On Snooker

On Snooker

Author: Mordecai Richler

Publisher: Vintage Canada

Published: 2010-04-30

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 030737100X

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From his first days as a poolroom hustler playing truant from Baron Byng High School at the Rachel Pool Hall, Mordecai Richler has remained a snooker devotee. In his inimitable style, he delves into the fascinating world of snooker with pith and perception. But On Snooker is not just a lifelong fan's memoir. It is a brilliantly entertaining history of the game and an account of snooker's bad boy champions, including Alex (The Hurricane) Higgins, Cliff (The Grinder) Thorburn—both Canadian and interviewed for this book—with a chapter devoted to their special exploits and drug escapades. There are other colourful types: Ronnie (The Rocket) O'Sullivan, whose dad ("Ron's the name, porn's the game") is serving a life sentence for murder. Finally there is Stephen Hendry, the greatest player ever, who has won the world championship a record seven times. Mordecai Richler also makes clear why many great writers have been fascinated by sports and why snooker and literary readers go together, including Hemingway, Shulberg, Mailer, Roth, Plimpton, Martin Amis, and others. Very funny, passionate, and thoroughly researched on snooker tables from Montreal's The Main to Dublin, On Snooker is a book lovers of Richler and of great sports writing will cherish.


The Little Book of Snooker

The Little Book of Snooker

Author: Sean Boru

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2010-03-01

Total Pages: 91

ISBN-13: 0750954019

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The Little Book of Snooker is a wonderful collection of stories about the most hilarious and often embarrassing scenes that that have taken place in the green rooms, hotel rooms and at parties attended by the biggest legends in snooker. These stories have been told by the stars themselves, and many have never been published before. The book also lists the profiles of the contributing players with all their career achievements. It includes the most important tournaments in the snooker year, the winners and runners-up, as well as featuring a host of fascinating facts, stats, quotes and trivia relating to the green baize.


Snooker's World Champions

Snooker's World Champions

Author: Luke Williams

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2012-10-05

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 178057715X

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The top snooker players in the world compete for several trophies every year, but one carries more prestige than all the others put together - the World Championship. No other tournament in the sport carries with it so much history, so many golden moments of spectacular success and dramatic failure. Meticulously researched and including exclusive interview material with Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy, among others, Masters of the Baize is a comprehensive guide to the men who have lifted the greatest prize in snooker. From the legendary Joe Davis, the first champion in 1927, to modern-day masters like Mark Williams, all the sport's world champions are put under the microscope, while the colourful careers of forgotten figures such as Walter Donaldson and John Pulman and rogue heroes like Alex Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan are brought vividly to life. After uncovering the inauspicious origins of the game in nineteenth-century India, the authors examine every former world champion in his own comprehensive chapter. Additionally, a special section focuses on the extraordinary popularity of Jimmy White, by far the greatest player never to have won the title and one of the most emotive names in the sport.


Scottish Steam's Final Fling

Scottish Steam's Final Fling

Author: Keith Widdowson

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2017-05-01

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 0750983116

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In May 1967, Scotland became the third of the six British Railways regions to dispense with the steam locomotive, bringing an iconic era of Britain's transport heritage closer to its demise. Residing over 300 miles away, then teenaged Keith Widdowson's pilgrimages north of the border were marathon undertakings. Abysmal overnight time keeping, missed connections, trains allegedly booked as steam but turning up as diesel – each journey could have been a disaster, but those setbacks were easily forgotten after many successes, such as in catching runs with LNER A2s, A4s, V2s and B1s, as well as BR Clans. Accompanied with brief historical data of routes and stations – many no longer extant – visited, alongside photographs from the author's archives, this book is a collection of reminiscences from the final two years of steam that anyone with a penchant for railways will enjoy.


Scotland Today and Yesterday

Scotland Today and Yesterday

Author: John MacKay

Publisher: Luath Press Ltd

Published: 2024-12-15

Total Pages: 709

ISBN-13: 1804251968

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This book is the story of a changing Scotland as it was heard and seen by the people of Scotland. We all may have our ideas about where we are headed as nation and a society, but none of us knows. That makes what lies ahead so fascinating. Just like what's gone before. JOHN MacKAY John MacKay is one of Scotland's best known broadcasters. His career as a reporter, anchor and presenter has spanned from the Thatcher Years to the Independence Referendum and beyond. MacKay has been witness to the major stories in the country's recent past. There have been the tragedies of Lockerbie, Dunblane and Clutha; sporting triumphs and tears; the opening of the new Scottish Parliament; the drama of parliamentary elections and referendums; interviews with Prime Ministers and First Ministers; and the death of Donald Dewar. From being in a room with a grizzly bear to trying to calm an irate – and topless – Alex Salmond, MacKay's career has been nothing if not varied. Using archive scripts, interview transcripts, recollections and personal diaries, he tells the story of one of the most tumultuous periods in Scotland's peacetime history.


A Question of Sport Quiz Book

A Question of Sport Quiz Book

Author:

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2012-02-29

Total Pages: 578

ISBN-13: 1446417492

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After more than four decades on the air, A Question of Sport is firmly established as the final word in sports trivia. Now, after countless arguments, sporting debates and lost hours spent directing the action from the sofa, you can finally test your own knowledge to see if you can succeed where so many sporting greats have failed. With over 3,500 brand new questions, A Question of Sport Quiz Book will challenge you to put your money where your mouth is and put your knowledge of the sports world to the ultimate test. Play on your own or in teams to answer questions covering all eras of football, golf, cricket, motor racing, boxing, rugby, darts, snooker, the Olympics and so much more. With questions from your favourite rounds from A Question of Sport, here at last is your chance to take on the captain's challenge, or go head-to-head on the quick-fire buzzer round. What will be your score when the final whistle blows?


Guinness World Records 2008

Guinness World Records 2008

Author: Craig Glenday

Publisher: Bantam

Published: 2008-04-29

Total Pages: 642

ISBN-13: 0553589954

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Lists records, superlatives, and unusual facts in the areas of fame, business, crime, the natural world, technology, war, the arts, music, fashion, and sports.


Schott's Miscellany 2008

Schott's Miscellany 2008

Author: Ben Schott

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 9780747584698

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Schott's Almanac redefines the traditional almanac to present a record of the year just past and a guide to the year come. It is designed to be a practical and entertaining annual volume that tells the real stories of the year, from the opening of the New Wembley stadium to the announcement of the next prime minister, and from the release of the Iranian hostages to the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Section headings are- Chronicle; World; Society & Health; Sci, Tech, Net; Celebrity & Media; Music & Cinema; Books & Arts; Travel & Leisure; Money; Parliament & Politics; The Establishment; Sport; Ephemerides. In an age when information is plentiful but selection is rare, Schott's Almanac offers both the essential facts and the lucid analysis, combining the authority and accuracy of the Economist with the wit and vitality of Have I Got News for You.