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Unbeaten: The Triumphs and Tragedies of Rocky Marciano
by Mike Stanton'Unbeaten is one of the best sports books I’ve read in years' Jonathan Eig, author of Ali: A LifeRocky Marciano accomplished a feat that eluded legendary champions like Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson: he never lost a professional fight. When he retired in 1956, his record was a perfect 49-0. Unbeaten is the revelatory biography of one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Marciano rose from abject poverty and a life of petty crime to become heavyweight champion and one of the most famous faces of his era. He dominated boxing in the decade following the Second World War with a devastating punch, which he nicknamed the ‘Suzie Q’. But perfection came at a price.Pulitzer Prize-winner Mike Stanton tells the story of Marciano’s pursuit of greatness through the era of guys and dolls, hustlers and gamblers, glamorous celebrities and notorious mobsters. But boxing had its dark side, particularly at a time when Mafia mob bosses like Blinky Palermo and Frankie Carbo wielded immense power behind the scenes. Marciano retired while still in his prime, weighed down by the mob’s influence in the sport he loved. For the last decade of his life, he wandered America, disillusioned, untrusting, hiding his money, cheating on his wife, consorting with the mobsters he had loathed for corrupting his sport, until his death in a plane crash in 1969, the night before his 46th birthday. Unbeaten by Mike Stanton is the story of a remarkable champion, a sport that was rotten to its core, and a country that may have expected too much from its heroes.
Unbeaten: The Story Of My Brutal Childhood
by Kim WoodburnFor Kim Woodburn finding fame in her 60s in the smash hit television series How Clean is Your House? with fellow dust-buster Aggie Mackenzie is like living a fairytale. Often she has simply wished that she had never been born, for Kim has overcome horrific emotional and physical abuse both at the hands of her alcoholic mother and her philandering, sexually abusive father. In her brave and revealing story Kim's memories of growing up are not of love and cuddles, but of beatings and random cruelty. Shuttled between the brutal houses of her warring parents, a succession of miserable children's homes and a grim convent - Kim's past has cast a long shadow over her life. But just before her sixteenth birthday she finally made her escape. It has taken decades of hard work, and a wonderfully happy marriage to conquer depression but now she has emerged unbowed and unbeaten as Britain's Queen of Clean.
Unbelievable Football: The Most Incredible True Football Stories You Never Knew
by Matt OldfieldThe perfect gift for the football-mad kid in your life.Football is the world's favourite game where there's everything to play for and anything can happen. Like, a dog walking on the pitch in injury time and saving your team from relegation... A goal keeper saving two crucial goals with a broken neck... Or even a game erupting in no man's land between the British and German soldiers during the Christmas Truce. From great events to the completely unknown and down-right ridiculous, these are the best stories from the beautiful game. Compiled by bestselling author Matt Oldfield, Unbelievable Football will keep young fans entertained for hours.
Unbelievable Football 2: How Football Can Change the World (Unbelievable Football #2)
by Matt OldfieldThe ultimate gift and inspiring conversation-starter for every football-obsessed child in your life - by the winner of the 2020 Children's Sports Book of the Year Award.Did you know that football can change the world?Have you heard of . . .*The children who built a floating football pitch?*The match that stopped a nation fighting?*The girl who kicked down barriers to win the World Cup?*The footballer who fought food poverty?Uncover the most incredible and unbelievable stories of football changing the world for the better, and discover how you can too!Compiled by bestselling author Matt Oldfield, this is the second book in the award-winning Unbelievable Football series. Inspiring, entertaining and conversation-starting, this is a book for football fans everywhere.
Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement
by Tarana BurkeFrom the founder and activist behind one of the largest movements of the twenty-first century, the me too movement, Tarana Burke debuts a powerful memoir about her own journey to saying those two simple yet infinitely powerful words and how she brought empathy back to an entire generation'Searing. Powerful. Needed.' Oprah'I will never stop thinking about this book.' Glennon DoyleTarana didn't always have the courage to say me too. As a child, she reeled from her sexual assault, believing she was responsible. Unable to confess what she thought of as her own sins for fear of shattering her family, her soul split in two. One side was the bright, intellectually curious third generation Bronxite steeped in Black literature and power, and the other was the bad, shame ridden girl who thought of herself as a vile rule breaker, not of a victim. She tucked one away, hidden behind a wall of pain and anger, which seemed to work... until it didn't. Tarana fought to reunite her fractured soul, through organizing, pursuing justice, and finding community. In her debut memoir she shares her extensive work supporting and empowering Black and brown girls, and the devastating realisation that to truly help these girls she needed to help that scared, ashamed child still in her soul. Tarana has found that we can only offer empathy to others if we first offer it to ourselves. Unbound is the story of an inimitable woman's inner strength and perseverance, all in pursuit of bringing healing to her community and the world around her, but it is also a story of possibility, of empathy, of power, and of the leader we all have inside ourselves. In sharing her path toward healing and saying me too, Tarana reaches out a hand to help us all on our own journeys.
Unbowed: A Soldier's Journey Back from Paralysis
by Billy HeddermanUnbowed: A Soldier's Journey Back from Paralysis is the story of a dramatic recovery from diagnosed quadriplegia to a level of functionality rarely seen. Billy Hedderman was body boarding on the Sunshine Coast, Australia on New Year's Eve 2014, when a wave dumped him into the sand. He broke his neck, back and suffered immediate spinal cord damage, paralysing him from the neck down. Lucky not to drown, Billy was rushed to Queensland's premier spinal injuries unit where he began the difficult road to recovery. Yet incredibly within seven months of his injury, the incomplete quadriplegic ran a 10 km race in Brisbane in under one hour. Billy details how his previous life experience – such as service in the elite Special Forces unit Army Ranger Wing, and the death of his two close friends – have assisted in his mental toughness to prevail against all expectations. The book provides insight into Irish Special Forces from a recent serving tactical commander. Billy is currently a serving Captain in the Australian Infantry.
Unbreakable: The Woman Who Defied the Nazis in the World’s Most Dangerous Horse Race
by Richard AskwithCzechoslovakia, October 1937. Europe’s youngest democracy is on its knees. Millions are mourning the death of the nation’s founding father, the saintly Tomáš Masaryk. Across the border, the Third Reich is menacing – and plotting to invade. In the Czechoslovak heartlands, vast crowds have gathered to watch the threatened nation’s most prestigious sporting contest: the Grand Pardubice steeplechase. Notoriously dangerous, the race is considered the ultimate test of manhood and fighting spirit. The Nazis, as usual, have sent their paramilitary elite: SS officers schooled to be Hitler’s most ruthless enforcers. Their mission: to crush – yet again – the “subhuman Slavs”. The local cavalry officers have no hope of stopping them.But there is one other contestant: a silver-haired countess riding a little golden mare…The story of Lata Brandisová is one of the strangest and most inspiring in all sport. Born into privilege, she spent much of her life in poverty. Modest and shy, she refused to accept the constraints society placed on her because of her gender. Instead, with quiet courage, she repeatedly achieved what others said was impossible. The scandal of her first attempt to ride in Pardubice reverberated across Europe. Ten years later, she became her nation’s figurehead in its darkest hour. Then came retribution…UNBREAKABLE is a tale of courage, heartbreak and defiance, in an age of prejudice and fear. In the background are forces – sexism, class hatred, nationalism – whose shadows darken today’s world too. In the foreground are eccentric aristocrats, socialite spies, daredevil jockeys – and a race so brutal that some consider merely taking part in it a sign of insanity. At its heart is a unique hero, and a unique love affair between a woman and a horse.
Unbreakable: My Life With Paul - A Story Of Extraordinary Courage And Love
by Lindsey HunterUnbreakable tells Lindsey Hunter’s moving and heartbreaking story. Lindsey is the widow of snooker star Paul Hunter, who died tragically aged only 27 in October 2006 after a battle with cancer, leaving Lindsey and their one year-old daughter Evie bereft and alone.
Unbreakable: My New Autobiography
by Sharon OsbourneSharon Osbourne's life has always been an extreme rollercoaster ride. And despite her best efforts, the last few years have been the most dramatic and turbulent of all. In her gripping new autobiography Sharon reveals the truth behind the headlines. There have been times of huge joy and pleasure - becoming a grandmother for the first time and seeing both Jack and Kelly come through testing times to find happiness and contentment at last. But there has also been a lot of heartache. Sharon describes the shocking and unexpected battle to save her thirty-year marriage to Ozzy - and the devastating betrayal that lay behind their separation. She also lived through every mother's worst nightmare when Jack was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis - and writes movingly of her hopes and fears for her beloved son. A tough but fair judge on the X Factor, Sharon is just as hard on herself. She is honest about the mistakes she has made - from misguided plastic surgery to her battles with her weight and body image. Filled with laughter, tears and hard-won wisdom, Unbreakable is as funny, frank and fearless as Sharon herself.
Unbreakable
by Ronnie O'Sullivan'Reading this is like watching an O'Sullivan break: hypnotic, dazzling and impossible to tear yourself away from.' - STEPHEN FRY---In a career spanning over three decades, Ronnie O'Sullivan's journey to becoming the greatest snooker player of all time has been filled with extremes.A teenage snooker prodigy, Ronnie turned professional with the highest of expectations. This pressure, together with a challenging personal life, catapulted Ronnie into a life of excess and addiction. He was winning titles - his first within a year of turning professional - but losing himself and his game as he tried to block out the mental pain and misery. Whilst Ronnie appeared at the height of the game to spectators, these were the moments when he felt at his lowest.In the year 2000 Ronnie started rehab and began the journey to get his life back, addressing his demons and working on developing a stronger and more resilient mindset. More than twenty years on, Ronnie is still obsessed with delivering his peak performance and never happier than when in a snooker hall, but success has now taken on a new meaning for the record-equalling world champion.Framed around the many lessons Ronnie has learned from his extraordinary career, Unbreakable takes us beyond the success and record-breaking achievements to share the reality - and brutality - of making it to the very top, whatever your field. Ronnie is the first to say he doesn't have all the answers, but in sharing the experiences that have shaped him and mistakes that have made him, he hopes to help readers navigate their own personal challenges and obstacles, and in turn reach their maximum potential.This is Ronnie O'Sullivan as you've never seen him before, the definitive and unflinching story of a true British icon and a fascinating insight into the mindset of the world's greatest snooker player.
Unbroken: My story of survival
by Beverley CallardBeverley Callard has been loved by millions of viewers for the last twenty years in her role as feisty Rovers Return landlady Liz McDonald on Coronation Street. But behind the scenes her rollercoaster life has been even more colourful than her character’s.She has suffered from crippling depression, been divorced three times, and has had to start from scratch following infidelity and bankruptcy. But every time she’s been knocked down, Beverley has struggled through and steadfastly rebuilt her life. And it is that determination to cope with whatever life throws at her that has made Beverley’s story one of inspiration to women everywhere. She’s now ready to tell it for the first time.From growing up in Leeds, coping with family tragedy, and marrying for the first time just after her seventeenth birthday, Beverley’s childhood was at times tough. But she was always surrounded by the love and laughter of her family. Beverley talks candidly about the devastating impact of her three broken marriages and describes the happiness she has now found with her wonderful partner Jon.In this intimate and moving autobiography Beverley reveals a life of extraordinary highs – the wonderful times she’s had wearing the shortest skirts on the Street! - and devastating lows - including the she suffered last year.Heartfelt, funny and shockingly honest, Unbroken is the gripping story of a truly remarkable woman.
Unbroken: A World War Ii Story Of Survival, Resilience, And Redemption
by Laura HillenbrandThe incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, now a major motion picture directed by Angelina Jolie.
Unbroken: A journey of adversity, mental strength and physical fitness
by Aidan O'MahonyAidan O'Mahony was at peak physical fitness and making his mark on the Kerry Senior Football team when he made the devastating choice to walk away from it all.Now, in his powerfully honest memoir, Aidan looks at the events leading up to this moment: the extreme pressure he put himself under as he strove for maximum physical strength, struggling with the asthma that had plagued him since childhood; the on-pitch altercation that took a toll on his mental health; the controversy over a failed drug test and the intense media scrutiny he found himself facing.And he tells of how, in the weeks that followed him quitting the game, he made a decision which would ultimately change everything.As Aidan began to discover who he was and what was important to him, he returned to football with the same dedication and commitment he'd always had - but with a new mindset. He went on to achieve Championship and personal highs including taking part in and winning RTE's Dancing with the Stars.Unbroken is an account of the discipline it takes to be a part of one of the country's most successful Gaelic football teams. It is also a story of managing external and internal expectations and pressure, and of the importance of knowing when to ask for help.
Unbroken Spirit: The true story of a girl's struggle to break free
by Ferzanna RileyThis is the incredible true story of Ferzanna Riley, a Pakistani Muslim who could not be broken, despite an abusive family and their brutal efforts to enslave her. Her violent childhood, during which she was beaten on an almost daily basis, transformed her into a desperate and suicidal teenager, and led her to question the faith and culture she had been born into. After starting a new life in London, a shocking turn of events led Ferzanna and her younger sister to be tricked by their family into going into Pakistan, where they were held captive. Inspiring and moving, this astonishing story paints a picture of an amazing woman who broke the cycle of abuse and survived against all the odds.
The Uncannily Strange and Brief Life of Amedeo Modigliani: An Uncannily Strange And Brief Life (Pushkin Blues Ser.)
by Velibor ColicThe life of the modernist painter Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) was chaotic and tragically brief. Spanning the last months of Modigliani's life, this evocative novel conjures up the strange workings of the painter's troubled - and often drug-fuelled - mind, and the manner in which his eccentricity expressed itself in his art. Colic's evocative novel captures the full essence of Modigliani's Bohemian lifestyle, and the colourful visitors who came and went through his Paris studio: among them his lover, Jeanne Hébuterne, and the prostitutes who occasionally modelled for him; and succeeds in conveying something of the intense artistic life of Paris in the first decades of the twentieth century.
Uncanny Valley: A Memoir
by Anna Wiener‘Joan Didion at a startup’ Rebecca Solnit ‘I've never read anything like Uncanny Valley ’ Jia Tolentino ‘This is essential reading’ Stylist
Unceasing Militant: The Life of Mary Church Terrell (The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture)
by Alison M. ParkerBorn into slavery during the Civil War, Mary Church Terrell (1863–1954) would become one of the most prominent activists of her time, with a career bridging the late nineteenth century to the civil rights movement of the 1950s. The first president of the National Association of Colored Women and a founding member of the NAACP, Terrell collaborated closely with the likes of Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, and W. E. B. Du Bois. Unceasing Militant is the first full-length biography of Terrell, bringing her vibrant voice and personality to life. Though most accounts of Terrell focus almost exclusively on her public activism, Alison M. Parker also looks at the often turbulent, unexplored moments in her life to provide a more complete account of a woman dedicated to changing the culture and institutions that perpetuated inequality throughout the United States.Drawing on newly discovered letters and diaries, Parker weaves together the joys and struggles of Terrell's personal, private life with the challenges and achievements of her public, political career, producing a stunning portrait of an often-under recognized political leader.
Unchosen: The Memoirs Of A Philo-semite
by Julie BurchillWhat if your first love was not one person but an entire culture?This is a loud and heartfelt celebration of one woman's relationship with the Jewish people. Growing up as a blonde, popular, West Country schoolgirl, Julie Burchill was the unlikeliest convert to militant Zionism but learning of the cruelty the Jewish people faced throughout history turned her into their biggest champion. From her marriage to a 'not Jewish enough husband' to drunken holidays in Israel, arguments with lesbian rabbis to being banned from her local synagogue, this is a brilliantly funny and unflinchingly honest account of a philo-Semite that will shock and delight in equal parts. Join Julie as she examines her 40-year obsession with the Jewish people and recounts a love affair that is as hedonistic, passionate and outspoken as its author. This is a frivolous book about a serious subject that is now more important than ever. It's An Education, but with more sex, more violence and a lot more Jews.
Uncle Bill: The Authorised Biography of Field Marshal Viscount Slim
by Russell MillerMasterly biography of the 'greatest commander of the 20th century'.Field Marshal Slim is less well known than other Second World War generals, but is now widely regarded as the best. To the men under his command he was 'Uncle Bill', probably the most respected and loved military leader since the Duke of Marlborough. Born into an impoverished family in Bristol in 1891 and brought up in the Black Country, he was commissioned as a temporary Second Lieutenant on the outbreak of the First World War. Twice seriously wounded, in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia, he was awarded the Military Cross in 1918. After the war he was unable to remain an officer in the class-ridden British Army without private means and transferred to the Indian Army, where he developed an enduring affection for the Ghurkhas and began writing short stories to supplement his income.Slim's career stalled between the wars, but during this time he developed the leadership techniques that would make him a national hero within a decade and which are still taught today at Sandhurst. Promotion came rapidly with the Second World War, and in March 1942 he was sent to Burma to take command of the British-Indian First Burma Corps, then in full flight from the advancing Japanese. Through the force of his leadership, Slim turned disorderly panic into a controlled military withdrawal across the border into India. Two years later, having raised and retrained the largest army ever assembled by Britain, Slim drove the enemy out of Burma and shattered the myth of Japanese invincibility which had hamstrung the Allied operations in the East for so long. Slim returned to Britain laden with awards and honours. He became a popular Governor-General of Australia in 1953, was raised to the peerage, and died in London in 1970.This important biography will be written with the full cooperation of the Slim family, and Russell Miller has had access to all their papers.
Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood (Picador Collection)
by Oliver Sacks‘If you did not think that gallium and iridium could move you, this superb book will change your mind’ The Times In Uncle Tungsten, Oliver Sacks evokes, with warmth and wit, his upbringing in wartime England. He tells of the large science-steeped family who fostered his early fascination with chemistry. There follow his years at boarding school where, though unhappy, he developed the intellectual curiosity that would shape his later life. And we hear of his return to London, an emotionally bereft ten-year-old who found solace in his passion for learning. Uncle Tungsten radiates all the delight and wonder of a boy’s adventures, and is an unforgettable portrait of an extraordinary young mind.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Racism
by John BarnesAn eloquent and thought-provoking book on racism and prejudice by the Liverpool and England football legend John Barnes.John Barnes spent the first dozen years of his life in Jamaica before moving to the UK with his family in 1975. Six years later he was a professional footballer, distinguishing himself for Watford, Liverpool and England, and in the process becoming this country's most prominent black player.Barnes is now an articulate and captivating social commentator on a broad range of issues, and in The Uncomfortable Truth About Racism he tackles head-on the issues surrounding prejudice with his trademark intelligence and authority.By vividly evoking his personal experiences, and holding a mirror to this country's past, present and future, Barnes provides a powerful and moving testimony. The Uncomfortable Truth About Racism will help to inform and advance the global conversation around society's ongoing battle with the awful stain of prejudice.
Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Marriages in Literary London 1910 -1939
by Katie RoipheDrawing on the memoirs, letters and diaries of a group of British intellectuals writing between 1910 and the Second World War, UNCOMMON ARRANGEMENTS paints a witty and insightful portrait of seven 'marriages a la mode', each triumphantly casting off Victorian inhibitions and pursuing bohemian ideals of freedom and equality.But as well as love and passion, there were tolerance, denial, anger, jealousy and drama. The Bloomsbury group's Clive and Vanessa Bell opened up their marriage to accommodate Vanessa's live-in lovers, and Clive's obsession with his sister-in-law, Virginia Woolf. H.G. Well's steadfast wife sent her love to his mistress Rebecca West when their son was born. And Vera Brittain and Katherine Mansfield, more devoted to their work than to their husbands, wrestled with unfulfilled desires.This is both a fascinating exploration of love, affection and friendship in marriage, and a brilliantly entertaining account of a dazzling era of high-society high living.
Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars 1955-1994
by David HepworthAs heard on BBC 6 Music with Shaun Keveny, BBC Radio 5 Live and Talk Radio with Eamonn HolmesThe age of the rock star, like the age of the cowboy, has passed. Like the cowboy, the idea of the rock star lives on in our imaginations.What did we see in them? Swagger. Recklessness. Sexual charisma. Damn-the-torpedoes self-belief. A certain way of carrying themselves. Good hair. Interesting shoes. Talent we wished we had.What did we want of them? To be larger than life but also like us. To live out their songs. To stay young forever. No wonder many didn’t stay the course.In Uncommon People, David Hepworth zeroes in on defining moments and turning points in the lives of forty rock stars from 1955 to 1995, taking us on a journey to burst a hundred myths and create a hundred more. As this tribe of uniquely motivated nobodies went about turning themselves into the ultimate somebodies, they also shaped us, our real lives and our fantasies. Uncommon People isn’t just their story. It’s ours as well.
The Uncommon Reader: A Life of Edward Garnett
by Helen SmithTHE SUNDAY TIMES LITERATURE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017Over a career spanning nearly fifty years Edward Garnett – editor, critic and publisher’s reader – would become one of the most influential men in twentieth-century British literature. Famed for his incisive criticism and unwavering conviction in matters of taste, Garnett was responsible for spotting and nurturing the talents of a constellation of our greatest writers.In The Uncommon Reader Helen Smith brings to life Garnett’s fascinating, often stormy, relationships with those writers – from Joseph Conrad to John Galsworthy, D.H. Lawrence to T.E. Lawrence, Henry Green to Edward Thomas. All turned to Garnett for advice and guidance at critical moments in their careers, and their letters and diaries offer an insight into their creative processes, their hopes and fears.Addressing questions of culture, fame and success, this absorbing portrait of a man who shaped the literary landscape as we know it asks us to consider genius – what it is, where it comes from and to whom it belongs.