Links to the various posts, sorted by sport or topic
The All Sports Book newsletter
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Year in Review series
The best books (I’ve read) on…. series
- The best books (I’ve read) on Muhammad Ali
- The best books (I’ve read) on German football
- The best books (I’ve read) on Michael Jordan
- The best books (I’ve read) on…. Spanish football
- The best books I’ve read on….. the World Cup
Boxing
- Muhammad Ali – the greatest books about The Greatest
- ‘Only in America: The Life and Crimes of Don King’ by Jack Newfield (1995)
- ‘The Big Fight: Muhammad Ali v Al “Blue” Lewis’ by Dave Hannigan (2002)
- ‘Jacobs Beach: The Mob, the Garden and the Golden Age of Boxing’ by Kevin Mitchell (2010, republished in 2019)
- ‘Bouts of Mania: Ali, Frazier, Foreman and an America on the Ropes’ by Richard Hoffer (2014)
- ‘The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing and Las Vegas’ by Shaun Assael (2016)
- ‘The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee’ by Paul D. Gibson (2018)
- ‘Fighter’ by Andy Lee with Niall Kelly (2018)
- ‘In Sunshine or in Shadow: How Boxing Brought Hope in the Troubles’ by Donald McRae (2019)
- ‘Berserk: The Shocking Life and Death of Edwin Valero’ by Don Stradley (2019)
- ‘The Ghost of Johnny Tapia’ by Paul Zanon (2019)
- ‘Sporting Blood: Tales from the Dark Side of Boxing’ by Carlos Acevedo (2020)
- ‘Bundini: Don’t Believe the Hype’ by Todd Snyder (2020)
- ‘Jack Dempsey and the Roaring Twenties: The Life and Times of a Boxing Icon’ by Thomas Myler (2020)
- ‘The War: Hagler-Hearns and Three Rounds For The Ages’ by Don Stradley (2021)
- Fighting for Survival: My Journey Through Boxing Fame, Abuse, Murder, and Resurrection’ by Christy Martin with Ron Borges (2022)
- The Duke: The Life and Lies of Tommy Morrison’ by Carlos Acevedo (2022)
- Muhammad Ali: Fifteen Rounds in the Wilderness’ by Dave Hannigan (2022)
American Football
- ‘Friday Night Lights: a Town, a Team, and a Dream’ by H.G Bissinger (1990)
- ‘The Education of a Coach’ by David Halberstam (2005)
- ‘The Blind Side: The Evolution of the Game’ by Michael Lewis (2006)
- ‘Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre’ by Jeff Pearlman (2016)
- “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)
- ‘Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL’ by Jeff Pearlman (2018)
- ‘University of Nike: How Corporate Cash Bought American Higher Education’ by Joshua Hunt (2018)
- ‘Beyond Broadway Joe: The Super Bowl Team That Changed Football’ by Bob Lederer (2018)
- ‘The Point After’ How One Resilient Kicker Learned there was More to Life than the NFL’ by Sean Conley (2020)
- ‘Seventeen and Oh: Miami, 1972, and the NFL’s Only Perfect Season’ by Marshall Jon Fisher (2022)
- ‘Hometown Victory: A Coach’s Story of Football, Fate, and Coming Home’ by Keanon Lowe with Justin Spitzman (2022)
- Spies on the Sideline: The High Stakes World of NFL Espionage’ by Kevin Bryant (2022)
- Walking Alone: The Untold Journey of Football Pioneer Kenny Washington’ by Dan Taylor
- 🏅⚾🏈’Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe’ by David Maraniss (2022)
- ‘The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson’ by Jeff Pearlman (2022)
- 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)
- ’Swagger: Super Bowls, Brass Balls, and Footballs—A Memoir’ by Jimmy Johnson with Dave Hyde (2022)
- Freezing Cold Takes: NFL: Football Media’s Most Inaccurate Predictions—and the Fascinating Stories Behind Them by Fred Segal (2022)
Basketball
- A combined review of some of my favourite basketball books
- ‘A Season on the Brink: A Year with Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers’ by John Feinstein (1986)
- ‘Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association’ by Terry Pluto (1990)
- ‘The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball’s Most Improbable Dynasty’ by Adrian Wojnarowski (2005)
- ‘Michael Jordan: The Life’ by Roland Lazenby (2014)
- Read the Book, Watch the Documentaries on Allen Iverson
- ‘The Blueprint: LeBron James, Cleveland’s Deliverance, and the Making of the Modern NBA’ by Jason Lloyd (2017)
- ‘Golden Days: West’s Lakers, Steph’s Warriors, and the California Dreamers Who Reinvented Basketball’ by Jack McCallum (2017)
- ‘Boys Among Men: How the Prep-To-Pro Generation Redefined the NBA and Sparked a Basketball Revolution’ by Jonathan Abrams (2017)
- ‘Betaball: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History’ by Erik Malinowski (2018)
- ‘The Soul of Basketball: The Epic Showdown Between LeBron, Kobe, Doc, and Dirk That Saved the NBA’ by Ian Thomsen (2018)
- ‘State: A Team, A Triumph, A Transformation’ by Melissa Isaacson (2019)
- ‘LeBron, Inc.: The Making of a Billion-Dollar Athlete’ by by Brian Windhorst (2019)
- ‘Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports’ by Yaron Weitzman (2020)
- ‘The Victory Machine: The Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty’ by Ethan Sherwood Strauss (2020)
- ‘Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Laker Dynasty’ by Jeff Pearlman (2020)
- ‘Rebound: From Pain to Passion – Leadership Lessons Learned’ by Matt Doherty (2021)
- ‘The Great Nowitzki: Basketball and the Meaning of Life’ by Thomas Pletzinger (2022)
- ‘Blood in the Garden: The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks’ by Chris Herring (2022)
- The autobiographies of Scottie Pippen, Charles Oakley and Muggsy Bogues.
- ‘The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality’ by Mike Sielski (2022)
- ‘Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski’ by Ian O’Connor (2022)
- ‘Barkley: A Biography’ by Timothy Bella (2022)
Golf
- ‘Tales from Q School: Inside Golf’s Fifth Major’ by John Feinstein (2007)
- ‘Moment of Glory: The Year Tiger Lost This Swing and Underdogs Ruled the Majors’ by John Feinstein (2010)
- ‘The Hitler Trophy: Golf and the Olympic Games’ by Alan Fraser (2016)
- ‘Tiger Woods’ by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian (2018)
- ‘The Last Stand of Payne Stewart: The Year Golf Changed Forever’ by Kevin Robbins (2019)
- ‘The Second Life of Tiger Woods’ by Michael Bamberger (2020)
- ⛳ ‘Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar’ by Alan Shipnuck
Running / Athletics
- ‘Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen’ by Christopher McDougall (2009)
- ‘Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon’ by Ed Caesar (2015)
- ‘Fire on the Track: Betty Robinson and the Triumph of the Early Olympic Women’ by Roseanne Montillo (2017)
- ‘What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen’ by Kate Fagan (2017)
- ‘Running to the Edge: An American Running Guru, a Mysterious Breakthrough, and the Relentless Quest for Speed’ by Matthew Futterman (2019)
Tennis
- Open by Andre Agassi (2009)
- ‘Federer and Me: A Story of Obsession’ by William Skidelsky (2015)
- ‘Chasing Points: A Season on the Pro Tennis Circuit’ by Gregory Howe (2018)
Baseball
- ‘Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game’ by Michael Lewis (2003)
- ‘Astroball: The New Way to Win It All’ by Ben Reiter (2018)
- ‘The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife’ by Brad Balukjian (2020)
- The Saga of Sudden Sam
- 🏅⚾🏈’Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe’ by David Maraniss (2022)
- ‘The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson’ by Jeff Pearlman (2022)
- Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played’ by Jeff Fletcher (2022)
- Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever’ by Dan Good (2022)
Motorsport
Wrestling / WWF
- ‘Sex, Lies, and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment’ by Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham (2004)
- ‘A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex’ by Chris Jericho (2007)
Mountaineering
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
- And here’s 12 I prepared earlier.
- Championship Manager, Kindle Unlimited and a nostalgia trip.
- ‘Little Girls In Pretty Boxes: The Making And Breaking Of Elite Gymnasts And Figure Skaters’ by Joan Ryan (1996)
- ‘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)
- ‘Ping-Pong Diplomacy: The Secret History Behind the Game That Changed the World’ by Nicholas Griffin (2014)
- ‘Kicks: The Great American Story of Sneakers’ by Nicholas Smith (2018)
- ‘University of Nike: How Corporate Cash Bought American Higher Education’ by Joshua Hunt (2018)
- ‘The Cost of These Dreams: Sports Stories and Other Serious Business’ by Wright Thompson (2019)
- ‘Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution’ by Tim Wigmore & Freddie Wilde (2019)
- ‘Running with Sherman: The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero’ by Christopher McDougall (2019)
- ‘Losers: Dispatches from the Other Side of the Scoreboard’ edited by Mary Pilon and Louisa Thomas (2020)
- ‘The Man of All Talents: The Extraordinary Life of Douglas Duggy Clark’ by Steven Bell (2020)
- ‘The Breath of Sadness: On Love, Grief and Cricket’ by Ian Ridley (2020)
- 💉’Doping: A Sporting History’ by April Henning and Paul Dimeo (2022)
- ‘Crickonomics: The Anatomy of Modern Cricket’ by Tim Wigmore and Stefan Szymanski (2022)
- ‘Flares Up: A Story Bigger than the Atlantic’ by Niamh McAnally
Football / Soccer
- One Career, Two books – Roy Keane (2002 and 2014).
- One Career, Two Books – Tony Adams. Addicted (1999) and Sober (2017) written with Ian Ridley
- Frankly Speaking by Frank Stapleton (1991)
- ‘Football Against the Enemy’ by Simon Kuper (1994)
- ‘The Team That Jack Built’ by Paul Rowan (1994)
- ‘Andy’s Game: The Inside Story of the World Cup’ by Andy Townsend with Paul Kimmage (1994)
- ‘Puskas on Puskas: The Life and Times of a Footballing Legend’ edited by Rogan Taylor and Klara Jamrich (1997)
- ‘The Miracle of Castel di Sangro’ by Joe McGinniss (2000)
- ‘Full Time: The Secret Life Of Tony Cascarino’ by Paul Kimmage (2000)
- ‘Keeper Of Dreams: One Man’s Controversial Story of Life in the English Premiership’ by Ronald Reng & translated by Shaun Whiteside (2002)
- ‘The Gaffers: Mick Mc Carthy, Roy Keane And The Team They Built’ by Paul Howard (2002)
- ‘Garrincha: the triumph and tragedy of Brazilian’s forgotten footballing hero’ by Ruy Castro & translated by Andrew Downie (2004)
- ‘El Macca: Four Years with Real Madrid’ by Steve McManaman and Sarah Edworthy (2004)
- The Beckham Experiment: How the World’s Most Famous Athlete Tried to Conquer America (2009) by Grant Wahl
- ‘Days of Heaven: Italia 90 and the Charlton Years’ by Declan Lynch (2010)
- ‘Red: My Autobiography’ by Gary Neville (2011)
- ‘The Binman Chronicles’ by Neville Southall (2012)
- One career, Two books – Roy Keane (2002 and 2014).
- ‘Barça: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World’ by Graham Hunter (2012)
- ‘Fergie Rises: How Britain’s Greatest Football Manager was Made at Aberdeen’ by Michael Grant (2014)
- Rock ‘n’ Roll Soccer: The Short Life and Fast Times of the North American Soccer League by Ian Plenderleith (2014)
- ‘The Man Who Saved F.C. Barcelona: The Remarkable Life of Patrick O’Connell’ by Sue O’Connell (2016)
- ‘My Turn’ by Johan Cruyff (2016)
- ‘The Deal: Inside the World of a Super-Agent’ by Jon Smith & James Olley (2016)
- ‘Bayern: Creating a Global Superclub’ by Uli Hesse (2016)
- ‘No Hunger in Paradise: The Players. The Journey. The Dream.’ by Michael Calvin (2017)
- ‘Touched By God: How We Won the Mexico 86 World Cup’ by Diego Maradona (2017)
- ‘Klopp: Bring the Noise’ by Raphael Honigstein (2017)
- ‘Where have all the Irish gone? The sad demise of Ireland’s once relevant footballers’ by Kevin O’Neill (2017)
- ‘The Billionaires Club: The Unstoppable Rise of Football’s Super-rich Owners’ by James Montague (2017)
- ‘The European Game: An Adventure to Explore Football on the Continent and its Methods for Succes’ by Dan Fieldsend (2017)
- One Career, Two Books – Tony Adams. Addicted (1999) and Sober (2017) written with Ian Ridley
- ‘Brave New World: Inside Pochettino’s Spurs’ by Guillem Balague (2018)
- ‘Soccernomics – 2018 World Cup edition’ by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski (2018)
- ‘Mental – Bad Behaviour, Ugly Truths and the Beautiful Game’ by Jermaine Pennant with John Cross (2018)
- ‘Kaiser: The Greatest Footballer Never To Play Football’ by Rob Smyth (2018)
- ‘The Barcelona Legacy: Guardiola, Mourinho and the Fight For Football’s Soul’ by Jonathan Wilson (2018)
- ‘Gazza in Italy’ by Daniel Story (2018)
- ‘Lionel Messi and the Art of Living’ by Andy West (2018)
- ‘How to be a Footballer’ by Peter Crouch (2018)
- ‘Tackled: The Class of ’92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate’ by Ben Thornley & Dan Poole (2018)
- ‘Hijacking LaLiga: How Atlético Madrid Broke Barcelona and Real Madrid’s Duopoloy on Spanish Football’ by Euan McTear (2018)
- ‘Cristiano and Leo: The Race to Become the Greatest Football Player of All Time’ by Jimmy Burns (2018)
- ‘One Football, No Nets’ by Justin Walley (2018)
- ‘Building the Yellow Wall: The Incredible Rise and Cult Appeal of Borussia Dortmund’ by Uli Hesse (2018)
- ‘The Away Game: The Epic Search for Football’s Next Superstars’ by Sebastian Abbot (2018)
- ‘Masters of Modern Soccer: How the World’s Best Play the Twenty-First-Century’ by Grant Wahl (2018)
- ‘250 Days: Cantona’s Kung Fu and the Making of Manchester United’ by Daniel Storey (2019)
- ‘The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports’ by Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg (2019)
- ‘Done Deal: An Insider’s Guide to Football Contracts, Multi-Million Pound Transfers and Premier League Big Business’ by Daniel Geey (2019)
- ‘Bottled: English Football’s Boozy Story” by Benjamin Roberts (2019)
- ‘I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You: Growing Up as a Football Addict’ by Greg Whitaker (2019)
- ‘Boot Sale: Inside the Strange and Secret World of Football’s Transfer Window’ by Nige Tassell (2019)
- ‘The Frying Pan of Spain: Sevilla v Real Betis, Spain’s Hottest Football Rivalry’ by Colin Millar (2019)
- ‘The Long, Long Road to Wembley’ by Dave Roberts (2019)
- ‘Europe United: 1 football fan. 1 crazy season. 55 UEFA nations’ by Matt Walker (2019)
- ‘The Next Big Thing: How Football’s Wonderkids Get Left Behind’ by Ryan Baldi (2019)
- ‘King Eric: Portrait of the Artist Who Changed English Football’ by Wayne Barton (2020)
- ‘Yer Joking Aren’t Ya?: The Full Story of Middlesbrough’s Unforgettable 1996/97 Season’ by Tom Flight (2020)
- ‘Red Wine & Arepas: How Football is Becoming Venezuela’s Religion’ by Jordan Florit (2020)
- ‘From the Jaws of Victory: A History of Football’s Nearly Men’ compiled and edited by Adam Bushby and Rob MacDonald (2020)
- ‘1982 Brazil: The Glorious Failure’ by Stuart Horsfield (2020)
- ‘My Life in Red and White’ by Arsène Wenger (2020)
- ‘Wings of Change: How the World’s Biggest Energy Drink Manufacturer Made a Mark in Football’ by Karan Tejwani (2020)
- ‘Achieving the Impossible – the Remarkable Story of Greece’s EURO 2004 Victory’ by George Tsitsonis (2020)
- Gladiator by Francesco Totti with Paolo Condo, and tr. by Anthony Wright (2021)
- ‘Fit and Proper People: The Lies and Fall of OWNAFC by Martin Calladine and James Cave (2022)
- The O’Leary Years: Football’s Greatest Boom and Bust by Rocco Dean (2022)
- Scheisse! We’re Going Up! The Unexpected Rise of Berlin’s Rebel Football Club’ by Kit Holden (2022)
- Kit and Caboodle: Football’s Shirt Stories’ by Matt Riley (2022)
- ‘USA 94: The World Cup that Changed the Game’ by Matthew Evans (2022)
- ‘Messi Vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World’s Game’ Jonathan Clegg and Joshua Robinson (2022)
- ‘Football Murals: A celebration of soccer’s greatest street art’ by Andy Brassell (2022)
- ‘How to Win the World Cup: Secrets and Insights from International Football’s Top Managers’ by Chris Evans (2022)
- ‘Dark Goals: How History’s Worst Tyrants Have Used and Abused the Game of Soccer’ by Luciano Wernicke (2022)

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