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Triumph and Tragedy
Triumph and Tragedy
Oct 19, 2024 5:45 AM

Author:Peter Jackson

Triumph and Tragedy

This collection of revealing profiles captures the essence of a galaxy of Welsh world-beaters from across the sporting spectrum: athletics, boxing, cricket, football, golf, horse racing, motor racing, rugby union, rugby league and tennis.

Those featured include arguably the best Welsh rugby union player of the twentieth century; the greatest bowler never to play for England; the farmer's boy who became a master golfer; the Cardiff boy from Splott who made such a name for himself in Hull that they named a thoroughfare after him; the 'Gentle Giant' from Swansea still revered in Italy some 50 years after his last match for Juventus; the only post-war Welsh jockey to win the Grand National twice; and the unsung hero from the Rhondda who became the saviour of Manchester United in the weeks after the Munich air disaster.

Their stories, based on exclusive interviews and coloured with anecdotes, will inspire future generations to believe that nothing is impossible.

Reviews

Jackson . . . brings his subjects back into vivid focus

—— Independent on Sunday

[A] great read on those who had walk-on (and be-carried-out) parts in Tyson's life

—— Observer

Among the lost and broken, the crazy and the dangerous, The Long Round is as compelling as it is compassionate

—— Donald McRae

A talented writer... He loves boxing and knows the sport

—— The Ring

This is a powerful book which transcends football.

—— Sport Magazine

Deeply affecting

—— Matt Dickinson , The Times

Moving...after reading it, I felt I not only understood depression a little better but also determined never again to believe the myth of the sporting superman, impervious to criticism or pressure

—— Sarah Crompton , Daily Telegraph

Deeply affecting

—— Ian Hawkey , Sunday Times

A Life Too Short is a sports biography about as much as BS Johnson's classic The Unfortunates is a sports novel. Both are books about grief. But football runs through the heart of Enke's story and this book belongs to the first rank of publications on the game of minds and souls that exists behind the beautiful game that is seen on the field. It is both a fitting tribute to a lost friend but it is also a salutary warning to the great football clubs of the world

—— Keith Duggan , Irish Times

Enlightening and visceral...An indispensable insight into a man and an illness, Reng's book is a sobering yet brilliant account and may yet restore faith for the disenchanted man in the street

—— Sabotage Times

Enke had often talked to his friend Reng, a journalist-cum-novelist, about writing a book together. Now Reng has done it alone, beautifully...this is the mature work of a writer who has gone far beyond sensationalism. It allows you to turn back and read football differently

—— New Statesman

It should be on every British football fan's reading list

—— Ben East , Metro

A masterpiece… I have read few other books, fiction or non-fiction that is so startlingly sensitive, honest and sincere

—— Bundesligafanatic.com

It’s pitched perfectly – intensely moving without becoming overly emotional or morbid

—— Sharon Wheeler , Times Higher Education

This seductive book will engage those who don’t know a googly from a doosra and enlighten those who do

—— Independent
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