World champion boxer Lew Jenkins fought his whole life. As a child, he fought extreme poverty during the Great Depression; in his twenties, he fought as a professional boxer and became a world champion; and at the pinnacle of his boxing career, Jenkins fought in World War II and the Korean War. From Boxing Ring to Battlefield: The Life of War Hero Lew Jenkins details for the first time this extraordinary story. Despite his talent for boxing, Jenkins often fought and trained in drunken stupors. Although he became the world lightweight champion, he soon wasted his ring title and all his money. Jenkins eventually found purpose during World War II and the Korean War, fighting in major battles that included D-Day, Bloody Ridge, and Heartbreak Ridge. His efforts earned him one of the highest decorations for bravery, the Silver Star. Unable to find meaning in life at the peak of his boxing success, Jenkins discovered values to which he could cling during war. From Boxing Ring to Battlefield features exclusive interviews with Lew Jenkins's son and grandson, providing a personal perspective on the life of this complicated war hero. The first biography of Jenkins, this book will fascinate boxing fans and historians alike.

Oscar ""Happy"" Felsch was a rising star weaned on sandlot fields of Milwaukee who threw away his promising career for a few bucks after participating in the throwing of the 1919 World Series. Did Felsch really play to lose the series, or just say that he did for fear of retribution from crooked gamblers? None of the banned eight talked about the scandal more than Felsch, and this book analyzes how his three interviews revealed his ultimate gullibility, and why getting drawn into futile greed was easier than chasing down a fly ball. His rampant contradictions on the subject served as a metaphor for the entire scandal. Felsch's jovial, child-like exuberance for the game served him well as a player, but his lack of formal education became his downfall. On the field, Felsch was hitting his peak as a ballplayer in 1920, the year the scandal hit the newspapers. His speed, run-producing power, and stellar defensive prowess earned comparisons to the great Tris Speaker; all attributes that might have garnered him Hall of Fame consideration. Instead, he settled on playing fallen hero to far away, remote baseball enclaves of Montana and Canada.

Even in his heyday in wrestling, Jacobs was inspired to pursue politics by popular libertarian figures such as former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, Republican Senator Rand Paul, Fox News' Judge Andrew Napolitano and others, and that led him to fulfill his own political ambitions. Before becoming Mayor Kane, Glenn "Kane" Jacobs was one of WWE's top Superstars for over two decades and travelled the globe with the likes of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, John Cena, Ric Flair, and many others. He dominated the WWE with The Undertaker as the "Brothers of Destruction." Kane reinvented himself with the help of Daniel Bryan forming "Team Hell No." He set "Good ol' JR," Jim Ross on fire. The wrestler-turned-politician hasn't hung up his wrestling boots yet. Politics is a contact sport and Jacobs is using his wrestling skills in that arena. Jacobs supports President Trump and his agenda, and is implementing conservative policies in Tennessee.

"Of all the people I play against, the only one I truly fear is Larry Bird."--Magic Johnson, from the Foreword.

The heart and soul of a champion: his life, his career, his game. To understand basketball, you have to understand Larry Bird. Arguably the greatest all-around player the game has ever known, he led the Boston Celtics from the basement to three world championships, collecting three NBA Most Valuable Player awards along the way. Yet, despite these massive accomplishments, Bird has rarely talked to the press, and much about the man has remained a mystery. Now in Drive, the long-silent superstar sets the record straight, revealed a side of himself-and of basketball-you've never see before. Inside, you'll learn Bird's most private feelings about: The momentous decision to transfer from Bobby Knight's Indiana University to Indiana State. The heartbreak of his father's suicide and his own failed marriage. The single-minded discipline that tumed a small-town hero into a national superstar. The Boston Garden and the legendary Celtic charm. The Isiah Thomas controversy and the fierce Celtic-Laker rivalry. The great players of the NBA: including Magic Johnson, Dominique Wilkins, and Michael Jordan, and much more. here is the book that puts a basketball legend-and his game-on the line. And scores!

Now a major motion picture starring Jon Voight, Nic Bishop, and C. Thomas Howell. This riveting true story of courage, strength, and football at the height of racial tension in Birmingham, Alabama tells the story of Coach Tandy Gerelds, his running back Tony Nathan, and a high school football game that healed a city.In the midst of violent, impassioned racial tensions in Birmingham, Alabama, new football coach, Tandy Gerelds, was struggling to create a winning football team at Woodlawn High School--one of the last schools in Birmingham to integrate. The team he was handed did not have the caliber of players he needed to win--until he saw Tony Nathan run. But Tony was African American and Coach Gerelds knew that putting him in as running back would be like drawing a target on his own back and the back of his soon-to-be star player. But Coach Gerelds saw something in Tony, and he knew that his decision to let him play was about more than football. It was about doing what was right for the school--and the city. And soon, the only place in the city where blacks and whites got along was on Coach Gerelds's football team. With the help of a new school chaplain, Tony learned to look beyond himself and realized that there was more at stake than winning a game. In 1974, Coach Gerelds's interracial team made Alabama history drawing 42,000 fans into the stadium to watch them play. It was this game that triggered the unity and support of the Woodlawn High School Colonels and that finally allowed a city to heal and taught its citizens how to love.

Ingmar Johansson's right hand-dubbed "The Hammer of Thor"-was the most fearsome in boxing, and Johansson's three fights with Floyd Patterson rank among the sport's classic rivalries. Yet most fans know little about the Swedish playboy who won the world heavyweight championship with a shocking third round knockout of Patterson and held it for six days short of a year (1959-1960). During his brief reign, the raffish "Ingo" hit fashionable nightspots on two continents, romanced Elizabeth Taylor and refused to kowtow to the mobsters who controlled boxing. This first-ever biography of Johansson chronicles his fistic triumphs as a Goteborg teen prodigy, his humiliating disqualification for "cowardice" at the 1952 Olympics, his story-book romance with Birgit Lundgren and his post-career life and tragic early dementia.

Matt Dawson's Lions Tales gives rugby fans a satisfying dose of wonderful Lions anecdotes, epic stories of triumph and despair, of camaraderie and controversy, and stirring examples of that special bond that only competing in the white heat of battle, halfway round the world, against the mighty All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks, can engender. Lions Tales is peppered with insight and laugh-out-loud moments, dredged from the memory banks of Dawson's own time in the iconic red shirt, and also from his keen interest in the Lions' remarkable 125-year traditions.

Granted access to Wenger's friends and family, players and rival managers, Jasper Rees has written the untold story behind this private man. He follows Wenger from childhood in Alsace, through his stints as a journeyman player, to his coaching days at Nancy, Monaco, Grampus Eight and Arsenal.

Stunningly illustrated, Sportswomen Legends Alphabet celebrates the essential A to Z of women who have blazed the trail in their sport: from Wilma Rudolph to Florence Griffith Joyner, Nadia Comaneci to Serena Williams. There's never been a better time to celebrate women's place in sport, and encourage your little sport-loving legend to aim for gold!

Fully updated to include the extraordinary scenes at London 2012, where Hoy won two more gold medals to bring his total to six and overtake Sir Steve Redgrave, this is the story of Britain's greatest ever Olympian. Chris Hoy has been instrumental in British track cycling's remarkable transformation from also-rans to world superpower. Now, having rewritten the record books as Olympic champion in four different cycling disciplines, and with six gold medals, Hoy has become a household name and established himself in the pantheon of sporting greats. This is a fly-on-the-wall account of Hoy and his team as he prepared for the Beijing Olympics, where he became the first Briton in a century to win three gold medals in a single Games, and it has now been fully updated to include the extraordinary scenes at London 2012, where Hoy won two more gold medals, to bring his total to six and overtake Sir Steve Redgrave as Britain's greatest ever Olympian. The story begins with Hoy's introduction to cycling as a BMX racer and his progression to Olympic champion, and explains the origins and evolution of Britain's world-beating team. It includes a bizarre visit to the world's highest velodrome in Bolivia and a spellbinding journey from the razzmatazz of the European six-day circuit to the craziness of the Japanese keirin races. Award-winning writer Richard Moore tracks Hoy throughout a season in the saddle, explores his motivations and mentors from a young age, and provides an unblemished insight into the mind of a champion and the largely unknown world of track cycling. It's a story that is fully updated with the remarkable events in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, two successive Olympic Games that were dominated by Hoy and the British track cycling team.

Meet Gary Fisher. The maverick kid bike racer who cycled straight into the Acid Test scene and lit up the Grateful Dead gigs, the relentless tinkerer who transformed an industry and sold mountain biking to the world and the visionary who's still working flat-out every day to prove that bikes are the answer to a healthier, happier future for everyone. A collaboration with cycling writer Guy Kesteven, Being Gary Fisher and the Bicycle Revolution is an autobiography of sorts. It's also a mind-blowing trip of ingenious innovation, dogged determination and boundless energy. Get caught up in Gary's crazy tales and his lifelong mission to invite everyone to the greatest dance on earth.

Rudy became the inspiration for millions when a Hollywood film depicting his journey as a Notre Dame football player became one of the most influential sports movies ever made. In Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger's only autobiography, go behind the scenes to experience the heartache, triumph, and glory through Rudy's own eyes, and learn details of the ten years it took to get the movie made. For the first time, the real Rudy shares his story of floundering through school with undiagnosed dyslexia and finding himself mixed up with a rough and rowdy crowd. "Football was my salvation in high school," Rudy believes, and while he dreamed of playing for Notre Dame, he never believed he was smart enough to make it to the elite group of higher education. A poignant and high-energy storyteller, Rudy details failures and pitfalls along the way. He explains the persistence and determination it took to get accepted to Notre Dame, to suit up and play for twenty-seven glorious seconds, and to see the dream of his movie become a reality. Rudy is truly a real-life testament to the old adage that it is not how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up again. He will motivate you to discover your own dreams and to them with unrelenting faith that anything is possible.

The hugely entertaining, and extremely candid, autobiography of one of the most colourful characters in motor sport Eddie Jordan gave Michael Schumacher his first drive, and helped groom a whole series of drivers early in their careers, including Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert. But he funded his first move into motor sport by selling smoked salmon well past its sell-by date to rugby fans leaving Lansdowne Road; when stopped for speeding by a policeman, he ended up selling him his car. Jordan set up his own team, and moved into Formula One at the end of the 1980s. It wasn't long before the team began to pick up podium finishes, and in 1998 won its first race - a remarkable achievement on a comparatively small budget. The following year was even better, but sadly this was to be the peak, as the search for more finance and legal battles with sponsors hit hard. Eventually, in January 2005 he sold the team. AN INDEPENDENT MAN goes behind the scenes to reveal the true personalities of the drivers Jordan worked with, and his battles with Bernie Ecclestone. It shows how, when so much money is involved, nothing is ever simple. His has been a life lived to the full, and his account is packed full of superb stories, colourful adventures and revealing tales.

There are very few major personalities in the world of sports who have so much to say about our National Pastime. And even fewer who are as well respected as Bill White.
Bill White, who's now in his early 70s, was an All-Star first baseman for many years with the St.Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies before launching a stellar broadcasting career with the New York Yankees for 18 years. He left the broadcast booth to become the President of the National League for five years.
A true pioneer as an African-American athlete, sportscaster, and top baseball executive, White has written his long-awaited autobiography in which he will be candid, open, and as always, most forthcoming about his life in baseball. Along the way, White shares never-before-told stories about his long working relationship with Phil Rizzutto, insights on George Steinbrenner, Barry Bonds, Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Bob Gibson, Bart Giamatti, Fay Vincent, and scores of other top baseball names and Hall of Famers.
Best of all, White built his career on being outspoken, and the years fortunately have not mellowed him. UPPITY is a baseball memoir that baseball fans everywhere will be buzzing about.

As one of the fastest bowlers the world has seen, Michael Holding went by the haunting nickname "Whispering Death," claiming 249 Test wickets. It was a moniker earned because he advanced on the bowling crease with stealth-like malevolence. Despite having not laced his bowling boots since 1989, it remains a fitting sobriquet. As a commentator and administrator, Holding has delivered his views on cricket in the same manner that he played the game: he speaks softly with a rich Jamaican rhythm and is calculated in either criticism or compliment. "No Holding Back" charts his effortless transition from one of the great players to one of the great pundits. Holding graphically describes his days as a player, looking back at how he tried to deliberately hurt batsmen on the wastelands of Kingston, and his first match for Jamaica when he almost collapsed from exhaustion--after only four overs. There is time, too, to divulge what it was like to tour with the West Indies, and unmissable insights about sharing a dressing room with other legends of the game like Sir Clive Lloyd, Sir Viv Richards, and Malcolm Marshall. "No Holding Back" does not shirk the big issues, however, and serves as an antidote to the often bland and shallow autobiographies of recent players. Holding tackles why the West Indies have slipped following their halcyon days, openly assesses Brian Lara, and laments the hypocrisy over the state of the game in the region. The controversy surrounding the Allen Stanford $20m spectacle, the ICC's handling of the abandoned England v Pakistan match, player power, illegal bowling actions, and the threat of Twenty20 to the Test game are all subjects which Holding tackles with characteristic knowledge and class.

As the face of the NBA's new world order, Giannis Antetokounmpo has overcome unfathomable obstacles to become a symbol of hope for people all over the world; the personification of the American Dream. But his backstory remains largely untold. Fader unearths new information about the childhood that shaped "The Greek Freak"-from sleeping side by side with his brothers to selling trinkets on the street with his family to the racism he experienced. Antetokounmpo grew up in an era when Golden Dawn, Greece's far-right, anti-immigrant party, patrolled his neighborhood, and his status as an illegal immigrant largely prevented him from playing for the country's top clubs, making his NBA rise all the more improbable. Fader tells a deeply human story of how an unknown, skinny, Black Greek teen, who played in the country's lowest pro division and was seen as a draft gamble, transformed his body and his game into MVP material. Antetokounmpo's story has been framed as a feel-good narrative in which everyone has embraced him-watching him grow up, sign a five-year supermax contract extension worth $228 million, and lead the underdog Bucks to the NBA Championship in 2021. Giannis reveals a more nuanced story: how lonely and isolated he felt, adjusting to America and the NBA early in his career; the complexity of grappling with his Black and Greek identities; how he is so hard on himself and his shortcomings-a drive that fuels him every day; and the responsibility he feels to be a nurturing role model for his younger brothers. Fader illustrates a more vulnerable star than most people know, a person who has evolved triumphantly into all of his roles: father, brother, son, teammate, and global icon. **Instant New York Times Bestseller, Los Angeles Times Bestseller, Wall Street Journal Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, Publishers Weekly Bestseller** **Mirin Fader Selected as the 2021 Sports Media Author of the Year by The Big Lead**

'If you read just one sports book this year, this is the one' Express on SundayLance Armstrong was one of the most precocious talents the world of cycling had ever seen. Within a year of turning professional in 1992 he was World Champion. In 1994 he won two stages of the Tour de France and in 1996 consolidated his position amongst cycling's elite by winning ten consecutive races. By this time, however, and unknown to him, he was battling against cancer as well as 200 fellow competitors. In early October he was diagnosed with testicular cancer so advanced he had to be operated on the very next day. And when lesions appeared on his brain and in his lungs he was given a 40% chance of survival. While he was in hospital undergoing a three month course in chemotherapy his team Codifis, who had promised to stand by him, cancelled his contract. However, by February 1997 he was out of hospital, training again and setting himself targets. He wanted to complete the 1998 Tour de France. Not only did he achieve this but he went on to win the 1999 Tour in spectacular style, in the fastest ever time, and was the first winner to take four stages in the race in 15 years. This is an extraordinary and inspirational story. 'So darn riveting that it simply cannot be put down-warmly recommended' Time Out

A new edition of the universally acclaimed out-of-print 1997 book is lightly edited & completely redesigned in colour throughout. This classic of motor racing celebrates the life and achievements of Jim Clark (1936-1968), World Champion 1963 and 1965. A royalty on every copy sold in Britain (price GBP22.50) will be donated to the Jim Clark Trust. Patrons Sir Jackie Stewart, David Coulthard, Dario Franchitti and Allan McNish celebrate the new edition, Sir Jackie describing Clark as "...the best racing driver I ever raced with and against". Three times Le Mans winner Allan McNish: "A modern driver winning the British Grand Prix, racing in Formula 2, then at Indianapolis would be unthinkable." David Coulthard: "There is no question that Jim's achievements and Jackie Stewart's input were fundamental to me becoming a professional racing driver." Eric Dymock details Clark's place in motor racing history and total command of Formula 1, portraying him as an individual, nail-biting and insecure, yet the greatest driver in any sort of motor sport.Celebrating the life and achievements of Jim Clark (1936-1968), Formula 1 World Champion 1963 and 1965, this book details his place in motor racing history and his total command at the wheel. From a Scottish farming family, Clark rewrote the annals of American racing at Indianapolis, second at his first attempt in 1963, winning in 1965. Seemingly equal to the odds of the most dangerous eight years at the top of motor racing, Clark died in an unlikely accident in a minor race at Hockenheim on April 7 1968. Genius at the wheel was not enough. Rivals' campaigns for safety thereafter saved countless lives on and off the track.

Booked! The Gospel According to our Football Heroes is a funny, fascinating digest of over 120 footballer autobiographies. Authors John Smith and Dan Trelfer have forensically examined the life stories of legends, hard-cases, cult heroes and one or two players they vaguely remember playing for Portsmouth - so you don't have to. Along the way, they discovered answers to questions they never knew they needed to know. Which coach has a tattoo inked by Mickey Rourke? Which maverick witnessed his gaffer murder an animal in a team talk? Yes, the revelations from this Pandora's Box may melt the reader's face, like at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. But they also offer an insight into the strange world that footballers inhabit, using their very own words. What drives star players apart? And what binds them together, beyond an almost universal love of Rod Stewart? Booked! investigates a unique world full of sex, booze, cash, fights, glory, bitterness, fame - and incessant, relentless banter.

Intimate, behind-the-scenes account of the last age of innocence in football, just prior to the Premiership, based on the England midfielder's diaries. This is not a straightforward autobiography, it's a snapshot of a vanished era of football. The 1980s and the early 1990s was the last era of (relative) innocence in football. Steve Hodge played alongside Hoddle, Waddle and Ardiles in the lauded mid-1980s Spurs midfield; he was a dressing-room witness to the vagaries, charm, whims and downright venomous side of Brian Clough; he was at two World Cups, being instrumental in the 'hand of God' episode, and hanging out with the likes of Gazza and Lineker four years later in Italy. He won the last League Championship medal with Leeds, then languished in the reserves with a 'somewhat shy', cultured Frenchman. As the balls would fly over the midfield - Howard Wilkinson being a disciple of route one - Eric Cantona would turn to him and repeatedly ask, 'Hodgey, why are we here?' THE MAN WITH MARADONA'S SHIRT is a fascinating, behind-the-scenes glimpse of life at the top.

Covering Mike Tyson's complete amateur and professional boxing career, this book follows the Brooklyn native from his early years as a 12 year old criminal in Brownsville to his 1988 heavyweight unification match with Michael Spinks. The book focuses on the Catskill Boxing Club - where boxing guru Cus D'Amato trained the 210-pound teenager in the finer points of the art and developed his impregnable defense - and on his home life with D'Amato and his surrogate mother Camille Ewald, and the other boys who shared the house with him. Tyson's boxing education began in the unauthorized "smokers" held in the Bronx every week, matching his skills against older, more experienced fighters. He won the 1981 Amateur Heavyweight Boxing Championship in Colorado Springs at the age of 14, and repeated the amazing feat the following year. By 1985, finding no other challenging amateur competition, he was forced to join the professional ranks where, in November 1986, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history. Less than two years later, he unified the crown, establishing himself as one of the most dominant heavyweight fighters in the annals of the game.