Today has been the publishing world's so-called Super Thursday, the October date that signals the start of the Christmas sales push. Among 97 new titles to hit the shelves, the crop of new sports books includes offerings from Stuart Broad and Gary Lineker -- and two books that will hope to benefit from the wave of popularity that has made Bradley Wiggins into a strong contender to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
We will not know the thoughts of the Tour de France winner and Olympic champion himself until November 8 -- publication date for Yellow Jersey's new Wiggins autobiography, My Time -- but in the meantime, two titles celebrating the feats of sport's most famous mod revivalist are released today.
Bradley Wiggins: The Story of Britain's Greatest Ever Cyclist, by Press Association journalist Matt McGeehan is published by Carlton Books. The 128-page biography looks at how the Wiggins 2012 success story has been more than a decade in the making, tracing back his rise to the posters of the great Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain that adorned his bedroom wall as he grew up in inner-city London.
Cycling journalist Daniel Friebe, author of the Eddy Merckx biography, The Cannibal, and Mark Cavendish's ghostwriter on Boy Racer, offers Allez Wiggo! How Bradley Wiggins Won the Tour de France and Olympic Gold in 2012. Published by Bloomsbury Sport and spanning 176 pages, Friebe looks in particular at the strategy Team Sky employed to help Wiggins become the first British winner of the Tour.
Wiggins is a popular subject at the moment -- cycling journalist and friend John Deering tells his story, too, in Tour de Force, which was published by Birlinn at the beginning of this month -- and while today's cycling headlines are regrettable for the sport, the Wiggins story offers a timely counter to the sordid details thrown up by the Lance Armstrong enquiry.
Carlton have been by far the busiest sports publishers on Super Thursday, with three titles from sports statistician, historian and journalist Keir Radnedge alone. These are an updated fourth edition of the best-selling World Football Records (256 pages), a new post-London 2012 edition of Olympic and World Records (208 pages), and the former World Soccer editor's 288-page Complete Encyclopedia of Football.
Gary Lineker's light-hearted Football - It's Unbelievable is also from the Carlton stable, as is Mike Hammond's exhaustively comprehensive UEFA European Football Yearbook, now in its 25th year as the ultimate reference for European football, covering not only the international teams and the Champions League but the domestic leagues in all 53 UEFA member countries.
Completing the clutch of Carlton titles are Robert Lodge's collection of bizarre football stories, A Game of Three Halves, Bruce Jones's 288-page Complete Encyclopedia of Formula One and Ian Valentine's unusual Cricket Yesterday and Today, which uses photographs from the modern era with days past to compare and contrast the cricketing giants of history with the stars of today.
On a cricketing theme, look out also for Going Barmy, Paul Winslow's first-hand account of life as a member of the England cricket team's loyal unofficial entourage, the Barmy Army. Published by SportsBooks, this is an engaging tale of cricket obsession, with a foreword by the England off-spinner and Barmy Army hero, Graeme Swann.
There will be much interest in Stuart Broad's My World in Cricket, in which the England fast bowler and Twenty20 captain reveals among other things the techniques and tactics, mental and physical, that have helped him succeed in top-level cricket, with advice on how to apply the same formula to the game at any level, either in club or schoolboy cricket.
My World in Cricket is published by Simon and Schuster, who also unveiled rugby star Sam Warburton's Refuse to be Denied: My Grand Slam Year, in which the Wales captain talks about the drama and disappointment of the rugby World Cup in New Zealand, in which he was controversially sent off in the semi-final against France, and his triumphant return to lead Wales to Six Nations glory.
Look out also for As The Crow Flies: My Journey to Ironman World Champion, by Craig Alexander (Bloomsbury Sport), The 368-page Official Illustrated History of Manchester United: 1878-2012 (Simon & Schuster), John Hartson's Celtic Dream Team (Black and White), and Ayrton Senna: The Messiah of Motor Racing, by Richard Craig (Darton, Longman and Todd).
For more information and to buy, visit the Super Thursday page at The Sports Bookshelf Shop.
Read more from the world of sports books...
William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2012: The complete longlist
Rick Broadbent talks about ghosting the Jessica Ennis autobiography
Face to face with himself: Ex-footballer David McVay sees his '70s diaries brought to life on the stage
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We will not know the thoughts of the Tour de France winner and Olympic champion himself until November 8 -- publication date for Yellow Jersey's new Wiggins autobiography, My Time -- but in the meantime, two titles celebrating the feats of sport's most famous mod revivalist are released today.
Bradley Wiggins: The Story of Britain's Greatest Ever Cyclist, by Press Association journalist Matt McGeehan is published by Carlton Books. The 128-page biography looks at how the Wiggins 2012 success story has been more than a decade in the making, tracing back his rise to the posters of the great Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain that adorned his bedroom wall as he grew up in inner-city London.
Cycling journalist Daniel Friebe, author of the Eddy Merckx biography, The Cannibal, and Mark Cavendish's ghostwriter on Boy Racer, offers Allez Wiggo! How Bradley Wiggins Won the Tour de France and Olympic Gold in 2012. Published by Bloomsbury Sport and spanning 176 pages, Friebe looks in particular at the strategy Team Sky employed to help Wiggins become the first British winner of the Tour.
Wiggins is a popular subject at the moment -- cycling journalist and friend John Deering tells his story, too, in Tour de Force, which was published by Birlinn at the beginning of this month -- and while today's cycling headlines are regrettable for the sport, the Wiggins story offers a timely counter to the sordid details thrown up by the Lance Armstrong enquiry.
Carlton have been by far the busiest sports publishers on Super Thursday, with three titles from sports statistician, historian and journalist Keir Radnedge alone. These are an updated fourth edition of the best-selling World Football Records (256 pages), a new post-London 2012 edition of Olympic and World Records (208 pages), and the former World Soccer editor's 288-page Complete Encyclopedia of Football.
Gary Lineker's light-hearted Football - It's Unbelievable is also from the Carlton stable, as is Mike Hammond's exhaustively comprehensive UEFA European Football Yearbook, now in its 25th year as the ultimate reference for European football, covering not only the international teams and the Champions League but the domestic leagues in all 53 UEFA member countries.
Completing the clutch of Carlton titles are Robert Lodge's collection of bizarre football stories, A Game of Three Halves, Bruce Jones's 288-page Complete Encyclopedia of Formula One and Ian Valentine's unusual Cricket Yesterday and Today, which uses photographs from the modern era with days past to compare and contrast the cricketing giants of history with the stars of today.
On a cricketing theme, look out also for Going Barmy, Paul Winslow's first-hand account of life as a member of the England cricket team's loyal unofficial entourage, the Barmy Army. Published by SportsBooks, this is an engaging tale of cricket obsession, with a foreword by the England off-spinner and Barmy Army hero, Graeme Swann.
There will be much interest in Stuart Broad's My World in Cricket, in which the England fast bowler and Twenty20 captain reveals among other things the techniques and tactics, mental and physical, that have helped him succeed in top-level cricket, with advice on how to apply the same formula to the game at any level, either in club or schoolboy cricket.
My World in Cricket is published by Simon and Schuster, who also unveiled rugby star Sam Warburton's Refuse to be Denied: My Grand Slam Year, in which the Wales captain talks about the drama and disappointment of the rugby World Cup in New Zealand, in which he was controversially sent off in the semi-final against France, and his triumphant return to lead Wales to Six Nations glory.
Look out also for As The Crow Flies: My Journey to Ironman World Champion, by Craig Alexander (Bloomsbury Sport), The 368-page Official Illustrated History of Manchester United: 1878-2012 (Simon & Schuster), John Hartson's Celtic Dream Team (Black and White), and Ayrton Senna: The Messiah of Motor Racing, by Richard Craig (Darton, Longman and Todd).
For more information and to buy, visit the Super Thursday page at The Sports Bookshelf Shop.
Read more from the world of sports books...
William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2012: The complete longlist
Rick Broadbent talks about ghosting the Jessica Ennis autobiography
Face to face with himself: Ex-footballer David McVay sees his '70s diaries brought to life on the stage
Home