The story of the coolest international football team in history - the 1980s Danish national team - told for the first time in English.The Denmark side of the 1980s was one of the last truly iconic international football teams. Although they did not win a trophy, they claimed something much more important and enduring: glory, and in industrial quantities. They were a bewitching fusion of futuristic attacking football, effortless Scandinavian cool and laid-back livin...

* SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS *Robin Smith was one of England's most popular cricketers of the 1990s. The Judge, as he was known to all, took on some of the most dangerous fast bowlers of all time with a skill and fearlessness that ensured hero status. His savage square cut drew roars of approval from fans all around the world, especially those of his beloved England and Hampshire. But when he was prematurely dumped from the England set-up at t...

From the celebrated mock obituary following England's first-ever defeat by Australia on home soil in 1882, to the on-pitch insults (or 'sledges') of today, ashes cricket has spawned nearly as many memorable quotes as it has balls bowled and runs scored.Gentlemen and Sledgers charts the ebb and flow of Anglo-Australian cricketing fortunes across 131 years and 314 matches by telling the stories behind 100 memorable ashes quotations. From fast bowler Jeff Thomson's classic 'I...

Classic World Cup clashes brought to life and re-evaluated by two of the writers of the popular Guardian minute-by-minute football blog. Watching each match in real time and reacting to the twists and turns of the action, Murray and Smyth bring you the real stories of the matches as they happened, not the highlights package or rose-tinted version.From the crowd swarming over the pitch moments before the Brazil-Uruguay classic of 1950 kicked off, to the dubious refereeing d...

Richie Benaud, who died this year aged 84, was “perhaps the most influential cricketer and cricket personality since the Second World War" according to Gideon Haigh, the world's best cricket historian. He excelled as a batsman, legspin bowler, revolutionary captain – and most of all as a commentator in England and Australia for almost 50 years. He was universally loved for his authority, knowledge, dry wit and generosity of spirit.Benaud in Wisden records the highlights of...

NOW THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES GAME OF THRONES—THE MASTERPIECE THAT BECAME A CULTURAL PHENOMENONHere is the first book in the landmark series that has redefined imaginative fiction and become a modern masterpiece.A GAME OF THRONESIn a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the North of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are m...

Ex-referee and now fearless writer and football pundit, Graham Poll is no stranger to controversy. His latest book is an entertaining and provocative reappraisal of the major incidents in World and English football down the years – from Geoff Hurst’s goal in ‘66, through Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ to the infamous Battle of the Bridge in 2009.Graham Poll, England’s highest profile referee of the last two decades, refereed over 400 Premiership games, involving more than 1.5 million spe...

Simon Kuper's New York Times bestseller Soccernomics pioneered a new way of looking at soccer through meticulous empirical analysis and incisive -- and witty -- commentary. Kuper now leaves the numbers and data behind to explore the heart and soul of the world's most popular sport in the new, extraordinarily revealing Soccer Men.Soccer Men goes behind the scenes with soccer's greatest players and coaches. Inquiring into the genius and hubris of t...

An all-encompassing, chronological guide to football's World Cup, one of the world's few truly international events, in good time for the June 2018 kick-off in Russia. From its beginnings in 1930 to the modern all-singing, all-dancing self-styled 'greatest show on Earth', every tournament is covered with features on major stars and great games, as well as stories about some less celebrated names and quirky stats and intriguing essays.Holt's focus is very much on what takes place on...

Stunningly illustrated by David Squires (as featured in the Guardian), The Illustrated History of Football is a wry look at the highs and lows of the beautiful game. Laugh-out- loud and occasionally moving, it's the perfect gift for anyone who loves football.'Squires is the master of the football comic strip and this collection is recommended reading for enlightened football fans everywhere' -- Late Tackle'No one ca...

Published in time for the 2014 World Cup, the ultimate collection of soccer's greatest lore and legends, illustrated with 100 black-and-white photos, by two of the world's most knowledgeable soccer journalists.Who Invented the Bicycle Kick? is a rollicking ride through soccer history that will surprise and delight fans old and new. Veteran soccer journalists Uli Hesse and editor Paul Simpson bring together the sublime feats, legendary personalities, neglected heroes, bizar...

Panenka's pearl of a penalty in Belgrade, van Basten's volley of a lifetime in Munich, Gazza's agonising near-miss at Wembley: over its six decades, the UEFA European Championship has thrown up many of the most memorable stories in football lore. Now it gets the history it deserves. Euro Summits is the first full retelling of the tournament, from its tentative beginnings in the late 1950s to its elephantine expansion in the mid-2010s. Taking in the USSR's early success, the grim v...