"An exciting and engrossing book with stories that are worth telling. This work will engage fans of Charlie O. Finley and the Oakland Athletics, along with anyone captivated by baseball history." -- Library Journal, starred review The Oakland A's of the early 1970s: Never before had an entire organization so collectively traumatized baseball's establishment with its outlandish behavior and business decisions. The high drama that played out on the field--five straight division titles and three straight championships--was exceeded only by the drama in the clubhouse and front office. Under the visionary leadership of owner Charles O. Finley, the team assembled such luminary figures as Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, and Vida Blue, and with garish uniforms and revolutionary facial hair, knocked baseball into the modern age. Finley's insatiable need for control--he was his own general manager and dictated everything from the ballpark organist's playlist to the menu for the media lounge--made him ill-suited for the advent of free agency. Within two years, his dynasty was lost. A sprawling, brawling history of one of the game's most unforgettable teams, Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic is a paean to the sport's most turbulent, magical team, during one of major league baseball's most turbulent, magical times.

FEATURING A FOREWORD FROM MARK CAVENDISH AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM GERAINT THOMAS, CHRIS FROOME AND ROD ELLINGWORTH.

A rare insight into the heart of pro cycling and the inner workings of the peloton, from Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers legend, Luke Rowe.

There’s one well-established truth in professional cycling: the strongest always wins. Yet in a sport of champions, victory is only possible as a team. At the heart of that team effort, that unity, is the road captain.

After more than a decade as the pre-eminent road captain in professional bike racing, Luke Rowe reveals here for the first time the intricacies of that role. As he lifts the lid, he provides the ultimate insider’s view on racing tactics and strategy within the professional peloton. He gives readers an unprecedented insight into what exactly is going on within that pulsing mass of athletic power and state-of-the-art machinery, seen through the eyes of the rider tasked with leading his team to glory.

Featuring exhilarating stories from his years at Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers – where he played a fundamental role in the team’s dominance at the Tour de France, leading Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal to their Tour victories – Luke shows what it’s like to manage a road race unfolding at 60km/h. As he points out, it is ‘like playing chess on wheels’.

Road Captain immerses readers in the team dynamics, tactical complexities and split-second decisions vital to success in professional cycling. It discloses the mental and physical battles taking place within a group of riders, and reveals how the biggest bike races are won.

In 1965, 16-year-old Robin Lee Graham began a solo around-the-world voyage from San Pedro, California, in his 24-foot sloop, Dove. Five years and 33,000 miles later, he had accomplished what few would dare attempt, returning to port with a wife and daughter and enough extraordinary experiences to fill this bestselling book. Originally published in 1972. 32 pages of photographs.

In her funny, poignant and absorbing memoir, 'Mad Lizzie' Webb charts her phenomenal rise from a drama and dance teacher to being crowned the beloved fitness queen of breakfast television. Throughout the late eighties and nineties, Lizzie Webb inspired a nation of couch potatoes to get up and move as TV-am's fitness guru. The music featured in her routines shot to the top of the charts, resulting in hits for the likes of Take That, Sonia and George Harrison. She also collaborated with Simon Cowell for several years. Meanwhile, outside her television work Lizzie has been committed to working with young people, creating life-changing opportunities with exercise, dance and drama that have helped transform the lives of vulnerable children, juvenile offenders and former prisoners. Filled with heartfelt stories of the wonderful people she has helped along the way, as well as fond reminiscences and hilarious stories from her time on breakfast TV, Mad About the Boys reveals the fascinating two sides to Lizzie's extraordinary and inspiring life.

'Modern Heroes' is a series of modern and colourful books about the lives of eight remarkable people whose influence has shaped how we live today. This book looks at the life of Muhammad Ali.

In this searing and riveting "New York Times" bestseller, Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu reveals the dark underbelly of Olympic gymnastics, the true price of success...and the shocking secret about her past and her family that she only learned years later.
At fourteen years old, Dominique Moceanu was the youngest member of the 1996 US Women's Olympic Gymnastics team, the first and only American women's team to take gold at the Olympics. Her pixyish appearance and ferocious competitive drive quickly earned her the status of media darling. But behind the fame, the flawless floor routines, and the million-dollar smile, her life was a series of challenges and hardships.
"Off Balance "vividly delineates each of the dominating characters who contributed to Moceanu's rise to the top, from her stubborn father and long-suffering mother to her mercurial coach, Bela Karolyi. Here, Moceanu finally shares the haunting stories of competition, her years of hiding injuries and pain out of fear of retribution from her coaches, and how she hit rock bottom after a public battle with her parents.
But medals, murder plots, drugs, and daring escapes aside (all of which figure into Moceanu's incredible journey), the most unique aspect of her life is the family secret that Moceanu discovers, opening a new and unexpected chapter in her adult life. A mysterious letter from a stranger reveals that she has a second sister--born with a physical disability and given away at birth--who has nonetheless followed in Moceanu's footsteps in an astonishing way.
A multilayered memoir that transcends the world of sports, "Off Balance "will touch anyone who has ever dared to dream of a better life.