Author:Luke Williams,Paul Gadsby
The top snooker players in the world compete for several trophies every year, but one carries more prestige than all the others put together - the World Championship. No other tournament in the sport carries with it so much history, so many golden moments of spectacular success and dramatic failure.
Meticulously researched and including exclusive interview material with Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy, among others, Masters of the Baize is a comprehensive guide to the men who have lifted the greatest prize in snooker.
From the legendary Joe Davis, the first champion in 1927, to modern-day masters like Mark Williams, all the sport's world champions are put under the microscope, while the colourful careers of forgotten figures such as Walter Donaldson and John Pulman and rogue heroes like Alex Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan are brought vividly to life.
After uncovering the inauspicious origins of the game in nineteenth-century India, the authors examine every former world champion in his own comprehensive chapter. Additionally, a special section focuses on the extraordinary popularity of Jimmy White, by far the greatest player never to have won the title and one of the most emotive names in the sport.
Who is the greatest snooker player of them all? And what criteria would you employ to choose that No. 1 man? This entertaining read attempts to answer both questions
—— Book of the Week , Sunday TimesTimely, well-meaning and thought-provoking are all arguable descriptions of this guide to the 20 players who have won snooker's world championship
—— Book of the Week , The IndependentCommendably thorough, offering some off-the-wall oddments
—— Daily TelegraphDiligently researched . . . interesting and illuminating
—— Snooker SceneSchulberg remains a distinguished boxing author, which you'll confirm if you do yourself a favour and buy his new book
—— Daily MailA long lifetime of experience distilled into words . . . age has not withered [Schulberg's] observational powers or his ability to express his views
—— The HeraldAn absolute must for anyone who is even remotely a boxing fan
—— www.eastsideboxing.comThe best of [Budd Schulberg] is here
—— Sky Sports MagazineThe insight into the sporting mindset is uncanny; the detail unforgettable. A gruesomely compelling instant classic.
—— Sunday Telegraph, Sports Books of the YearThe book inspired in me not surprise so much as the occasional jolt of shock at the grimy practicalities and the odd drop of my jaw at the means Hamilton says that he, Lance Armstrong and others used to stay ahead of the testers and the police... A deep insight into the evidence that Armstrong refused to confront when he opted out of arbitration in the case that the US Anti-Doping Agency had built against him and his associates.
—— William Fotheringham , ObserverEye-popping revelations... The strength of Hamilton's testimony lies in the forensic detail with which he describes how the doping system operated and how riders managed to cheat the testers for so long.
—— Simon Redfern , Independent on SundayA searingly honest piece of work, a forensic and hugely important study of how a sport turned rotten.
—— Tom English , Scotland on SundayBrilliant... Daniel Coyle and Tyler Hamilton finally lay bare an awful truth and back it up with hard forensic evidence. The result is a book of searing honesty, the clearest possible description of what had been going on behind the scenes at many pro cycling teams for decades. The Secret Race draws the curtain back on cycling's cheating and corruption with admirable ferocity.
—— Burton MailGripping... extraordinary
—— David Runciman , London Review of BooksI wasn't expecting to be moved by Hamilton's book. He broke my heart in 2004 and he's a self-confessed cheat after all. But it is an honest, harrowing, eye-opening account that is a must-read for anyone interested in competitive cycling in the late '90s and the early 2000s. I came away with a better appreciation of the professional cyclist, under pressure to succeed. I came away with a renewed respect for Tyler Hamilton despite his misdemeanours. But most surprisingly of all, I came away with a renewed love of the sport. For underneath all the talk about things he did wrong - and he points the finger at himself more than any other - there runs a passionate dialogue about cycling. A sport that defines him. A sport that ruined him. But ultimately, a sport that is all the better for Tyler Hamilton's candid portrayal of life in the peloton.
—— Julia Stagg , Freewheeling FranceA valuable document and a well-timed one.
—— Gary Imlach , New StatesmanA gripping tale.
—— Chris Maume , Independent, Books of the Year 20122012 was the year in which a handful of books changed what we thought we knew about the games we love to watch and play. None more so than the recent William Hill Sports Book of the Year, The Secret Race. Cyclist Tyler Hamilton's confessional of his time on Lance Armstrong's US Postal Service Team, written with Daniel Coyle, is a fascinating insight. It revealed in such incredible detail the culture of systematic doping, in which Hamilton took part, that the whole sport was changed forever. Within a month of its publication, combined with the damning USADA report, Armstrong had been stripped of his Tour de France titles.
—— Ben East , Metro, Books of the YearA courageous act of witness.
—— The EconomistAn obvious choice, ultimately. A book that went beyond entertainment or education in their normal senses. This is the book that opened the world's eyes to the incredible doping scandal in cycling and the crimes of Lance Armstrong. A book that will be on almost all awards lists for books this year, and will surely migrate to the lists of all-time great books as its impact becomes more apparent over time.
—— Newstalk, Sports Book of the YearExplosive... a stunning and sometimes sickening account of the doping pervasive in the pro peloton.
—— Sports IllustratedHaunting... takes readers deep inside the gory cult of back-alley phlebotomy that ruled cycling as Armstrong launched and nurtured his Livestrong brand.
—— New York Daily NewsRich, magisterial account...Other books on Hemingway have tended to focus on his post-1930s literary decline and his machismo. The portrait that emerges from these pages is altogether more human
—— Ed Caesar , Sunday TimesHe has a tremendous feel for Hemingway, as both writer and man
—— Sarah Churchwell , GuardianThis is a portrait of the author which is likely to leave one feeling more warmly disposed towards him
—— HeraldMore a portrait than a biography, this book is a dazzling late example of "New Journalism"...the result is touching, revelatory and utterly absorbing
—— IndependentUnmissable
—— The LadyWhile much of Hemingway’s life may have been hellish, Hendrickson’s writing is a delight. A fine work
—— Fachtna Kelly , Sunday Business PostVery well told
—— William Leith , ScotsmanAn album of fascinating snapshots of Hemingway
—— Simon Shaw , Mail on SundayPaul Hendrickson writes with a great deal of passion…
—— NudgeA terrific and fresh approach to the man
—— Daniel Woodrell , Financial Times