One of the traditional powerhouses of Welsh first class rugby, Aberavon RFC has a long, proud and illustrious history, with 50 of its players being capped for Wales, the club winning many league titles and domestic cups, and - with Neath RFC - facing the might of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Aberavon RFC is a great rugby club and this is its story. Fully illustrated and packed with photos and club memorabilia, The Wizards is a comprehensive history of the town's premier club, from the days when the men of Aberavon gathered on a farmer's field to challenge rivals from across south Wales, to the formation of the Afan Football Club in 1876 and its development into Aberavon RFC, and from the club finding a home at the Talbot Athletic Ground to the anniversary celebrations of the 2016-17 season. Aberavon RFC's fascinating 140-year story - lovingly written by renowned rugby historians Howard Evans and Phil Atkinson - traces the club's fortunes through its good times, its many challenges and, most importantly, through the personalities who've worn the famous black and red jersey, delighting the home supporters and putting fear into visiting teams. From the days of `One-Arm' Wilkins to `Warhorse' Jones, The Wizards recalls the great names such as Johnny Ring, Ned Jenkins, John Bevan, Clive Shell, Ray Giles, Billy Mainwaring, Max Wiltshire, `Om the Bomb', Allan Martin and Billy James, to current heroes `Buddah', Jamie Davies and Richard Morris, with a special place for the club's greatest supporter, the legendary and much missed Mrs Evelyn Mainwaring.

During the six years of a brutal global war - from the battlefields of Europe, to the deserts of North Africa, the jungles of the Asia and even in Prisoner of War camps - rugby union continued to be played wherever and whenever possible by the servicemen of Britain and her Allies from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, Dedicated to 'all those in rugby who did - and who didn't - make it through those troubled times', War Games is a comprehensive and highly illustrated commemoration, packed with stories and statistics that for the first time chronicles the history of rugby - the men and the matches, from `scratch' to international - during the Second World War. Starting with the short-lived 'infant' season of 1939-40 and ending with the `Victory' series of internationals in 1945-6, and including the hugely successful New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) 'Kiwi' tour of 1946, War Games details all the major rugby contests and the hundreds of players including: Bleddyn Williams, Prince Alex Obolensky, Bill McLaren, Wilf Wooller, Blair Mayne, Sir Tasker Watkins, Ralph Sampson, Gus Risman, Willie Davies, Les Manfield, Charlie Saxton, Fred Allen and Jim Sherratt. Essential and entertaining reading for followers of rugby and military historians alike, respected rugby authors Howard Evans and Phil Atkinson tell the tale - meticulously and with great affection for the game they love - of those men who played for fun but who, on too many occasions, lost more than a rugby game.