Epic: In Search of the Soul of Sport and Why It Matters

Description

'For 30 years I was the voice of sport at The Times - but that's enough about me. What matters is sport.' This is an autobiography from which the author, award-winning writer Simon Barnes, has been surgically removed. He has reported on six World Cups, seven Olympic Games, cricket on five continents and more than 20 Wimbledons, watching Diego Maradona, Usain Bolt, Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer at their peak. Along the way he had soul-revealing conversations with Ayrton Senna and sat on Desert Orchid. His journalist's experience gives him perspective, until the addictive madness of sport takes over. Epic is a stunning mosaic of some of the greatest sporting moments in recent years, which build up to provide the reader with a better idea of what sport is for, what differentiates winners from losers, and reveals how sport teaches us how better to enjoy life. This is sport unplugged. Speaking for itself. Allowing the reader to understand sport with more clarity and depth than ever before.

Simon Barnes is the author of many wild volumes, including the bestselling Bad Birdwatcher trilogy, Rewild Yourself, On The Marsh and The History of the World in 100 Animals. He is a council member of World Land Trust, trustee of Conservation South Luangwa and patron of Save the Rhino. In 2014, he was awarded the Rothschild Medal for services to conservation. He lives in Norfolk with his family and horses, where he manages several acres for wildlife. He was the Chief Sports Writer for The Times until 2014, having worked for the paper for 30 years.

'Excellent in many ways...his insights are rarely less than wise and informative, and often fascinating...It's very fine sportswriting indeed. This may conceivably be Barnes's best work yet.' -- Marcus Berkmann * Daily Mail * 'Brilliant...combining a journalistic eye for detail with a poetic ability to convey the emotions of a unique moment.' * Choice magazine * 'From Eric Bristow and Watford as the second best team in England to Novak Djokovic resurgent and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Barnes was there...caustically brilliant.' * Glasgow Herald * 'Epic weaves together many of the most iconic, controversial and unforgettable moments that coloured the 30-odd years of Simon Barnes' tenure as a sports writer at The Times. It is an unlikely triumph... He has a sublime ability to bring you ringside without ever involving himself... A sports book like no other.' * Racing Post * '[Barnes] has re-examined many of the events he attended and taken another look at the figures who tasted glory, disappointment and downright failure...this is sport's story... It truly is an epic tale.' * Sports Journalists' Association *