the English channel in 1875 is a different kettle of fish-or of "half man half fish", as contemporaries called the astonishing Webb. Watson is a swimmer herself; she knows how punishing a long swim can be, how "every part of your body hurts, your legs, your groin, especially your shoulders. Some swimmers have finished [the channel crossing] using just one arm, the other too painful even to lift out of the water. If you're a man and you neglect to shave really closely, after the many thousand strokes you will make the stubble on your chin will lacerate the insides of your arms. " It is this sort of striking detail that makes The Crossing so engaging a read. There is more to this deft book than a bare account of Webb's epic crossing, although its central chapters do tell that story with an economical vividness that has you panting for the end, almost as strongly as Webb himself (clogged by seaweed, stung by jellyfish, exhausted to the point of agony but still struggling on). Watson uses this central adventure as a peg on which to hang a history of the origins of swimming itself; a pastime that metamorphosed during the 19th century from a fringe activity to being what it is today-with some justice Watson observes that "if participation not observation is the measure, swimming not football or cricket is really this country's national sport. " The whole thing is so expertly written, so engaging and witty as well as informative, that the reader crosses from page one to page 243 as rapidly as an Olympic-level sprint-swimmer. Adam Roberts.
Creator: George Best
Publication date: 2000-08-07
Dewey code: 796.334069092
Price: £16.99
Review Big Fry: Barry Fry - The Autobiography / HarperCollinsWillow:
Publication date: 2003-07-24
Dewey code: 798
RRP: £16.99
Price: £13.91
Review Betting on Myself / Daily Racing Form:
Publication date: 2003-04-07
RRP: £18.99
Price: £6.00
Review Tom Finney Autobiography / Headline Book Publishing:
Authors
- Gareth Edwards
- Clive Woodward
- Will Carling
- Bill McLaren
Publication date: 2007-11-08
RRP: £14.99
Price: £9.27
Review Rugby Heroes / Hodder & Stoughton:
Publication date: 2000-11-02
Dewey code: 796
RRP: £14.99
Price: £14.98
Review The Unique Treble: Achieving Our Goals / Hodder & Stoughton Ltd:
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Models & Brands:
Boycs: The True Story, The Priceless Gift: 125 Years of Welsh Rugby Captains, Unsettled Matters: The Life and Death of Bruce Lee, Tom Finney Autobiography, Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero, George Lohmann Pioneer Professional, Johnners: The Life of Brian, The Glory and the Grief: The Life of George Graham, It Wasn't That Easy: The Tommy Godwin Story, Safe Hands: My Autobiography, Peter Broadbent: A Biography, Carwyn: A Personal Memoir, From the Eye of the Hurricane: My Story, The Celebrated Captain Barclay: Sport, Money and Fame in Regency Britain, The Crossing: The Extraordinary Story of the First Man to Swim the English Channel, Big Fry: Barry Fry - The Autobiography, Betting on Myself, Tom Finney Autobiography, Rugby Heroes, The Unique Treble: Achieving Our Goals |
