From Ancient Greece to the Beijing Olympics, sport has delivered thrilling victories and gut-wrenching defeats, but moments of good sportsmanship are increasingly rare. Is chivalry dead? Or have rumours of its demise been exaggerated?Whether displayed by an Australian sculler or an Egyptian judoka, sportsmanship has come in many guises. It's Not the Winning that Counts celebrates the Boy's Own heroism of yachtsman Pete Goss's mercy dash across the Southern Ocean to rescue a capsize...

The history of sport is littered with tales of exemplary courage: sportsmen and women pushing their bodies through the pain barrier, or defying career-threatening injuries, in quest of victory. From the goalkeeper who played in a FA Cup Final with a broken neck to the batsman who saved a Test match with his arm in plaster, their heroics have inspired generations of schoolchildren.But courage is as much a moral as a physical attribute. Some of the most inspiring chapters in sport fe...

A truly unique and fascinating look at the changing nature of masculinity and manliness, told through the lens of a series of Yorkshire County Cricket Club player portraits through the ages.George Hirst was a man of his time. His apocryphal quotation "We'll get 'em in singles"epitomises his no-fuss approach to all matters, and his distate for excess or ostentation. His stiff upper lip was a requisite part of his Edwardian manliness. Fast forward a century or so to Darren Gough's be...

Ramsar Wetlands: Values, Assessment, Management addresses the approaches, successes and limitations of the Ramsar Convention in a changing world, how recent approaches to wetland monitoring and management can contribute to improving wetland state, what the future holds for wetlands and their wise use, and what the Ramsar Convention needs to do to achieve future successes. The book presents a unique outlook on a range of issues, addressing considerable advances in our understanding of wetla...

It was the first war we could not win. At no other time since World War II have two superpowers met in battle. In this extensive history, preeminent military historianMax Hastings takes us back to the bloody, bitter struggle to restore South Korean independence after the Communist invasion of June 1950.Using personal accounts from interviews with more than two hundred vets—including the Chinese—Hastings follows real officers and soldiers through the battles. He brilliantly captures...

Blink is a collection of poems exploring the relationship between time, language and emotion. In one breath, we describe aeons of complex existence; in another, we delve into the richness of our most private thoughts and feelings. In a life which seems limited by the constant ticking of time, is time the only steady companion we have? Performed by an ensemble cast of narrators, this collection celebrates humanity and our voices.

In his critically acclaimed Armageddon, Hastings detailed the last twelve months of the struggle for Germany. Here, in what can be considered a companion volume, he covers the horrific story of the war against Japan.By the summer of 1944 it was clear that Japan’s defeat was inevitable, but how the drive to victory would be achieved remained to be seen. The ensuing drama–that ended in Japan’s utter devastation–was acted out across the vast stage of Asia. In recounting the s...

From the acclaimed military historian, a new history of the outbreak of World War I: the dramatic stretch from the breakdown of diplomacy to the battles—the Marne, Ypres, Tannenberg—that marked the frenzied first year before the war bogged down in the trenches.In Catastrophe 1914, Max Hastings gives us a conflict different from the familiar one of barbed wire, mud and futility. He traces the path to war, making clear why Germany and Austria-Hungary were primarily to blame,...

A glorious, sweeping novel of desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, from the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love, Big Magic, and City of GirlsIn The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction, inserting her inimitable voice into an enthralling story of love, adventure and discovery. Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extra...

The story of one young African boy's journey to UK Premiership soccer stardom.From the Zambian plains to Wembley, this is the story of the boy who was born to be a Bluebird. Earnie follows Robert Earnshaw’s journey from the Zambian village where he was born to Bedwas, where he was spotted playing for the B-team of his local club when he was 12 years old. At 16 he joined Cardiff City on a YTS training scheme to become one of the club’s top scorers. He reflects on his Welsh success a...

THE ABSURD ASCENT OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MAN IN FOOTBALL. THE MANAGER.'Rich in detail and colour . . . a great read' ObserverThis book traces the remarkable journey of the football gaffer, from his humble beginnings as club secretary, to his modern incarnation - the man we all recognise, venting his spleen at the ref, or having a huff at a post-match press conference.THE MANAGER takes the reader beyond the well-worn anecdote...

A new collection of soccer writing by the bestselling author of Fever Pitch.After the phenomenal success of Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby tried to avoid writing about soccer, for fear that he'd be writing about it forever. But occasionally over the years he’s found it impossible to turn down a particularly enticing assignment or, in the case of the 2012-13 Premier League, just unable to resist writing about that most spectacular of seasons.Fort...