Reviews by Sport

Links to the various posts, sorted by sport or topic

The All Sports Book newsletter

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Year in Review series

1. Year in Review – 2022 in sports books ⚾⚽🏀🏈🚴

The best books (I’ve read) on…. series

1. The best books (I’ve read) on Muhammad Ali
2. The best books (I’ve read) on German football
3. The best books (I’ve read) on Michael Jordan
4. The best books (I’ve read) on…. Spanish football
5. The best books I’ve read on….. the World Cup

Boxing

1. Muhammad Ali – the greatest books about The Greatest
2. ‘Only in America: The Life and Crimes of Don King’ by Jack Newfield (1995)
3. ‘The Big Fight: Muhammad Ali v Al “Blue” Lewis’ by Dave Hannigan (2002)
4. ‘Jacobs Beach: The Mob, the Garden and the Golden Age of Boxing’ by Kevin Mitchell (2010, republished in 2019)
5. ‘Bouts of Mania: Ali, Frazier, Foreman and an America on the Ropes’ by Richard Hoffer (2014)
6. ‘The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing and Las Vegas’ by Shaun Assael (2016)
7. ‘The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee’ by Paul D. Gibson (2018)
8. ‘Fighter’ by Andy Lee with Niall Kelly (2018)
9. ‘In Sunshine or in Shadow: How Boxing Brought Hope in the Troubles’ by Donald McRae (2019)
10. ‘Berserk: The Shocking Life and Death of Edwin Valero’ by Don Stradley (2019)
11. ‘The Ghost of Johnny Tapia’ by Paul Zanon (2019)
12. ‘Sporting Blood: Tales from the Dark Side of Boxing’ by Carlos Acevedo (2020)
13. ‘Bundini: Don’t Believe the Hype’ by Todd Snyder (2020)
14. ‘Jack Dempsey and the Roaring Twenties: The Life and Times of a Boxing Icon’ by Thomas Myler (2020)
15. ‘The War: Hagler-Hearns and Three Rounds For The Ages’ by Don Stradley (2021)
16. Fighting for Survival: My Journey Through Boxing Fame, Abuse, Murder, and Resurrection’ by Christy Martin with Ron Borges (2022)
17. The Duke: The Life and Lies of Tommy Morrison’ by Carlos Acevedo (2022)
18. Muhammad Ali: Fifteen Rounds in the Wilderness’ by Dave Hannigan (2022)

American Football

1. ‘Friday Night Lights: a Town, a Team, and a Dream’ by H.G Bissinger (1990)
2. ‘The Education of a Coach’ by David Halberstam (2005)
3. ‘The Blind Side: The Evolution of the Game’ by Michael Lewis (2006)
4. ‘Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre’ by Jeff Pearlman (2016)
5. “All-American Murder: The Rise and Fall of Aaron Hernandez, the Superstar Whose Life Ended on Murderers’ Row”  by James Patterson, Alex Abramovich & Mike Harvkey (2018)
6. ‘Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL’ by Jeff Pearlman (2018)
7. ‘University of Nike: How Corporate Cash Bought American Higher Education’ by Joshua Hunt (2018)
8. ‘Beyond Broadway Joe: The Super Bowl Team That Changed Football’ by Bob Lederer (2018)
9. ‘The Point After’ How One Resilient Kicker Learned there was More to Life than the NFL’ by Sean Conley (2020)
10. ‘Seventeen and Oh: Miami, 1972, and the NFL’s Only Perfect Season’ by Marshall Jon Fisher (2022)
11. ‘Hometown Victory: A Coach’s Story of Football, Fate, and Coming Home’ by Keanon Lowe with Justin Spitzman (2022)
12. Spies on the Sideline: The High Stakes World of NFL Espionage’ by Kevin Bryant (2022)
13. Walking Alone: The Untold Journey of Football Pioneer Kenny Washington’ by Dan Taylor
14. 🏅⚾🏈’Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe’ by David Maraniss (2022)
15. ‘The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson’ by Jeff Pearlman (2022)
16. A Giant Win: Inside the New York Giants’ Historic Upset over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII’ by Tom Coughlin with Greg Hanlon (2022)
17. ’Swagger: Super Bowls, Brass Balls, and Footballs—A Memoir’ by Jimmy Johnson with Dave Hyde (2022)
18. Freezing Cold Takes: NFL: Football Media’s Most Inaccurate Predictions—and the Fascinating Stories Behind Them by Fred Segal (2022)

Basketball

1. A combined review of some of my favourite basketball books
2. ‘A Season on the Brink: A Year with Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers’ by John Feinstein (1986)
3. ‘Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association’ by Terry Pluto (1990)
4. ‘The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball’s Most Improbable Dynasty’ by Adrian Wojnarowski (2005)
5. ‘Michael Jordan: The Life’ by Roland Lazenby (2014)
6. Read the Book, Watch the Documentaries on Allen Iverson
7. ‘The Blueprint: LeBron James, Cleveland’s Deliverance, and the Making of the Modern NBA’ by Jason Lloyd (2017)
8. ‘Golden Days: West’s Lakers, Steph’s Warriors, and the California Dreamers Who Reinvented Basketball’ by Jack McCallum (2017)
9. ‘Boys Among Men: How the Prep-To-Pro Generation Redefined the NBA and Sparked a Basketball Revolution’ by Jonathan Abrams (2017)
10. ‘Betaball: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History’ by Erik Malinowski (2018)
11. ‘The Soul of Basketball: The Epic Showdown Between LeBron, Kobe, Doc, and Dirk That Saved the NBA’ by Ian Thomsen (2018)
12. ‘State: A Team, A Triumph, A Transformation’ by Melissa Isaacson (2019)
13. ‘LeBron, Inc.: The Making of a Billion-Dollar Athlete’ by by Brian Windhorst (2019)
14. ‘Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports’ by Yaron Weitzman (2020)
15. ‘The Victory Machine: The Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty’ by Ethan Sherwood Strauss (2020)
16. ‘Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Laker Dynasty’ by Jeff Pearlman (2020)
17. ‘Rebound: From Pain to Passion – Leadership Lessons Learned’ by Matt Doherty (2021)
18. ‘The Great Nowitzki: Basketball and the Meaning of Life’ by Thomas Pletzinger (2022)
19.  ‘Blood in the Garden: The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks’ by Chris Herring (2022)
20. The autobiographies of Scottie Pippen, Charles Oakley and Muggsy Bogues.
21. ‘The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality’ by Mike Sielski (2022)
22. ‘Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski’ by Ian O’Connor (2022)
23. ‘Barkley: A Biography’ by Timothy Bella (2022)

Golf

1. ‘Tales from Q School: Inside Golf’s Fifth Major’ by John Feinstein (2007)
2. ‘Moment of Glory: The Year Tiger Lost This Swing and Underdogs Ruled the Majors’ by John Feinstein (2010)
3. ‘The Hitler Trophy: Golf and the Olympic Games’ by Alan Fraser (2016)
4. ‘Tiger Woods’ by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian (2018)
5. ‘The Last Stand of Payne Stewart: The Year Golf Changed Forever’ by Kevin Robbins (2019)
6. ‘The Second Life of Tiger Woods’ by Michael Bamberger (2020)
7. ⛳ ‘Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar’ by Alan Shipnuck

Running / Athletics

1. ‘Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen’ by Christopher McDougall (2009)
2. ‘Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon’ by Ed Caesar (2015)
3. ‘Fire on the Track: Betty Robinson and the Triumph of the Early Olympic Women’ by Roseanne Montillo (2017)
4. ‘What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen’ by Kate Fagan (2017)
5. ‘Running to the Edge: An American Running Guru, a Mysterious Breakthrough, and the Relentless Quest for Speed’ by Matthew Futterman (2019)

Tennis

1. Open by Andre Agassi (2009)
2. ‘Federer and Me: A Story of Obsession’ by William Skidelsky (2015)
3. ‘Chasing Points: A Season on the Pro Tennis Circuit’ by Gregory Howe (2018)

Baseball

1. ‘Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game’ by Michael Lewis (2003)
2. ‘Astroball: The New Way to Win It All’ by Ben Reiter (2018)
3. ‘The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife’ by Brad Balukjian (2020)
4. The Saga of Sudden Sam
5. 🏅⚾🏈’Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe’ by David Maraniss (2022)
6. ‘The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson’ by Jeff Pearlman (2022)
7. Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played’ by Jeff Fletcher (2022)
8. Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever’ by Dan Good (2022)

Motorsport

• ‘Life to the Limit: My Autobiography’ by Jenson Button (2017)

Wrestling / WWF

1. ‘Sex, Lies, and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment’ by Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham (2004)
2. ‘A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex’ by Chris Jericho (2007)

Mountaineering 

• ‘Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster’ by Jon Krakauer (1997)

Cycling

• ‘Wide-Eyed and Legless: Inside the Tour de France’ by Jeff Connor (1988)
• ‘My World’ by Peter Sagan (2018)
• ‘The Greatest: The Times and Life of Beryl Burton’ by William Fotheringham (2020)
• 🚴Le Fric: Family, Power and Money: The Business of the Tour de France by Alex Duff
• 🚴Jan Ullrich: The Best There Never Was by Daniel Friebe (2022) 

Martial Arts / UFC

• ‘The Pyjama Game: A Journey into Judo’ by Mark Law (2007)
• ‘Chaos is a Friend of Mine: The Life and Crimes of Conor McGregor’ by Ewan MacKenna (2019)

Miscellaneous

1. And here’s 12 I prepared earlier.
2. Championship Manager, Kindle Unlimited and a nostalgia trip.
3. ‘Little Girls In Pretty Boxes: The Making And Breaking Of Elite Gymnasts And Figure Skaters’ by Joan Ryan (1996)
4. ‘Steroid Nation: Juiced Home Run Totals, Anti-aging Miracles, and a Hercules in Every High School: The Secret History of America’s True Drug Addiction’ by Shaun Assael (2007)
5. ‘Ping-Pong Diplomacy: The Secret History Behind the Game That Changed the World’ by Nicholas Griffin (2014)
6. ‘Kicks: The Great American Story of Sneakers’ by Nicholas Smith (2018)
7. ‘University of Nike: How Corporate Cash Bought American Higher Education’ by Joshua Hunt (2018)
8. ‘The Cost of These Dreams: Sports Stories and Other Serious Business’ by Wright Thompson (2019)
9. ‘Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution’ by Tim Wigmore & Freddie Wilde (2019)
10. ‘Running with Sherman: The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero’ by Christopher McDougall (2019)
11. ‘Losers: Dispatches from the Other Side of the Scoreboard’ edited by Mary Pilon and Louisa Thomas (2020)
12. ‘The Man of All Talents: The Extraordinary Life of Douglas Duggy Clark’ by Steven Bell (2020)
13. ‘The Breath of Sadness: On Love, Grief and Cricket’ by Ian Ridley (2020)
14. 💉’Doping: A Sporting History’ by April Henning and Paul Dimeo (2022)
15. ‘Crickonomics: The Anatomy of Modern Cricket’ by Tim Wigmore and Stefan Szymanski (2022)
16. ‘Flares Up: A Story Bigger than the Atlantic’ by Niamh McAnally

Football / Soccer

1. One Career, Two books – Roy Keane (2002 and 2014).
2. One Career, Two Books – Tony Adams. Addicted (1999) and Sober (2017) written with Ian Ridley
3. Frankly Speaking by Frank Stapleton (1991)
4. ‘Football Against the Enemy’ by Simon Kuper (1994)
5. ‘The Team That Jack Built’ by Paul Rowan (1994)
6. ‘Andy’s Game: The Inside Story of the World Cup’ by Andy Townsend with Paul Kimmage (1994)
7. ‘Puskas on Puskas: The Life and Times of a Footballing Legend’ edited by Rogan Taylor and Klara Jamrich (1997)
8. ‘The Miracle of Castel di Sangro’ by Joe McGinniss (2000)
9. ‘Full Time: The Secret Life Of Tony Cascarino’ by Paul Kimmage (2000)
10. ‘Keeper Of Dreams: One Man’s Controversial Story of Life in the English Premiership’ by Ronald Reng & translated by Shaun Whiteside (2002)
11. ‘The Gaffers: Mick Mc Carthy, Roy Keane And The Team They Built’ by Paul Howard (2002)
12. ‘Garrincha: the triumph and tragedy of Brazilian’s forgotten footballing hero’ by Ruy Castro & translated by Andrew Downie (2004)
13. ‘El Macca: Four Years with Real Madrid’ by Steve McManaman and Sarah Edworthy (2004)
14. The Beckham Experiment: How the World’s Most Famous Athlete Tried to Conquer America (2009) by Grant Wahl
15. ‘Days of Heaven: Italia 90 and the Charlton Years’ by Declan Lynch (2010)
16. ‘Red: My Autobiography’ by Gary Neville (2011)
17. ‘The Binman Chronicles’ by Neville Southall (2012)
18. One career, Two books – Roy Keane (2002 and 2014).
19. ‘Barça: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World’ by Graham Hunter (2012)
20. ‘Fergie Rises: How Britain’s Greatest Football Manager was Made at Aberdeen’ by Michael Grant (2014)
21. Rock ‘n’ Roll Soccer: The Short Life and Fast Times of the North American Soccer League by Ian Plenderleith (2014)
22. ‘The Man Who Saved F.C. Barcelona: The Remarkable Life of Patrick O’Connell’ by Sue O’Connell (2016)
23. ‘My Turn’ by Johan Cruyff (2016)
24. ‘The Deal: Inside the World of a Super-Agent’ by Jon Smith & James Olley (2016)
25. ‘Bayern: Creating a Global Superclub’ by Uli Hesse (2016)
26. ‘No Hunger in Paradise: The Players. The Journey. The Dream.’ by Michael Calvin (2017)
27. ‘Touched By God: How We Won the Mexico 86 World Cup’ by Diego Maradona (2017)
28. ‘Klopp: Bring the Noise’ by Raphael Honigstein (2017)
29. ‘Where have all the Irish gone? The sad demise of Ireland’s once relevant footballers’ by Kevin O’Neill (2017)
30. ‘The Billionaires Club: The Unstoppable Rise of Football’s Super-rich Owners’ by James Montague (2017)
31. ‘The European Game: An Adventure to Explore Football on the Continent and its Methods for Succes’ by Dan Fieldsend (2017)
32. One Career, Two Books – Tony Adams. Addicted (1999) and Sober (2017) written with Ian Ridley
33. ‘Brave New World: Inside Pochettino’s Spurs’ by Guillem Balague (2018)
34. ‘Soccernomics – 2018 World Cup edition’ by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski (2018)
35. ‘Mental – Bad Behaviour, Ugly Truths and the Beautiful Game’ by Jermaine Pennant with John Cross (2018)
36. ‘Kaiser: The Greatest Footballer Never To Play Football’ by Rob Smyth (2018)
37. ‘The Barcelona Legacy: Guardiola, Mourinho and the Fight For Football’s Soul’ by Jonathan Wilson (2018)
38. ‘Gazza in Italy’ by Daniel Story (2018)
39. ‘Lionel Messi and the Art of Living’ by Andy West (2018)
40. ‘How to be a Footballer’ by Peter Crouch (2018)
41. ‘Tackled: The Class of ’92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate’ by Ben Thornley & Dan Poole (2018)
42. ‘Hijacking LaLiga: How Atlético Madrid Broke Barcelona and Real Madrid’s Duopoloy on Spanish Football’ by Euan McTear (2018)
43. ‘Cristiano and Leo: The Race to Become the Greatest Football Player of All Time’ by Jimmy Burns (2018)
44. ‘One Football, No Nets’ by Justin Walley (2018)
45. ‘Building the Yellow Wall: The Incredible Rise and Cult Appeal of Borussia Dortmund’ by Uli Hesse (2018)
46. ‘The Away Game: The Epic Search for Football’s Next Superstars’ by Sebastian Abbot (2018)
47. ‘Masters of Modern Soccer: How the World’s Best Play the Twenty-First-Century’ by Grant Wahl (2018)
48. ‘250 Days: Cantona’s Kung Fu and the Making of Manchester United’ by Daniel Storey (2019)
49. ‘The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports’ by Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg (2019)
50. ‘Done Deal: An Insider’s Guide to Football Contracts, Multi-Million Pound Transfers and Premier League Big Business’ by Daniel Geey (2019)
51. ‘Bottled: English Football’s Boozy Story” by Benjamin Roberts (2019)
52. ‘I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You: Growing Up as a Football Addict’ by Greg Whitaker (2019)
53. ‘Boot Sale: Inside the Strange and Secret World of Football’s Transfer Window’ by Nige Tassell (2019)
54. ‘The Frying Pan of Spain: Sevilla v Real Betis, Spain’s Hottest Football Rivalry’ by Colin Millar (2019)
55. ‘The Long, Long Road to Wembley’ by Dave Roberts (2019)
56. ‘Europe United: 1 football fan. 1 crazy season. 55 UEFA nations’ by Matt Walker (2019)
57. ‘The Next Big Thing: How Football’s Wonderkids Get Left Behind’ by Ryan Baldi (2019)
58. ‘King Eric: Portrait of the Artist Who Changed English Football’ by Wayne Barton (2020)
59. ‘Yer Joking Aren’t Ya?: The Full Story of Middlesbrough’s Unforgettable 1996/97 Season’ by Tom Flight (2020)
60. ‘Red Wine & Arepas: How Football is Becoming Venezuela’s Religion’ by Jordan Florit (2020)
61. ‘From the Jaws of Victory: A History of Football’s Nearly Men’ compiled and edited by Adam Bushby and Rob MacDonald (2020)
62. ‘1982 Brazil: The Glorious Failure’ by Stuart Horsfield (2020)
63. ‘My Life in Red and White’ by Arsène Wenger (2020)
64. ‘Wings of Change: How the World’s Biggest Energy Drink Manufacturer Made a Mark in Football’ by Karan Tejwani (2020)
65. ‘Achieving the Impossible – the Remarkable Story of Greece’s EURO 2004 Victory’ by George Tsitsonis (2020)
66. Gladiator by Francesco Totti with Paolo Condo, and tr. by Anthony Wright (2021)
67. ‘Fit and Proper People: The Lies and Fall of OWNAFC by Martin Calladine and James Cave (2022)
68. The O’Leary Years: Football’s Greatest Boom and Bust by Rocco Dean (2022)
69. Scheisse! We’re Going Up! The Unexpected Rise of Berlin’s Rebel Football Club’ by Kit Holden (2022)
70. Kit and Caboodle: Football’s Shirt Stories’ by Matt Riley (2022)
71. ‘USA 94: The World Cup that Changed the Game’ by Matthew Evans (2022)
72. ‘Messi Vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World’s Game’ Jonathan Clegg and Joshua Robinson (2022)
73. ‘Football Murals: A celebration of soccer’s greatest street art’ by Andy Brassell (2022)
74. ‘How to Win the World Cup: Secrets and Insights from International Football’s Top Managers’ by Chris Evans (2022)
75. ‘Dark Goals: How History’s Worst Tyrants Have Used and Abused the Game of Soccer’ by Luciano Wernicke (2022)