Never before have so many people run so many miles, or set themselves such ambitious targets, in pursuit of self-fulfillment: marathons, ultra-marathons, extreme adventures. And never before have people had such high hopes of remaining vigorous and active – young in all but name – long after retiring from the work-place. Yet that last goal, perhaps more precious than any of the others, remains elusive. It can be done, but only a few succeed. Most runners succumb to injury or illness in middle age; others are defeated by dwindling energy levels, or by the gradual falling-off of their peers. They can only envy the charmed few who continue to enjoy the life-enhancing joys of running well into what used to be considered extreme old age. Horrified by the thought of breaking off his life-long love-affair with running, Richard Askwith began to think seriously about a question with profound implications for every enthusiastic runner: how can you keep running, happily and well, for the rest of your life – ideally, well into your nineties and beyond? Askwith’s quest for the secrets of running longevity takes him on a long, mystifying journey: to laboratories and running tracks, cities and remote mountain villages, on several continents. He meets scientists and coaches, gurus and cranks, ninety-year-old sprinters and hundred-year-old marathon runners – and with each passing month his quest grows more urgent.

A quest for the secrets of happy, healthy whole-life running, and how runners can keep enjoying their sport, whatever their age What do you do when the sport that has been your lifeline to physical and mental well-being starts to slip away from you? Richard Askwith, a life-long running enthusiast, was sunk in mid-life despair. Plagued by injuries and demoralised by failing strength and speed, he was on the point of giving up for good. Then he came across the remarkable world of late-life athletics, and resolved to find out more. The result is a thrilling, life-affirming quest for the secrets of the happy few who keep on running all through life's later decades, culminating in a life-changing adventure at the World Masters Athletics Championships. It's a resounding message of hope for any runner who has felt their joy in their sport being undermined by age. Colourful, informative and inspiring, The Race Against Time is a story of cold science and heart-warming resilience; of champions and also-rans; of sprinting centenarians and forty-something super-athletes barely touched by age. Its heroes are experts and enthusiasts - scientists, coaches, runners - from many countries, each with a different story to tell. What unites them is a single belief: that you don't have to take growing old lying down. This is a book for anyone who has ever felt the healing power of running. It is both a very personal account of one man's journey from despair to hope, and an exhilarating guide, explaining how timely adjustments to lifestyle and training can slow the progress of physiological decay, while sheer human spirit can, if you are lucky, keep you running happily and healthily, all the way into extreme old age.

British parliamentary democracy is in a state of advanced decay. The symptoms are familiar: party machines with no goal beyond their own survival; donors and lobbyists whose interests trump the nation's; a disillusioned electorate; and an over-mighty executive whose patronage has become the main driving force of politics. These rots have mixed to breed a caste of career politician more concerned with serving patrons than constituents. We've known this for years, but what can we do about it we can do about it beyond not bothering to vote? However, in the past decade, a new generation's digital revolution has gradually given a voice to the hitherto unheard masses. Its contribution to political discourse, once limited to the occasional `X' on a ballot paper, has been rude, vigorous, anarchic - and spectacularly influential. The tide has turned. The result? A slump in support for the big parties, the rejection of mainstream candidates in the Labour leadership contest; the roar of pent-up rage against the Brussels-friendly elite that led to the Brexit vote of June 2016; and then, five months later, the seemingly crazed elevation of Donald Trump to become the powerful man in the world. This is the story of how the people have taken back the power.

Winner of 'Best New Writer' - British Sports Publishing Awards. Winner of the 'Bill Rollinson Prize for Landscape and Tradition' - Lakeland Book Awards Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award and for the Boardman-Tasker Prize. An inspiring insight into one of the oldest extreme sports, and a lyrical tribute to Britain's mountains and the men and women who live among them, this is the definitive story of fell-running. With an introduction from bestselling author Robert Macfarlane, this is a complete portrait of one of the few sports to have remained utterly true to its roots - in which the point is not fame or fortune but to run the ancient, wild landscape, and to be a hero, if at all, within one's own valley. Richard Askwith's journey takes him into a world of forbidding rockscapes, horizontal rain, fear, exhaustion and stunning natural beauty, as well as his own attempt at one of the purest and toughest challenges imaginable: the Bob Graham Round, the sport's traditional test of 42 Lake District peaks in 24 hours. Along the way, he encounters some of the most prodigious - and unsung - athletes Britain has produced, such as Joss Naylor, who covered the equivalent of four Everests in a single run. Gripping, funny and moving, this is a story that any aspiring runner, endurance athlete or mountain-lover will understand well: of extremity, heroism and the experience of a lifetime.

A moving memoir from a woman who made a fortune in a man's world and then gave it all away...soon to be turned into a film In 1962, Stephanie 'Steve' Shirley created a software company when the concept of software barely existed. Freelance Programmers employed women to work on complex projects such as Concorde's black box recorder from the comfort of their own home. Shirley empowered a generation of women in technology, giving them unheard of freedom to choose their own hours and manage their own workloads. The business thrived and Shirley gradually transferred ownership to her staff, creating 70 millionaires in the process. Let It Go explores Shirley's trail blazing career as an entrepreneur but it also charts her incredible personal story - her dramatic arrival in England as an unaccompanied Kindertransport refugee during World War Two and the tragic loss of her only child who suffered severely from Autism. Today, Dame Stephanie Shirley is one of Britain's leading philanthropists, devoting most of her time, energy and wealth to charities that are close to her heart. In Let It Go, Shirley tells her inspirational story and explains why giving her wealth away - letting it go - has brought her infinitely more happiness and fulfilment than acquiring it in the first place. Co-written with Richard Askwith, the former Executive Editor of The Independent and the award-winning author of seven books in his own name, including biographies of Emil Zatopek and Lata Brandisova. 'An extraordinary tale of creativity and resilience' - Guardian 'This engrossing story of an extraordinary life is filled with lessons in what it means to be human' - Financial Times

LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE CROSS SPORTS BOOK AWARDS BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR The definitive biography of one of the greatest, most extraordinary runners and Olympic heroes of all time, from the author of running classic Feet in the Clouds. Emil Zatopek won five Olympic medals, set 18 world records, and went undefeated over 10,000 metres for six years. He redefined the boundaries of endurance, training in Army boots, in snow, in sand, in darkness. But his toughness was matched by a spirit of friendship and a joie de vivre that transcended the darkest days of the Cold War. His triumphs put his country on the map, yet when Soviet tanks moved in to crush Czechoslovakia's new freedoms in 1968, Zatopek paid a heavy personal price for his brave defence of 'socialism with a human face'. Rehabilitated two decades later, he was a shadow of the man he had been - and the world had all but forgotten him. Today We Die A Little strips away the myths to tell the complex and deeply moving story of the most inspiring Olympic hero of them all.

"We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to enjoy something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon." --Emil Zatopek For a decade after the Second World War, Emil Zatopek--"the Czech locomotive"--redefined the sport of distance running, pushing back the frontiers of what was considered possible. He won five Olympic medals, set eighteen world records, and went undefeated in the 10,000-metre race for six years. His dominance has never been equaled. In the darkest days of the Cold War, he stood for a spirit of generous friendship that transcended nationality and politics. Zatopek was an energetic supporter of the Prague Spring in 1968, championing "socialism with a human face" in Czechoslovakia. But for this he paid a high price. After the uprising was crushed by Soviet tanks, the hardline Communists had their revenge. Zatopek was expelled from the army, stripped of his role in national sport, and condemned to years of hard and degrading manual labor. Based on extensive research in the Czech Republic, interviews with people across the world who knew him, and unprecedented cooperation from his widow, fellow Olympian Dana Zatopkova, journalist Richard Askwith's book breathes new life into the man and the myth, uncovering a glorious age of athletics and an epoch-defining time in world history.

Discover a story that defies belief: National Velvet meets Downton Abbey with a splash of The Leopard. * LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR * Czechoslovakia, October 1937. Vast crowds have gathered to watch the Grand Pardubice steeplechase, Europe's most blood-curdling sporting test of manhood. With war looming, the race has a brutal political significance. The Nazis have sent the SS's all-conquering paramilitary horsemen to crush - yet again - the 'subhuman Slavs'. But Lata Brandisova, a silver-haired countess on a little golden mare, has other ideas... 'Heart-stopping reading' Clover Stroud, Daily Telegraph

Shortlisted for the 2015 Thwaites Wainwright prize for nature writing Richard Askwith wanted more. Not convinced running had to be all about pounding pavements, buying fancy kit and racking up extreme challenges, he looked for ways to liberate himself. His solution: running through muddy fields and up rocky fells, running with his dog at dawn, running because he's being (voluntarily) chased by a pack of bloodhounds, running to get hopelessly, enjoyably lost, running fast for the sheer thrill of it. Running as nature intended. Part diary of a year running through the Northamptonshire countryside, part exploration of why we love to run without limits, Running Free is an eloquent and inspiring account of running in a forgotten, rural way, observing wildlife and celebrating the joys of nature. An opponent of the commercialisation of running, Askwith offers a welcome alternative, with practical tips (learned the hard way) on how to both start and keep running naturally - from thawing frozen toes to avoiding a stampede when crossing a field of cows. Running Free is about getting back to the basics of why we love to run.