It is biggest sporting event in the world, watched by billions, in a game played on every scrap of land on the planet. It is every boy's dream to win it. Yet just seven countries, from only two continents, ever have. Why? &, most importantly, how?

How to Win the World Cup takes apart all the previous 18 editions of football's pre-eminent competition to look at the sporting DNA as well as the vital statistics of winning teams. It debunks myths & turns accepted truths on their heads in search of the essence of victory. Home advantage helps, surely? Only once in the past three decades. Well, the best team wins, then; it's only seven matches, after all. Not since Brazil in 1970
- & don't ask a Dutchman.

By going beyond tactics & teams to examine factors as diverse as team spirit & the choice of captain, media hype & public expectation, the political climate & even the weather (luck, penalties & cheating play a part too, of course), Graham Mc Coll has produced a World Cup book unlike any to have gone before it. & at the end of the day, he looks at what the 32 nations who have qualified for South Africa 2010 are bringing to the table, & if they have what it takes.

Do England have the recipe for success? Can they win the World Cup, for the first time in 44 years? You read it here first.






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The Guardian's 2008 ' How to Write' supplements were a huge success with wordsmiths of all stripes. Covering fiction, poetry, ...

Panoramic in scope, flawless in presentation, this book is a monument of international history. Having amassed all that is known of the kaleidoscopic blunders, deceptions & fateful games of secret intelligence, Donald Watt cogently explains how Europe's leaders were influenced & misled by Hitler's demonic drive for power. Here, fascinatingly arranged for the general reader, are the reasons for a multicausal war that reshaped the world. ...

Although nearly 90% of the population of Great Britain remained civilians throughout the war, or for a large part of it, their story has so far largely gone untold. In contrast with the thousands of books on military operations, barely any have concerned themselves with the individual's experience. The problems of the ordinary family are barely ever mentioned
- food rationing, clothes rationing, the black-out & air raids get little space, & everyday shortages almost none at all.

This book is an attempt to redress the balance; to tell the civilian's story largely through their own recollections & in their own words.

' Mr Longmate has recruited an enormous volunteer army of home-front veterans who sent him their wartime recollections... He has brilliantly sifted & assembled the precious debris' Guardian




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Although nearly 90% of the population of Great Britain remained civilians throughout the war, or for a large part of it, their story has so far largely gone untold. In contrast with the thousands of books on military operations, barely any have concerned themselves with the individual's experience. The problems of the ordinary family are barely ever mentioned
- food rationing, clothes rationing, the black-out & air raids get little space, & everyday shortages almost none at all.

This book is an attempt to redress the balance; to tell the civilian's story largely through their own recollections & in their own words.

' Mr Longmate has recruited an enormous volunteer army of home-front veterans who sent him their wartime recollections... He has brilliantly sifted & assembled the precious debris' Guardian




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Everyone pulls for the underdog & in 1985 the European Ryder Cup team finally had its day as the stranglehold of America was finally broken. Bernhard Langer was in Tony Jacklin's team that day at The Belfry. Nineteen years later at Oakland Hills, Langer was the one leading his team in celebration after the US were once again overcome, this time by a record margin. From 1985 to 2004, the Ryder Cup has provided joy & heartbreak for its teams, their captains & their caddies. Perhaps the greatest strength of the European side is its togetherness. Europe plays as a team & it is a team of 24. Its caddies have played no small part in Europe overcoming the odds. The players hit the shots; their trusty caddies shared the hopes, the glory &, occasionally, the misery. What was it like being beside Sam Torrance when he holed the winning putt & shed his tears on that historic moment at The Belfry in 1985? What happened in 2004 when Colin Montgomerie's right-h&-man returned to his bag to help lay the ghost of 1999 with sweet success at Oakland Hills? How do you cope when Seve Ballesteros is in full cry against the 'old enemy', especially when you are an American yourself? In 1991, there were arguments over legal golf balls & the spike mark that cost Europe the Cup, but what really happened 'behind the ropes'? Who knew his man had had a vision he would beat Tiger Woods in 1997
- & did? What was it like witnessing those awful scenes at Brookline up close & personal in 1999? Who knew exactly which line to take when Paul Mc Ginley sunk his memorable winning putt in 2002? The myriad caddies' stories featured in How We Won the Ryder Cup are told from their unmistakably unique position & provide essential reading for all followers of the game.
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The Ryder Cup battle between Europe & the USA is one of the biggest events in the golfing calendar & in 2006, the former underdogs showed they are now the dominant force in the biennial matches. It was another marvellous example of teamwork, & the caddies have played no small part in Europe overcoming the odds. The players hit the shots; their trusty caddies share the hopes, the glory &, occasionally, the misery.

What was it like being beside Sam Torrance when he holed the winning putt & shed his tears on that historic moment at The Belfry in 1985? Fast forward to 2006 & a highly emotional appearance by Darren Clarke. What was it like being by his side? What was the story behind Colin Montgomerie

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Howard Hughes was America's most famous playboy & rogue operator, an outlaw eccentric millionaire & hellraiser, 'I can buy any man' he once bragged, 'and have any woman.' & it was almost true.
He stormed from bedroom to boardroom, from corporate bribary to Capitol Hill; his affairs with Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Bette Davis & many others were as brief as they were stormy. he was a deeply involved in Watergate & in the Cuban missile crisis. He burgled his own office records when tax authorities were after him. &, despite a mystrious illness, he wheeled & dealed to the last days of his life.
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