The Sports Bookshelf

Proud, the book in which Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas describes the anguish that drove him close to suicide before he decided to end years of deceit and admit to his homosexuality, has been voted Sports Book of the Year for 2015 in an online poll. Published by Ebury, Proud won Best Autobiography at the Cross British Sports Book Awards   2015 before all 10 category winners at the annual prizegiving event were thrown open to readers to name their choice for the overall top sports title of the last 12 months. Written with journalist and sportswriter Michael Calvin, who also won last year’s overall prize for his book, The Nowhere Men , Proud has been described as a breathtakingly moving and inspirational story. Thomas for many years seemed to epitomise the macho culture of rugby. Known by his nickname 'Alfie', Thomas had cultivated the image of hard-drinking hellraiser to which rugby players were almost expected to conform.  Ironically, the publicity accompanying his f