Showing posts with label Biography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biography. Show all posts

20160602

Speed Kings by Andy Bull and Ed Caesar's Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon among winners at 2016 Cross Sports Book Awards

  • Max Mosley, Guillem Balague, Ronda Rousey and David Millar also take prizes
  • Tim Lane and Elliot Cartledge worthy winners of Cricket award for Peter Roebuck biography Chasing Shadows


Andy Bull's Speed Kings and Ed Caesar's Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon were among the outstanding books to be recognised as winners at the 2016 Cross British Sports Book Awards.

The Times Biography of the Year prize went to Guardian journalist Bull, whose Speed Kings (Bantam Press) is the story of the four maverick adventurers who came together from disparate backgrounds to form the United States team who were four-man bobsleigh champions at the 1932 Winter Olympics.

Caesar was named Freshtime New Writer of the Year for Two Hours (Viking), an engaging study of elite marathon runners from around the world and the challenge of covering the classic distance of 26 miles 385 yards in less than two hours.

As in previous years, a public vote on the 10 winners of the book categories will determine which is named the overall Cross Sports Book of the Year for 2016.  To cast your vote, visit www.sportsbookawards.com and complete an online form between now and midnight on 16 June.  Each vote will earn the chance to win £100 worth of book tokens in a draw.

Guillem Balague's life story of the Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (Orion) was a popular winner of the Barclays Football Book of the Year, pipping a field that included past winner Michael Calvin's Living on the Volcano and James Lawton's excellent Forever Boys.

William Finnegan won the Blink Publishing Outstanding Sports Writing award for Barbarian Days (Little, Brown), in which he recounts a life spent chasing waves around the world as a member of the enduring brotherhood of surfers. The book is this year's winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biography.

The Littlehampton Book Services Cricket Book of the Year was won by Tim Lane and Elliot Cartledge for Chasing Shadows: The Life and Death of Peter Roebuck (Hardie Grant), in which Australian journalists Lane and Cartledge charted the life of the controversial English cricketer-turned-writer and examined the dramatic circumstances of his death in a fall from a hotel window in Cape Town, where he was being interviewed by police over an allegation of sexual assault.

The Cross Autobiography of the Year award went to the colourful former Formula One boss Max Mosley for his life story Formula One and Beyond (Simon & Schuster), a book that might disappoint some in that it is mainly about motor racing, but which does at least touch on his roots - he is the son of former Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley - and devotes several chapters to the newspaper revelations about his private life that led him first to bring a successful legal action against the News of the World and subsequently to become a campaigner against media intrusion into private lives.

Ronda Rousey, the former Olympic judo medallist who became a world champion at Ultimate Fighting, won the Cross International Autobiography of the Year award for My Fight, Your Fight (Arrow).

The Cycling Book of the Year is The Racer (Yellow Jersey), by David Millar, in which the Scottish former professional cyclist, who wrote about his return from a two-year doping ban in Racing Through the Dark, describes his final year on the circuit before retirement.

The Arbuthnot Latham Rugby Book of the Year is No Borders: Playing Rugby for Ireland (Arena Sport), Tom English's superb history of Irish rugby told through the words of the 115 present and former players he interviewed, a story that describes not only great victories and crushing defeats but the profound impact of politics and religion on Irish sport.

Winner of the Illustrated Book of the Year was Bob Martin for 1/1000th: The Sports Photography of Bob Martin (Vision Sports).

The Publicity Campaign of the Year went to Fiona Murphy from Quercus, who looked after The World of Cycling According to G, by Geraint Thomas.

The awards were announced during a gala dinner at Lord's cricket ground in London, where the proceedings also included some moving words by former Arsenal and Scotland goalkeeper Bob Wilson on behalf of the Cross Sports Book Awards charity partner Willow, the charity Bob and his wife Meg set up in memory of their daughter Anna, who died of cancer aged 31.  Willow helps seriously ill young adults, aged between 16 and 40, enjoy unforgettable experiences by providing Special Days.

Wilson also presented a special award made to veteran football writer Brian Glanville, who was honoured for his Outstanding Contribution to Sports Writing after a career that spans an incredible 67 years.  Now 84, Glanville began writing for newspapers at the age of 17 and had his first book published aged 19, while working for the Italian sports daily, Corriere dello Sport.  He spent 33 years as correspondent for the Sunday Times, for whom he still writes regular match reports.

To see who these winners beat to the big prizes, read our post on the full shortlists.

Follow these links to buy any of the winning titles

Autobiography of the Year: Max Mosley: Formula One and Beyond
Biography of the Year: Speed Kings, by Andy Bull
International Autobiography of the Year: My Fight Your Fight, by Ronda Rousey
Football Book of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo: The Biography, by Guillem Hague
Cricket Book of the Year: Chasing Shadows: The Life and Death of Peter Roebuck, by Tim Lane and Elliot Cartledge
Rugby Book of the Year: No Borders: Playing Rugby for Ireland, by Tom English
Cycling Book of the Year: The Racer: The Inside Story of Life on the Road, by David Millar
New Writer of the Year: Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon, by Ed Caesar
Outstanding General Sports Writing: Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, by William Finnegan
Illustrated Book of the Year: 1/1000th: The Sports Photography of Bob Martin

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20160506

Judges pondering over 10 shortlists for Cross Sports Book Awards 2016

The judges are pondering over 10 shortlists for the 2016 Cross Sports Book Awards ahead of the awards ceremony on 1 June.

In addition to the titles under consideration for Autobiography of the Year, the longlist for which was revealed in January, the contenders in nine other categories have been named, including the new award for International Autobiography of the Year.

Photo of Gareth Thomas with 2015 award
Gareth Thomas won the 2015 Sports
Book of the Year award for Proud
As in previous years, after the individual category winners have been announced, each will go forward to an online public vote to determine the overall Cross Sports Book of the Year. Everyone that takes part in the public vote will be entered into a draw to win National Book Tokens.

Michael Calvin, who won the overall prize in 2014 with The Nowhere Men and was the ghostwriter behind rugby star Gareth Thomas's 2015 winner Proud, has the chance to complete a hat-trick with Living on the Volcano, his study of what it takes to survive as a football manager, which is shortlisted for Football Book of the Year.

Ronald Reng, the German sports journalist who won Biography of the Year in 2004 with Keeper of Dreams and Football Book of the Year in 2012 with A Life Too Short, is shortlisted in the football category again with Matchdays: The Hidden Story of the Bundesliga.

John Cross's Arsene Wenger and Guillem Balague's Cristiano Ronaldo go head to head in both the Biography and Football categories, while Richard Tomlinson's Amazing Grace: The Man Who was WG is shortlisted for Cricket Book of the Year as well as the biography prize.

Stephen Chalke, author of the 2009 Cricket Book of the Year winner The Way it Was, is a contender for that prize again with Summer's Crown: The Story of Cricket's County Championship.

Donald McRae, who collaborated with Steven Gerrard on his shortlisted Autobiography My Story, is shortlisted also for Biography of the Year with A Man's World: The Double Life of Emile Griffith.

And Ed Caesar is in the running for the New Writer award and the Outstanding Sports Writing award for Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon.

The 2016 awards will be presented by Sky Sports News presenter Mike Wedderburn and Test Match Special’s Alison Mitchell after a dinner at Lord’s Cricket Ground on 1 June. An hour-long highlights show will be shown on Sky Sports. with multiple repeat shows on 4 and 5 June.

The shortlists in full:

Cross Autobiography of the Year


Steve Davis: Interesting (Ebury)
Steven Gerrard: My Story (Penguin)
David Lloyd: Last in the Tin Bath  (Simon & Schuster)
Nigel Mansell: Staying on Track (Simon & Schuster)
AP McCoy: Winner (Orion)
Max Mosley: Formula One and Beyond (Simon & Schuster)

The Times Biography of the Year


Guillem Balague: Cristiano Ronaldo (Orion)
Andy Bull: Speed Kings (Bantam Press)
John Cross: Arsene Wenger (Simon & Schuster)
Donald McRae: A Man's World: The Double Life of Emile Griffith (Simon & Schuster)
Richard Tomlinson: Amazing Grace: The Man Who was W.G.(Little, Brown)
Luke G. Williams: Richmond Unchained: The Biography of the World's First Black Sporting Superstar (Amberley)

Littlehampton Book Services Cricket Book of the Year


Scyld Berry: Cricket: The Game of Life (Hodder & Stoughton)
Stephen Chalke: Summer's Crown: The Story of Cricket's County Championship (Fairfield Books)
Steve James: The Art of Centuries (Bantam Press)
Tim Lane and Elliot Cartledge: Chasing Shadows: The Life and Death of Peter Roebuck (Hardie Grant Books)
Simon Lister: Fire in Babylon (Yellow Jersey Press)
Richard Tomlinson: Amazing Grace: The Man Who was WG (Little, Brown)

Cycling Book of the Year


Peter Cossins: Alpe d'Huez: The Story of Pro Cycling's Greatest Climb (Aurum Press)
William Fotheringham: Bernard Hinault and the Fall and Rise of French Cycling(Yellow Jersey Press)
Ian MacGregor: To Hell on a Bike (Bantam Press)
David Millar: The Racer (Yellow Jersey Press)
Edward Pickering: The Yellow Jersey Club (Bantam Press)
Geraint Thomas: The World of Cycling According to G (Quercus)

Barclays Football Book of the Year


Guillem Balague: Cristiano Ronaldo (Orion)
Michael Calvin: Living on the Volcano (Century)
John Cross: Arsene Wenger (Simon & Schuster)
Andrew Jennings: The Dirty Game: Uncovering the Scandal at FIFA (Century)
James Lawton: Forever Boys (Wisden)
Ronald Reng: Matchdays: The Hidden Story of the Bundesliga (Simon & Schuster)

Blink Publishing General Outstanding Sports Writing Award


Darren Barker with Ian Ridley: A Dazzling Darkness: The Darren Barker Story (Floodlit Dreams)
Ed Caesar: Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon (Viking)
John Daniell: The Fixer (Saltway)
Willie Finnegan: Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life (Little, Brown)
Richard Moore: The Bolt Supremacy (Yellow Jersey Press)
William Skidelsky: Federer and Me: A Story of Obsession (Yellow Jersey Press)

Illustrated Book of the Year


Matthew Baird: Triathlon!: A tribute to the world's greatest triathletes, courses and gear (Aurum Press)
Paul Connolly: Richie Benaud: Those Summers of Cricket 1930-2015 (Hardie Grant Books)
Tour de France 2015:The Official Review (Vision Sports Publishing)
Bob Martin: 1/1000th: The Sports Photography of Bob Martin (Vision Sports Publishing)
Roger McStravick: St Andrews in the Footsteps of Old Tom Morris (St Andrews Press)
Mark Platt: This is Anfield (Carlton Books)


Cross International Autobiography of the Year Award


Dan Carter: Dan Carter: The Autobiography of an All Blacks Legend (Headline)
Didier Drogba: Commitment: My Autobiography (Hodder & Stoughton)
Michael Lynagh and Mark Eglinton: Blindsided (HarperSport)
Marco Negri with Jeff Holmes: Moody Blue: The Story of Mysterious Marco (Pitch Publishing)
Ronda Rousey: My Fight Your Fight (Arrow)
Mark Webber: Aussie Grit: My Formula One Journey (Pan Macmillan)


Freshtime New Writer of the Year


Emily Bullock: The Longest Fight (Myriad Editions)
Ed Caesar: Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon (Viking)
Lucy Fry: Run, Ride, Sink or Swim: A Rookie's Year in Women's Triathlon (Faber & Faber)
Martin Hardy: Touching Distance (DeCoubertin Books)
Lizzy Hawker: Runner: A Short Story About a Long Run (Aurum Press)
Anne Lauppe-Dunbar: Dark Mermaids (Seren Books)

Arbuthnot Latham Rugby Book of the Year


Tony Collins: The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby (Bloomsbury)
Stephen Cooper: After the Final Whistle (History Press)
Tom English: No Borders: Playing Rugby for Ireland (Arena Sport)
Stephen Ferris: Man and Ball (Transworld Ireland)
Adam Jones: Bomb: My Autobiography (Headline)
Phil Larder with Nicholas Bishop: The Iron Curtain: My Rugby Journey from League to Union (Pitch Publishing)

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