A tribute to Richie Benaud and a celebration of his life. Remembering Richie is a compilation of the very best writing from Richie's books, along with the best tributes and obituaries from those who knew and worked with him. As a player, Richie was one of the greatest of cricket's all-rounders. As a commentator and thinker on the game he became the leading figure of his generation. As a man he was revered by cricket's multitude of followers and as a friend he was both loved and admired by his close circle of friends. This celebratory book brings together the best of Richie's writing on a range of subjects from his love of cricket as a child to his all time XIs; from his thoughts on T20 to insight into his family life, along with his most loved sayings and best known pieces of commentary. All perfectly complemented with tributes from his friends and colleagues.

"A must read" - Marcus Rashford MBE. A New York Times Bestseller. From two heavy-hitters in children's literature comes a biographical novel of seismic cultural importance... Before he was a household name, Cassius Clay was a kid with struggles like any other. Kwame Alexander and James Patterson join forces to vividly depict his life up to age seventeen in both prose and verse, including his childhood friends, struggles in school, the racism he faced, and his discovery of boxing. Readers will learn about Cassius' family and neighbours in Louisville, Kentucky, and how, after a thief stole his bike, Cassius began training as an amateur boxer at age twelve. Before long, he won his first Golden Gloves bout and began his transformation into the unrivalled Muhammad Ali. Fully authorised by and written in cooperation with the Muhammad Ali estate, and vividly brought to life by Dawud Anyabwile's dynamic artwork, Becoming Muhammad Ali captures the budding charisma and youthful personality of one of the greatest sports heroes of all time.

Growing up on Chicago's Westside in the 90's, Arshay Cooper knows the harder side of life. The street corners are full of gangs, the hallways of his apartment complex are haunted by junkies he calls "zombies" with strung out arms, clutching at him as he passes by. His mother is a recovering addict, and his three siblings all sleep in a one room apartment, a small infantry against the war zone on the street below. Arshay keeps to himself, preferring to write poetry about the girl he has a crush on, and spends his school days in the home-ec kitchen dreming of becoming a chef. And then one day as he's walking out of school he notices boats lined up on the floor of the gymnasium, and a poster that reads "Join the Crew Team". Arshay, having no idea what the sport of crew is, decides to take a chance. This decision to join is one that will forever change his life, and those of his fellow teammates. As Arshay and his teammates begin to come together, learning not only how to row, many never having been in water before, the sport takes them from the mean streets of Chicago, to the hallowed halls of the Ivy League. But Arshay and his teammates face adversity at every turn, from racism, gang violence, and a sport that has never seen anyone like them before. A Most Beautiful Thing is the inspiring true story about the most unlikely band of brothers that form a family, and forever change a sport and their lives for the better.

In "Atlas", Teddy recounts his incredible life, from juvenile delinquent, to his induction into the legendary Cus D'Amato's Boxing Camp and his first major challenge - training 14-year-old Mike Tyson. An amateur boxer trained by D'Amato, Atlas captured the Adirondack Golden Gloves title at 139 pounds in 1976. Forced out of competition because of injury, Teddy turned his talents to training fighters, including Mike Tyson, Barry McGuigan, Tracy Patterson, Joey Gamache, Simon Brown and Donny Lalonde. In 1994, in a memorable performance as trainer and corner man, Teddy inspired Michael Moorer to beat Evander Holyfield for the world heavyweight championship. Teddy has also employed his talents outside of the ring appearing in 2 films and choreographing fight scenes for the television series "Against the Law". "Atlas" is the remarkable story of all of these achievements, told in Atlas' completely inimitable voice. As you'd expect from a boxing memoir, it pulls no punches.

F1 is now the fastest growing sport in the world; the full story of its unbelievable rise is a riveting saga only hinted at by the likes of Drive to Survive. In this book - the first, definitive account of how F1 came to achieve total global fandom - Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg take us inside a world full of racing obsessives, glamorous settings, petrolheads, engineering geniuses, dashing racers and bitter rivalries.

The story of F1's world dominance is one of near-constant transformation and experimentation. This is a sport where the only way to win championships is to land a series of technical moon shots - and then do it all over again. With fast cars, big money, beautiful people, and glamorous locations from Monaco to Melbourne, The Formula tells the full, epic story of the sport. Starting in 1950s Britain, where six years of wartime engineering laid the foundations for a new type of motorcar racing; to the first global star partnership of Senna and Ecclestone; Spygate; Crashgate and its transition into an entertainment juggernaut. Bringing unique insight and access to F1's most storied teams and personalities - from Ferrari to Lewis Hamilton to Christian Horner and Daniel Ricciardo -The Formula offers a riveting portrait of the drivers, corporations, cars, rivalries, and audacious gambles that have shaped the sport for half a century.

The end result is a high-octane history of how modern F1 racing came to be - the first book to tell the story of the outrageous successes and spectacular crashes that led F1 to this extraordinary yet precarious moment. More than just a sports story, it is the tale of a commercial empire, one built in the 20th century, rendered almost obsolete in the early 21st, and re-emerged world-dominant today; a disrupter that claimed its place in the crowded sports marketplace through cash, personality, and a new understanding of what a sport needs to be in the age of wall-to-wall entertainment.

A cult football figure, Vince Hilaire's career spanned over 600 games and took in spells at Crystal Palace, Portsmouth, Leeds United and Stoke City, playing in every professional division as well as for England at Youth and Under 21 levels. Hilaire shared a dressing room with some of the stars of the era including Kenny Sansom, Mick Channon, Gordon Strachan and Vinnie Jones, and was managed by some of the biggest figures in British football - Malcolm Allison, Terry Venables, Alan Ball and Howard Wilkinson. This book offers a fascinating insight into the methods of these managers - Allison and Venables' desperation to produce a side that rivalled the free-flowing football of the famous `Busby Babes', contrasting with the dourness and rigidity of Wilkinson's Leeds. One of the first black players to break into the professional game, Vince made his professional debut at seventeen and was a member of the famous `Team of the `80s at Palace that topped the First Division table. He details exactly why that team fell apart so quickly and the chaos that subsequently engulfed the club. Vince also outlines the regular abuse that he faced as a young black player making his way in football and the dread he felt playing at certain grounds. This massively entertaining autobiography gives a fascinating insight into the beautiful game as it used to be played.

A Sunday Times Book of the Year 'Rahaman has, at last, written the definitive biography on his late brother, which tells the real Ali story' - Mike Tyson 'The real life of the Great One' - George Foreman More words have been written about Muhammad Ali than almost anyone else. He was, without doubt, the world's most-loved sportsman. At the height of his celebrity he was the most famous person in the world. And yet, until now, the one voice missing belonged to the man who knew him best - his only sibling, and best friend, Rahaman Ali. No one was closer to Ali than Rahaman. Born Cassius and Rudolph Arnett Clay, the two brothers grew up together, lived together, trained together, travelled together, and fought together in the street and in the ring. A constant fixture in his sibling's company, Rahaman saw Ali at both his best and his worst: the relentless prankster and the jealous older brother, the outspoken advocate, the husband and father. In My Brother, Muhammad Ali, he is able to offer a surprising insider's perspective on the well-known stories, as well as never-before-told tales, painting a rich portrait of a proud, relentlessly polarizing, yet often vulnerable man. In this extraordinary, poignant memoir, Rahaman tells a much bigger and more personal story than in any other book on the great man - that of two brothers, almost inseparable from birth to death. It is the final and most important perspective on one of the most iconic figures of the last century.

Growing up in extreme poverty in Messina (today Musina) in the early 1980s, Lovemore Ndou was forced to start boxing to protect himself and his family. At an early age, he experienced the injustices of the apartheid system when his arm was broken during a beating in a police cell and he saw his best friend gunned down in a protest march.

Through sheer determination, he managed to persevere and soon the Black Panther (his name in the ring) started winning matches. He left the country for Australia in the mid-1990s, made a name for himself internationally, and eventually became a triple-world champion despite setbacks and challenges. A number of big names in local and international boxing circles feature in the book, including Floyd Mayweather, with whom Ndou sparred during a stint in the USA.

Never knocked out in 64 professional bouts, he transitioned from combats in the ring to confrontations in the courtroom in a successful post-boxing career as a lawyer. Today he has his own practice in Sydney, Australia.

A classic of mountaineering literature, The White Spider tells the story of the harrowing first ascent of the Eiger's North Wall, one of the most legendary and terrifying climbs in recorded history.Heinrich Herrer, author of Seven Years in Tibet, was a member of the four-man party that scaled the previously untouchable North Wall of the Eiger in 1938. In The White Spider, Herrer tells the story of this harrowing first ascent, a gripping first-hand account of daring and resilience in the high Swiss Alps.Moving from his own amazing experiences to the numerous later attempts to replicate his team's achievements (some tragic failures, others spectacular successes), Herrer writes as well as he climbs, drawing the reader into a beguiling story of courage, strength and a confidence always on the edge of hubris.A new introduction by Joe Simpson, author of the acclaimed mountaineering epic Touching the Void, reminds us of the enduring relevance of this absolute classic.

Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2014 After finishing high school in New York, Oliver Horovitz was accepted to Harvard University. But there was a problem; he couldn't start until the following year. With time on his hands and a long-standing love of golf, the solution was obvious: a gap year at the University of St. Andrews, alongside the iconic Old Course, known around the world as 'the home of golf'. At the end of term, Ollie joined the St. Andrews caddie trainee programme and spent the summer lining up at the caddie shack, looping two, sometimes three, rounds a day, with the notoriously gruff veteran caddies. And so began an adventure that would change his life in unexpected ways.

Sports have long been used as a vehicle for change, as a way to break down barriers and foster greater understanding. But while we know the stories of trailblazers like Jackie Robinson and Billie Jean King, just as important are the journeys of lesser-known athletes who used sports as a platform to fight injustice, racism, and discrimination. In Remember Their Sacrifice: Stories of Unheralded Athletes of Color, Arif Khatib and Pete Elman share the extraordinary stories of a special group of athletes, of their struggles, achievements, and incredible impact on the world of sports and beyond. It includes Pumpsie Green, the first Black player for the Red Sox; Alice Coachman, the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal; Sammy Lee, the great Asian American diver who won Olympic gold; Toni Stone and Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, two of three women who played in baseball's Negro Leagues; Billy Mills, a Native American icon who won Olympic gold in the 10,000 meters; and many more. Featuring an array of sports such as boxing, track and field, golf, auto racing, basketball, football, soccer, and baseball, Remember Their Sacrifice elevates these pioneering athletes to their deserved position in the pantheon of sports.

In 2004, James Blake's world was getting more perfect by the day. As a rising young tennis star, his life and his game were constantly gathering new momentum while he travelled the world and rose through the international tennis rankings - eventually climbing as high as number twenty-two. With a tournament victory and many great matches under his belt (not to mention being named "People Magazine's" Sexiest Male Athlete in 2002). But that life came to a shocking halt in May 2004, when Blake fractured his neck in a freak accident on the court. A few months later, as he was recovering from his injury, he suffered another heart-stopping setback when his father - the man who had been the inspiration for his tennis career and the center of his world - lost his battle with stomach cancer. Shortly after his father's death, Blake was dealt a third blow when he contracted Zoster, a rare virus that paralysed half of his face and threatened to end his already jeopardised tennis career."New York Times" bestseller "Breaking Back" tells the dramatic story of the tumultuous year that followed this convergence of tragedies. With honest, open prose, Blake examines the frustrating heartbreak that followed him from hard-fought qualifiers to match point on the US Open's center court. Detailing each step of his arduous journey, he explains how the off-court challenges of 2004 powered him through his self-doubt, guided him to the world's top five, and proved that even in death his father was still teaching him to be a man.

Niki Lauda was one of the greatest stars in motor racing – a superb driver on the track and a much-loved personality off it. From his famous rivalry with James Hunt in 1976, as depicted in the film Rush, to working with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, his career helped define modern Formula One.
 
Six weeks after the 1976 crash at the notorious Nürburgring that left him burned and receiving the last rites while obituaries were written, Niki Lauda stepped back into his Ferrari at Monza to defend his first World Champion title. Jackie Stewart called it ‘the most courageous thing I have ever witnessed in sport’. Lauda and Hunt were playing cat-and-mouse for the championship. At the final race of the season in Japan, the weather was appalling and conditions treacherous. Lauda had a narrow lead and an agonising decision to make – high-speed drama at its best.
 
Following his extraordinary recovery from the accident, Lauda won the title in 1977 and again, following a return from retirement, in 1984 with McLaren. When he eventually hung up his helmet for good, he started his own airline and had to deal with the horrendous aftermath when one of his aircraft crashed, killing all 223 on board. He later returned to the sport in various management roles and successfully persuaded Lewis Hamilton to join Mercedes.
 
Maurice Hamilton first came across Lauda in 1971 and in this definitive biography tells his remarkable story. Based on interviews with friends, family, rival drivers and colleagues, it is a superb tribute to a brave, supremely talented and much-missed star of Formula One.

On the surface, Chamique Holdsclaw's memoirs, Breaking Through, is an inspiring behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it's like to play professional women's basketball. It's got the thrills, the spills, and the locker room gossip that any sports fan longs to read about and be privy to. Holdsclaw takes her readers on a whirlwind tour of life as a WNBA star, from the streets of New York to the streets of the world. From Astoria to Tennessee to Spain to Poland and eventually winding up in Atlanta, we follow Chamique up and down the court of life until we too are winded from the back-and-forth. But when we stop to catch our breath, we realize this is much more than another sports book. New York features prominently in these pages-its successes, its heartbreaks, its projects and its swanky gyms. The relative security and safety of Holdsclaw's life at Christ the King High School in Queens stands in sharp contrast to her tales of life in the nearby projects, where alcoholism, drug abuse, petty crime and despair have a strong foothold in the rundown buildings and darkened bus stops. But Holdsclaw does not dwell; she does not sulk. She doesn't have the time, frankly, for we soon find that the life of a young basketball star is full of constant action. From sunup to sundown, Holdsclaw is practicing, shooting, running and negotiating. The decision about which college to attend is almost as harrowing for the readers as it is for Holdsclaw herself, and we breathe a sigh of relief when she makes what is obviously the right choice. And though we meet Jay-Z and Gabrielle Reece and many other famous sports stars on these pages, the personality we most remember is that of Holdsclaw's grandmother and guardian. She is the calm in Holdsclaw's storm, the light that shines into and illuminates the dark tunnels of choices no child should have to make. June Holdsclaw's steadfast surety is something every child would be fortunate to have, and her granddaughter's testament to her faith and love resonates in these pages. As Holdsclaw grows up and trades in the streets of New York and a busted up pair of hi-tops for the rigors of academia at the University of Tennessee, the burdens of success become more apparent. The stress of being a star on the court takes its toll mentally, academically, and of course, physically, but Holdsclaw bravely dribbles past these obstacles and fights to stay on top. Which isn't to say she doesn't have her distractions-from boys to friends to tough-as-nails coaches like Pat Summitt, Holdsclaw's busy life bustles and buzzes throughout Breaking Through, making the pages hum with vitality. And only when Holdsclaw's health fails her, when her team slows down and the winning streak seems to be over, does she come to realize that what's essential in basketball-and of course, in life-isn't speed, or strength, or who you know, or how hard you work, but balance: the fine line between not enough and too much, between carefree and careless. She finally finds hers, and that's what makes this book the powerful read that it is. At its core, Breaking Through is a testament to the places and people that make us whole and keep us sane-it's a shout out to hard work, love, faith and equilibrium.

Alaska Hoops, Coaching Tips and Tales from the Girls' Locker Room is a lighthearted collection of true Alaska basketball stories. Author Becky Crabtree remembers her experiences coaching and offers practical tips on the game and life

"He deftly examines Foster's outstanding career on the diamond in the early 1900s...Cottrell effectively documents Foster's contributions to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981."
--"Choice"

"Robert Charles Cottrell's definitive biography of Rube Foster adds much to our knowledge of this commanding figure in the history of the old black baseball leagues."
--Robert Peterson, author of "Only the Ball Was White"

"Rube Foster ranks with Charles Comiskey, Connie Mack, and John McGraw as one of the founding giants of modern baseball. As player, manager, owner, and executive he set the standard for baseball in black America during the early twentieth century. "The Best Pitcher In Baseball" clearly establishes Foster's greatness and his extraordinary contributions to the national pastime."
--Jules Tygiel, author of "Past Time: Baseball As History"

When Rube Foster was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981, his rightful place alongside baseball's greatest black heroes was at last firmly established. A world-class pitcher, a formidable manager, and a brilliant administrator, Rube Foster was arguably more influential in breaking down the color barrier in major league baseball than the venerable Jackie Robinson.

Born in 1879, Rube Foster pitched for the legendary black baseball teamsthe Cuban X-Giants and the Philadelphia Giants before becoming player-manager of the Leland Giants and the Chicago American Giants. Long a central figure in black baseball, he founded baseball's first black leaguethe Negro National League in 1920. From its inception, the Negro League served as a vehicle through which many of the finest black players could showcase theirconsiderable talents. Challenging racial discrimination and stereotypes, it ultimately set the stage for future efforts to contest Jim Crow.

Despite the long-standing success of the Negro National League as an influential black institution, Rube Foster was deeply embittered by organized baseball's unmitigated refusal to lift the color barrier. He died a broken man in 1930.

The Best Pitcher in Baseball is the story of a man of unparalleled vision and organizational acumen whose passion for justice changed the face of baseball forever. It is a moving tribute to a man and his dream.

'The greater the challenge, the sweeter the reward, but also the greater the risk of failure. And fear of failure is the greatest barrier to success.' Sabrina Verjee is an ultrarunning phenomenon. In June 2021, on her fourth attempt, she became the first person to climb the Lake District's 214 Wainwright hills in under six days, running 325 miles with a colossal 36,000 metres of ascent. Where There's a Hill tells the story of an outsider who was never picked for a school sports team yet went on to become an accomplished modern pentathlete and adventure racer. After switching her focus to ultrarunning in her thirties, Sabrina moved to the Lake District, where she could hone her mountain-running skills on the local fells. High-profile success in endurance events followed, as she completed the Dragon's Back Race three times and was the outright winner of the 2019 Summer Spine Race, beating her nearest competitor by more than eight hours. However, it was the Wainwrights Round which really captured Sabrina's imagination. Having learnt about the challenge from fell-running legend Steve Birkinshaw, Sabrina began to plan an attempt of her own. Despite multiple obstacles - including lockdown regulations, bad weather, injury and controversy - Sabrina's grit and determination shone through. Where There's a Hill is a frank and inspirational account of how one woman ran her way into the record books.

"This is the book for the serious DiMaggio and sports-as-culture buff. Moore . . . has sifted through most of what has been written and rumored about the Yankee Clipper in newspapers, magazines, books and even songs. The narrative portion--there's also a bibliography and DiMaggio's baseball stats--is divided into two sections: DiMaggio's life on and off the field, and his evolving stature as a mythic figure. All rendered in sensitive, but refreshingly unsentimental, prose." USA Today "Anyone serious about building an excellent baseball library or interested in the role of sports in American society should get a copy of this book. . . . All in all, an excellent and well-researched book." The Sporting News

For five incredible years from 1976 to 1980, Bjorn Borg ruled the men's singles at Wimbledon by carrying off consecutive titles. It was a phenomenal feat, all the more so because it was achieved on the lawns of the All England Club when the young Swede was essentially a clay-court specialist. No player in tennis's modern era had ever pulled it off and only one, Roger Federer, has subsequently matched it. Featuring vivid accounts of some of his most memorable matches, The Golden Boy of Centre Court tells the story of Borg's entire Wimbledon odyssey - from his first appearance in 1972 (when he won the Junior title) to his last in 1981. It's a journey that saw him evolve from a teeny-bopper heart-throb into a hero almost unanimously loved by the British tennis-watching public, and one of the greatest champions in the tournament's long history.

Queens of Pain tells the remarkable and largely unknown tale of women's cycle racing from the 1890's to the early 1990's. From the fin-de-siecle velodromes of North America to the glamour and chaos of the first women's Tour de France, Queens of Pain offers a sweeping panorama of female racing history. Told through the lives of the great champions, its heroines include stuntwomen and speed skaters, young mothers and teenage tearaways, shop assistants and coal-delivery girls. When prejudice and officialdom denied them one stage they found another: from six-day track racing to epic place to place records, from 12-hour time trials to unofficial road races. The greatly expanded women's racing scene of today is the direct legacy of these pioneering riders whose stories form an unbroken thread since the invention of the bicycle.