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Audiobooks Narrated by Colin Mace
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An insightful, comprehensive and always entertaining appreciation of how European football has developed over the last three decades by the author of the much heralded The Mixer.
Continental football has always cast a spell over the imagination. From the attacking flair of Real Madrid of the 50s to the defensive brilliance of the Italians in the 60s and onto the total football of the Dutch in the 70s, the European leagues have been where the game has most evolved and taken its biggest steps forward. And over the last three decades, since the rebranding of the Champions League in 1992, that pattern has continued unabated, with each major European footballing nation playing its part in how the game's tactics have developed.
From the intelligent use of space displayed by the phenomenal Ajax team of the early 90s, to the dominance of the highly strategic Italian league in the late 90s and onto the technical wizardry of Barcelona's tiki-taka, the European game continues to reinvent the tactical dimension of the game, creating blueprints which both club and national teams around the world strive to follow.
In Zonal Marking, Michael Cox brilliantly investigates and analyses the major leagues around Europe over specific time periods and demonstrates the impact each has made on how the game is now played. Highly entertaining and packed full of wonderful anecdotes, this is the first book of its kind to take an overview of modern European football, and lays bare just how much the international language of football can be shaped by a nation's unique identity.
A powerful exposé of the 'war' framework that governments around the world have adopted to tackle difficult problems yet which locks them into failed and cruel policies that never seem to end. The United States recently exited a two-decade long war in Afghanistan -- part of its 'global war on terror' -- in ignominy, with the Taliban taking Kabul. The US and European countries also continually increase funding for their own border security, leading to more chaos and shifting the problem around. And America's war on drugs has failed to dampen narcotics demand, while fueling atrocities and profiteering from Mexico to the Philippines. Why do politicians keep feeding the very crises they say they are combating? In Wreckonomics, Ruben Andersson and David Keen analyze why disastrous policies continue to live on when it has become apparent that they do not work. The authors show how the perverse outcomes we see in the fight against terror, migration, and drugs are more than a blip or an anomaly. Rather, the proliferation of pseudo-wars has become a dangerous political habit and an endless source of political advantage and profit. From combating crime to the war on drugs, from civil wars to global wars and even 'culture wars,' chronic failure has been harnessed to the appearance of success. A wide variety of problems have persisted or even worsened not so much despite the wars and pseudo-wars that are waged against them as because of them. Covering a range of cases around the world, Wreckonomics exposes and interrogates the incentive systems that allow destructive policies to remain in effect even in the face of systemic failure. It also develops strategies to collectively dismantle the addiction to waging war on everything.
'Passionate and moving and provides further evidence of the universality of football' Jonathan Wilson, FourFourTwo
The definitive story of the Middle East's unstoppable rise to football superpower, and the road to the Qatar World Cup
When James Montague first began covering football in the Middle East two decades ago, people asked him what future there could possibly be for the beautiful game in one of the most volatile regions in the world. In the years that followed, it would become one of the biggest stories in global sport, from the from revolutionary ultras of the Arab Spring and the takeover of some of the world's biggest clubs by the Emirati super rich, to Qatar's controversial journey towards hosting the 2022 World Cup finals.
The only Western journalist covering the story on the ground from the very beginning, James Montague tells the definitive tale of the region's rise to ultimate power player in the global game in a fully revised and updated edition. Travelling to every country in the Middle East and meeting fans, players, workers and campaigners, he paints an unforgettable picture of football in a controversial, vibrant and surprising new world.
The second novel from Lee Rourke, author of the cult hit 'The Canal'.Jon Michaels - a divorced, disaffected and fatigued editor living a nondescript life in North London - wakes one morning to a phone call informing him that his uncle has been found dead in his caravan on Canvey Island. Dismissed from his job only the day before and hung-over, Jon reluctantly agrees to sort through his uncle's belongings and clear out the caravan. What follows is a quixotic week on Canvey as Jon, led on by desire and delusion, purposeful but increasingly disorientated, unfolds a disturbing secret, ever more enchanted by the island - its landscape and its atmosphere.Haunted and haunting, 'Vulgar Things' is part mystery, part romance, part odyssey: a novel in which the menial entrances and the banal compels.
The Top Ten Sunday Times bestseller returns with a gripping new Ben Hope thriller.
'If you like your conspiracies twisty, your action bone-jarring, and your heroes impossibly dashing, then look no farther,' MARK DAWSON, author of the John Milton series
This time it's personal...
People going missing in the remote wilds of India is not unusual. But when the son of a wealthy Delhi businessman is kidnapped just weeks after his brother fell victim to an alleged bandit attack in the mountains of Haryana, it raises eyebrows.
With the local police doing close to nothing, there's only one man for the job: ex-SAS major Ben Hope. But for Ben, this is no ordinary rescue case. Because this plea for help is coming from a special person from his past, who now has nobody else to turn to.
Ben's mission will take him into the heart of the arid Indian wilderness, pitting him against ruthless gangs and desperate men. But Ben is determined to save the day. Whatever it takes.
The master bestseller returns, with the most hotly anticipated thriller of 2019.
'If you've got a pulse, you'll love Scott Mariani; if you haven't, then maybe you crossed Ben Hope.' SIMON TOYNE
When British troops first deployed to Northern Ireland in 1969 to keep apart rioting factions of loyalists and nationalists, they could not have known that they were being drawn into the longest campaign in the British Army's history, a battle against the threat of a new rising force - the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
While patrols, vehicle bombs and incendiary speeches are the defining memories of the Troubles, the real war was fought out of sight and out of mind. For thirty years, Britain's Special Forces waged a ferocious, secretive struggle against a ruthless and implacable enemy.
Harry McCallion's deep experience across the theatre of Northern Ireland offers a unique insight into nearly every major military action and operation in the Province. Having served seven tours with the Parachute Regiment, undergone selection for 14 Intelligence Company, completed six years with the SAS - including two tours with their anti-terrorism team - and received two commendations for bravery during service with the Royal Ulster Constabulary, there are few more qualified to tell this astonishing story.
This book is his blistering account of the history of Britain's war against the IRA between 1970 and 1998. From new insights into high-profile killings and riveting accounts of enemy contact, to revelations about clandestine missions and the strategies used in combating a merciless enemy, Undercover War is the definitive inside story of the battle against the IRA, one of the most dangerous and effective terrorist organisations in recent history.
'You are all Invictus, you are now ambassadors for the spirit of these games. Never stop fighting and do all you can to lift up everyone around you...'The Invictus Games change lives and save lives.Created and spearheaded by Prince Harry, for whom this is a very personal cause, the Games are for current and former servicemen and women who have been wounded, injured or sick.Most races are about who gets to the finish line first. At the Invictus Games, even making the start line is an achievement beyond measure. Triple amputees, cancer survivors, multiple sclerosis patients, PTSD sufferers and many more all compete. They have been through the darkest of times, but in the camaraderie of competition they find hope anew.Unconquerable: The Invictus Spirit represents the spirit of the Games, upholding a message of self-determination, positivity and sacrifice. These stories of the Invictus athletes will inspire you, give you the courage and determination to succeed, and act as a 'bedside Samaritan' for anyone to turn to in their hour of need.These are the people who make the Invictus Games what they are. These are their stories. They come from all over the world. They are ordinary people who have done, and continue to do, extraordinary things. They are the power of the human spirit. They are Invictus. They are Unconquerable.
When a woman is snatched from a wood, Inspector Superintendent Pat North seizes control of her first major enquiry - one that appears to be over before it begins, when a local sex offender quickly confesses.
With no body and inconsistent statements, North and her Team are not convinced. They investigate a strange family of musical geniuses - each with their own motive.
But if the man who confessed isn't the perpetrator - who is? And how far will they go to evade capture?
A derelict house is being demolished when workmen discover the remains of a young girl. Detective superintendent Michael Walker is far from happy at being assigned the seventeen-year-old murder case. When more skeletons are discovered, however, Walker suddenly finds himself in charge of one of the biggest investigations in years.
But when a secret has been buried for seventeen years, the path to justice is more tortuous than ever. Can Walker and his team dig up the truth behind one family and their shadowy past? Or is the truth buried too deep?
Eight years ago, James McCready was convicted of killing his partner, Gary Meadows. But McCready has always claimed that the stabbing was a tragic accident and, when fresh evidence comes to light, he wins his appeal for a retrial.
Detective Inspector Pat North is assigned to the reinvestigation. But when North discovers that her partner, Detective Superintendent Mike Walker led the original police inquiry, their fledgling relationship is put to the test - particularly when she starts to suspect that he is covering something up.
Could Walker have tampered with evidence to frame an innocent man? And if so, who is the real killer?
Fifteen-year-old Cassie Booth goes missing on her paper round. Then her bloodstained jacket is found in a boathouse belonging to Karl Wilding - but there's little evidence against him.
A routine visit by Detective Inspector Pat North to appease persistent complainer Stephen Warrington spirals into something far more sinister. As his behaviour becomes increasingly obsessive, North is caught in a frightening web of deceit and lies that fuels her suspicion that Warrington has been involved in a far more horrific crime.
Only one of the men is guilty of murder. Can the jury unravel the complex web of lies and find justice for Cassie?
Identical and brutal assaults on three women. One woman survives to give a detailed description of her attacker.
The police arrest a suspect, Damon Morton, confident he is their man. But three of his employees admit to the crimes, and Morton's wife and girlfriend provide him with an alibi.
They all declare Damon Morton innocent. The police know he did it. But if people lie under oath in a court of law - who can the jury believe?
