"Untapped Potential follows George's career in the army, from the age of 16 when he joined the Army Apprentices College, of which he became the Junior Regimental Sergeant Major, to the moment, 27 years later, that he reluctantly decided to leave.The story, told with great frankness, relates the good times and the less good times, the ups and downs, the sad events as well as the happy ones; but the characteristic sense of humour is never far below the surface - indeed, seldom below ...

Lieutenants, or "subalterns" as they were called, were very young in the British Army of the Napoleonic Wars, so George Gleig was not unique when he joined the 85th Light Infantry at the age of 17. Thrown into action in Spain against invading French forces in the summer of 1813, Gleig fought continuously for 18 months. The unique quality of Gleig's personal account was recognized immediately, and his narrative was praised by the Duke of Wellington himself. Although not always readily avail...

The inspirational memoir of the Canadian boxer who fought some of the greatest heavyweights in history, including Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, but lost everything outside the ring.From a tough Toronto childhood as the only son of immigrant parents, through a twenty-three-year career that earned him induction into the World Boxing Hall of Fame, to the public tragedies that decimated his family long after the cheering stopped, George Chuvalo tells his life story as ...

ROBERTO DURAN is a sporting legend. Often called the greatest boxer of all time, he held world titles at four different weights and is the only professional in history to have fought in five different decades. His bouts with fellow greats like Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler have gone down in fistic folklore and his pro record of 104 wins, 69 by KO, in 120 fights puts him in an elite group of fighters. They called him Manos de Piedra: “Hands of Stone”.American jo...

Pat Burns was one of the great NHL coaches. He worked with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils, and seemed always to enjoy instant success. He capped his extraordinary career by coaching the New Jersey Devils to a Stanley Cup victory in 2003. Cancer--his third bout--finally claimed him in 2010, aged 58.Rosie DiManno, who knew Burns well, has written a revealing, exhilarating and heartfelt account of his life: his childhood as a fatherles...

A sweeping biography of one of the greatest and most provocative athletes of all timeDecades after his final fight, Muhammad Ali remains larger than life in the imagination of hundreds of millions of people around the world. He won the heavyweight championship at age twenty-two by conquering Sonny Liston in dramatic fashion. The political establishment stripped him of his prize when he refused induction into the United States Army during the height of the war in Vi...

In 1996, Sheldon Kennedy rocked the insular world of Canadian hockey by announcing that his former minor-league coach, Graham Jamesthe Hockey News 1989 Man of the Yearhad sexually abused him more than 300 times. The media portrayed Kennedy as a hero for breaking the code of silence in professional hockey and bringing James to justice. The heroic myth intensified in 1998 when Kennedy announced that he was going to in-line skate from Newfoundland to British Columbia to raise awareness of sex...

One of hockey's most feared enforcers reveals his off-ice battle with alcohol and heroin. With a foreword by Serge Savard.Chris Nilan, who grew up in the blue-collar Irish neighbourhood of West Roxbury in Boston, was an intimidating player for the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers, and a Stanley Cup champion never afraid to go into the corners or take off his gloves. He was a valued teammate whose very presence on the ice affected the way t...

The first book ever to delve into the life of the legendary heavyweight boxing champion.Acclaimed sportswriter Phil Pepe explores the iconic boxer "Smokin' Joe" Frazier's early beginnings. From his dirt poor childhood and relationship with his father to his street fights and Olympic boxing championship, Pepe's book follows Frazier's rise, culminating in the "Fight of the Century" with Muhammad Ali. Pepe beat all other writers to the punch in his seminal work on the...

Randy Bachman has been rolling out chart-topping songs his whole life—“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” “These Eyes,” “American Woman,” “Takin’ Care of Business”—and, since 2005, treating fans to a lifetime of rock ’n’ roll stories on his hit CBC Radio show, Vinyl Tap.His approach is always fresh—even the most hardcore music fans will be surprised by what they can learn from Bachman. Whether he is touring with Ringo Starr, jamming with Little Richard, or recording with Neil Yo...

Derek Sanderson was a key player with the Big Bad Bruins in the 1970s. At one point the highest-paid athlete in the world, Sanderson played with and against the era’s legends, winning two Stanley Cups and assisting on Bobby Orr’s famous diving goal in 1970. Off the ice, “Turk” was one of a kind. He drove a burgundy Rolls-Royce, wore a fox coat and, when asked what winning the Stanley Cup meant to him said, “The difference in the money is whether I take a college chick to Cape Cod or a Play...

Thomas Hearns ranks as one of the greatest and most exciting fighters of all-time. From his explosion onto the pro boxing scene with seventeen straight knockouts, he struck fear into opponents and awe into spectators. He went on to feature in some of the most thrilling bouts ever and became the first champion to win six titles at different weights. He will forever be known by his chilling nickname: the "Hit Man". Co-written by Brian Hughes, Britain's leading boxing trainer, H...