Author:Lionel Birnie,Ellis Bacon
Professional cycling is a rich, dynamic and often controversial sport that lends itself to great writing. Some of the most famous and illustrious races were founded by newspapermen and The Cycling Anthology continues this tradition by bringing together the best in the business.
Volume Three features original and exclusive pieces by leading cycling writers. Ned Boulting goes behind the scenes at the 2013 Tour de France to get to know the second British winner in two years, Chris Froome; Richard Moore tells the story of Marianne Martin, winner of the first women's Tour de France; Lionel Birnie recounts the story of the Tour of Britian through the prism of the 2013 edition; Jeremy Whittle assess how the aftermath of Lance Armstrong's sensational confession affected Team Sky; and many more.
Between them, they’ve covered hundreds of Tours de France and written dozens of excellent books and some have even ridden the Tour. Here, their work is showcased together.
Professional pro cycling journalism for grown ups. These are the kind of stories that you may have wondered at, but don’t often get to see in this detail
—— Road.ccA pleasure to read … packed with a variety of subject and rich prose
—— The Inner RingThe penalty shootout is like a lottery; you never know what can happen, though I know that there is an outstanding book, Twelve Yards, that proves otherwise.
—— Gérard HoullierA wonderful book: extremely well-researched, well-written and international in its scope. Ben Lyttleton has done something very rare in football writing: he has got access to some of the game's leading players and coaches and got them to talk articulately and thoughtfully about a key aspect of their game. Twelve Yards reveals the level of intelligence that exists within professional football: a more cerebral zone than many people realize.
—— Simon Kuper, author of Football Against the Enemy and Why England LoseThe perfect palliative to ease the anxiety of footie fans, aficionados and players... With the aid of statistics, physics, psychology, body language and interviews with players, coaches and sports scientists, Lyttleton has advice and words of comfort, if not joy.
—— The TimesA vivid read... Lyttleton appears to have spoken to everybody who's ever taken part in a penalty shoot-out of any significance. As a result, he serves up an almost endless series of terrific set-pieces.
—— Reader's DigestBrilliant... Twelve Yards is a book every England player should read.
—— Matt Le Tissier, former England internationalGlorious... Lyttleton's book goes into remarkable detail in an attempt to find a solution, to do for England and penalties what Freud wanted to do for the human condition by transforming neurotic misery into normal human unhappiness.
—— Sunday IndependentFascinating.
—— The ObserverExcellent.
—— Financial TimesCould not be better.
—— Sunday PeopleVery good... a readable study of an almost unknowable art. Lyttleton's scope is nothing if not wide.
—— When Saturday ComesGreat book… might make me take a penalty one day.
—— Per MertesackerSuperb… full of great insight
—— Alan ShearerHamilton 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.
—— Irish ExaminerDickinson is tender to the memory of the Essex lad who, for a breathtaking instant, was glorious
—— Ain Finlayson and Kate Saunders , Saga MagazineMatt's work is the most impressive West Ham book of the year, a genuine and sincere attempt to get to the root of the man. It is an excellent, thought-provoking book
—— Knees Up Mother BrownA compelling and complete account
—— SportIn The Man in Full, acclaimed football writer Matt Dickinson traces the journey of this Essex boy, peeling away the layers of legend and looking at Moore’s life from all sides – in triumph, in failure, in full
—— Bert Wright , NudgeOutstanding... this excellent biography comes very close to describing the real Bobby Moore
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