The inspirational story behind the film The Swimmers on Netflix, by Syrian refugee and Olympic swimmer, Yusra Mardini. 'An extraordinary tale of bravery, survival, and winsome, never-give-up moxie. It is impossible not to be won over by Yusra.' - Khaled Hosseini It's important the world understands what many ordinary people must endure to find a safe place to live. If it will help others, I'll tell my story a million times. When war broke out in her native Syria, Yusra Mardini fled to the Turkish coast in 2015 and boarded a small dinghy full of refugees bound for Greece. When the small and overcrowded boat's engine cut out, it began to sink. Instinctively, Yusra and her sister took to the treacherous open water and guided the boat for three and a half hours, helped by two other refugees, until they eventually landed on Lesbos, saving the lives of the passengers aboard. Butterfly is the story of that remarkable woman, whose journey started in a war-torn suburb of Damascus and took her through Europe to Berlin and from there to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Yusra Mardini is an athlete, one of People magazine's twenty-five women changing the world, on the list of TIME Magazine's most influential teens, and one of the the youngest UNHCR Goodwill Ambassadors. Yusra's and her sister Sara's story is the subject of a major Netflix film documenting her life, written by Jack Thorne. Now with an updated afterword.

This is the first book-length biography of Hall of Fame catcher Ray Schalk, once described as the yardstick against which all other catchers were measured. For years the top defender at his position, Schalk was also a fiery leader on the field, and he guided two teams to the World Series. (One of those teams, however, was the 1919 Black Sox, whose conspiracy to throw the Series left Schalk with a deep and abiding sense of betrayal.)

After he retired as a player, the Illinois native spent decades as a manager or coach on the collegiate, minor league, and major league levels. Schalk entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.

Though his Hall of Fame baseball career featured a curve ball nicknamed "Old Sal," Joseph McGinnity was as tough as the metal he worked in his off-season foundry job. This biography traces the hard life and colorful career of Iron Man McGinnity from his childhood working the coalfields of Illinois to his death in 1929. McGinnity may have been the most durable hurler in the history of the sport, often pitching both games of a doubleheader. He averaged more wins per season in his 10-year major league career than any pitcher in history, then continued to pitch for decades after that in the minor leagues, retiring at 54.

From 1958-75 Billy McNeill was at the heart of everything Celtic did. An uncompromising but fair centre half, he captained the club for twelve hugely successful years. Later in his life he returned for two more periods as Celtic manager, winning the undying support of the club's legion of fans for his complete commitment to the cause. In this remarkable autobiography, he recalls the glory days of the Lisbon Lions alongside Bobby Lennox and Jimmy Johnstone; playing for Scotland with Billy Bremner and Denis Law; coming to England as a manager; and reveals just how good a babysitter Kenny Dalglish was. Told with great humour and intelligence, this is a fascinating story from one of Scotland's greatest heroes.

Peek into the mind of a champion swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time (28 medals, including 23 gold).

In this candid memoir, Phelps talks openly about his battle with attention deficit disorder, the trauma of his parents’ divorce, and the challenges that come with being thrust into the limelight.

Readers will relive all the heart-stopping glory as Phelps completes his journey from the youngest man to ever set a world swimming record in 2001, to an Olympic powerhouse in 2008, to surpassing the greatest athlete of ancient Greece, Leonidas of Rhodes, with 13 triumphs in 2016. Athletes and fans alike will be fascinated by insights into Phelps’s training, mental preparation, and behind-the-scenes perspective on international athletic competitions.

A chronicle of Phelps’s evolution from awkward teenager to record-breaking powerhouse, Beneath the Surface is a must-read for any sports fan.

I'm with the Cosmos' was the phrase New York Cosmos players used to get a table reserved at the city's best restaurants or skip the queue at the glamorous Studio 54 nightclub. And it was one Steve Hunt became used to trotting out, after he was transferred from Aston Villa to New York Cosmos at the tender age of 20, having played just seven times for the first team at Villa. He walked straight into a world of celebrity and a team of superstars including two of the world's finest players, Pele and Franz Beckenbauer. This is Steve's story of those heady days in New York - but also a stellar career back in England during the early 1980s. Returning to the West Midlands, Steve played for Coventry City, West Bromwich Albion and returned to his beloved Aston Villa for a second spell - and at the age of 28, he won the first of two England caps under Bobby Robson, realising an ambition held since early childhood. This is Steve's story, and in it he writes frankly about his football career, as well as his life outside the game.

Baseball was a rough sport in the nineteenth century and no one played the game with more vigor (and often violence) than Hall of Famers Hugh Duffy and Tommy McCarthy, dubbed "The Heavenly Twins." This book details their professional history playing for Boston Beaneaters teams and personal experiences with baseball, faith, and legendary Boston baseball scribe Tim Murnane. The book also traces their minor league careers and post-professional baseball activities.

Jack Coombs rose to deadball-era stardom as the ace of Connie Mack's Athletics, winners of back-to-back world championships in 1910 and 1911. One of few players of his day to have graduated from college, Coombs debuted for the Athletics in 1906, fresh from Colby College, and found success early. Within a few years, he was one of the best and best-known pitchers in baseball, leading the majors in victories.

But then in 1913 Coombs contracted typhoid fever, a disease that cost the right-hander two seasons at the peak of his career. And while he battled his way back to baseball, pitching well in his comeback season of 1915 and then leading the Brooklyn Robins to the World Series in 1916, Coombs was never again the dominant pitcher he had been. Coombs went on to a long and successful career as a college coach for Duke University, and he would write one of the most highly regarded instructional books on baseball ever published.

Charlie Gehringer was the best second baseman of his era. He is regarded by many as the best two-strike hitter of all time and his seemingly effortless fielding ability earned him the nickname of "The Mechanical Man." Sports writers groused that he was too quiet to be a star. Charlie replied that he didn't hit with his mouth. This work follows Gehringer's career from the day a scout spotted him on the sandlots of Michigan in 1923 to his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1949 and into his life after baseball.

An honest, end-of-career autobiography from widely adored Harlequins and England rugby star Danny Care

They say everything happens for a reason, and I think my life is proof of that. There have been a series of moments, some of them tough setbacks, that have proved over time to be pivotal to the person – and player – I am today. There was the time when my dreams of a football career came to an abrupt end but opened the door for rugby in my life; the ill-judged sledging outing that may have cost me the opportunity to go on a Lions tour; the times when my name made the headlines for the wrong reasons; the choice I made to miss an England tour, which led to meeting the love of my life on a party island halfway across the world; and the devastating moment when Eddie Jones dropped me from the England squad and I thought my international career was over.

I sometimes wondered if it was meant to be but I kept on smiling and I worked hard as I kept my focus on playing the game that I love, that I owe everything to. And now, a little older and a little wiser – and with over 100 England caps, three Six Nations championships and two Premiership titles to my name, I want to tell you my story. The highs and lows, the good and the bad and everything in between.

THE EXPLOSIVE NEW YORK TIMES AND NATIONAL BESTSELLER Push beyond your physical limits to improve yourself by following bowhunter and ultramarathoner Cameron Hanes's lifelong philosophies and disciplines. "It's all mental." I say this all the time, and it's true. If you believe you can do it, you can. We all have virtually limitless potential. Our bodies are capable of so much more than what we ask of them. Take off the mental handcuffs, get out there, and start on your way today. What is your passion? You can become better at it. Committing yourself to fitness only fuels your beliefs. You gotta believe to achieve. Cameron Hanes discovered his true passion for bowhunting when he was twenty. Inspired by the physical challenges of stalking elk in the Oregon wilderness--traversing mountainous terrain, braving erratic weather, and evading his quarry's even more dangerous predators--he began an ever-evolving journey of self-improvement. To become the best bowhunter of wild elk, to the caliber he believed he could be, Cam realized he would need more than archery skills. He would need the stamina and strength that could only come from an athletic training regimen of long-distance running and heavy-weight lifting. And every day for more than thirty years, Cam has put in the work, building miles and muscles, pushing through pain with a single-minded focus on the only goal worth having--besting himself time and again. Part memoir, part motivational manifesto, Endure reveals how Cam--a self-professed average guy--put himself through the paces to live the life of an expert bowhunter, respected writer, and family man. With discipline, sacrifice, resilience, a hard work ethic, and a belief in his own capabilities, Cam not only accomplished his dreams but continues to surpass them. There is no secret to his success except relentless determination and loyal dedication to his own self-worth. If Cam can do it, we all can. Everyone has what it takes to endure adversity so we can rise above average, be the best we can be, and enjoy living life to the fullest.

Six victories, two pole positions, eight fastest laps and 13 podium places - statistics that are anything but striking. In Formula 1 today, there are drivers who have won a great deal more, but Gilles Villeneuve cannot be evaluated by numbers alone - simply because there is no way of measuring the level of excitement that he brought to racing. Even though he has been dead for over 30 years, the legend of the Canadian, who was killed on 8 May 1982, is still imbued with strong emotion - Gilles the "Aviator" as Enzo Ferrari nick-named him, the driver for whom the expression "Villeneuve Fever" was coined. From his "crazy flight" at Fuji in 1977, his first GP win at home in Canada in 1978, the unforgettable 1979 season followed by a year of purgatory, his epic success at Monaco in 1981 and the in-house duel with Didier Pironi at Imola in 1982, to that last "crazy flight" at Zolder. "Gilles Villeneuve: Immagini di una vita/A life in pictures" relives the legend, with previously unpublished pictures and authoritative text by Mario Donnini.

Winning takes many forms. For fans of Matthew Syed, this is a great sports book about leadership, judgement and decision-making - rooted in the theory that helped Ed Smith lead England cricket to sustained success. And to help us all win more. 'An absolutely fascinating book' THE GAME, The Times football pod How do you spot the opportunities that others miss? How do you turn a team's performance around? How do you make good decisions amid a tidal wave of information? And how can you improve? As chief selector for the England cricket team, Ed Smith pioneered new methods for building successful teams and watched his decisions tested in real time on the pitch. During his three-year tenure, England averaged 7 wins in every 10 completed matches, better than they have performed before or since. Making Decisions reveals Smith's unique approach to finding success in a fast-changing and increasingly data-reliant world. The best decisions, Smith argues, rely on a combination of differing kinds of intelligence: from algorithms to intuition. This is a truth that the most successful people know: data cannot account for everything, it must be harnessed with human insight. Whatever the power of data, humans aren't finished yet. Sharing for the first time the tools he introduced as England selector, Smith's book captures the immediacy of life at the sharp end, while also exploring frameworks from the top levels of sports, business and the arts. Decision-making is revealed as a creative enterprise, not a reductive system. Making Decisions offers an invaluable guide for those who want a better framework for developing, explaining and implementing new ideas.

Lou Gorman is best known for having assembled the great but star-crossed Red Sox team of 1986. Few, perhaps, know that he also laid the foundation for the Mets club that clawed past them. Or that he is the only baseball executive involved in the start-up of two teams (the expansion Mariners and Royals), that he won a World Series with the Orioles, or that he has drafted Roger Clemens, signed George Brett, developed Jim Palmer, and traded away Jeff Bagwell. In all, Gorman has spent parts of five decades in the front offices of five major league franchises, directly involved in the development of clubs that won three World Series, five pennants and eight division titles. The stories behind those teams and Gorman's dealings with players, managers, and other of baseball's higher-ups are shared here for the first time.

This biography contains the life and times of August ""Garry"" Herrmann which is a true Horatio Alger story. Born in 1895 and rising up from humble beginnings in Cincinnati, he entered the murky waters of 19th century machine politics in the city serving as a trusted lieutenant to George B. Cox, one of the most powerful political bosses in the country. Herrmann was a gifted man who introduced modern management principles to municipal government and oversaw the committee that built Cincinnati's modern water works system. Hermann also loved baseball and in 1902 he along with George B. Cox and Cincinnati mayor Juluis Fleischmann bought the Cincinnati Reds from John T. Brush. It was Herrmann in early 1903 who chaired the peace conference between the leagues that ushered in the modern game and two years later implemented the World Series as a lasting annual event. With the leagues united, Herrmann was selected to head up the National Commission to a three-person ruling body that governed major league baseball. Although financially successful, Herrmann acquired a reputation along the way, as a lavish entertainer and when he died in 1931, he left an estate valued at ten dollars. A reporter said in his obituary, published in a Cincinnati newspaper, that his political partners, George B. Cox and Rud Hynicka made millions of dollars, but August ""Garry"" Herrmann had more fun.

'EXTREMELY ENTERTAINING...REMARKABLY FRANK' DAILY TELEGRAPH 50 GREATEST SPORTS BOOKS OF ALL TIME After finishing as runner-up three times in the drivers' world championship, in 1992 Nigel Mansell finally secured the title. It was the crowning achievement of a hugely successful career, in which he won 31 Grand Prix, a record for a British driver that stood until Lewis Hamilton overhauled him in 2014. Always an aggressive driver, his exciting style meant he was hailed as a hero by his millions of fans in the UK and around the world. Out of the car, he was outspoken and charismatic, which merely served to enhance his reputation. Now, 20 years after he retired from F1, Mansell looks back on a stellar career in which he battled against many legends of the sport, from Niki Lauda through the Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost years and on to Michael Schumacher. He provides vivid insights into what it was like to race against those greats in an era when the risks to drivers were enormous. He explains what motivated him to get to the top, and takes the reader behind the scenes to give an unrivalled insight into the sport and the key moments of his career. Still closely involved in Formula One, Mansell assesses how F1 has changed, and gives his authoritative verdict on the sport, the cars and the drivers. It is an unmissable account from one of Britain's greatest sporting heroes. THE MASSIVE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER.

In 1963, 17 charter members were inducted into the newly established Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joining the likes of Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, George Halas, and Sammy Baugh was Detroit Lions quarterback Dutch Clark. A bona fide superstar for the NFL in the 1930s, Clark led the Lions to success on the gridiron and helped establish the NFL in one of America s most passionate sports cities. Throughout his seven-year NFL career (1931 1932, 1934 1938), Clark was selected first team NFL All-Pro six times, led the league in scoring three times, was team captain of the Detroit Lions, and helped the Lions win the 1935 NFL Championship in their second season in Detroit. The triple-threat star could do everything he could run, he could pass, and he could kick. In Dutch Clark: The Life of an NFL Legend and the Birth of the Detroit Lions, Chris Willis tells the remarkable story of an athlete from a small town in Colorado who would become one of the NFL s greatest players. To recount the story of this sports pioneer, Willis had complete cooperation from the Clark family and unlimited access to personal letters, the Dutch Clark Scrapbooks, and family photos. Appendixes include Clark s football statistics and a list of his honors and awards. Supplemented with archival interviews, never-before-seen photos, newspaper quotes, and anecdotes, Dutch Clark tells the rags-to-riches story of one of the NFL s first stars."

Nothing evokes the glory days of Negro Leagues baseball like the name of star pitcher Satchel Paige. This collection of essays and papers based on the 9th Annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference focuses on Paige and on the Kansas City Monarchs, the team he led to the Negro Leagues World Series in 1942 and 1946. Essays discuss such topics as the people Paige encountered in his career; Paige's effect on the Jim Crow era; and Paige in myth and reality - do we gain or lose by separating the two? Also considered is how the image of the Negro League was shaped in its day by newspaper coverage, and later in the popular film ""Bingo Long and the Traveling All-Stars"". A biography of Paige, highlights of his career, and a history of the Monarchs are all included, along with Kansas City rosters and other team information.

Bill Yoast is the real-life hero of Remember the Titans, the inspirational hit movie that chronicled the struggles of black and white high school football athletes to create a championship season in racially charged Alexandria, Virginia, in 1972. Will Patton played Yoast's role and Denzel Washington played the role of Head Coach Herman Boone. Uniting in a common effort, Yoast and Boone led T.C. Williams High School to an undefeated season, and in the process brought the school and polarized community together. The real-life Yoast is even more compelling than his film version. At one time, the former World War II veteran considered going into the ministry. Fortunately, for the hundreds of young men and women whose lives he helped mold, he found his calling in coaching.

Brian Clough, arguably Britain's greatest ever football manager, died in September 2004 at the age of 69. His passing was marked by a minute's silence at both the Derby County and Nottingham Forest grounds and provoked a wave of tributes from across the sporting spectrum. A memorial service due to be held at Derby Cathedral had to be moved to Pride Park to accommodate the fans' demand for tickets. This overwhelming affection and respect was fully deserved for the man who was often described as being controversial, outspoken and opinionated. His achievements in football speak for themselves: he took two lowly Midlands sides to the very top, winning two consecutive European Cups, with unfashionable Nottingham Forest, in a feat that will surely never be matched by a club of similar stature. This special edition contains two new chapters, written shortly before he died, which offer his candid and entertaining views on club directors and chairmen and on Newcastle's treatment of Sir Bobby Robson, as well as his scathing analysis of England's recent performances. Cloughie also talks honestly about his battles with alcohol and the liver transplant that gave him 21 months of health and happiness.

Has any sport executive had as many words written about him as Branch Rickey? A one-time catcher, Rickey managed the St. Louis Browns and Cardinals at the end of the deadball era before serving as vice president of the Dodgers and general manager of the Pirates. Possessed of one of the most creative minds in the game's long history, Rickey made early use of statistical analysis, pioneered the farm system, and pressed for the expansion of major league baseball. But he is best known for integrating organized baseball, signing Jackie Robinson to a contract at a time when the U.S. armed forces were still segregated and the Civil Rights movement was years away. A courageous move, the signing also stands as proof of Rickey's foresight; by tapping the Negro Leagues, he enlarged the pool of exploitable talent. Soon after, major league ties to the talent-rich Caribbean were cinched up, and years later scouts sign players from Asia and all over the globe. Based on hundreds of interviews and vast amounts of research, including exclusive access to Rickey's own papers, ""Branch Rickey"" was originally published in 1982. It still stands as the definitive biography of the legendary executive. The McFarland edition includes updates and revisions, new photographs, a foreword by Branch B. Rickey, and a new preface.

Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2021 One of The Times 50 Best Sports Books of 2021 Little Wonder tells the epic, and until now largely unchronicled, story of Lottie Dod, the first great heroine in women's sports. Dod was a champion tennis player, golfer, hockey player, tobogganist, skater, mountaineer, and archer. She was also a first-rate musician, performing numerous choral concerts in London in the 1920s and 1930s, including in a private performance before the King and Queen. In the late 19th century, Dod was almost certainly the second most famous woman in the British Isles, bested only by the fame of Queen Victoria. She was fawned over by the press, and loved by a huge fan base - which composed poems and songs in her honor, followed her from one tournament to the next, voraciously read every profile published on her and every report on her sporting triumphs. Yet, within a decade or two of her retirement from sports, Dod was largely a forgotten figure. She lived, unmarried and childless, until 1960, and for the last half of her life she was shrouded in obscurity. In this new book, Sasha Abramsky brings Lottie's remarkable achievements back into the public eye in a fascinating story of resilience and determination.

For 39 seasons at four schools, Dr. Edward N. Anderson spent autumn afternoons roaming the sidelines of college and university gridirons across America. Throughout his career, dignity, composure and a penetrating focus were hallmarks of his sideline decorum. This biography catalogues the life of that ""good doctor"" who became dean of America's college football coaches and was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame for lasting influence. Beginning with his young life as a star player, the book relates how Anderson mastered the game as an All-American end under Notre Dame's legendary Knute Rockne. Then, armed with a firm command of the so-called Notre Dame system of football, Anderson entered the collegiate coaching ranks in 1922 and served as a head coach for all but four of the next 43 years. Simultaneously, he devoted himself to the practice of medicine and guided his teams to hundreds of victories. Dr. Anderson is a football icon not only for the indelible impression he made on hundreds of young men who had played for him but also for his role as one of the last of an era of gentlemen coaches who had cut their teeth on football during the Rockne era. On the eve of his retirement from college football in 1964, Dr. Anderson was the game's elder statesman, revered by players, fellow coaches, fans and members of the press. His football odyssey, during which he crossed paths with the most influential and colorful personalities of the game, is chronicled in depth.