Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #492056 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-07
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The trouble with life is that the majority of us take it all for granted. Likewise, in the world of sport, fans on the sidelines don't fully appreciate the natural skill and ability on show week-in, week-out, until sadly it is too late. And all too quickly the career of the sportsman is over and the field of play that they have graced is suddenly a poorer place without them.

Spanning the spectrum of modern sport from athletics to wrestling, and charting the lives from the charming tennis ace Arthur Ashe to football's thinker Billy Wright, this book is a wonderful testimony to such a priceless line-up of talented people. The book, which is edited by sports journalist Martin Smith, details--with many anecdotes--the rise and, in far too many cases, the fall of legends. The book is a fine tribute to those who in the main performed for the love not money, those for whom cash wasn't king, but the taking part and setting new standards were the motivation.

Given the brilliance of the players assembled it could have been easy for Smith to fail to shine on the big stage, but his obvious passion and respect make this a winner in its own right. --Jonathan Weir

Synopsis
Obituaries of 20th-century sporting greats from the Daily Telegraph. This varied and colourful collection features the obituaries of sporting greats who played, competed and died in the 20th century. Amonst them are some of the finest proponents their respective sports have ever seen: Denis Compton, Joe Di Maggio, W G Grace, Florence Griffith-Joyner. Helen Wills Moody, Bobby Moore, Ayrton Senna and Johnny Weissmuller. But here too are some lesser-known heroes who contributed to sport in other ways: Alf Twinn, boatman of the Cambridge University Boat Club for half a century; 'Jack Meyer', the founder-headmaster of Millfield, whose proteges included Duncan Goodhew and Gareth Edwards; Cissie Charlton, mother of Jack and Bobby; and Gottfried Dienst, the referee who officiated at the 1966 World Cup Final. As a collection, they recall the greatest moments of sporting achievement, highlight enormous changes in sport and chart the development of sports writing in the pages of the Telegraph.