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January 2004

'I,
a non-horsey person, certainly enjoyed it and learned much about the raffish
world of punters, shrewdies, faces, connections, the excitement of the
betting ring and the adrenalin rush of the race meeting.'
Sports Monthly
'Forget Francis and Francome, it is Reid who wins by a distance. It is
he who captures the mix of romance and skullduggery that make racing so
intoxicating.'
Observer Supplement
'Reid's great strength is that he thinks laterally about the sport...He
does not measure the game in lengths or pounds, but by the many characters
and great beasts the pursuit throws up.'
The Independent

A
coach transported to the field in a hearse as he played dead. An English
manager taken at gunpoint to an Argentinian jail after trying to sign that
country's World Cup captain. The hero of 1966 who talked his team out of
going on strike on the eve of a title decider.
All are part of the British professionals' story of life in the North American Soccer League in the '70s and early '80s, when everyone - from star turn to unsung journeyman - had the chance to play alongside Pelé, Cruyff, Beckenbauer and Eusebio in the greatest galaxy of world stars ever assembled in one league.
'A welcome addition to football's bibliography.'
Programme Monthly

Rangers
entered the new world of sport and big business in April 1986 when they
signed Graeme Souness, a man with no previous connections to a club steeped
in its own historical traditions. These traditions are ineluctably intertwined
with those of their great Glasgow rivals, Celtic, whose origins as an Irish
Catholic club set up the rivalry that became known as the Old Firm, once
said to be 'a business based on bigotry'.
Celtic were slow to react to the Souness challenge at Ibrox, especially when Souness was joined by a new owner at Rangers, millionaire businessman David Murray, but after years of squabbling at Celtic Park, Celtic's saviour arrived in the form of expatriate millionaire Fergus McCann.
'an honest, yet balanced account'
Scotland on Sunday

Number
2 in the Top Ten Sports Books - 8 December 2003
The Independent
'Lots of super photography reflects the drama, celebration and despair of a competition that had everything.' Scotland on Sunday
'With excellent photography, detailed commentary and all the statistics
that fans love, this is an excellent present and an ideal keepsake recording
one of the English rugby's finest moemnts.'
Haverhill Echo
'A great book for England fans like me, for obvious reasons, but also
a great book for all rugby lovers...there are fascinating reports and statistics
about every game and team in last year's event Down Under...Packed with
superb colour photographs, this is a great look at what was a superb tournament.'
South Wales Argos

'Anyone
stuck for a Christmas present for a member of the Toon Army can rest easy.
JACKIE MILBURN: Man of Two Halves has been written by the legend's own
son, Jack, and attempts to give an insight into not only the career, but
also the life away from the pitch of Newcastle;s greatest goalscorer.'
Newcastle Herald and Post
'The book's main strength is in its warm northern nostalgia, but the general
interest lies in exposing just how badly even an iconic player like Milburn
could be treated by his club.'
Four Four Two
'In this thoughful biography, well crafted by Jackie's son Jack, the toruous
lack of self-belief is well documented, as are those unforgettable on-field
exploits that earned him his place in Newcastle folklore.'
The Sunday Times

FANATICAL ABOUT FOOTBALL is a collection of interviews, essays and recollections
from famous, and not-so-famous, fans that provides an exhilarating and
often hilarious stroll through the Scottish game past and present.
'An exhilarating, evocative and often hilarious stroll through the Scottish
game past and present.'
Football Trader
'it's an exhilarating, sentimental and often hilarious stroll through
the Scottish game past and present.'
The Sunday Post
'It is an exhilarating, sentimental and often hilarious stroll through
the Scottish game past and present.'
Greenock Telegraph

'few
people could be better qualified to write about the club...an entertaining
story.'
Kettering Evening Telegraph
'entertaining collection of anecdotes.'
The Times
'His words may not constitute the most articulate biography of all time,
but it bucks the trend for overindulgent memoirs and is simply the funniest
sports book of the year.'
The Times

'...essential
addition to any collection of books on Scottish Rugby...an engaging series
of portraits which put flesh on the bones provided by the record books,
and gives a human face to men regarded as legends by their peers.'
Sunday Herald, 26 November
'...readers will delight at its anecdotal qualities, and, like us all,
will applaud the author's generosity in allowing half his royalties to
go to the appeal for Struan Kerr Liddell, who broke his neck while playing
for Lismore RFC in Edinburgh.'
The Independent

Having
been involved in more than 350 championship fights - over 100 of them world
title fights - Mickey Vann is recognised as one of the world's top boxing
referees, and one of the most controversial. GIVE ME A RING covers Vann's
professional refereeing career in all its glory and documents his unusual
early life in the circus and a Dickensian foster home.
'Number 7 in TOP TEN SPORTS BOOKS'
The Independent
'Many sporting autobiographies are hamstrung by the subject's concern
over his public image, but not this one...refreshingly and at times startlingly
honest...The result is hilarious and extremely well-written. Definitely
a must-read, whether you are a boxing fan or not.'
Yorkshire Evening Post

'Rubenstein
gives the reader a feel for what makes the appeal of the Highlands so enduring.
He brings the place and its people to life.'
Tom Watson, five-time British Open Champion
'a perceptive and moving memoir of one man's quest to relive the pure
love of golf that he knew in his youth.'
Golfview
'BOOK OF THE WEEK - Lorne Rubenstein's moody and charming new book.'
The Independent
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