'An impassioned tour around France which is best enjoyed with a bottle of red ... or two.' The Sunday Times'I've known Peter for some years and I'm sure you will enjoy his personal journey to the heart of rugby in this superb country.' Dan Carter, Former All Black and Rugby World Cup winner'Bills' wondrous travelogue features so many great tales from the mouths of legends.' Irish Independent

'An entertaining and whimsical search for "the soul of Irish rugby"... Peppered with astute observations' Irish Times' Triumphs, Trophies and Troubles has got Irish rugby just right in this the 150th anniversary season of the IRFU' Willie John McBrideFOREWORD by former Ireland fly half Ollie Campbell'In a world going all too fast, Peter Bills has the time, the wit and the attention to detai...

Peter Bills has spent the past 40 years writing about rugby for newspapers in Britain and around the world. He now shares his extraordinary experiences from a career blessed with an indecent amount of fun, unleashing a barrage of anecdotes and lifting the lid on the hidden world of sports writing—on the characters, stars, and their amazing stories. As a leading freelance writer, Peter learned the wiliest tricks of his trade. Whether conning French police, dashing between airports, or colle...

The phenomenal international number one bestseller with exclusive interviews with Richie McCaw, Steve Hansen, Beauden Barrett and Dan Carter, The Jersey is the definitive story behind the greatest sports team on the planet.‘Extremely well written. Compelling, accurate, insightful and brilliant in the way it captures the New Zealand way’ – John Hart, former All Blacks coach.With a better winning record than any other sports team in ...

The phenomenal International Number One Bestseller w****ith exclusive interviews with Richie McCaw, Steve Hansen, Beauden Barrett and Dan Carter, The Jersey is the first definitive story behind the greatest sports team on the planet.'Extremely well written. Compelling, accurate, insightful and brilliant in the way it captures the New Zealand way. - John Hart, former All Blacks coach.With a better winning record tha...

In 1st Force Recon you performed at a very high level of proficiency. Or you died. . . .In 1969, First Lieutenant Bill Peters and the Force Recon Marines had one of the most difficult, dangerous assignments in Vietnam. From the DMZ to the Central Highlands, their job was to provide strategic and operational intelligence to insure the security of American units as the withdrawal of the troops progressed.Making perilous helicopter inserts deep in the Que Son Mountains, where ...

First published in 1999, this volume, the first to be published in on Jubilee 2000, describes the plight of 52 of the poorest nations in the world and puts in detail the case for radical cancellation of past inert debt. The cost and benefit of this remission and the groundbreaking concordat of peoples and governments that could accompany it are examined in detail.It contains critiques of the economic bases of the World Bank and IMF approaches to debt management in developing econom...

On a March afternoon in Cleveland, St. Bonaventure battled powerful Kentucky for 40 minutes and two overtimes in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Though the Bonnies would lose that day, the moments that accompanied that game provided St. Bonaventure's proud alumni a vast sense of pride. For a men's basketball program that was once considered an elite entity, it was fulfilling return to glory. No one could have envisioned then that St. Bonaventure basketball would endure lowest ...

In 1999 Rochester, a mysterious spate of arsons threatens a hilarious and heart–breaking friendship based on a language of inside jokes in "one of the most inventive novels published this year" (The Los Angeles Review).Rochester, New York, 1999: An arsonist is loose on the streets of a city in decline. Gone are the days of Rioting in the Vomit Cruiser, searching for a possible Tokyo Rocking Horse. In this hilarious, wildly original debut novel, Nathan Gray...

Why, then, Stories to be read 'out loud'?Simply because reading out loud gives us a good space to take in and enjoy whatever we happen to be reading and, for many it just simply feels good. Cast your mind back and remember how comforting it was when someone read you a bedtime story when you were young.So, as the author says, make some 'me' time, tuck yourself up in bed or simply find yourself a quiet corner, relax - and then enjoy the stories.

In late 2024 Ireland, a nation of just 7 million people, stood at the top of rugby union's world rankings.Ireland's rise to such an exalted position has been the great triumph of rugby's professional era. For a nation that fought tooth and nail to keep the game amateur, their progress since 2000 has been extraordinary. The trophies, once so rare in Irish rugby hands, have become almost commonplace. Grand Slams, Six Nations Championships, Triple Crowns have all stood in the IRFU off...

From French rugby's origins in Le Havre, (as an English export in the late nineteenth century) to the Catalan coast, acclaimed rugby writer Peter Bills travels the length and breadth of this vast country visiting not only the big cities but those regional heartlands of the game such as Toulouse, Bordeaux and Clermont as well as clubs in the Basque country, to reveal a country whose deep love of rugby has created a culture and playing style like no other.Featuring exclusive intervie...