While creating this list, we also looked for quality writing about the Paralympic Games. If anyone is interested in writing about them they are woefully underrepresented in UK publishing, despite the achievements and stories of some outstanding athletes like the Italian foil fencer Beatrice Vio. If you have access to the service, do consider watching 'Phoenix Rising' on Netflix, an engaging account of the Paralympics featuring Vio (among others).
The Naked Olympics – Tony Perrottet
The Naked Olympics creates a vivid picture of an extravaganza performed before as many as forty thousand people, featuring contests as timeless as the javelin throw and as exotic as the chariot race.
Perrottet lays bare the ancient sporting experience – including the round-the-clock bacchanal inside the tents of the Olympic Village, the all-male nude workouts under the statue of Eros, and history's first corruption scandals involving athletes. Featuring sometimes scandalous cameos by sports enthusiasts Plato, Socrates, and Herodotus, The Naked Olympics offers an insight into today's Games and an unforgettable guide to the world's first and most influential athletic festival.
They Don't Teach This – Eni Aluko
A fascinating examination of her multiple identities - British and Nigerian, a girl in a boy's world, footballer and academic, a kid from an estate with upper-middle-class parents, a God-fearing rebel... Aluko does not hold back - and few people from the football establishment emerge with their reputation intact – Guardian
The Boys In The Boat: An Epic Journey to the Heart of Hitler's Berlin – Daniel James Brown
Cast aside by his family at an early age, abandoned and left to fend for himself in the woods of Washington State, young Joe Rantz turns to rowing as a way of escaping his past.
What follows is an extraordinary journey, as Joe and eight other working-class boys exchange the sweat and dust of life in 1930s America for the promise of glory at the heart of Hitler's Berlin. Stroke by stroke, a remarkable young man strives to regain his shattered self-regard, to dare again to trust in others - and to find his way back home.
Told against the backdrop of the Great Depression, The Boys in the Boat is narrative non-fiction of the first order; a personal story full of lyricism and unexpected beauty that rises above the grand sweep of history, and captures instead the purest essence of what it means to be alive.
Eat, Sweat, Play – Anna Kessel
Sport's for everyone . . . isn't it?
Society has led some to believe that women and sport don't mix. But why? What happens to the young girls who dare to climb trees and cartwheel across playgrounds?
In her exploration of major taboos, from sex to the gender pay gap, sports journalist Anna Kessel discovers how sport and exercise should play an integral role in every sphere of our modern lives.
Covering a fascinating range of women, from Sporty Spice to mums who box and breastfeed, Eat Sweat Play reveals how women are finally reclaiming sport and, by extension, their own bodies for themselves - and how you can too.
The Jordan Rules – Sam Smith
NBA Hall of Fame columnist Sam Smith had unlimited access to the Chicago Bulls during their championship 1991-92 season and write this explosive bestseller that changed the way the world viewed one of the greatest athletes in history, revealing for the first time Michael Jordan's relentless drive to win anything and everything, at any cost.
By the Sword – Richard Cohen
At first glance, this is a (highly readable) history of all things sword-related. However, as a member of the GB modern pentathlon team, Cohen has first-hand experience of one of the greatest scandals in modern Olympic history as the team squared up to Boris Onischenko and his electrified épée...
Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina – Misty Copeland
In this instant New York Times bestseller, Misty Copeland tells the story of her historic journey to become the first African-American principal ballerina at the prestigious American Ballet Theatre.
When Misty Copeland first placed her hands on the ballet barre at an after-school community centre, no one expected the undersized, underprivileged and anxious thirteen-year-old to become one of America's most groundbreaking dancers. A true prodigy, she was attempting in months roles that take most dancers years to master. But when Misty became caught between the control and comfort she found in the world of ballet and the harsh realities of her own life, she had to choose to embrace both her identity and her dreams, and find the courage to be one of a kind.
Loose Head: Confessions of an (un) professional rugby player – Joe Marler
It's the story of how a fat kid who had to live up to the nickname Psycho grew up to play (and party) for over a decade with rugby's greatest pros. From melting opponents in tackles and propping up scrums, to losing blood, sweat and ears in the name of the great sport of rugby.
Rugby Academy - Tom Palmer
Borderlands First XV have their sights set on becoming the best school rugby team in the world. But while the boys focus on their matches, many of their parents are serving overseas in the armed forces, and everyone is worried as conflict grows in the Central Asian Republic. New pupil Woody is a footballer by nature and must decide if he's prepared to give rugby his all. Rory feels like he's losing his focus, distracted by thoughts of his parents in danger. And Owen finds himself a t the centre when conflict breaks out within the team. With so many hurdles to face along the way, how far will they get in the rigorous schools' tournament?
Bend It Like Beckham – Narinder Dhami
If you're 18, love Beckham and can bend a ball like him then the world must be your oyster, right? Wrong. If you're Jess – 18, Indian and a girl – forget it.
Jess just wants to play football but her wedding-obsessed parents have other ideas so she hides it from them. But when Jess and her friend Jules join a ladies team and get spotted by a talent scout, it all kicks off ...
The Bend it Like Beckham movie was a box-office hit, starring Parminder Nagra, Kiera Knightley and Jonathathan Rhys Meyers.
Bend it Like Beckham was also transformed into a musical, and was performed in London's West End.
The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs – Daniel Coyle & Tyler Hamilton
On a fateful night in 2009, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle met for dinner in Boulder, Colorado. Over the next eighteen months, Hamilton would tell Coyle his story, and his sport's story, in explosive detail, never sparing himself in the process. In a way, he became as obsessed with telling the truth as he had been with winning the Tour de France just a few years before. The truth would set Tyler free, but would also be the most damning indictment yet of teammates like Lance Armstrong.
The result of this determination is The Secret Race, a book that pulls back the curtain and takes us into the secret world of professional cycling like never before. A world populated by unbelievably driven - and some flawed - characters. A world where the competition used every means to get an edge, and the options were stark. A world where it often felt like there was no choice.
Swim, Bike, Run – Alastair & Jonathan Brownlee
Meet the Brownlees: Olympic Champion Alistair, World Champion Jonny. Brothers, training partners, rivals. They have obliterated the competition and set new standards for swimming, biking and running.
In this revealing, often very funny book they take us inside their world. It's both a riveting story of the races, the success and the brotherly rivalry, as well as a guide to triathlon with sections on how to swim, bike and run and packed with advice on nutrition, injury, and mental approach.
Touching the Void – Joe Simpson
Touching The Void is the heart-stopping account of Joe Simpson's terrifying adventure in the Peruvian Andes. He and his climbing partner, Simon, reached the the summit of the remote Siula Grande in June 1995. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frost-bitten, with news that that Joe was dead.
What happened to Joe, and how the pair dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted when Simon was forced into the appalling decision to cut the rope, makes not only an epic of survival but a compelling testament of friendship.
The Dirtiest Race in History – Richard Moore
The 1988 Seoul Olympics played host to what has been described by some as the dirtiest race of all time, by others as the greatest.
Following the 100m race, Ben Johnson tested positive, news that generated as many – if not more – shockwaves as his fastest ever run. He was stripped of the title, Lewis was awarded the gold medal, Linford Christie the silver and Calvin Smith the bronze.
More than two decades on in 1999 Lewis’ reputation was damaged by revelations that he too used performance-enhancing drugs, and tested positive prior to the Seoul Olympics. Christie also tested positive in Seoul but his explanation, that the banned substance had been in ginseng tea, was accepted. Smith was the only athlete in the top five whose reputation remains unblemished - the others all tested positive at some stage in their careers.
This book puts the race in a historical context, examining its continuing relevance on the sport today, where every new record elicits scepticism.
Taking on the World – Ellen MacArthur
When Ellen finished the Vendée Globe, yachting's toughest race, aged just 24, the nation took her to its heart.
This is her story, written in true Ellen style, in her own words, without the help of a ghost writer.
Passionate, dramatic and and deeply affecting, her story will move and inspire all who read it.
Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team and a Dream – H.G. Bissinger
[This book's language and unflinching confrontation of racism in the United States may be unsuitable for younger readers.]
In Texas, American football is a religion. And nowhere is more fanatical about its football than the small town of Odessa. There, every Friday night from September to November, a bunch of seventeen-year-old kids play their hearts out for the honour of their high school. In front of 20,000 people.
In 1988 H.G. Bissinger spent a season in Odessa discovering just what makes a town pin its hopes on eleven boys on a football field. He lived with the students, coaches and townspeople who dedicate their lives to their team, sharing their joys and triumphs, their pains, injuries and bitter disappointments. He returned with a compassionate but hard-eyed story of a town riven by money, race and class, where a high school can spend more on medical supplies for its athletic program than on its English department.
Friday Night Lights is the story of how dreams and reality collide, at once glorious and immensely sad. Because, for the 30-odd boys of the Permian Panthers, these days will have been the best of their lives.
Haunts of the Black Masseur: The Swimmer as Hero – Charles Sprawson
Haunts of the Black Masseur is a dazzling introduction to the great swimming heroes, from Byron leaping into the surf at Shelley's funeral to Hart Crane diving to his death in the Bay of Mexico. Bursting with anecdotes, Charles Sprawson leads us into a watery world populated by lithe demi-gods – a world that has obsessed humans from the ancient Greeks and Romans, to Yeats, Woolf, Fitzgerald and Hockney.
Original, enticing and dripping with references to literature, film, art and Olympic history, this cult swimming classic pays sparkling tribute to water and the cultural meanings we attach to it.
Unbelievable: From My Childhood Dreams to Winning Olympic Gold – Jessica Ennis
On 4 August 2012 Jessica Ennis kicked off what some described as the greatest night in British sporting history. For her it was the end of a long, winding, and sometimes harrowing road.
Hers is an inspiring tale of following your dreams no matter what life throws at you.
Unbelievable is a refreshingly candid account of her rise to fame in a highly charged world in which body image issues and drug abuses lurk.
This is the story of how the girl next door became London's poster girl, and how an ordinary woman used an extraordinary talent to claim the title of the world's greatest all-round female sports star.
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike – Phil Knight
In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the boot of his car, Knight made $8000 in his first year. Today, Nike's annual sales top $30 billion. In an age of start-ups, Nike is in its own class, and the swoosh has become a revolutionary, globe-spanning icon, one of the most ubiquitous and recognisable symbols in the world today.
Leap: Making the Jump to Take Netball to the Top of the World – Geva Mentor
Geva Mentor is the best netballer in the world. In her honest, open and inspiring autobiography, Leap, she sheds light on her journey to the top.
As a child Geva was a naturally gifted athlete, standing out at 5'10" at the age of twelve. She began life as a champion trampolinist, but when she outgrew the sport, literally, she found she had to try something new. This led her to basketball, but the boys on the other teams complained - she was just too good. Making up the numbers for an impromptu netball match one day at the age of thirteen she found her home in netball - or rather it found her.
What Sport Tells Us About Life – Ed Smith
Why will there never be another Bradman?
How do you win 33 games in a row?
Why did Zidane lose his rag on the world's stage?
Journeying deep into sport's leftfield, Ed Smith asks the questions we rarely ask of our teams and players. When is cheating really cheating? Is the free market good for sport? Can talent be a curse? Does luck matter? His answers, often controversial and always thought provoking, will delight anyone who has ever wondered why sport matters.
Sevens Heaven – Ben Ryan
It is late summer 2013. Ben Ryan, a red-haired, 40-something, spectacle-wearing Englishman, is given 20 minutes to decide whether he wants to coach Fiji's rugby sevens team, with the aim of taking them to the nation's first-ever Olympic medal. He has never been to Fiji. There has been no discussion of contracts or salary. But he knows that no one plays rugby like the men from these isolated Pacific islands, just as no one plays football like the kids from the Brazilian favelas, or no one runs as fast as the boys and girls from Jamaica's boondocks. He knows too that no other rugby nation has so little - no money and no resources, only basic equipment and a long, sad history of losing its most gifted players to richer, greedier nations.
Ryan says yes. And with that simple word he sets in motion an extraordinary journey that will encompass witchdoctors and rugby-obsessed prime ministers, sun-smeared dawns and devastating cyclones, intense friendships and bitter rows, phone taps and wild nationwide parties. It will end in Rio with a performance that not only wins Olympic gold but reaches fresh heights for rugby union and makes Ben and his 12 players living legends back home.
Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life – James Kerr
Champions do extra. They sweep the sheds. They follow the spearhead. They keep a blue head. They are good ancestors. In Legacy, best-selling author James Kerr goes deep into the heart of the world's most successful sporting team, the legendary All Blacks of New Zealand, to reveal 15 powerful and practical lessons for leadership and business. Legacy is a unique, inspiring handbook for leaders in all fields, and asks: What are the secrets of success - sustained success? How do you achieve world-class standards, day after day, week after week, year after year? How do you handle pressure? How do you train to win at the highest level? What do you leave behind you after you're gone? What will be your legacy?
Leading – Alex Ferguson with Michael Moritz
What does it take to lead a team to world-class success over a sustained period of time?
Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the few leaders who truly knows. In his 38 years in management, Sir Alex won an astonishing 49 trophies and helped grow Manchester United into one of the biggest commercial brands in the world.
In this inspirational and straight-talking book, Sir Alex reveals the secrets behind his record-breaking career.
Leading is structured around the key skills that Sir Alex values most highly. It includes subjects we immediately associate with his managerial style: Discipline, Control, Teamwork and Motivation. But it also addresses subjects that are less obvious but no less important when seeking success: Delegation, Data Analysis and Dealing with Failure.
Written with the investor Sir Michael Moritz, a longstanding friend of Sir Alex, Leading is packed with insight, wisdom, humour and honesty. The individual stories inevitably concern themselves with football, and the phenomenal success that came along the way, but the lessons can be applied by anyone.