Al Rodin is a writer and illustrator from London. He studied children's book illustration at Cambridge School of Art and received the 2019 Sebastian Walker Prize. Al enjoys working with a wide variety of materials including acrylic, watercolour and collage. His paintings have been exhibited in galleries around Europe and Asia, and he was selected for lllustrators' Exhibition at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in 2019. Little Echo is his first book.

Al Rodin

Al Smith

Alain Gheerbrant

Alain de Botton is the bestselling author of fifteen books, including The School of Life: An Emotional Education, How Proust Can Change Your Life, The Consolations of Philosophy, The Art of Travel and The Course of Love. He is the founder of The School of Life (theschooloflife.com).

Alain de Botton

Alaina Urquhart is the science-loving co-host of the chart-topping show Morbid: A True Crime Podcast. As an autopsy technician by trade, she offers a unique perspective from deep inside the morgue. Alaina hails from Boston, where she lives with her wonderful husband, John, their three amazing daughters, and a ghost Puggle named Bailey. She is about 75 percent coffee, and truly believes she and Agent Clarice Starling could be friends. 
 
Before writing her first psychological horror novel, she received degrees in criminal justice, psychology, and biology. When she isn't hosting Morbid, she hosts the Parcast original show Crime Countdown, and a horror movie podcast called Scream!. Her days are usually spent either recording or eviscerating. The way she sees it, when she hangs up her microphone for the day, it's time to let the dead speak.

Alaina Urquhart

Alaine Hood

Alan Alda

Born in London in 1939, Alan Ayckbourn is one of  the world's most popular and prolific playwrights. He has written 74  full length plays and more than 20 other revues and plays for children.  He is also an acclaimed director. Alan Ayckbourn was awarded a CBE in  1987. Ten years later to the day, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II  'for services to the theatre.'

Alan Ayckbourn

Alan Baker

Alan Barker

Alan Beattie

Alan Bennett is one of Britain's best-loved and most highly acclaimed writers. He has written widely for radio, television and theatre. His latest play, The History Boys, won several awards, including Evening Standard and Critics' Circle Awards for Best Play and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. It also won six Tony Awards, including Best Play, following an extremely successful transfer to Broadway. In 2006 Bennett was named Author of the Year at the British Book Awards for Untold Stories, his collection of memoirs and diaries.

Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett's television series Talking Heads has become a modern-day classic, as have many of his works for the stage, including Forty Years On, The Lady in the Van, The Madness of George III (together with the Oscar-nominated screenplay The Madness of King George) and an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows. The History Boys won the Evening Standard and Critics' Circle awards for Best Play, The Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the South Bank Award.

Alan Bishop

ALAN BOOTH was born in London in 1946 and travelled to Japan in 1970 to study Noh theatre. He stayed, working as a writer and film critic, until his untimely death in 1993.

Alan Booth

Alan Brazil is a Scottish broadcasting legend and former football player, most notably for Ipswich Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and internationally for Scotland. He played as a forward before being forced to retire due to a recurring back injury. 
 
After retirement, Alan moved into media presentation, initially on television, before a career in radio where for many years he has presented the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show on TalkSPORT.

Alan Brazil

Alan Bullock

Alan Carr

Alan Carr is one of Britain's most successful and treasured comedians. His unique humour and effortless stage presence have earned him a catalogue of awards including Best Chat Show host at the publicly voted for 2015 National Television Awards, winner of the 2013 BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance and 2013 British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. In previous years he has garnered a clutch of awards, from the 2012 National Television Award for Best Talk Show and the 2012 Loaded LAFTA Award for Best Stand-up to the 2010 TV Choice Awards for Best Entertainment Show. There were also nominations for Best New British Comedy &amp; Best Comedy Entertainment Personality at the 2009 British Comedy Awards. 
 
The success of the first series of his own chat show, 'Alan Carr: Chatty Man', in the summer of 2009, led to Channel 4 commissioning 16 further series' as well as numerous Christmas Specials and New Year Specstaculars. In September 2013, the 100th episode aired with A-list guests Justin Timberlake and Rihanna. Guests from past series include: Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Cameron Diaz, Vin Diesel, Adele, Grace Jones, Naomi Campbell, Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Robin Williams, David Walliams, Mariah Carey, Russell Brand, Samuel L Jackson, Miley Cyrus, Robbie Williams, Bette Midler, Sharon Osbourne, One Direction, Gok Wan and Miranda Hart. 
 
The DVD of Alan's 2007 debut stand-up show, 'Tooth Fairy Live' topped the HMV charts and was a Christmas 2007 top seller. 
 
His best-selling debut autobiography 'Look Who It Is' was published in September 2008 by HarperCollins. 
 
In 2011, Alan travelled the country with his second live tour. 'Spexy Beast Live' was a 33-date arena tour and culminated in the successful DVD of the same name. 
 
Throughout 2015, Alan hit the road once again and performed at over 150 sold-out theatre's across the UK and Ireland with his 'Yap, Yap, Yap!' live show. His third stand up DVD 'Alan Carr - Yap Yap Yap! Live' was released by Universal Pictures (UK) in November 2016. 
 
2016 has also seen Alan go global with international performances of his Yap Yap Yap! live show throughout Scandinavia, Montreal (at the prestigious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival) and can currently be seen on tour this summer in New Zealand and Australia this summer, with two shows at the iconic Sydney Opera House. 
 
Alan also hosts Channel 4's flagship fundraising show 'Stand Up To Cancer' which in 2014 went on to raise an amazing £14 million for Cancer Research. Alan returns once again to host 'Stand Up To Cancer' on Channel 4 this October. 
 
Alanatomy: The Inside Story is Alan's second memoir, and will be published by Penguin in October 2016.

Alan Clark

Alan Clements

Alan Connor has been the question editor for BBC2's Only Connect and Richard Osman's House of Games. He is the author of books for Pointless and The Traitors and is the puzzle consultant for the BBC1 drama Ludwig. He writes puzzles for various newspapers and has written for Charlie Brooker series and Have I Got News for You. His favourite quiz question is: What word was intentionally omitted from the screenplay of The Godfather?

Alan Connor

Alan Connor is the author of Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword ("witty, charming, encyclopaedic and highly readable" - Spectator) and The Joy of Quiz ("An absolute delight" - Mail on Sunday). He has made quizzes for various TV shows and newspapers and written comedy including BBC Film's The Rack Pack, A Young Doctor's Notebook (Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe) and Have I Got News For You.

Alan Cowell

Alan Curtis

Alan Cutler

Alan Davies

Alan Dean Foster

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Steve James

In 1999, England slumped to a new low in their tumultuous cricket history. Defeat at home by a mediocre New Zealand team saw them fall to the bottom of the world Test rankings, below even Zimbabwe. Yet only just over a decade later, England reached the top. It was a remarkable and profound transformation, brought about largely by two men with an insatiable desire to succeed, Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower. 
 
In The Plan, Steve James tells the story of the renaissance of English cricket from a unique perspective. As the former batting partner of ECB managing director Hugh Morris, a player under Fletcher at Glamorgan and Flower's closest confidant in the press corps, James is the perfect analyst of this period in cricket history. From crucial choices of captain to innovative coaching and a complete overhaul of training and preparation for matches, it is the tale of a refusal to be second best. 
 
And in examining Fletcher and Flower's background in Zimbabwe, where James himself played, he uncovers the continental shift behind the turnaround. It is the story of how English steel was melded with African fire to create the most potent combination in world cricket.

The Plan: How Fletcher and Flower Transformed English Cricket

J Hennessey

When Alex Higgins' first manager, John McLaughlin, bestowed the nickname 'Hurricane Higgins' on the young, feisty snooker player he had no idea just how apt it was to prove over the next thirty years. Eye of the Hurricane details a sad but uplifting story of a man who had everything to play for but now has to play hard for anything he can get. It describes Higgins, sitting fitfully on snooker's sidelines, still has a story to tell, another controversy to spark. Author John Hennessey promises a 'wart and all' account of Alex Higgin's life and that is precisely what he delivers in this thoroughly absorbing book. . . well-told but cautionary tale of how narr ow the line is between genius and insanity 'This first proper account of Higgin's life is all the more clear-eyed for being written without his co-operation.

Alex Higgins: Snooker Legend

Eye of the Hurricane

Bradley Wiggins

On 22 July 2012 Bradley Wiggins made history as the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. Ten days later at the London Olympic Games he won gold in the time trial to become his country’s most decorated Olympian. In an instant ‘Wiggo’, the kid from Kilburn, was a national hero. 
 
Outspoken, honest, intelligent and fearless, Wiggins has been hailed as the people’s champion. From his lowest ebb following a catastrophic attempt to conquer the 2012 Tour and the loss of his granddad who had raised him as a boy, My Time tells the story of his remarkable journey to win the world's toughest race. 
 
INCLUDES A BRAND NEW CHAPTER 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARD FOR BEST AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Bradley Wiggins - My Time

An Autobiography

Duncan Hamilton

'Without football, we were strangers under a shared roof. With it, we were father and son.’ 
 
Inspired by his father’s devotion to Newcastle United and the heroes of yesteryear, Duncan Hamilton brings to life a bygone age telling the story of British football from the hardscrabble 1940s and the ‘never-had-it-so-good’ ’50s right through to the dowdy First Division of the ’70s and ’80s, and today’s slick Premiership. Hamilton recalls some of football’s most sublime players, managers and characters, from Bill Shankly and Jackie Milburn to George Best and Lionel Messi. 
 
But at the heart of The Footballer Who could Fly is Hamilton’s relationship with his own father. Here he tells how football became the only real connection between two people who, apart from their love of the beautiful game, were wholly different from one another.

The Footballer Who Could Fly

Simon du Beaumarche

Who is The Stig? Where did he come from? Why does he never speak? 
 
To answer these questions, award-winning biographer Simon du Beaumarche spent a year chasing The Stig and talking to those closest to him, including Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and leading figures from Formula 1, music, movies and the military. 
 
What he discovered is an explosive story of intrigue, influence and a sensational conspiracy that seeks to hide the truth about one of the 21st century’s greatest icons. 
 
Get behind the visor of the man, the myth, the driver, the legend, THE STIG. 
 
This book contains adult humour and some themes that may be unsuitable for children.

The Stig

The Untold Story

Jim Stynes

In July 2009, Jim Stynes was diagnosed with cancer and given less than a year to live. The diagnosis caught him by surprise - he was 42, healthy, fit - and he didn't have time for illness: he was director of a foundation for young people, president of Melbourne Football Club, father of two primary school-aged kids, husband of Sam. Knowing his odds weren't good, but with so much to lose, Jim put everything he had into trying to beat the disease. 
 
He was well equipped to beat the odds - he'd been getting the most out of himself in every aspect of life since his childhood in Dublin. Jim's ability to use mind over matter and his will to succeed gave him two extra years on the prognosis. He had more than 25 tumours removed from his brain and stomach, and defied expectations time and time again. 
 
This book is Jim's legacy. Unflinching in its detail, Jim talks about what he found out about himself when things were at their worst - about what really counts when you're stacking it all up. It's a moving, inspiring story of a life lived fearlessly.

My Journey

Graham Ratcliffe

On the night of 10-11 May 1996, eight climbers perished in what remains the worst disaster in Everest's history. Following the tragedy, numerous accounts were published, with Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air becoming an international bestseller. But has the whole story been told? 
 
A Day to Die For reveals the full, startling facts that led to the tragedy. Graham Ratcliffe, the first British climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest twice, was a first-hand witness, having spent the night on Everest's South Col at 26,000 ft, sheltering from the deadly storm. For years, he has shouldered a burden of guilt, feeling that he and his teammates could have saved lives that fateful night. His quest for answers has led to discoveries so important to an understanding of the disaster that he now questions why these facts were not made public sooner. 
 
History is dotted with high-profile disasters that both horrify and capture the attention of the public, but very rarely is our view of them revised to such devastating effect.

A Day to Die For

1996: Everest's Worst Disaster - One Survivor's Personal Journey to Uncover the Truth

Simon Jordan

The ultimate gift for every football fan. Ever dreamed of owning your boyhood football club? Be careful what you wish for... 
 
Simon Jordan grew up a stone's throw from Crystal Palace Football Club. As a boy he used to break into the Palace ground for a kick-about on the hallowed turf. On leaving school he entered the mobile phone business. By the age of thirty-two, he'd built a company from nothing, sold it for £75 million and bought his childhood club. By the age of forty-two Palace was in administration and Jordan had lost nigh on everything. 
 
Be Careful What You Wish For lifts the lid on the owner's story and reveals for the first time how the national game really works. Jordan spares no one, least of all himself, as he takes us inside a world where hopes and aspirations sit alongside greed, self-interest, overpriced players, dodgy transfers and top-level incompetence. He doesn't hold back. 
 
Breathtakingly honest, highly controversial, humorous and full of jaw-dropping anecdotes, this is far more than a football book. It is a social commentary on the culture of great wealth and ambition; a Shakespearean tragedy that exposes the dark side of chasing a dream. 
 
‘If you are a football fan and have not read this book, you are missing out’ John Inverdale 
 
‘One hell of a read’ Sport Magazine 
 
'One of the best football books you will ever read' Birmingham Post

Be Careful What You Wish For

Tyler Hamilton

Daniel Coyle

WINNER OF THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 
 
On a fateful night in 2009, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle met for dinner in Boulder, Colorado. Over the next eighteen months, Hamilton would tell Coyle his story, and his sport's story, in explosive detail, never sparing himself in the process. In a way, he became as obsessed with telling the truth as he had been with winning the Tour de France just a few years before. The truth would set Tyler free, but would also be the most damning indictment yet of teammates like Lance Armstrong. 
 
The result of this determination is The Secret Race, a book that pulls back the curtain and takes us into the secret world of professional cycling like never before. A world populated by unbelievably driven – and some flawed – characters. A world where the competition used every means to get an edge, and the options were stark. A world where it often felt like there was no choice.

The Secret Race

Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs

Stephen Roche

In 1987, Irish cycling legend Stephen Roche had an extraordinary year – the year to end all years. 
 
June 1987: Winner of the Giro d’Italia 
July 1987: Secured the yellow jersey at the Tour De France 
September 1987: Victory at the World Cycling Championships in Austria 
 
By winning the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and world championships in the same season, Stephen Roche defied all odds to win cycling’s ‘triple crown’.Born to Ride, his first full autobiography, takes this extraordinary year as the starting point to explore the rest of his life. He doesn't hold back as he examines the many ups and downs of his time on and off the bike, scrutinising victories, defeats, rivals, serious injury, doping allegations and agonising family breakdown. Beneath the charm and rare natural talent, Roche finally reveals himself as a smiling assassin - a master strategist who lives to attack. 
 
 ‘One of the most riveting sporting biographies I've read’ Herald

Born to Ride

The Autobiography of Stephen Roche

Geordan Murphy

Geordan Murphy does not come from the leafy suburbs of south Dublin or the rugby hotbeds of Limerick or Cork. As a teenager he played Gaelic football for Kildare minors. But his greatest love, and his true genius, was for rugby. 
 
Playing outhalf, he led Newbridge College to the Leinster schools cup final - and was then left off the Irish schools team that toured Australia. 'He's not good enough,' a selector told his father. 'He's too slow.' Leinster didn't show much interest either, and so it was that a skinny but gifted kid from Naas ended up starting his club career at England's leading club, Leicester. 
 
Now nearing the end of a career that has seen him win over seventy Ireland caps - a number that a great many supporters and pundits believe should be considerably higher - Geordan Murphy tells his own story for the first time. It is a tale of phenomenal highs (including a Grand Slam and two Heineken Cups) and agonizing lows - none worse than the broken leg he suffered on the eve of the 2003 World Cup, when he was at the very top of his game. 
 
The Outsider is a frank, colourful chronicle of a career by a richly talented rugby player who developed, along the way, into a thinking man's rugby player.

The Outsider

Clare Balding

'I had spent most of my childhood thinking I was a dog, and suspect I had aged in dog years. By the time I was ten I had discovered the pain of unbearable loss. I had felt joy and jealousy. Most important of all, I knew how to love and how to let myself be loved. All these things I learnt through animals. Horses and dogs were my family and my friends. This is their story as much as it is mine' 
 
Clare Balding grew up in a rather unusual household. Her father a champion trainer, she shared her life with more than 100 thoroughbred racehorses, mares, foals and ponies, as well as an ever-present pack of boxers and lurchers. As a toddler she would happily ride the legendary Mill Reef and take breakfast with the Queen. 
 
She and her younger brother came very low down the pecking order. Left to their own devices, they had to learn life's toughest lessons through the animals, and through their adventures in the stables and the idyllic Hampshire Downs. From the protective Candy to the pot-bellied Valkyrie and the frisky Hattie, each horse and each dog had their own character and their own special part to play. 
 
The running family joke was that "women ain't people". Clare has to prove them wrong, to make her voice heard - but first she had to make sure she had something to say. 
 
My Animals and Other Family is a funny, brave, tender story of self-discovery.

My Animals and Other Family

Mark Whitaker

In 1928 two extraordinary Englishmen competed in an unprecedented event - a transcontinental road race across America that required them to run an average of 40 miles for 80 consecutive days. 
 
Despite being separated by class, education and age, Peter Gavuzzi and Arthur Newton became close friends and formed a successful business partnership as endurance athletes. They raced in 500-mile relays, in 24-hour events, in snowshoes and against horses; and they became the stars of a craze for endurance events that swept across depression-era North America and the most famous long-distance runners in the world. 
 
However, history has forgotten these two men, and in Running for Their Lives - in a story peopled with remarkable characters, unimaginable feats and tragic twists of fate - they only now receive the recognition they so richly deserve.

Running For Their Lives

The Extraordinary Story of Britain’s Greatest Ever Distance Runners

Ian Rush

Ian Rush is one of the greatest goal scorers of all time. This will be his full and long-awaited autobiography and as such its publication this autumn will be a key event in sports publishing. In it 'Rushie', one of Liverpool's most revered and long-standing players, reveals in depth the trials and triumphs of his career, playing under such great Liverpool managers as Shankly, Paisley, Fagan, Dalglish and Evans; and his thoughts and feelings about fellow players John Barnes, Jamie Redknapp and Robbie Fowler. Aside from Liverpool, Rush takes a frank look at his time playing for home country Wales, where he is the record goal scorer. It will also deal with his views on the game and where it is heading, as well as his own future after playing in the FA Cup Final when he leaves Liverpool at the end of the 1996 season.

Ian Rush - An Autobiography With Ken Gorman

Patrick Robinson

Daniel Topolski

WINNER OF THE FIRST WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK AWARD Strikingly reminiscent of Chariots of Fire, this classic bestseller tells the story of the sporting event which shook both Oxford University and its Boat Club to the very foundations during the harsh winter of 1986/7. 
 
A group of American students arrives at Oxford, hoping to put some steel into a Boat Race crew still reeling from their recent humiliating defeat at the hands of Cambridge. But disagreements over training methods soon bring to a head a bitter clash between the elected President of the Dark Blues and a fiery-tempered rower from California. 
 
Much more than the race is at stake in this clash between the amateur sporting tradition of the Boat Race and New World big-star sportsmanship. In the resulting battle, which made headline news worldwide, the rebels, having failed to remove the Boat Club President, pull out six weeks before the race. 
 
Can Oxford Coach Topolski, against all odds, mould an inexperienced and demoralized reserve crew of no-hopers into a winning team?

True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny

William Fotheringham

THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLER 
 
What makes a man the greatest of all time? Eddy Merckx is to cycling what Muhammad Ali is to boxing or Pelé to football: quite simply, the best there has ever been. 
 
Merckx was a machine. It wasn't just the number of victories (445); it was his remorseless domination that created the legend. He didn't just beat his opponents, he crushed them. But his triumphs only tell half a story that includes horrific injury, a doping controversy and tragedy. He was nicknamed 'The Cannibal' for his insatiable appetite for victory, but the moniker did scant justice to a man who was handsome, sensitive and surprisingly anxious. Britain's leading cycling writer, William Fotheringham, goes back to speak to those who were there at the time and those who knew Merckx best to find out what made Eddy Merckx so invincible. 
 
'The full unvarnished of one man’s heaven, and hell, on wheels' Independent

Merckx: Half Man, Half Bike

Jack Milburn

Written by his own son, Jackie Milburn: A Man of Two Halves gives an unprecedented insight into the life and career of the legendary Newcastle United forward. To this day, 'Wor Jackie' remains the Magpies' top goalscorer, having notched up 238 goals in 492 appearances in the black-and-white shirt throughout the 1940s and '50s. Milburn also won the FA Cup with Newcastle three times in five years. 
 
Jackie Milburn delves beneath the surface glory to reveal how, in spite of his remarkable success as a player, Milburn was constantly tortured by his lack of self-belief. It details his days across the Irish Sea after becoming player/coach at Protestant Linfield FC and explains why he felt the need to move on after receiving menacing threats directed at his family. It reveals how, as newly appointed manager of Ipswich Town, he had a totally unexpected falling out with the departing England supremo, Alf Ramsey. We also learn how the pressures of work took their toll on Milburn and how he spent his post-football days working in a scrapyard, before being rescued by the world of sports journalism. 
 
Later in life, many honours continued to be bestowed upon Milburn, and when he died in 1988 huge crowds lined the streets for his funeral parade. 
 
Few people had a bad word to say about Jackie Milburn, and this candid biography, with contributions from Sir Bobby Robson and Alan Shearer, expertly demonstrates why he is still held in high esteem half a century after the peak of his career and 16 years after his death.

Jackie Milburn

A Man of Two Halves

Harold Davis

Paul Smith

As Harold Davis fell under heavy machine-gun fire, his body riddled with bullet wounds and life seemingly slipping away from him, he could not have realised that he was one of the Korean War’s more fortunate soldiers. American medics sprang into action and, against all odds, saved the plucky young Scot, a man who proved tougher than the bullets the brutal enemy showered him with. 
 
Unlike tens of thousands of those who fought in Korea in the 1950s, he lived to tell the tale of his horrific experiences on the front line. Now, for the first time, the Black Watch hero shares his vivid and harrowing memories. 
 
A man of tremendous grit and determination, Davis was pieced back together during almost two years in hospital. He defied doctors to return to his pre-war career as a professional footballer, building a reputation as one of Scotland’s most feared and revered defenders at Rangers FC.

Tougher Than Bullets

The Heroic Tale of a Black Watch Survivor of the Korean War

Sugar Ray Leonard

'To be legendary you got to have heart... Ray's heart was bigger than all the rest' Muhammad Ali 
 
SUGAR RAY LEONARD was one of the greatest boxers ever. An artist and a showman he was always willing to take the difficult fight: his gruelling encounters with Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler have become legendary. 
 
Ray's autobiography takes you into the ring - with the mind games, brutality and euphroia. But, outside of the ring, Ray's biggest opponent was himself. From early domestic violence and sexual abuse to a blur of fame, sex, greed, drink and drug addiction at the height of his career that cost him so much, The Big Fight is a remarkable portrait of the rise, fall and final redeption of a true fighter in every sense.

The Big Fight

My Story

Steve Fossett

In 2005, just two years before his untimely death in a plane crash, Steve Fossett completed the first solo, non-stop, non-refuelled circumnavigation of the world at the helm of the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. But what made someone like Steve give up a secure, wellpaid job for the romantic, yet dangerous world of the adventurer? 
 
His adventurous spirit has piqued the intrigue of his fellow competitors and sports aficionados, and attracted the notice of the world. 
 
Written just one year before his tragic death in 2007, in this dynamic autobiography Steve Fossett shares his inspirational stories in a personal, intimate voice and candidly recounts the milestones, challenges and victories that have made up his much-heralded career and paved the way to his 109 world records.

Chasing The Wind

The Autobiography of Steve Fossett

Jackie Turpin

Now in his 80th year, 'Battling' Jack Turpin is the last surviving member of his generation of Britain's best-known and best-loved boxing family. 
 
Jack's father, Lionel Turpin, came from British Guiana to volunteer for the British Army during the Great War. He was wounded on the battlefields of France and invalided to Warwick, the first black man to settle in the area. Lionel married a local girl but his early death left her struggling to raise their three sons and two daughters in pre-Welfare State England. 
 
As young men, the excitement and gladiatorial glamour of the ring lured Jack and his brothers into professional boxing. From a home-made backstreet gymnasium, they punched their way into the record books and into the hearts of the British people. 
 
Battling Jack is a wonderfully narrated account of the life and times of a remarkable man who was once Britain's busiest featherweight. It is also the history of the beginnings of a black presence in British boxing. Turpin offers us a ringside seat at heroic battles and comic encounters. He takes us behind the scenes of a scandal that rocked the sporting world and into his confidence about the mystery that surrounds his younger brother's death. 
 
Jack Turpin has out-stared ignorance and prejudice, tasted triumph and celebrity, and endured hardship and tragedy. Heart-rending, raw, honest and funny, his is a story that had to be told.

Battling Jack Turpin

You Gotta Fight Back

Peter Jackson

England has contributed some of the greatest players and most colourful characters to the rich history of the Lions, and never more so than in recent years. During the course of little more than a decade, a golden era for the Red Rose yielded four Grand Slams en route to the thrilling climax of the World Cup victory in Sydney, a triumph which has catapulted some of the side's stars to a higher plane in the nation's affections. It is not surprising, therefore, that English players have dominated the last four Lions tours in a way which none of the home countries has done before. 
 
Lions of England presents the country's most famous players in a series of revealing portraits, each telling a fascinating story woven around monumental Test matches. Rich in previously untold anecdote and humour, these accounts illustrate the lives and times of the greats spanning three-quarters of a century - from one pre-war knight of the realm, Carl Aarvold, to a more recent one, Clive Woodward. All the evocative names of English rugby are featured here, from Dickie Jeeps to Martin Johnson, Jeff Butterfield to Jason Robinson, Dean Richards to Lawrence Dallaglio. Other chapters are devoted to Peter Jackson (a rather better player than the author), John Pullin, Roger Uttley, Fran Cotton, David Duckham, Bill Beaumont, Peter Wheeler, Jeremy Guscott, Rob Andrew, Jason Leonard and, of course, Jonny Wilkinson. 
 
Peter Jackson, the Daily Mail's award-winning rugby writer, has drawn on all his experience and eye for the unusual to give the reader an insight into what makes these talented players tick as people, the early influences which shaped their careers and the momentous events which made them household names. 
 
Bang up to date with the inclusion of the summer 2005 series against the All Blacks and a comprehensive records appendix, Lions of England is sure to inform and entertain rugby lovers of every generation in equal measure.

Lions of England

John Budden

The sudden death of Gordon W. Richards in late September 1998 brought a premature end to a legendary training career which had seen him rise from obscurity to national fame as master of his profession. 
 
Consigned to racing's scrap-heap with a broken back at the age of 29, he scraped a living as a livery stable proprietor and horse-dealer in a remote part of Northumberland until, five years later, he `discovered' Playlord and a new dawn broke. 
 
Rugged, demanding, often outspoken, sometimes ruthless but never lacking in humour, Gordon made relentless progress through the training ranks. `The Boss', as he was widely known, liked to run his stable his own way. Horses, not humans, headed the pecking order, as many famous riders and owners discovered to their cost. Few escaped unscathed, but in over 30 years he employed only six stable jockeys, and two of these, Ron Barry and Jonjo O'Neill, gained championship honours. 
 
The Boss charts the successes of the man who twice saddled more than a hundred winners in a single season and who scooped the pool in the Aintree Grand National on two occasions. This enthralling biography, written with full co-operation of Richards himself, provides a compelling insight into the forces that drove him to become one of the most respected trainers in the world.

The Boss

The Life and Times of Horseracing Legend Gordon W. Richards

Mervyn Davies

David Roach

Few rugby players have matched the achievements of Welshman Mervyn Davies, the shrewd, gutsy number 8 with the heart of a lion. In what was a remarkable career, he won two Grand Slams, three Triple Crowns, earned thirty-eight consecutive Wales caps, was captain of his national team and played in two victorious Lions tours. 
 
 From the tail end of the 1960s through the first half of the glorious '70s period, 'Merv the Swerve' - with that mop of black hair and trademark headband - cut an iconic figure in the world's great rugby arenas. Teammates and opponents respected him, fans loved him and he was a natural leader of men both on and off the field.Then, in March 1976, everything changed. Mervyn was leading Swansea in a semi-final cup clash when he suffered a massive brain haemorrhage. He began that fateful Sunday preparing for just another high-profile game but ended it fighting for his life. Wales, and the watching sporting world, could do nothing but wait and hope. And just when the odds seemed stacked irreversibly against him, Mervyn did what he had always done: he beat them. 
 
 Mervyn's life story is one of what was and what might have been. From locker-room tales to the loneliness of rehabilitation, Mervyn's account is funny, moving and honest. He writes about his many highs and lows, about losing rugby but regaining his life, and shares his thoughts on the days he spent in shadow and in strength.

In Strength And Shadow

The Mervyn Davies Story

Neil Jenkins

Paul Rees

Neil Jenkins is the most prolific goal-kicker in the history of British international rugby. A match-winner with Pontypridd and Wales, a veteran of the Lions Tours – including the 2001 Tour of Australia – his crowning moment came with the Lions in South Africa in 1997 when his unerring accuracy with the boot earned the tourists only their second series victory against the Springboks. 
 
Capped by Wales when he was just 19, Jenkins helped to turn Pontypridd from the Cinderellas of Welsh rugby into the league champions and one of the most feared teams in the country. After just 28 internationals he broke the Welsh points-scoring record. 
 
First published in 1998, Life at Numer 10 is a fascinating account of how Jenkins, a boy from the tip of the Rhondda Valley, started his working life as a scrap merchant – only to become one of the most sought-after players in Britain and the most-capped player for Wales. He tells how the pressure of being the Wales outside-half, following in the footsteps of legends such as Cliff Morgan, David Watkins, Barry John, Phil Bennett and Jonathon Davies, took its toll; and his frustration at being moved by Wales to centre full-back. He reveals the secrets behind Pontypridd's rise to prominence, the reasons why he left them in 1999 to join Cardiff, and his fears for the future of the Welsh game.

Life At Number 10

W.K. Stratton

In 1956, at age 21, Floyd Patterson became the youngest boxer to win the title of world heavyweight champion and then, later, the first ever to lose and regain it. 
 
Here, acclaimed author W.K. Stratton chronicles the life of 'The Gentle Gladiator' - an athlete overshadowed by Ali's theatrics and Liston's fearsome reputation, and a civil-rights activist overlooked in the who's who of race politics. 
 
From the Gramercy Gym and wild-card manager Cus D'Amato to a final rematch against Ali in 1972, Patterson's career spanned boxing's Golden Age and included an Olympic gold medal. 
 
This powerful tribute to an invisible champion who fought his way to the top of a knockdown world, carrying many of the hopes and fears of the battle for civil rights, draws upon interviews with the fighter's friends and boxing contemporaries to provide the definitive account of his remarkable life and career.

Floyd Patterson

The Fighting Life of Boxing's Invisible Champion

Ben Ainslie

Knife-edge decisions, adrenalin rushes, extreme weather, bitter rivalries, heart-stopping races – they are all in a day’s work for Ben Ainslie. 
 
Against all odds, in the London 2012 Olympics Ben Ainslie thrillingly won a fourth successive gold medal, making him the greatest ever Olympic sailor and a British hero, chosen from many to be the flag bearer for the closing ceremony. 
 
From his proudest moment representing Team GB, to one tough decision that almost risked destroying his career, this is a unique insight into the man who cannot let himself be second best. It shows what really takes place in the white heat of competition and lifts the lid on this toughest of sports. 
 
REVISED AND UPDATED FOR PAPERBACK TO INCLUDE LONDON 2012.

Ben Ainslie: Close to the Wind

Britain's Greatest Olympic Sailor

How did Great Britain conquer the Tour de France? 
 
In 2012 Bradley Wiggins made history by becoming the first Briton ever to win the Tour de France. His compatriot Chris Froome came second while fellow Brits, the 'fastest man on earth' Mark Cavendish and reformed doper David Millar, made sure that between them Britain accounted for 7 of a possible 21 stage wins. The golden era of British cycling had begun. 
 
 In Roule Britannia, number one bestselling author William Fotheringham, charts British cycling's rise to the top and provides us with the definitive account of the nation’s Tour de France achievements through exclusive interviews with and profiles of cycling champions - from the early days of Brian Robinson to Bradley Wiggins's dominant ride via Tom Simpson, Robert Millar, Chris Boardman and many others, Roule Britannia celebrates a nation's love affair with the greatest race of all. 
 
‘Brilliant...tells each story with passion and sensitivity’ Sunday Times

Roule Britannia

Great Britain and the Tour de France

Richard Noble

They said it couldn't be done. Sceptics warned that as a car approached 750 mph the shock waves generated when it hit the sound barrier would either force it off the ground like an aeroplane or tear it apart. 
Richard Noble, the modern embodiment of the swashbuckling British speed seeker of yesteryear, was used to that kind of blinkered thinking. He had held the title of The Fastest Man on Earth since 1983, when his Thrust 2 car set a new world land speed record at 633 mph. Critics had argued that he would fail then, too. Noble liked nothing better than a fight. In the late 1990s, as a gripping Anglo-American race began to create the world's first supersonic car, he was determined to achieve this world first for Britain. 
On 15 October 1997, Noble's Thrust SSC, driven by ice-cool RAF Squadron Leader Andy Green, smashed through the sound barrier to create the first supersonic land speed record at 763 mph. The Thrust SSC team had beaten the Americans, thumbed its nose at the sceptics, and realized what seemed an impossible dream. It was a triumph for British engineering, technology and derring-do. 
This is Richard Noble's story of his obsession with speed, from his early days with the crude self-built Thrust 1 jet car, to the world beating Thrust 2; from his innovative ARV Super 2 plane to Atlantic Sprinter, his failed attempt to build a record-breaking boat; culminating in Thrust SSC, the fastest car in the world. 
It is not just a tale of unbroken success but of disappointment and struggle, too - of how Noble risked everything he had to keep the SSC project alive; and of the unentangled human emotions behind one of the greatest engineering achievements of the twentieth century.

Thrust: The Remarkable Story Of One Man's Quest For Speed

John Williams

Many years have now passed since the greatest period of European dominance by any English football club came to an end. Between 1977 and 1984, Liverpool won the European Cup an unprecedented four times and established themselves as the number-one team in Europe. It was during the successful European Cup campaigns of 1981 and 1984 that the unlikely figure of Alan Kennedy came to dominate the headlines. 
 
Folk-hero left-back Alan Kennedy - nicknamed 'Barney Rubble' by fans after The Flintstones character due to his straightforward, no-frills approach to the game - scored the winning goal in the 1981 European Cup final against Real Madrid, as well as the nerve-twanging winning shoot-out penalty against AS Roma in 1984, a feat which secured his position in European football history. 
 
Kennedy's Way examines Kennedy's footballing career under manager Bob Paisley (and, later, under Joe Fagan) and provides a retrospective account of Liverpool's dominance during those years. Drawing on Kennedy's memories of the period, as well as those of other players and backroom staff involved with the Reds at that time, it is an irreverent, revealing account of the dressing-room culture at the club while it was at the height of its powers. 
 
The book concludes with reflections on Kennedy's post-playing life and on the trajectory of Liverpool since the Heysel and Hillsborough tragedies, in 1985 and 1989 respectively, right up to recent events at the club, including the exit of Gérard Houllier and the team's dramatic return to the pinnacle of European club football under new manager Rafael Benítez.

Inside Bob Paisley's Liverpool

Kennedy's Way

Drenai Novels

DropZone

Duggee's Little Library

Dungeon Crawler Carl Series

Duty Calls

A gripping three-part series based on real historical events. Three Roman legions massacred. Three Imperial Eagles lost. One man vies for revenge.

Eagles of Rome

For thirty years, the O’Donnels have ruled the East End, but there’s a price to pay for this power, and it’s usually in blood.

Eastend Trilogy

Easterleigh Hall

Eat Around Italy

Eat Around Spain

Eat Right For Blood Type

Ebb and Flo

Ed Reardon's Week

Elemental Emergence

Elfies Spellbook

Eliot Biographies

Emma Trilogy

Emma and James

Empire of Salt

In the Swedish town of Engelsfors, a mysterious forcedraws seven teenagers together. They are the Chosen Ones, and they have been chosen to drive back the demons that threaten to overwhelm the world

Engelsfors Trilogy

England's Medieval Queens

English Heritage

Erica Martin Thriller

Eternal Ones

Eve of Man Trilogy

Everyman's Library Barbreck

Everyman's Children's Classics has more than 50 titles in print. It offers the finest editions currently available of the world's greatest children's books in handsome, full cloth hardcover bindings. 
 
The library brings back into print major illustrators such as Ivan Bilibin, Kate Greenaway, Arthur Rackham, Nicolas Bentley, Walter Crane, Aubrey Beardsley, Edward Ardizzone, W.Heath Robinson and Mervyn Peake.

Everyman's Library CHILDREN'S CLASSICS

The finest editions available of the world's greatest classics from Homer to Achebe, Tolstoy to Ishiguro, Proust to Pullman, printed on a fine acid-free, cream-wove paper that will not discolour with age, with sewn, full cloth bindings and silk ribbon markers, and at remarkably low prices. All books include substantial introductions by major scholars and contemporary writers, and comparative chronologies of literary and historical context.

Everyman's Library CLASSICS

P G Wodehouse is widely recognized as the greatest English comic writer of the twentieth century. 
 
His characters and settings have entered our language and our mythology. The first ever collected edition (Wodehouse had many publishers in his lifetime), the Everyman Wodehouse, will contain all the novels and stories, newly edited and reset from the first British edition. 
 
Printed on cream-wove, acid-free paper, sewn and bound in cloth, each Everyman volume is already recognized as the finest edition of the master ever published.

Everyman's Library P G WODEHOUSE

Everyman's Pocket Classics complements highly successful Pocket Poets series, offering the best prose writing in a handy pocket-sized format. Like all Everyman Library books, each title is printed on a cream-wove, acid-free paper with full cloth sewn binding, headbands and silk ribbon marker. Eminently collectable and great gifts.

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