|
|
Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Sport
In the 1980s and early 1990s, David Campese thrilled spectators both in Australia and overseas with his footloose, crazy-brave style of free running. This book tells the story of his rise from humble beginnings to the very top of a global sport.
As a rugby player, David Campese seemed to operate on cross-grained pure instinct, one that left many a defender clutching at him in vain, stranded in the slipstream of his audacity. Hailed as the 'Bradman of rugby' by former Wallaby coach Alan Jones, and the 'Pele' of rugby by others, Campese was a match-winner. The refrain 'I saw Campese play' now speaks to much more than wistful reminiscences about a player widely regarded as the most entertaining ever to play the game of Rugby Union. It has come to represent a state of chronic disbelief that the Wallaby ascendancy of Campese's era has been seemingly squandered.
Campese occupies a unique intersection in rugby's history: one of its last amateurs, and one of its first professionals. He had shown, too, that coming from outside the traditional bastions of rugby - the private schools and universities - was no barrier to reaching the top. Indeed, he challenged that establishment and unsettled it, warning in the early 1990s that the code risked 'dying' if more was not done to expand its appeal.
David Campese revolutionised how the game was played and appreciated. His genius, most visibly manifest in his outrageous goosestep, captured the national and sporting imagination. The rigid, robotic rugby of today appears incapable of accommodating a player of his dash and daring.
 |
Tissues
(Hardcover)
Daniel D Servant Mendes
|
R1,079
Discovery Miles 10 790
|
Ships in 10 - 15 working days
|
|
|
There is only one Arsène Wenger - and for the very first time, in his own words, this is his story.
In this definitive autobiography, the world-renowned, revolutionary football manager discusses his life and career, sharing his leadership principles for success on and off the field. At Arsenal, Wenger won multiple Premier League titles, a record number of FA Cups, and masterminded the historic 'Invincibles' season of 2003-2004. He changed the game in England forever, popularising an attacking approach and changing attitudes towards nutrition, fitness and coaching methods - and towards foreign managers. The book charts his extraordinary career, from his rise in France and Japan where he managed Nancy, Monaco and Nagoya Grampus Eight - clubs that also play in red-and-white - to his twenty-two years at the helm in north London.
A must-read not only for Arsenal supporters but football fans everywhere, MY LIFE IN RED AND WHITE illuminates the mystique surrounding one of the most respected managers in the world's most popular sport.
From the moment a hopelessly bored eleven year old boy watched
Gower effortlessly pull his first ball in Test cricket for four, he
instantly forgot the fact that West Ham were crap and had just been
relegated and his life long love affair with cricket had begun.
These are the recollections of how being pretty good at bowling a
hard red ball at three tall sticks in the ground has allowed Stuart
Simmonds the chance to travel the cricketing world, play against
some seriously good players, meet some very famous people and most
importantly avoid having to ever get what can only be described as
a normal, sensible job. Written with huge amounts of charm, Stuart
takes us on a journey around club grounds, county grounds, test
grounds and an enormous amount of time coaching in playgrounds, all
spent together with what seems like an awful lot of very
entertaining people. Any profits from this book will be distributed
between local charities. There are plenty of superstar
autobiographies that tell you what its like to receive a standing
ovation when you walk back through the pavilion at Lords, the Oval
or the MCG having scored a brilliant hundred or a match winning
bowling spell and of the boys on tour celebrations afterwards. This
sadly, is not going to be one of those books. This is the tale of
someone living their sporting life in the surreal world between so
called professional excellence and the so called charm of the
village green. There without the slightest hint of glamour, with
all the frustrations and the occasional triumphs of the top flight
club circuit in Sussex and its regular visits to the seaside. There
are also the recollections of the seasons spent playing and
coaching overseas, trying to see if you really were any good after
all. Told with intelligence, humour and above all honesty, these
are the memoirs of someone trying to make ends meet doing the
things they love for a living, whilst occasionally bumping into
somebody famous along the way.
The explosive new book from Britain’s leading investigative biographer,
Tom Bower
As one of the most famous and influential couples in the world, David
and Victoria Beckham have attained iconic status. The ultimate power
couple have together built a multi-billion-dollar global brand. For
decades, adoring fans have been captivated by the glamorous world they
have created, while their unrivalled fusion of showbiz, fashion,
football and celebrity has been cultivated alongside the image of a
strong marriage.
When the much-trailed Netflix documentary Beckham aired in 2023,
viewers were offered an even more intimate insight into their private
lives. Produced by the Beckhams themselves, the series raised many
questions, not only about their success and personal relationship, but
also about the ruthlessly successful management of their image in the
media. Are their lives really as perfect as the Beckhams would like the
world to believe?
Through extensive research, expert sourcing and interviews with
insiders, Britain’s most celebrated investigative biographer, Tom
Bower, has unearthed a succession of revelations that give surprising
insight into the reality of ‘Brand Beckham’. Exploring the couple’s
relationship, and the truth about their football and fashion careers,
their finances and their new life in Miami, The House of Beckham
unravels the extraordinary reality of the business-savvy cultural icons
to tell an engrossing, often astonishing story of money, sex and power.
From a five-year-old girl racing 60mph micro-midgets in South
Africa, to a Formula One driver in the British Championship during
her first full year of racing in the UK, and on to becoming the
first and only woman ever to win a Formula One race, Desire Wilson
was a winner bested by very few of her male rivals. But
single-seater racing was just the start of Desire's ascent in
motorsport. She won two FIA World Championship Sports Car Endurance
races in 1980, and went on to compete in well over 120 types of
race car at more than 100 race tracks around the world. Always
competitive, she earned a reputation for an intense, no-nonsense
approach to racing, shrugging off the media glamour to focus on the
hard grind of staying competitive in one of the world's toughest
sporting arenas. Moving to the male-dominated world of North
American racing, Desire became a pioneer for women racing in the
harsh world of Indy Cars, facing discrimination, financial
problems, and other obstacles ranging from tragedy to farce. Her
career is unique in the world of racing, encompassing everything
from club racing to Formula One and World Championship sports cars,
to the evil monsters of the IndyCar World Series - the world's
fastest race cars. Hers is a story of hardships, fun, tragedy,
perseverance, injury, and the amazing behind-the-scenes world
masked by the public face and glamour of racing. It tells, too, of
the consequences of politics and discrimination in the male world
of professional auto racing.
|
|