Showing titles in Sociology of Sports

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Fever Pitch, by Nick Hornby read by Julian Rhind-Tutt. As a young boy, growing up in the Home Counties and watching his parents' marriage fall apart, Nick Hornby had little sense of home. Then his dad took him to Highbury...

This is a story about ambition, family rivalries, extreme wealth, power, murder and disinformation; of political corruption, dictatorship and, at its root, of how sport - football, yes, but also golf, boxing, tennis and even e-sports - has become a vital geopolitical tool for Saudi Arabia. An examination of soft power, manipulation and radicalisation in the 21st century, James Montague charts the rise of Mohammed bin Salman, a then unknown prince, and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi; the desperate efforts to buy Newcastle United, subvert FIFA and then take on the PGA tour, and the US congress.

Sir Trevor McDonald is one of Britain's most celebrated broadcasters and his devotion for cricket is almost as well known as his legendary professional achievements. In this inspirational memoir, On Cricket, Sir Trevor explores his childhood in the Caribbean and celebrates his life-long love of the sport that followed him no matter where in the world his illustrious journalistic career would take him.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of How to Watch Football by Ruud Gullit, read by Adam James. How can one striker be better than three? Why do the best defenders never need to make a tackle? What's the secret of Tiki-taka? Welcome to Ruud Gullit's masterclass on...

AN EXPLOSIVE AND REVELATORY PORTRAIT REPORTED FROM DEEP BEHIND THE SCENES OF BIG-TIME NCAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL: THE PASSION, THE THRILLING ACTION—AND THE SHOCKING REALITIES THAT LIE BENEATH THIS COLOSSAL, MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS COLLEGE FOOTBALL has never been more popular—or more...

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK Sports Illustrated #1 Book of 2024 A hugely entertaining history of baseball and New York City, bursting with larger-than-life figures and fascinating stories from the game’s beginnings to the end of World War II. "You’re going to beg for extra innings...

After a lifetime of writing about the professional sport, Michael Bamberger, “the poet laureate of golf” (GOLF magazine), delivers an exhilarating love letter to the amateur game as it’s played—and lived—by the rest of us. Over Michael Bamberger’s celebrated writing career, he has...

Brought to you by Penguin. Hurling is Ireland’s national game – a source of fascination and pride, even to people who have never played it. Ciarán Murphy, a lifelong club footballer, used to be one of those people. Then he spent a summer trying to play hurling with a tiny club in the West...

In this extraordinary tour de force, David Goldblatt tells the full story of soccer's rise from chaotic folk ritual to the world's most popular sport - now poised to fully establish itself in the USA. Already celebrated internationally, The Ball Is Round illuminates soccer's role in the political and social histories of modern societies, but never loses sight of the beauty, joy, and excitement of the game itself. 

What if running in beautiful places was paradoxically contributing to the destruction of those precious environments and causing irreversible global harm to people and animals, too? In We Can’t Run Away from This, ultrarunner Damian Hall examines the impact of running in our climate and ecological emergency. Packed with insights from experts, it is an enlightening book that will prompt us all to really think about our kit, food, and travel and to identify simple changes we can make to our running and wider lives.

In this hilarious and life-affirming memoir, Rob explores what it will take for him to become a little less Bear (Pooh) and a little bit more Bear (Grylls) and how mild-mannered, anxious rule-followers can get their own share of (gentle) adventure from time to time.

Master of the no-look goal and Anfield favourite, Roberto 'Bobby' Firmino, signed for Liverpool in July 2015. Over the next eight years - and seven winners' medals - he established himself as one of the club's most important players in recent years for his audacious skill, impressive goal scoring, and beaming smile. Jürgen Klopp saw Firmino as the on-pitch 'engine' that drove the club's counter-pressing strategy and together with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, Firmino formed a formidable attacking trio.

Fixed breaks new ground as Moses Swaibu becomes the first player ever to write openly about how he helped to fix games, revealing exactly what happens on the pitch when a match is being manipulated. He also exposes how the criminal gangs operate, how young professional players are targeted and groomed and the threats of violence that are used to keep them in check. Offering a fascinating insight into the ugly side of the beautiful game, it's a sporting autobiography like none ever written before.

Brought to you by Penguin. From the high-octane, high stakes world of F1, these are the key lessons learned at the top level of the sport – and how to take them out of the pitlane and make them work for you Foreword by JAKE HUMPHREY, author of HIGH PERFORMANCE F1 teams operate at the highest...

Random House presents the audiobook edition of The Secret Footballer: What Goes on Tour by The Secret Footballer. Since his first book was published in 2012, The Secret Footballer has been able to take the listener behind the scenes of footballers' lives like no other player has been or will ever be able to do. Anonymity has been a potent weapon in revealing the real world of football stars, and five years on, he has now penned the work that all his fellow professionals have been urging him to do from the start: The Secret Footballer: What Goes on Tour.

In his brilliant new memoir, Pat Nevin takes us on a journey to the less glamorous side of football. From Tranmere to Kilmarnock, he plays some of the best football he's ever played. Then, in an unprecedented twist of fate, finds himself both player and Chief Executive of Scottish First Division club Motherwell.

AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER A hard-hitting and powerful look at hockey's moment of reckoning in Canada, and the ways in which a game that is so universally loved has been rocked in recent years by court cases involving sexual assault and startling incidents of hazing and abuse throughout...

Michael Crawley immerses himself in various endurance cultures and asks what makes enduring together meaningful to people. He learns how Nepalese runners face different challenges depending on their location up a mountain, from those in the lowlands and ‘middle hills’ to Sherpas from the Solu Khumbu, and observes Tarahumara ultrarunners’ ability to cover extreme distances on highly technical terrain. But he also delves into the history of Dance Marathons, six-day pedestrianism races in Madison Square Gardens and the unique Enhanced Games.

Brought to you by Penguin. A provocative look at how grassroots GAA interacts with life in Ireland, from the wittiest Gaelic games pundit at work today The GAA is Ireland's largest civil society organisation, woven into the fabric of families and communities - and yet most books about Gaelic...

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Could this be the best book on football ever?” —Tyler Cowen "Another masterwork from one of our greatest minds.” —Esquire “[An] essential playoff-season read.” —People A hilarious but nonetheless groundbreaking contribution to the argument...