Seve | Non-Fiction - www.zzdbook.com

Seve

Oct 2, 2024 4:32 PM

Author:Severiano Ballesteros,Peter Bush

Seve

Now the subject of a major film.

Once or twice a generation, an athlete transcends his sport - at last, here's Seve Ballesteros in his own words

There are golfers, and there are golfers. And then there's Seve.

Severiano Ballesteros was perhaps the most naturally gifted golfer ever to have walked a fairway. From the moment his brother Manuel gave him his first club he was unstoppable. A few weeks before his seventeenth birthday he turned pro. Five years later he won the Open. A genius had arrived.

For the best part of two decades Seve dominated the golfing landscape. He played shots others could only dream of. With 94 wins as a professional (including 5 majors) he was a phenomenon, an athlete who transcended his sport.

But Seve stood for more than simple excellence. Almost single-handedly, Seve gave European golf credibility; almost single-handedly, he made the Ryder Cup one of the greatest contests in world sport. And when, as captain, he finally lifted the trophy on home soil in 1997, a whole continent rejoiced. His pride and passion have inspired millions, and we have taken him to our hearts.

Here, for the first time, Seve tells his own story. From his humble beginnings right up to the present day, here at last is the man behind the magic in his own words. Seve is utterly entertaining, blazingly charismatic and unique.

Severiano "Seve" Ballesteros Sota was a Spanish professional golfer and a leading sports figure. He won more than 90 international tournaments in an illustrious career. He first caught the attention of the sporting world in 1976, when at the age of 19 he finished second at The Open. He played a leading role in the re-emergence of European golf, helping the European Ryder Cup team to five wins both as a player and captain. He won the World Match Play Championship a record-tying five times. He is generally regarded as the greatest Continental European golfer of all time and won a record 50 times on the European Tour.

Ballesteros died of brain cancer on 7 May 2011, aged 54.

Reviews

His generosity of spirit shines through the book

—— Sunday Telegraph

A great man and a great ambassador, Seve has represented his country, his sport and himself with class. I am sure you will enjoy his life story

—— Jack Nicklaus

Exceptional

—— Gary Player

A genius

—— Tiger Woods

It conveys well the momentousness of the achievement- It captures the power of the amateur spirit

—— Alastair Campbell, The Times

Barclay tells his story and in doing so describes the way the game has changed over the years. We see the famous temper in action, but also a more reflective, generous side

—— Colin Waters , Herald

A firm but fair biography of a footballing legend

—— Guardian

Do we really need another biography of Sir Alex Ferguson?...the answer is unequivocally in the affirmative

—— Independent on Sunday

You'll be hard-pressed to find a book that will tell you as much about the intimidating character and gives such a revealing insight into the legend of British football that is Sir Alex Ferguson

—— Football Fan Cast

Best Sports Biography of the Year

—— Metro

An extraordinary and powerful cautionary cry.

—— Kirkus

Brilliant. . . one of the most unnerving books you will ever read

—— Newsweek

Buford creates with the majesty of a Tom Wolfe the ultimate price paid by so many for this footballing fever - the Hillsborough disaster, recalled with electrifying eloquence and power

—— Time Out

A grotesque, horrifying, repellent and gorgeous book; A Clockwork Orange come to life.

—— John Gregory Dunne

A very readable, often funny, book.

—— The Economist

His prose is tough and vivid

—— ID

Buford pushes the possibilities of participatory journalism to a disturbing degree . . . Among the Thugs does severe damage to the conventional wisdom that England and Europe are bastions of civilization.

—— New York Times

Buford's book is important in that it offers a far more compelling explanation for the football violence than any offered by the pundits of Left and Right . . . Had Buford's account been written by a tabloid reporter or an academic sociologist it might be more easily dismissed. That is comes from a highly intelligent observer, and a neutral outsider with no axe to grind, makes his book all the more powerful and yet troubling.

—— Michael Crick , Independent

Buford’s accounts of the thugs he moved with are by turns amazing, repugnant, stunning, horrid and exhilarating.

—— Howler

The defining book on England’s hooliganism

—— Simon Parkin , Guardian

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