'Fascinating ... Connected both to old wisdom and new scientific frontiers of discovery' Lauren Laverne ________________________ 'We can all learn something from 52 Ways to Walk. I know I can.' Michael Ball, BBC Radio 2 ________________________ Walking strengthens our bodies, calms our minds and lifts our spirits. But it does so much more than this. Our vision, hearing, respiration, sleep, cognition, memory, blood pressure, sense of smell and balance are all enhanced by how we walk. For instance: * Walking in cold weather burns extra fat and builds more muscle. * Walking alone strengthens our memories. * Walking in woodland helps us sleep. * And there's nothing more restorative than a romantic nighthike. Our choice of location, time, direction, duration, walking companion and gait, as well as the weather we opt to walk in, can transform our daily stroll. Here, Annabel Streets shares the thrill of 52 different ways to walk, explaining the latest science behind each one, and providing practical tips for making the most of your daily steps. 52 Ways to Walk is a revelatory and informative handbook for anyone stuck in a walking rut, curious about the lesser-known benefits of walking or merely in need of some on-foot novelty and adventure. _________________________________ Beautifully designed and pocket-sized, 52 Ways to Walk is a love letter to walking.

Stunning backpacking routes in the Scottish Highlands and Islands are covered in this inspiring, large-format guidebook. 30 routes are described, ranging from 1-4 days, with most suitable for a long weekend. The routes are divided between the Western Highlands and Inner Hebrides, the Central and Eastern Highlands, the Northwest Highlands, the Far North and the Outer Hebrides. They are suitable for those with the experience and self-reliance to navigate proficiently and stay safe in an environment which can easily become inhospitable. Although some routes visit bothies, most call for at least one night's wild camping. Each walk includes overview data, route description and 1:100,000 mapping and they are illustrated with stunning photos. An introduction offers background information about the Highlands' rich geology, plants and wildlife and the historical and cultural context of Scotland's 'wilderness'. There is also practical information on preparing for an incursion and advice for those looking to expand their experience of wild-country backpacking. The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are home to the most ruggedly beautiful, expansive and challenging backpacking country in the British Isles. This is a land for those who love open spaces, vast horizons, and the domination of nature.

Open spaces, sport and outdoor recreation are important components of people's lives. They provide many cultural, social, economic and environmental benefits and contribute positively to physical and mental health. Everyone, particularly children, the elderly and those with disabilities, should have easy access to open space and the opportunity to participate in sport and outdoor recreational pursuits. The primary purpose of sports parks is to provide for organised sports and physical activity. These spaces need to function with a high degree of organisation and should cater for sports uses ranging from junior team training to major competitive events, at both the local and city-wide levels. This impressive book features the newest design projects from designers around the world, and offers new and exciting ideas for sports park landscape design.

Echoes of an Italian Summer reveals the fascinating stories that underpin the magical Italia 90 World Cup, many of them told for the first time in this enthralling book. For many football fans – including the author – Italia 90 is fondly remembered as the first World Cup that was truly theirs. While a lot has been written about the tournament itself, many stories surrounding that pivotal World Cup have been lost with the passage of time. The book examines Italia 90 from a fresh new angle, unearthing an array of stories with this iconic World Cup at their heart that will fascinate football fans everywhere. While reading this superb collection of tales, you’ll learn about the other Schillaci who could have made it to the World Cup, the goalkeeper who went on to play in the NFL, the impact of the removal of the back-pass rule and the story behind the now-legendary kit worn by Germany. Echoes of an Italian Summer is chock-full of World Cup nostalgia and previously untold tales.

To everyone who truly loves the game, Mickey Mantle epitomizes the golden age of baseball, when the mighty New York Yankees indisputably ruled, appearing in an unprecedented twelve World Series in fourteen years! In this intimate memoir, Mantle recounts the joys and trials of his rise from rural Oklahoma youngster to the pinnacle of baseball greatness.

In "All My Octobers," the one and only Mick relives every one of his World Series appearances -- from the 1951 battle when he played alongside an aging Joe DiMaggio to his three-home-run performance in the 1964 showdown. In addition to the on-field heroics, Mantle talks candidly about the injuries, the alcohol, the parties and celebrations, and the terrible toll they can take on a young athlete's life. But most of all, it is a remembrance of October greatness, of postseason pyrotechnics . . . and a loving appreciation of a team of titans that achieved something marvelous and unequaled to this day.

Thomas J. Lipton's America's Cup Campaigns is the saga on one man's three decade obsession with winning the America's Cup. This is author Richard V. Simpson's fifth title concerning the quest for the America's Cup-the Blue Riband prize for the sport of large ocean racing yachts. In this book, Simpson relates brief stories of some of the most interesting of the early races for the Cup which lead up to the Lipton challenges. The narrative covers the development of the early sloops and schooners from wood, to metal and the challenges faced by designers. For this narrative Simpson has searched century-old tabloids for early sport writers' predictions and observation of the contestants; he has resurrected many long-forgotten contemporary accounts relative to late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century yachts built especially as America's Cup racers. This historical account of the Lipton and Herreshoff face-offs is a sterling read for professional, amateur, and armchair sailor.

Henry Aaron left his mark on the world by breaking Babe Ruth's record for home runs. But the world has also left its mark on him.

"Hammering Hank" Aaron's story is one that tells us much about baseball, naturally, but also about our times. His unique, poignant life has made him a symbol for much of the social history of twentieth-century America.

Raised during the Depression in the Deep South enclave of Mobile, Alabama, Aaron broke into professional baseball as a cross-handed slugger and shortstop for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. A year later, he and a few others had the unforgettable mission of integrating the South Atlantic League. A year after that, he was a timid rookie leftfielder for the Milwaukee Braves, for whom he became a World Series hero in 1957 as well as the Most Valuable Player of the National League.

Aaron found himself back in the South when the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1965. Nine years later, in the heat of hatred and controversy, he hit his 715th home run to break Ruth's and baseball's most cherished record--a feat that was recently voted the greatest moment in baseball history. That year, Aaron received over 900,000 pieces of mail, many of them vicious and racially charged.

In a career that may be the most consistent baseball has ever seen. Aaron also set all-time records for total bases and RBIs. He ended his playing days by spending two nostalgic seasons back in Milwaukee with the Brewers, then embarked on a new career as an executive with the Atlanta Braves. He was for a long time the highest-ranking black in baseball. In this position, Aaron has become an unofficial spokesman in racial matters pertaining to thenational pastime.

Because of the depth and pertinence of Aaron's dramatic experiences, "I Had A Hammer" is more than a baseball autobiography. Henry Aaron's candor and insights have produced a revealing book about his extraordinary life and time.

Early in 2004, two writers and Red Sox fans, Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King, decided to chronicle the upcoming season, one of the most hotly anticipated in baseball history. They would sit together at Fenway. They would exchange emails. They would write about the games. And, as it happened, they would witness the greatest comeback ever in sports, and the first Red Sox championship in eighty-six years. What began as a Sox-filled summer like any other is now a fan's notes for the ages.

This Village to Village Map Guide to the Camino Portugues is a lightweight minimalist guidebook to walking the Way of Saint James from Lisbon and Porto to Santiago de Compostela on the Camino Portugues. With full-color stage maps and city maps, you'll always know where you and where you're going. Detailed accommodations listings show everything you need to know about pilgrim hostels (albergues) as well as private accommodations for each budget. Planning and route tips keep you informed, in a pocket-sized book that weighs just 100 grams.

Set to a backdrop of several rock climbing and mountaineering venues, this book commences in the Todhra Gorge of Morocco, and includes slate climbing in North Wales, winter on Ben Nevis, climbing walls and competitions, Fontainebleau, the Alps and Himalaya, and vignettes of the gay scene in London and Paris.

The Monocle team dips its toe into the world of swimming, revealing 100 beautiful and inspiring places to take the plunge. Swimming is excellent exercise of course, but it’s so much more than that: it can be a transcendental experience, offering us space to reflect and to escape. It’s an antidote to screens and all-encompassing technology. Perhaps it’s the shedding of inhibitions that come with a dip, or could it be that getting somewhere under our own steam is an act that’s health-giving, refreshing and life-affirming? Whatever it means to you, swimming – alone or with others, badly or brilliantly – is about being in the moment. This new book celebrates bathing in glorious full-colour photography, revealing the editors’ chosen spots from inner-city architectural wonders to lakes, beach clubs and bagni. So whether you’re looking to do laps in Italy, tread water in Australia, sink into the icy depths in Iceland – or perhaps just sit on the side and let others do the hard work – this guide includes a setting for everyone. Dive right in.

Seeking a temporary escape from the city and a world gone mad, Alan Brown plots out a personal challenge: an epic coast-to-coast trip through the lonely interior of the Highlands. He traverses paths historic and new, eschewing creature comforts and high-tech gear, trusting his (mostly) serviceable bike and his own skills. Armed with the essentials and a sense of curiosity, he discovers more about nature, people, our country, risk and himself than he ever thought possible. Alan traces a route from Argyllshire's Loch Etive across remote Rannoch moors, dramatic Grampian terrain and the beautiful glens of Strathspey to reach the Moray Firth at Findhorn. Ready for all weathers and obstacles, he succumbs to the hypnotic daily routine of ride, eat, sleep, repeat. He's savouring the landscapes, the wildlife and the solitude, and relishing the self-reliance. He is also picking up clues to past lives and discovering how the land has been altered by industry and game sports or, sometimes, conserved for wildlife and trees.

This attractive and cleverly structured guide gives walkers ten of the finest short circular walks to the most popular hills and easy summits in the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park in a popular pocketable format.With clear information, an overview and introduction for each walk, large scale Ordnance Survey maps, superb eye-grabbing panoramic photographs, and interpretation of points of interest along the way, these guides set a new standard in clarity and ease-of-use.Featured walks include: Cruach Tairbeirt, Beinn Dubh & Mid Hill, Duncryne, Conic Hill, Craigmore, Lime Craig, Ben Gullipen, Ben A'an, Callander Craig and Beinn ant-Sidhein.One of two books in the Top 10 Walks series covering this national park. The other title in the series is: Lochside Walks.

This Village to Village Map Guide to the Camino del Norte is a lightweight minimalist guidebook to walking the Way of Saint James from Irun to Santiago de Compostela on the Camino del Norte. The Camino del Norte traverses the rugged and stunning northern coast of Spain on a well marked traditional pilgrimage route replete with pilgrim hostels. With 37 full-colour stage maps and over 100 city maps, you'll always know where you and where you're going. Detailed accommodations listings show everything you need to know about pilgrim hostels (albergues) as well as private accommodations for each budget. Planning and route tips keep you informed, in a pocket-sized book that weighs just 100 grams.

Cycling in the Peak District presents 20 graded day rides in the national park, along with a challenging five-day 250km (155-mile) 'Tour de Peak District'. The circular day rides are centred around Ashbourne, Matlock, Bakewell, Buxton and many other charming Derbyshire towns, while the more challenging Tour de Peak District circumnavigates the National Park. Routes include sections of the Tissington Trail, Monsal Trail and Transpennine Trail, with a focus on quiet lanes, gratifying downhills and not overly technical bridleways, tracks and trails. The routes are ideal for gravel/adventure bikes (or hybrid/cross), though most can be easily adapted for road bikes. Each ride features step-by-step route description accompanied by 1:100,000 mapping. Overview stats and profiles are provided to aid route selection, along with details of refreshments, parking facilities and cycle hire, and full accommodation listings for the Tour de Peak District. The guide also includes tips for cycling the routes and advice for novices. The scenic Peak District boasts an abundance of country lanes, tracks, towpaths and railway trails that are perfect for two-wheeled exploration.

Stand-up Paddleboarding in Great Britain is the essential companion to anyone curious about one of Britain’s most exciting water sports. Providing details on how to get started in stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) in a safe and environmentally friendly manner, this guide then suggests over 30 incredible places to SUP in England, Scotland and Wales. Enthusiastic paddleboarder Jo Moseley captures the joy of SUP by weaving together her experiences with suggestions for your own adventures. These routes will inspire you to gaze at fell tops from Derwent Water, drift along the Afon Teifi, stroll along the Isle of Mull’s Calgary Bay or spot another SUPer on London’s Regent’s Canal. Including information on each route’s difficulty, public transport, parking, refreshments and equipment hire, as well as stunning photography and overview maps, this book has something for both SUP enthusiasts and beginners. But most importantly, it exudes a passion for SUP which will inspire anyone who reads it.

'Mountains have given structure to my adult life. I suppose they have also given me purpose, though I still can't guess what that purpose might be. And although I have glimpsed the view from the mountaintop and I still have some memory of what direction life is meant to be going in, I usually lose sight of the wood for the trees. In other words, I, like most of us, have lived a life of structured chaos.' Structured Chaos is Victor Saunders' award-winning follow-up to Elusive Summits (winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize in 1990), No Place to Fall and Himalaya: The Tribulations of Vic & Mick. He reflects on his early childhood in Malaya and his first experiences of climbing as a student, and describes his progression from scaling canal-side walls in Camden to expeditions in the Himalaya and Karakoram. Following climbs on K2 and Nanga Parbat, he leaves his career as an architect and moves to Chamonix to become a mountain guide. He later makes the first ascent of Chamshen in the Saser Kangri massif, and reunites with old friend Mick Fowler to climb the north face of Sersank. This is not just a tale of mountaineering triumphs, but also an account of rescues, tragedies and failures. Telling his story with humour and warmth, Saunders spans the decades from youthful awkwardness to concerns about age-related forgetfulness, ranging from 'Where did I put my keys?' to 'Is this the right mountain?' Structured Chaos is a testament to the value of friendship and the things that really matter in life: being in the right place at the right time with the right people, and making the most of the view.

Running Adventures Scotland by Ross Brannigan contains 25 inspirational and fun running routes, the majority of which are between 10 and 29 kilometres in length, exploring the best of the Highlands and the Lowlands. Running in Scotland is all about being immersed in the landscape - whether you're up high on a ridge, on a tranquil forest track or negotiating a technical descent - it all adds up to be an unforgettable experience. This book will open up adventures for you across Scotland - follow in the footsteps of runners on the route of the Pentland Skyline Race, enjoy an epic day out on the stunning Sgurr na Stri on Skye or tackle the iconic Ring of Steall. The runs are organised into five geographical areas; there is also a bonus section with three longer routes (ranging from 63 to 153 kilometres), for those looking to take their running to the next level on a longer or multi-day adventure. Each route includes all the information you need to help you plan your run, interesting background information about the local area, types of terrain covered, and refreshment recommendations, in addition to detailed directions, stunning photography and overview mapping. Downloadable GPX files of the routes are also available. There are also suggestions for other routes in the area, information on relevant conservation organisations as well as a quote from a local runner to add context to the route. Let Running Adventures Scotland take you on an unforgettable journey around the best of Scotland's stunning landscapes.

Cricket is a summer game, intended to be played on green fields under blue skies and warm sun. But, for the first time, a book explores the mesmerising beauty of cricket grounds in winter, carpeted with snow, through remarkable colour photographs depicting grounds from Lord's to the smallest village pitch in Lancashire, and internationally from New Zealand to the Indian Himalayas. For this aspect alone, Snow Stopped Play will be seized upon as the perfect gift for the cricket fan even by those utterly uninterested in the sport. But Snow Stopped Play is also a fascinatingly eccentric and charming disquisition, in the best tradition of cricket classics like Carr's Dictionary of Extra-Ordinary Cricketers, on the game of cricket itself, through its hitherto unexamined relationship with snow. Did John Arlott really find a snowflake on his sleeve at Lord's in June? Why did a Derbyshire batsman have to take his false teeth out after a snowfall at Buxton in 1975? And has the Sussex fast bowler and poet John Snow ever written a poem about snow?

All the mapping you need to complete the Dales Way, a 79-mile long-distance route through the Yorkshire Dales, from Ilkley to Bowness-on-Windermere. This booklet of Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps has been designed for convenient use on the trail. It shows the full and up-to-date line of the Dales Way, along with the relevant extract from the OS Explorer map legend. It is conveniently sized for slipping into a jacket pocket or top of a rucksack and comes in a clear PVC sleeve. NOTE: An accompanying Cicerone guidebook - Walking the Dales Way - describes the full route with lots of other practical and historical information. The accompanying guidebook includes a copy of this map booklet.

Bestselling author and award-winning adventurer Ross Edgley has been studying the art of resilience for years, applying all he has learned to become the first person in history to swim around Great Britain, breaking multiple world records. Now Ross focuses on mental strength, stoicism and the training needed to create an unbreakable body.

Ross Edgley famously ran a marathon pulling a 1.4-tonne car and climbed a rope the height of Everest (8,848m), after living with Yamabushi warrior monks in Japan and partaking in Shamanic pain rituals with fire ants in the Amazon jungle. On his epic 1,780-mile journey around Great Britain, which lasted 157 days, Ross swam through giant jellyfish, arctic storms, ‘haunted’ whirlpools and polluted shipping lanes, going so hard, and so fast, his tongue fell apart.

Ross’s previous book, The World’s Fittest Book, was a Sunday Times bestseller and explored the science of physical fitness. Now, in The Art of Resilience, Ross uses his swim experience and other amazing endurance feats, where he managed to overcome seemingly insurmountable pain, hardship and adversity, to study the performance of extreme athletes, military and fitness specialists and psychologists to uncover the secrets of mental fitness and explore the concept of resilience, persistence, valour and a disciplined mindset in overcoming adversity. This ground-breaking book represents a paradigm shift in what we thought the human body and mind were capable of and will give you a blueprint to become a tougher, more resilient and ultimately better human – whatever the challenge you face.