Sport has provided inspiration for authors through the ages, from the backdrop of the troubles to crown green bowls.
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Darts in England by Patrick Chaplin
The book with the least promising title that contains the best facts. Did you know that in Tudor times the Navy had someone who threw burning darts to set fire to an enemy’s boat? (Admittedly that fact is a little outside the remit of the book’s title).
Friday Night Lights by HG Bissinger
One of the most famous books on sport ever written. Bissinger immersed himself into one of the most deprived areas of 1980s America and found a universal obsession for sport.
Bowling Legends by Alan Ward
In truth, even if you really like crown green bowls you’ll find some sections hard going, but between pages of stats are wonderfully colourful anecdotes about working-class life. That one man could have collated so much about such a niche subject is testament to the obsessive nature of sport.
- How sporting nostalgia is helping people with dementia
- Sport is not just life and death. It’s far more important than that
The Bloodied Field by Michael Foley
The story of the battle between the IRA and the British intelligence services in Ireland, culminating in the Bloody Sunday massacre which took place during a Gaelic football match in 1920. Sport book and historical thriller rolled into one.
