'When an accident occurs, something may emerge of lasting value, for the human spirit may rise to its greatest heights. This happened on Haramosh.' The Last Blue Mountain is the heart-rending true story of the 1957 expedition to Mount Haramosh in the Karakoram range in Pakistan. With the summit beyond reach, four young climbers are about to return to camp. Their brief pause to enjoy the view and take photographs is interrupted by an avalanche which sweeps Bernard Jillott and John Emery hundreds of feet down the mountain into a snow basin. Miraculously, they both survive the fall. Rae Culbert and Tony Streather risk their own lives to rescue their friends, only to become stranded alongside them. The group's efforts to return to safety are increasingly desperate, hampered by injury, exhaustion and the loss of vital climbing gear. Against the odds, Jillott and Emery manage to climb out of the snow basin and head for camp, hoping to reach food, water and assistance in time to save themselves and their companions from an icy grave. But another cruel twist of fate awaits them. An acclaimed mountaineering classic in the same genre as Joe Simpson's Touching the Void, Ralph Barker's The Last Blue Mountain is an epic tale of friendship and fortitude in the face of tragedy.

This readable biography of Lance Armstrong surveys his legendary cycling career as well as the details of his life outside of cycling. The son of a single mother and born in a run-down housing project, American athlete Lance Armstrong emerged from decidedly modest beginnings. Four decades later, Armstrong has established himself as not only one of the world's greatest and most successful athletes, but also as an activist for charitable causes. Through the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Armstrong supports cancer research and treatment while he serves as the ultimate inspiration for other athletes and cancer survivors. Lance Armstrong: A Biography provides a detailed treatment of Armstrong's life, from the lasting influences of his boyhood and the early years of his competitive training, to his battle with cancer, his divorce, and the birth of his fifth child during his second comeback to professional cycling. The book portrays him both as a champion athlete and a family man, and gives a candid assessment of his career, including Armstrong's less successful periods. Presents a chronological timeline of important events in Lance Armstrong's life and a list of the major awards and races he has won Includes exciting photographs of this dynamic athlete in action Provides detailed chapter notes and a bibliographic list of books and magazine articles Includes a helpful index of people, places, and important cycling races in the life of Lance Armstrong

James Gordon Bennett was born in 1841, a spoilt only son who took over as publisher of the New York Herald from his millionaire father. Bennett tirelessly supported pioneering fields of technology and sport, always with speed in mind. In 1899, fascinated by the new motor cars, he instigated the International Gordon Bennett Cup. The inaugural race took place in 1900 between Paris and Lyon. Three countries entered, but this was just the beginning of a massive phenomenon that, thanks to Bennett, saw spectators grow from less than a hundred to eighty-thousand. The widespread anti-car sentiment, endless bureaucracy, speed limits, safety and design challenges were all obstacles to overcome. Each Gordon Bennett Cup Race is documented here with an account of the drivers, the cars, the courses and the thrilling highs and lows of the events. The 1903 Cup, which was held in Ireland, was crucial since for the very first time a closed-circuit course was used. It was also the first international race in the British Isles. His dedicated promotion of early motor-car racing gave a boost to the global auto-industry and was a firm basis to the international racing that is still a thrilling part of our lives over 100 years later.

The inspirational inside story from the 2018 Tour de France and Sports Personality of the Year winner "This year G was the strongest rider, and he finally had Lady Luck on his side. An unstoppable combination" Chris Froome "I understood what Geraint's win meant: for him, for me, for the team, and for Wales, too" Dave Brailsford "Wow!" Arsene Wenger For years Geraint Thomas appeared blessed with extraordinary talent but jinxed at the greatest bike race in the world: twice an Olympic gold medallist on the track, Commonwealth champion, yet at the Tour de France a victim of crashes, bad luck and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his team-mates. In the summer of 2018, that curse was blown away in spectacular fashion - from the cobbles of the north and the iconic mountain climbs of the Alps to the brutal slopes of the Pyrenees and, finally, the Champs-Elysees in Paris. As a boy, G had run home from school on summer afternoons to watch the Tour on television. This July, across twenty-one stages and three weeks, and under constant attack from his rivals, he made the race his own. With insight from the key characters around Geraint, this is the inside story of one of the most thrilling and heart-warming tales in sport. Not only can nice guys come first - they can win the biggest prize of all.

For decades Peter O'Sullevan was one of the iconic sports commentators, providing the sound track for half a century of horseracing as he called home such legends of the sport as Arkle, Nijinsky, Red Rum and Desert Orchid. His rapid-fire commentary seemed to echo the sound of horses' hooves, and it was not long before he became known as 'The Voice of Racing'. But in addition to his legendary status as a TV personality, Peter O'Sullevan was also a notable journalist and much-admired writer, and it is a measure of his standing both within and beyond the world of racing that his compulsively readable autobiography Calling the Horses, first published in 1989 and reprinted eight times, reached the top of the SUNDAY TIMES non-fiction bestseller list. The most recent edition of Calling the Horses was published in 1994, and the twenty years since then have brought many fresh episodes in the ongoing Peter O'Sullevan story, including the last racing days of his great friend Lester Piggott in 1995, his commentary on the 'Bomb Scare' Grand National of 1997, and his retirement from the BBC. He also describes setting up the Sir Peter O'Sullevan Charitable Trust, which has raised over GBP3.5 million for animal welfare charities, as well as offering his appreciation of a new generation of racing heroes, including jockey AP McCoy, who has come to dominate jump racing in a manner unparalleled in any sport, and the wonder-horse Frankel. The heartening news for the legions of Peter O'Sullevan fans is that, despite his years, his enthusiasm for racing is undiminished, and so are the elegance, fluency and wit which infuse his writing style. This new and extensively updated edition of Calling the Horses is a very remarkable book by a very remarkable man.

He may live in Madrid but he continues to make front-page headlines. This is David Beckham's own story of his career to date, for Manchester United, Real Madrid and England, and of his childhood, family and private life. Featuring David's first full account of a turbulent year in Spain, on and off the field, and England's fortunes in Euro 2004. This is Beckham's fascinating life story in his own words. His rise through the ranks at the biggest club side in the world. His complex relationship with United boss Alex Ferguson. The England story, from being vilified by the nation before returning as the prodigal son to eventually captaining his country. His acrimonious falling-out with his manager and departure from Old Trafford in June 2003. And starting a new chapter of his life on foreign soil in the glare of the world's press. Now from Beckham himself, we gain a vivid and eye-opening insight into the family man behind the famous footballer, the international model and fashion leader. He describes how he first met and then married ex-Spice girl Victoria Adams, and the upbringing of their two children Brooklyn and Romeo. How his family's every step is monitored by a posse of newshounds and paparazzi. Also, the influence of his parents, growing up as a shy youngster in the family home, and how their subsequent split affected him. Intimate and soul-searching, this is the real David Beckham like we have never seen before. NEW FOR THIS PAPERBACK EDITION: - Beckham's first season with Real Madrid from within the dressing room, with key stories on the likes of Figo, Roberto Carlos and Zidane. - His exclusive reaction to the sensational allegations about his private life; their effect on his relationship with Victoria and a reappraisal of their living arrangements. - England and Euro 2004: the players' threatened strike in support of Rio Ferdinand; Eriksson as England boss; and all the behind the scenes stories leading up to and including the Finals in Portugal. - One year down the line, does Beckham have any regrets about leaving Manchester United? And is there any truth in the rumours that he is unsettled in Madrid?

A classic mountaineering memoir by one of the UK's foremost female climbers. 'A story of climbing and compulsive love of mountains ... magnificent' OBSERVER In 1945, when Gwen Moffat was in her twenties, she deserted from her post as a driver and dispatch rider in the Army and went to live rough in Wales and Cornwall, climbing and living on practically nothing. She hitch-hiked her way around, travelling from Skye to Chamonix and many places in between, with all her possessions on her back, although these amounted to little more than a rope and a sleeping bag. When the money ran out, she worked as a forester, went winkle-picking on the Isle of Skye, acted as the helmsman of a schooner and did a stint as an artist's model. And always there were the mountains, drawing her away from a 'proper' job. Throughout this unique story, there are acutely observed accounts of mountaineering exploits as Moffat tackles the toughest climbs and goes on to become Britain's leading female climber - and the first woman to qualify as a mountain guide.

Don Howe is one of English football's great coaches, with an unrivalled record at international and club level. As right-hand man to three England managers, he helped his country to the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96 semi-finals. He helped to steer them through the 1982 World Cup unbeaten and to the quarter-finals four years later. Howe masterminded the 1970/71 double at Arsenal, where two spells as coach also brought European and further FA Cup glory. He was also an integral part of one of the greatest Wembley upsets when he helped Wimbledon's 'Crazy Gang' to victory over the mighty Liverpool in 1988. As a player at West Bromwich Albion, Howe won 24 international caps, but as a manager he failed to achieve the success he craved. Yet over a three-decade period, he won acclaim from many of England's finest players as a genius of the coaching profession. Through interviews with players, colleagues, friends and family, this book examines the triumphs and challenges of Don Howe's career and assesses his contribution to English football.

An early celebrity pitcher, Denton "Cy" Young (1867-1955) established supreme standards on the mound. A small-town Ohio farmer made good, he set Major League pitching records in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that will likely last forever. The winner of 511 games - nearly one hundred more than the second-ranked hurler - Young pitched the first perfect game of the modern era, as well as three no-hitters. His talents helped establish the American League in 1901. Among the Hall of Fame's first inductees, he remained a sought-after interviewee decades after retirement. A year after his death, the Cy Young Award was dedicated as baseball's most prestigious honor for pitchers.

The gruesome stories of the hardest, most ruthless rugby players from around the world since World War I. As talented as they were fiery, many were just as lively off the pitch as on it. In our era of citing commissioners, super slow-motion replays and trial by social media, some of their actions are quite hard to believe! Foreword by Nigel Owens. -- Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru

'Running with Karnazes is like setting up one's easel next to Monet or Picasso.' The New York Times In his follow-up to the bestselling Ultramarathon Man, Dean Karnazes is back with more mind-blowing tales of how he pushes his mind and body to limits which are inconceivable to most of us. In Run! Dean shares the pleasure - and considerable pain - of some of his most memorable adventures, including: - a gentle 350-mile canter through the surprisingly hilly Australian Outback; - his annual attempts at the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley, California (typical temperature: 45 degrees); and - the notorious 4 Deserts races, a masochist's delight encompassing four separate 155-mile runs across the Atacama Crossing, the Gobi, the Sahara and Antarctica...with rationed water. Dean's entertaining and endearing stories are sure to inspire both dedicated and vicarious runners alike.

Laurel and Hardy, Ant and Dec, Morecambe and Wise, Herbert and Hill. The history of entertainment is studded with brilliant comic duos.

Johnny Herbert and Damon Hill between them competed in 261 Grands Prix, amassing twenty-five wins, forty-nine podium finishes, one World Championship, 458 championship points, a Le Mans win, two smashed ankles, a broken arm, wrist and leg, sixty broken ribs, and two bruised egos.

Having retired from racing, Johnny and Damon have become the one constant for passionate English F1 fans in a rapidly changing landscape. They have earned cult status as commentators and pundits, with viewers loving their unerring dedication to the sport’s greatness. Drawing on a lifetime of sniffing petrol fumes, Lights Out, Full Throttle stands large over the landscape of Formula One and takes the temperature of the good, the bad and the ugly of the petrolhead’s paradise.

It offers F1 fans a tour of the sport – from Monaco to Silverstone; Johnny’s crowd-surfing and Bernie’s burger bar; the genius of Adrian Newey and Colin Chapman; why Lewis Hamilton will never, ever move to Ferrari (probably); getting the yips; money; safety; what it’s like to have an out-of-body experience while driving a car in the pouring rain at 200mph; and the future of the sport in the wake of Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter.

Whether you’re a fan of Nigel, Niki, Kimi or Britney, pine for the glory days of Brabham, Williams, Jim Clark and Fangio, or believe that Lewis is one year away from retiring as the GOAT, Lights Out, Full Throttle is the oily rag for the petrolhead fan to inhale while waiting for the racers to line up on the grid.

The authors bring their wit and monstrous imaginations to play across the entire history of sport, with chapters ranging from the Greek athletic ideal and its perversions to the Nazi Olympics of 1936 and the use of drugs, alcohol and visionary states of being.

'Elite athletes aren't born. They're made.' Michael Johnson From a living icon of the Olympic Games - as both an athlete and now as a BBC broadcaster - Gold Rush is a compelling analysis of the fascinating combination of psychological and personal qualities, as well as internal and external factors, that go to create an Olympic champion. This exciting new book is based on Michael Johnson's own experiences as an iconic four-time Olympic champion, and on the knowledge he has gleaned as a top-class coach and motivational speaker. It also features, uniquely, more than a dozen exclusive and insightful interviews with Olympic legends from across several different sports who between them have claimed more than 50 gold medals over the past 30 years. In essence, Johnson has assembled his very own Olympic Hall of Fame in assessing the DNA of true champions. Gold Rush is themed around chapters in which Johnson will discuss each of the key qualities/factors. He expertly feeds in fascinating first-person testimonies from the Olympic legends. In the process he builds up a definitive knowledge bank of expertise and experience from athletes who have been on this fascinating journey, encountered the highs and the lows, but ultimately reached the summit - an Olympic gold medal. Johnson's interviewees include: Usain Bolt Carl Lewis Sally Gunnell Seb Coe Daley Thompson Cathy Freeman Ian Thorpe Michael Phelps Rebecca Adlington Chris Hoy Steve Redgrave Matthew Pinsent Lennox Lewis Michael Jordan

Anneli Drummond-Hay's autobiography is a fascinating insight into the making of an equestrian champion through her struggle for survival.

It is a heart-warming story of a war baby with aristocratic connections, who grew up with very little money and even less love. She never went to school, she had no friends growing up, but she did have a gift with the horses in which she sought solace.

The big love story of her life was one particularly special horse, Merely-AMonarch. He was invincible in eventing, but as female eventers were not permitted to compete in the Olympics in that era, Anneli switched to show jumping. She came so close to going to three Olympics but was foiled at the last moment each time, despite winning just about everything else in the sport.

Besides her wonderful horses, Anneli gives an amazing account of the people she met - from Harvey Smith to the Queen, in front of whom she was asked to lend her horse for the British Olympic effort, and refused; to her asking a favour, in person, of Colonel Gaddafi.

The jet-set life of an elite show jumper may be glamorous but there are more lows than highs, whether it's her top ride being stolen, a potential plane disaster above the Alps, or the sudden death of a star horse.

As The Princess Royal so rightly says in the foreword to this book: 'Thank goodness Anneli decided to write her story.'

Everyone knows Yogi Berra, the American icon. He was the backbone of the New York Yankees through ten World Series Championships, managed the National League Champion New York Mets in 1973, and his inscrutable Yogi-isms remain an indelible part of our lexicon. But no one knew him like his family did. My Dad, Yogi is Dale Berra's story of his unshakeable bond with his father, as well as a unique and intimate perspective on one of the great sports figures of the 20th Century. When Yogi wasn't playing or coaching, or otherwise in the public eye, he was home in the New Jersey suburbs, spending time with his beloved wife, Carmen, and his three boys, Larry, Tim, and Dale. Dale chronicles--as only a son could--his family's history, his parents' enduring relationship, and his dad's storied career. Throughout Dale's youth, he had a firsthand look at the Major Leagues, often by his dad's side during Yogi's years as a coach and manager. Dale got to know players like Tom Seaver, Bud Harrelson, and Cleon Jones. Mickey Mantle, Don Larsen, and Phil Rizzuto were lifelong family friends. Dale and his brothers all became professional athletes, following in their dad's footsteps. Dale came up with a great Pittsburgh Pirates team, playing shortstop for several years before he was traded to the New York Yankees and briefly united with his dad. But there were extraordinary challenges. Dale was implicated in a major cocaine scandal involving some of the biggest names in the sport, and his promising career was cut short by his drug problem. Yogi supported his son all along, ultimately staging an intervention. Dale's life was saved by his father's love, and My Dad, Yogi is Dale's tribute, and a must-have for baseball fans and fathers and sons everywhere.

Benny Leonard was arguably the greatest lightweight champion of all time. With superb boxing skills and potent punching power, he fought over 200 times and suffered just five defeats. He spent his boyhood in a crime-ridden ghetto in Manhattan's Lower East Side, and was the greatest of a long line of Jewish boxers to emerge from the slums. Leonard was still only 19 when he knocked out Freddie Welsh to become world lightweight king in 1917. He defended the title eight times and retired as undefeated champion in 1925, to please the only woman he loved, his mother. But the 1929 Wall Street Crash wiped out his fortune and he was forced to make a comeback at 35. Leonard fought the best of his era: Johnny Dundee, Johnny Kilbane, Rocky Kansas, Jack Britton, Ted Kid Lewis and Lew Tendler among them. Apart from being a sublime boxer, Benny was a first-class showman who helped to put boxing on a higher plane. He died as he lived - in the ring - while refereeing a fight at age 51. This is the definitive account of his remarkable life and career.

A veteran Texas sports writer offers a lively, up-close look at football in Texas--the fullest portrait ever conceived--viewed through the interwoven stories of three teams, Plano Senior High School, Baylor University, and the Dallas Cowboys, during one season.In Texas, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mean one thing: football. Dallas Cowboys' writer Nick Eatman follows three teams in three leagues throughout the 2015 season blending their stories into a unique, eye-opening chronicle of Lone Star football. Eatman highlights the ups and downs and even the parallels that these teams experienced over the course of the year. Granted unique access to every level of the three teams, and drawing on his invaluable connections, he follows key players and coaches, including stars from Baylor and Plano, Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, and head coaches Jason Garrett, Art Briles, and Jaydon McCullough.Friday, Saturday, Sunday in Texas reveals the inextricable connections between the three teams and the players as the season unfolds. As high school athletes strive to win a spot at colleges like Baylor, college players fight for the chance to go pro, while Cowboys teammates reflect on their rise to the NFL. Though their challenges may differ--prepping for the SATs or Homecoming, working to get noticed by NFL scouts, or trying to prove themselves for that next contract in the pros--when the lights come on and they hit the field, they share one goal: to win.Friday, Saturday, Sunday in Texas features sixteen pages of color photos that capture the highs and lows of the 2015 season. Combining the power of Friday Night Lights and the inspiring insight of Remember the Titans, it offers a fresh perspective on this beloved sport, and is a must for football fans.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR 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.