GREAT BRITISH SPORTING HEROES

With just sharks and mountainous seas for company Ellen MacArthur faced her challenges alone when in February 2005 she sailed her trimaran ‘B & Q’ over the finishing line to become the fastest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handed. She shares the loneliness and the triumph with us in her book ‘Race against Time’, a large format, beautifully illustrated personal account written up as a diary. This is an exciting read. We are pulled along powerfully by the swift current of this race against the clock. In her own words she captures the drama, excitement, danger, joy and tears of a truly extraordinary achievement.

By definition Ellen MacArthur achieved her globe-spanning record by competing in the biggest arena of all. In stark contrast Frank Bruno conquered the world on a piece of canvas measuring 24ft by 24. His legendary long reach, however, went well beyond the ropes and struck the hearts of the nation. In his prime he rode the high tide of achievement and affection being both Heavyweight Champion of the World and contender for BBC Sports Personality of the year. ‘Frank – Fighting Back’ is Bruno’s own account of how fate and fortune have ebbed and flowed in life as well as in the ring. Sent to reform school at 11, World Champion at 33, and in a psychiatric hospital at 41, Bruno has ridden the wave of success and experienced the troughs of depression and despair. In this autobiography, part therapy and part rehabilitation, Frank is justly proud of his achievements and honest about his troubles. Despite his tabloid tribulations, the public always maintained an undercurrent of affection which has seen the book become an instant top 10 bestseller.

For nearly two decades English cricket had been all at sea, when suddenly an Ashes series win sees the England team surfing a tsunami of popularity. Amid the flood of Ashes souvenir books that have been published since the summer there are two that stand out; the autobiographies of the Man of the Series and that of the England Captain – Andrew Flintoff and Michael Vaughan. In ‘Being Freddie’ Flintoff charts his progress from a school playing field in Preston to the Ashes victory celebrations in Trafalgar Square when tens of thousands formed a sea of adulation. Still a young man with his best cricket ahead of him, Flintoff’s book covers only a few years of playing but compensates with plenty of colour photographs, many from this summer. As the most successful England Captain for 20 years Michael Vaughan has more of a story to tell in his latest book – ‘Calling the Shots’. Vaughan delivers an enthralling behind-the-scenes account of his time at the helm - set to follow Clive Woodward's ‘Winning!’ as a bestselling tale of sporting triumph.


This review was first published in the 'Times & Star' on 11th November 2005. The copyright remains the property of The Derwent Bookshop.