For the first time, Real Madrid galáctico and Croatian legend Luka Modric tells the story of his journey from a childhood in his war-torn homeland to becoming a serial UEFA Champions League winner and one of the most celebrated footballers in the world.

Regarded as one of the great midfield players of the last 20 years, Luka reveals the difficulties of growing up during the Croatian War of Independence and his beginnings as a footballer. The FIFA World Cup finalist sets the record straight regarding key moments at Dinamo Zagreb, Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid; he gives us intimate insights into his treasured home life; and he brings us his personal account of his career peak - Croatia's dramatic path to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final.

What were his thoughts during decisive matches? What was his relationship with key players and coaches? What is the inner determination that keeps him on the pitch? What does it take to become the best footballer in the world?

Luka was consistently underestimated in his early career, but through grit and determination he has defied the expectations of everyone who doubted him, and reached the ultimate heights of world football. This is Luka Modric in his own words.

Every baseball player, coach and fan should know the rules of their beloved game, but there's just one problem, the rule book is an intolerable read that often raises as many questions as it answers. As a student of the game, and more recently an official, Jim set out to reconstruct the rules of baseball and explain the theory behind them in a logical and fun way, as the game unfolds around the diamond; illustrated with history, game situations and personal observations. If that makes you think "I get it, baseball for dum-dums," you couldn't be more wrong. An ode to the national pastime, that armchair enthusiasts will enjoy, it will also educate and entertain the many players, coaches, parents and officials involved in the serious, and sometimes not-so-serious, business of baseball in America. From little league to the pros, the game remains the same. Baseball endures, and the rules abide

To everyone who truly loves the game, Mickey Mantle epitomizes the golden age of baseball, when the mighty New York Yankees indisputably ruled, appearing in an unprecedented twelve World Series in fourteen years! In this intimate memoir, Mantle recounts the joys and trials of his rise from rural Oklahoma youngster to the pinnacle of baseball greatness.

In "All My Octobers," the one and only Mick relives every one of his World Series appearances -- from the 1951 battle when he played alongside an aging Joe DiMaggio to his three-home-run performance in the 1964 showdown. In addition to the on-field heroics, Mantle talks candidly about the injuries, the alcohol, the parties and celebrations, and the terrible toll they can take on a young athlete's life. But most of all, it is a remembrance of October greatness, of postseason pyrotechnics . . . and a loving appreciation of a team of titans that achieved something marvelous and unequaled to this day.

Born in the segregated South in 1943, Ashe overcame racial prejudices and segregation to break into the world of tennis, which had traditionally been dominated by whites. He rose to the top of the sport, winning three Grand Slam trophies and playing on the Davis Cup team. His tennis career came to an abrupt end when he suffered a heart attack while in his thirties. Ashe began a post-tennis career that included speaking out on social issues that mattered most to him, including educational excellence for African American athletes, the injustice of the apartheid system in South Africa, and better health care for all Americans. After contracting the AIDS virus through a blood transfusion, he began to speak out on the subject of AIDS in order to help people understand the disease. After a brilliant career on the tennis court, Ashe devoted the remainder of his life to fighting for social justice at home and abroad and to fighting the illnesses that had struck him while he was still a young man. Steins tells the inspiring story of Arthur Ashe, a great tennis champion whose skills on the court as well as his exceptional and honorable personal characteristics made him stand out among all players of his generation. A timeline and other appendices highlight Ashe's career and life.

This brief but readable biography tells the story of the most recognized figure in baseball-Babe Ruth. Besides vividly describing the highlights of Ruth's career, author Wayne Stewart examines the unprecedented impact Ruth had on the nature and future of the game. Ruth's ability to hit the long ball and the flamboyance of his off-field persona infused the game with a new excitement that rescued baseball from the negative effects of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Making extensive use of interviews conducted by the author with members of Ruth's family and with players who knew Ruth, this biography is an engaging exploration of how Ruth helped shape modern baseball. Babe Ruth is the most recognized figure in baseball and a true American icon. In this brief but readable biography, author Wayne Stewart engagingly describes the highlights of Ruth's career and deftly examines the reasons for the unprecedented impact Ruth had on the game. Ruth's ability to hit the long ball and the flamboyance of his off-field persona infused the game with a new excitement that rescued baseball from the negative effects of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. The author draws new insights into Ruth's life and career through interviews he conducted with members of Ruth's family and with other baseball players who knew him. Readers are also provided with a quick reference chronology to Ruth's career, a bibliography of important print and non-print information resources on Ruth, a statistical appendix summarizing Ruth's on-field production by season, and a discussion of how Ruth has been depicted in books, movies, plays, and other media since his death. This biography will both explain and satisfy the continuing curiosity about Ruth among young basbeball fans who never had the opportunity to see him play.

Princeton and Rutgers played the first game, in 1869. But it was at Yale where football evolved and no institution has a more meaty history of the sport. Yale was the first college to record 800 victories, that milestone reached in the year 2000. Sixty-six years before, a more significant triumph came unexpectedly to the Bulldogs on Princeton's field and from that contest emerged "Yale's Ironmen."

They were supposed to lose by at least three touchdowns to an undefeated opponent being touted as a Rose Bowl candidate. The eleven Yale starters played all 60 minutes, an uncommon feat never duplicated thereafter in major college football.

The game was played against the background of the Depression. Yet Princeton's Palmer Stadium was full that warm November afternoon for the first time in six years. 'I guess people wanted to get their minds off their troubles," said the Yale quarterback, Jerry Roscoe, who threw the winning touchdown pass to Larry Kelley, the latter the first winner of the Heisman Trophy.

How did this game, this success, affect the lives of those eleven men of iron? Who were they? What happened, as World War II descended and snared them?

The year 1906 holds special significance for the city of Chicago for a number of reasons, but probably nothing generated as much excitement as the all-Chicago World Series that pitted the White Sox against the Cubs.

Upton Sinclair had just written The Jungle, which revealed the inner workings of the city's slaughterhouses. There was also a new central city and county government building rising in the Loop. In considerations of that year, however, it is the city's two baseball teams that probably generate the most attention. More than one hundred years have passed, and we still haven't seen a repeat of the all-Chicago World Series.

This history examines the bold moves made by ballclub owners and managers, and puts the significance of baseball in context with this detailed account of the events of 1906. It also introduces Charles Comiskey before the "Black Sox" scandal as well as Charles Murphy, the feisty, lively owner of the Cubs. The entire season is relived in Windy City World Series I: 1906, White Sox-Cubs.

As children, we all believe that one day we can reach that impossible dream. Most people don't fulfill their childhood dreams because they stop believing in themselves. "Fourth Down and Long" is an inspirational look at one man's desire to reach his goals--despite life's adversity.

From the time he was a small boy, author Tony Lotti dreamed of being a collegiate All-American football player and one day playing in the rough-and-tumble world of the National Football League. Despite a serious car accident, followed by emergency appendectomy surgery, nothing could compete with Lotti's desire to achieve those dreams.

Inspired by his faith and family, Lotti remains steadfast through the ups and downs of life. No matter what your profession or status in life, "Fourth Down and Long" will encourage you to never give up on your dreams or the search for happiness--no matter how impossible it seems.