A poignant account of unrecognised achievement

Well-researched and entertaining... Whitaker's real achievement is to resurrect for recognition the careers of two genuine British sporting heroes

Remarkable

A timely reminder of the best that the sport can achieve

Astonishing

These men were monumentally strong. They were not just sporting heroes but heroes in terms of human endeavour

Whitaker paints a compelling picture of a world in which the virtues of old-fashioned professionalism and decency overcome class and race barriers... engaging, surprising and...affecting

An examination of a legendary American pugnaciousness... no one ever made winning look quite the rutting alpha-male necessity that Connors made it appear.

The Outsider, a rather overdue autobiography by Jimmy Connors, reads like the American played: full of testosterone and attitude. As a study of the making of an alpha male it is fascinating. Even if [Connors] didn't deal with his successes very well - succumbing to the trappings of fame all too easily - boy, did he work for them. No doubt there have been more gifted players, but no one has won as many tour victories and none, surely, have given themselves so totally to the animal spirit of competition.

Clear as flying chalk: The Outsider takes in a volley of vignettes.

An ace.

A gutsy streetfighter on court, the brash US tennis star covers rivals, romances and revelations with unsurprising candour, but also a welcome dash of humour.

Essential reading... With characteristic humour Connors sets the record straight on the tennis circuit on and off the court.

The atmosphere of the Sixties is re-created brilliantly.

Hamilton through the stories and backstories of others broadens his horizons to explain the phenomenon that was Best and the world that destroyed him. Offering up new material and new perspective, Hamilton, as one reviewer would opined, mastered biography.