This book takes a look at the relationship between the major bookmakers and their customers and suggests with ample evidence that the major layers only want to deal with those who lose money. This book is not only informative but highly amusing. It pours scorn and contempt upon the bookmaking industry and asks the central question why no one, save the author himself, appears remotely interested in this state of affairs and prepared to do something about it.
“Bookmakers are in the service industry but the only service shown in this book is one of complete and utter contempt for their customers.”
Rated 5 stars by Amazon customers (all Amazon ratings are out of 5).
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
“At my Devon school, lessons were optional and I did not go to a lot. A friend’s father took us to Buckfastleigh racecourse where there were bookmakers and tic-tac men, Tote windows and people asking each other what they knew (at school, people only told you what you did not know). I became hooked.”
“This book is a must for anybody who has an interest in horse racing and still highly entertaining for those who do not.”
Rated 4.9 stars by Amazon customers (all Amazon ratings are out of 5).
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy is a story featuring politicians, governing bodies, illegal bookmakers and powerless players – as well as corruption, intimidation and even suicide. It is a story that touches all cricket-playing nations around the world. It is a story that every cricket fan must read. You might never again watch a cricket match without suspicion.
“I am a cricket fan, which no doubt added to my interest, but I’m not a gambler and some of the intricacies of the betting markets went over my head. No matter, it doesn’t detract from the thrill of it. If you are into cricket and/or gambling you simply have to read this.”
Rated 4.5 stars by Amazon customers (all Amazon ratings are out of 5).
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
For decades Peter O’Sullevan was one of the iconic sports commentators, providing the sound track for half a century of horseracing as he called home such legends of the sport as Arkle, Nijinsky, Red Rum and Desert Orchid.
His rapid-fire commentary seemed to echo the sound of horses’ hooves, and it was not long before he became known as ‘The Voice of Racing’.
“Bought for a present, and receiver was delighted. If you love horse-racing, this is a must read.”
Rated 4.7 stars by Amazon customers (all Amazon ratings are out of 5).
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
The Sure Thing tells the complete story of how he managed to organise the biggest gamble in racing history – and how he then followed up with yet another audacious scheme in January 2014.
“This is a fascinating story of the logistics of a multi-million betting coup and a triumphantly compelling portrait of Curley.”
Rated 4.6 stars by Amazon customers (all Amazon ratings are out of 5).
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
The next 11 books are all winners of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award
In the last two decades football in Britain has made the transition from a peripheral dying sport to the very centre of our popular culture, from an economic basket-case to a booming entertainment industry. What does it mean when football becomes so central to our private and political lives? Has it enriched us or impoverished us?
Rated 4.3 stars by Amazon customers (all Amazon ratings are out of 5).
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
In Night Games, Anna Krien follows the trial of a young footballer. Fearlessly and without prejudice, she shines a light into the darkest recesses of sports culture.
“A measured, serious insight into the seamier side of sport. Presumably there are similar sub-cultures in other countries and in other sports. This should be required reading for sports and police authorities alike.”
Rated 3.8 stars by Amazon customers.
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
Doped is the gripping true-story racing thriller set in Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s. Combining a potent mix of horseracing, drugs, sex, class, crime, gambling and the monarchy, it tells the true story of one of the biggest doping scandals in British racing history.
“What a marvellous tale. Hard to think that this was real life and not a “roman noir” as in the “films noir” of the 1940’s. Very well written and researched in the fullest detail, it is unputdownable!”
Rated 4.4 stars by Amazon customers.
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
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.
“I have read quite a few cycling related books that have focused on the doping issue within the sport. This has been the most revealing and really gave an insight to the risks and sacrifices it took to be continually amongst cycling`s elite.“
Rated 4.8 stars by Amazon customers.
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
On 10 November 2009 the German national goalkeeper, Robert Enke, stepped in front of a passing train. He was thirty-two years old and a devoted husband and father.
Enke had played for a string of Europe’s top clubs, including Barcelona and Jose Mourinho’s Benfica and was destined to become his country’s first choice in goal for years to come. But beneath the veneer of success, Enke battled with crippling depression.
Rated 4.8 stars by Amazon customers.
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
Brian Moore, or ‘Pitbull’ as he came to be known during nearly a decade at the heart of the England rugby team’s pack, established himself as one of the game’s original hard men at a time when rugby was still an amateur sport. Since his retirement, he has earned a reputation as an equally uncompromising commentator, never afraid to tell it as he sees it and lash out at the money men and professionals that have made rugby into such a different beast.
Rated 4.4 stars by Amazon customers.
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
This is the first ever biography of Harold Larwood. Larwood, one of the most talented, accurate and intimidating fast bowlers of all time is mainly remembered for his role in the infamous Bodyline series of 1932-3 which brought Anglo-Australian diplomatic relations to the brink of collapse.
Rated 4.9 stars by Amazon customers.
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
A true-life sporting memoir of one of the best batsman in the game who stunned the cricket world when he prematurely ended his own England career. Trescothick’s brave and soul-baring account of his mental frailties opens the way to a better understanding of the unique pressures experienced by modern-day professional sportsmen.
Rated 4.7 stars by Amazon customers.
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
Brian Clough’s twenty years as Nottingham Forest manager were an unpredictable mixture of success, failure, fall-outs and alcoholism. Duncan Hamilton, initiated as a young journalist into the Brian Clough empire, was there to see it all. In this strikingly intimate biography – William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2007 – Hamilton paints a vivid portrait of one of football’s greatest managers: from Nottingham Forest’s double European Cup triumph to the torturous breakdown of relations at the club and Clough’s descent into alcoholism.
Rated 4.6 stars by Amazon customers.
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
He was the first black heavyweight champion in history (1908-15) and the most celebrated – and most reviled – African American of his age. In Unforgivable Blackness, prize-winning biographer Geoffrey C. Ward brings to vivid life the real Jack Johnson, a figure far more complex than the newspaper headlines could ever convey.
Rated 4.7 stars by Amazon customers.
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
Stewart Imlach was an ordinary neighbourhood soccer star of his time.
A brilliant winger who thrilled the crowd on Saturdays, then worked alongside them in the off-season; who represented Scotland in the 1958 World Cup and never received a cap for his efforts; who was Man of the Match for Nottingham Forest in the 1959 FA Cup Final, and was rewarded with the standard offer – £20 a week, take it or leave it.
Rated 4.7 stars by Amazon customers.
You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking here.
The above books are all rated as excellent by Amazon customers and a must read for anyone who likes sport.
For any other books, be they about sport or not, please do click on the logo below and help ‘Justice for Punters’.
