Other books that might interest you

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  Kangchenjunga - The Himalayan giant

  Doug Scott

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  Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world and a notoriously difficult and dangerous mountain to climb. First climbed from the west in 1955 by a British team comprising Joe Brown, George Band, Tony Streather and Norman Hardie, it waited over twenty years for a second ascent. The third ascent, from the north, followed in 1979 by a four-man team including the visionary British alpinist Doug Scott.
  Completed before his death in 2020, and edited by Catherine Moorehead, Kangchenjunga is Doug Scott's final book. Scott explores the mountain and its varied people – the mountain sits on the border between Nepal and Sikkim in north-east India – before going on to look at Western approaches and early climbing attempts on the mountain. Kangchenjunga was in fact long believed to be the highest mountain in the world, until in the nineteenth century it was demonstrated that Peak XV – Everest – was taller. Out of respect for the beliefs of the Sikkim, no climber has ever set foot on the very top of Kangchenjunga, the sacred summit.
  Scott's own relationship with the mountain began in 1978, three years after his first British ascent of Everest with Dougal Haston. The assembled team featured some of the greatest mountaineers in history: Scott, Joe Tasker, Peter Boardman and Georges Bettembourg. The plan was for a stripped-down expedition the following spring – minimal Sherpa support, no radios, largely self-financed. It was the first time a mountain of this scale had been attempted by a new and difficult route without the use of oxygen, and with such a small team. Scott, Tasker and Boardman summited on 16 May 1979, further cementing their legends in this golden era.
  Kangchenjunga is Doug Scott's tribute to this sacred mountain, a paean for a Himalayan giant, written by a giant of Himalayan climbing.

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  Belair Stud - The Cradle of...

  Kimberly Gatto

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  From their opening in 1740 through the 1955 closing, Belair Stud Farm became known as one of the most important stables in American racing. Although the high-profile murder of the farms final owner, Billy Woodward, eventually forced the farm to close, it did produce an extraordinary number of winning horses throughout its expansive history. The farm claims three Kentucky Derbies, three Preakness Stakes, and six Belmont Stakes, winning titles in several prestigious English races. It remains one of two stables to have produced more than one Triple Crown winner, and it is also the only stable to have produced father-son Triple Crown winners. Its list of legendary thoroughbreds includes Gallant Fox, Omaha, Johnstown, Granville, and Nashua. However in addition to the history of champion thoroughbreds, there is a second history devoted to the many interesting people whose own stories are part of the Belair Stud farm, including Samuel and Benjamin Ogle, "Sunny" Jim Fitzsimmons, former slave Andrew Jackson, and even George Washington.

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  Greatest Moments of Boxing

  Graham Betts

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  Boxing is the sport with probably the longest history of all, with Egyptian hieroglyphics depicting bare-knuckle fighting that date back as far as 5,000 BC. But which was the greatest fight of all time? Who ranks number one among the multitude of pugilists over the years? There are so many fighters and so many fights to choose from that it is impossible to include them all but this book allows you to review some of the best contests and decide for yourself. Contenders include Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Prince Naseem Hamed, Sugar Ray Leonard and many others.

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  Life's A Pitch - The...

  Ian Darler

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  Ian Darler has won just about every award the green-keeping industry has to offer, managed his stadium through tempestuous and terrific times and dealt with as many life-and-death situations as some paramedics. Now, as head groundsman and stadium manager at Cambridge United's Abbey Stadium for 40 years, he tells the story of a life that has seen him rub shoulders with some of the greatest and funniest characters in football, turn out the kind of surfaces players dream of, cross swords with the occasional manager and cope with catastrophes that would have floored a lesser mortal. Lauded by his peers in the turf management business as one of its most able and dedicated practitioners, Ian has tales to tell about personalities from every echelon of the game. A natural storyteller, he remembers every disaster, every triumph, every tragedy and every side-splitting practical joke.

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  Memory Man: The Life and...

  Jason O'Toole, Jimmy Magee

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  Jimmy Magee, whose extraordinary memory for sports trivia has led to his being dubbed the Memory Man, has the distinction of being the longest-serving sports commentator in the English-speaking world. He started his career in 1956, the year that Ronnie Delany won the 1,500 metres gold medal at Melbourne. He has covered every Olympic Games since 1972 (the London 2012 games were his eleventh!) and every soccer World Cup since 1974. He achieved worldwide notice in Munich in 1972 when he managed to breach security in the Olympic village to cover the terrorist attack on Israeli athletes. This incredible scoop was picked up by CBS in the United States and then by every television station around the world.
  Jimmy Magee has been present at the most iconic sporting moments in both world and Irish sport and gives his unique insight into these major sporting moments. He tells how he played five-a-side football with Gert Müller, how he almost came to blows with Nigel Benn, and why he thinks Katie Taylor is Ireland's greatest contemporary sportsperson.
  But what is perhaps the most striking aspect of such an accomplished career is how Jimmy managed to find the strength to keep up his cheerful persona on air as he endured immeasurable sorrow in his personal life. His beloved wife, Marie, died unexpectedly in 1989 and his son Paul, himself a footballer and sports broadcaster, tragically lost his battle with motor neuron disease in 2008 at the early age of fifty-one.
  Full of anecdotes, humour and poignancy, Memory Man tells all these things and more. This is a frank, open and honest book by one of Ireland's most beloved national treasures.

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  My Mets Bible - Scoring 30 Years...

  Evan Roberts

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  A Love Letter To New York Mets Fandom—the triumphs, the heartbreak, and everything in between.Childhood for Evan Roberts was defined by outings to the old Shea Stadium with his father, always with a scorebook in hand. What began as a gameday ritual replete with misspelled player names and scrawled symbols turned into an obsession with scoring every game he watched, one which persisted as Roberts rose through the ranks at WFAN. Taken together, those scorebooks form a living, breathing Mets diary spanning 30 years of thrilling—and, at times, tortured—fandom.My Mets Bible is an exercise in memory and nostalgia, and a meditation on the things that stick with us as sports fans. With his personal scorecards as a guide, Roberts brings to life some of the most unforgettable moments in Mets lore, offering a fresh perspective on the highs and lows of being a die-hard fan. Meticulously kept history mixes with personal recollections and behind-thescenes anecdotes covering touchstone events such as Johan Santana’s no-hitter, Robin Ventura’s grand slam “single,” and the loss that Roberts has never quite gotten over. By turns heartfelt and hilarious, Roberts delivers a thrilling and unique journey through modern Mets history.

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