Sportsbiografier

The summer of 2018: England sweltered in the most sustained heatwave for 42 years, the government tore itself apart over deals and no deals, and hundreds of miles away, in a taciturn and strange state, the national football team did the unthinkable in the World Cup: they didn't screw it up.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK A ';thoroughly captivating biography' (The San Francisco Chronicle) of American icon Arthur Ashethe Jackie Robinson of men's tennisa pioneering athlete who, after breaking the color barrier, went on to become an influential civil rights activist and public intellectual.Born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1943, by the age of eleven, Arthur Ashe was one of the state's most talented black tennis players. He became the first African American to play for the US Davis Cup team in 1963, and two years later he won the NCAA singles championship. In 1968, he rose to a number one national ranking. Turning professional in 1969, he soon became one of the world's most successful tennis stars, winning the Australian Open in 1970 and Wimbledon in 1975. After retiring in 1980, he served four years as the US Davis Cup captain and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985. In this ';deep, detailed, thoughtful chronicle' (The New York Times Book Review), Raymond Arsenault chronicles Ashe's rise to stardom on the court. But much of the book explores his off-court career as a human rights activist, philanthropist, broadcaster, writer, businessman, and celebrity. In the 1970s and 1980s, Ashe gained renown as an advocate for sportsmanship, education, racial equality, and the elimination of apartheid in South Africa. But from 1979 on, he was forced to deal with a serious heart condition that led to multiple surgeries and blood transfusions, one of which left him HIV-positive. After devoting the last ten months of his life to AIDS activism, Ashe died in February 1993 at the age of forty-nine, leaving an inspiring legacy of dignity, integrity, and active citizenship. Based on prodigious research, including more than one hundred interviews, Arthur Ashe puts Ashe in the context of both his time and the long struggle of African-American athletes seeking equal opportunity and respect, and ';will serve as the standard work on Ashe for some time' (Library Journal, starred review).

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of A Boy in the Water written and read by Tom Gregory. Eltham, South London. 1984: the hot fug of the swimming pool and the slow splashing of a boy learning to swim but not yet wanting to take his foot off the bottom. Fast-forward four years. Photographers and family wait on the shingle beach as a boy in a bright orange hat and grease-smeared goggles swims the last few metres from France to England. He has been in the water for twelve agonizing hours, encouraged at each stroke by his coach, John Bullet, who has become a second father. This is the story of a remarkable friendship between a coach and a boy, and a love letter to the intensity and freedom of childhood. Written beautifully through the eyes of a child yet to enter his teens, A Boy in the Water resonated strongly taking me back to my own childhood. A fascinating story full of innocence, achievement, ambition and trust. Ellen MacArthur I am absolutely in awe; a mindblowing and phenomenal feat. A Boy in the Water will challenge ideas of what is possible. Chrissie Wellington OBE Charming and different; a lovely, brilliant memoir. What a boy! What a feat! - Victoria Derbyshire

Written by Philly native and Associated Press sportswriter Rob Maaddi, Birds of Pray is the most extensive book to explore the faith behind the football of the Philadelphia Eagles, with exclusive interviews with the players, never-before-seen photos, and insider accounts of the miracle season's most memorable moments.

Delve into the murky world of Formula 1 - a world where money, fame and power rules - but for how long?

A unique biography of football icon, George Best, written by journalist and broadcaster, Michael Parkinson