Christmas books: A Life Too Short by Ronald Reng
A poignant analysis chronicling the effects of depression on Robert Enke, the German goalkeeper who took his own lifeGreat sportswriting, wrote the American journalist and broadcaster Dick Schaap, "tells us as much about life as about sport" and his ve...
Fred Trueman: the good, the bad and the grouchy | Rob Bagchi
A new biography that is true to its subject does not equivocate over the Yorkshire and England bowler's splenetic temperamentRarely does an authorised, posthumous biography written with the help of compassionate family members provide a trenchant portr...
Keeping My Head by Justin Langer – review
In an Ashes special we also review Richie Benaud: Over But Not Out and WG Grace Ate My Pedalo by Alan Tyers and BeachAustralians call people obsessed with the game "cricket tragics" and the team's redoubtable former opening batsman Justin Langer is hap...
The Best Views from the Boundary – Test Match Special’s Greatest Interviews
These transcripts of the 30 'best' interviews run the gamut from the farceur Ben Travers, who saw WG Grace play, to Lily AllenA love of cricket masks many flaws and the brilliance of the View from the Boundary idea – the regular Test Match Special Sa...
Bill Nicholson: Football’s Perfectionist by Brian Scovell
Bill Nicholson is remembered, in a new book by Brian Scovell, as a stern disciplinarian whose boldness created the team that won the Double and two European trophiesThe morning after the FA Cup final in 1961, when Bill Nicholson had crowned his career ...
Walter Tull 1888-1918 – Officer Footballer
The black pioneer overcame racism to enjoy a distinguished footballing career
Walter Tull 1888-1918 Officer Footballer: All the Guns in France Couldn't Wake Me Phil Vasili (Raw Press, £10)
The football career of Walter Tull – a glittering amateur spell with Clapton, a handful of games for Tottenham Hotspur during...
Lamenting a lost home to pursuers of sporting trivia | Rob Bagchi
When the Colindale library closes in 2012 the fear is that another refuge for the metaphorical anorak will not take its place
Last week's announcement that the British Library's newspaper depository at Colindale will be shutting its doors in 2012 is a significant blow for sports fans. Over the...
Football’s inside-story tellers change perceptions and expose the soul | Rob Bagchi