Ray Robinson

Midwinter. As former farmhand Jake, a widower in his seventies, wanders the beautiful, austere moors of North Yorkshire trying to evade capture, we learn of the events of his past: the wife he loved and lost, their child he knows cannot be his, and the deep-seated need for revenge that manifests itself in a moment of violence. On the coast, Jake's friend, Sheila, receives the devastating news. The aftermath of Jake's actions, and what it brings to the surface, will change her life forever. But how will she react when he turns up at her door? As beauty and tenderness blend with violence, this story transports us to a different world, subtly exploring love and loss in a language that both bruises and heals.

The Mating Habits of Stags

From the author of Electricity and Forgetting Zoë, comes a thought-provoking, beautifully written and taut thriller. Ravenstor, the Peak District. The early hours of New Year's Day. A young woman stands on the shore of a frozen lake and watches a Land Rover crash off a bridge and through the ice. Two hundred miles away, a young man is woken by a devastating telephone call. The accident, and what it brings to the surface, will change both of their lives forever. The driver of the Land Rover was CJ Arms, a successful local businessman and pillar of the small community. The young man is his son, Joe, who returns from London to comfort his mother and to search for clues as to the causes of the crash. What he finds will take him from the desolate tors of the Peaks to the foothills of southern Spain, and to a group of ex-pats from CJ's past with many secrets to hide. The woman on the lakeshore is Rabbit, a factory-worker struggling to recover from the sudden death of her son. Pursued by an unknown figure, Rabbit is spun from a cycle of grief and longing into one of fear. Seeking shelter at work, Rabbit finds that she can't hide for long. What Rabbit saw that night will draw her, and Joe, towards a shocking act of violence. Jawbone Lake is both a heart-stopping literary thriller, and a moving meditation on family, generational divide and the dangers of living a double life. Alive with the lyrical evocation of landscape that is Robinson's forte, it is an astonishing new work of fiction from one of our finest writers.

Jawbone Lake

This is Antony Dobsons storyand Antony has lived through a lot during his 26 years. Crazy, loveable, and utterly confused, Antony gets a kick out of taking risks; gets a thrill from taking himself right to the edge and (so far at least) back again. But Antony is hurtling fast towards the point of no return and, all the while, guarding a dark, humiliating secret that he dare not reveal. Ever. To anyone. Or so he believes. Yet, somehow, and against all odds, Antony finds the courage to speak out, and so embarks on a journey from self-destruction to self-discoverya journey that is sometimes funny, often painful, but always moving.

The Man Without

From the author of Electricity and Forgetting Zoë, comes a thought-provoking, beautifully written and taut thriller. Ravenstor, the Peak District. New Year’s Day. A young woman stands on the shore of a frozen lake and watches a Land Rover crash off the bridge wall and into the ice. Two hundred miles away, a young man is woken by a devastating telephone call. The accident, and what it brings to the surface, will change both of their lives for ever.

When all-time pitching great Christy Mathewson died of tuberculosis in 1925 at the age of 45, it touched off a wave of national mourning that remains without precedent for an American athlete. The World Series was underway, and the game the day after Mathewson's death took on the trappings of a state funeral: officials slowly lowered the flag to half-mast, each ballplayer wore a black armband, and fans joined together in a chorus of "Nearer My God to Thee." Newspaper editorials recalled Mathewson's glorious career with the New York Giants, but also emphasized his unstinting good sportsmanship and voluntary service in World War I. The pitcher known to one and all as "Matty" or "Big Six" was as beloved for the strength of character he brought to the national pastime, as for his stunning 373 career victories. "I do not expect to see his like again," said his best friend and former manager, John McGraw. "But I do know that the example he set and the imprint he left on the sport that he loved and honored will remain long after I am gone." In Matty, Ray Robinson tells the story of a man who became America's first authentic sports hero. Until Mathewson, Robinson reveals, Americans loved baseball, but looked down on ballplayers and other athletes as hard-drinking, skirt-chasing ne'er-do-wells. Deprived of real-life role models, millions of readers followed the serialized exploits of Frank Merriwell, a fictional hero who excelled at sports from baseball to billiards and never drank, smoke, or swore. Robinson shows how an eager public greeted Mathewson as a flesh-and-blood version of Merriwell from his first year at Bucknell University, where he shone as star pitcher, premier field-goal kicker, and class president. Lured into the big leagues before he could graduate, the tall, handsome pitcher soon won over men, women and children with his sense of fair play and his arsenal of blazing fastballs, sweeping curves, and infamously deceptive fadeaway pitches. Robinson skillfully details the highlights of Mathewson's career, including his showdowns against the great batters of his day and his encounters with the young Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh and St. Louis teams. Here are the six remarkable days in October, 1905 when Mathewson became the only pitcher ever to hurl three straight shutouts in a World Series, and the afternoon at West Point when he won $50 in a bet that he could throw 20 of his best pitches to exactly the same spot. Robinson does not underplay Mathewson's occasional failings, but the most surprising aspect of this fascinating portrait is just how close America's first Hall of Fame pitcher came to living up to his image. Drawing on rare interviews, press clips, and long overlooked eyewitness accounts, Matty brings baseball's golden age to life--not only the great teams and the early superstars, but the long train trips between games, with cramped berths and no air conditioning; the small town ballplayers let loose amidst big city vice; and the two-bit gambling that eventually led to the infamous Black Sox Scandal of the 1919 Series (a scandal that might have escaped detection if the sportswriters in the press box with Mathewson had not been able to rely on his experienced eye for clues to how ballplayers might throw games). Offering rare insight into the making of an early twentieth century American hero, Matty is must reading for anyone who loves baseball.

Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants

Matty: An American Hero

"All these many years down the road, Lou Gehrig's reputation still holds up as does Ray Robinson's elegant biography." –Bob Costas Lou Gehrig will go down in history as one of the best ballplayers of all time; he was elected to the Hall of Fame and played in a record-setting 2,130 consecutive games. ALS known today as "Lou Gehrig's Disease" robbed him of his physical skills at a relatively young age, and he died in 1941. Ray Robinson re-creates the life of this legendary ballplayer and also provides an insightful look at baseball, including all the great players of that era: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and more.

Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time

Gideon Haigh

This work chronicles in detail the careers and lives of the men who have led Australia in Test match cricket since 1877. This new version has been fully updated by Gideon Haigh and includes all 39 captains from Dave Gregory to Mark Taylor. Includes several photographs and diagrams, a foreword by Ian Chappel, a table of captains and an index. The authors have both written several cricket books, including Gideon Haigh's 'The Cricket War' and Ray Robinson's 'Between Wickets'.

Australia's Cricket Captains

On Top Down Under

A haunting, unforgettable novel from one of Britain’s finest writers Antony Dobson has lived through a lot in his short twenty-six years. Desperate, loveable and utterly confused, he gets a kick out of taking risks, gets a thrill from taking himself right to the edge and, so far at least, back again. But haunted by childhood memories and guarding a dark, humiliating secret that he dare not reveal, he’s hurtling fast towards the point of no return. Impressive and irresistibly readable, this tightrope walk of a novel explores memory, love, identity, and absence in a dazzling display that is in turn sad, witty and deeply affecting. ‘Combines beautifully assembled prose with a sharp insight into a very real subject. A disturbing, but worthwhile read’ Gay Times ‘Vivid, unforgettable’ The Times ‘A disruptive, boundary-crossing, perceptive and moving novel set in a North I actually recognize’ Paul Farley

Bob Costas

Bobby Thomson hit history's most famous home run during the bottom of the ninth in the final game of the 1951 National League playoffs. Sports historian Ray Robinson examines the circumstances surrounding this unforgettable moment, in a narrative packed with suspense, nostalgia, and insightful anecdotes about legendary players. Bob Costas contributes a brief Preface. 16 pages of photos.

The Dramatic Story of the 1951 Giants-Dodgers Pennant Race

The Home Run Heard 'round the World

She's escaped her captor, but can she escape her past? Zoë Nielsen was just like any other ten-year-old walking to school, not knowing that a chance encounter with Thurman Hayes would lead to her abduction and imprisonment in a converted nuclear bunker, 4,000 miles away, beneath a remote ranch house in Arizona. Enslaved in her underground tomb, deprived of food and light and water, the girl Zoe once was steadily begins to disappear... But over time Thurman grows tired of the rapidly maturing Zoë, and when he decides it is time to get rid of her, Zoë must finally make her bid for freedom. Forgetting Zoë is a moving, epic tale of courage, survival, horror and loss, that explores how a bond of affection and intimacy can develop between captive and captor.

Forgetting Zoe

Compiles farewell utterances from such notables as Douglas Fairbanks, Thomas Edison, John Maynard Keynes, Eugene O'Neill, Huey Long, Malcolm X, Indira Gandhi, and Conrad Hilton.

Famous Last Words, Fond Farewells, Deathbed Diatribes, and Exclamations Upon Expiration

Julian Le Grand

The Economics of Social Problems

"Zo Nielsen was just like any other ten year old walking to school, not knowing that a chance encounter with Thurman Hayes would lead to her abduction and imprisonment in a converted nuclear bunker beneath a remote Arizona ranch house, 4,000 miles away from her home on an island off the coast of Newfoundland. Back home, the press coverage surrounding Zoe's mother, Ingrid, is rapidly turning sour. Even the arrest of a man suspected of the abduction and Ingrid's newly established relationship with Zo 's father isn't enough to stop the nightmare from which there is no waking Enslaved in her underground tomb, deprived of food and light and water, the girl Zoe once was steadily begins to disappear. She is only allowed to see and hear what Thurman allows. She lives in a world that is all about his needs and wants being met But over time Thurman will grow tired of the rapidly maturing Zo . And when he decides it is time to get rid of her, Zo must finally make her bid for freedom. Forgetting Zo is a moving, epic tale of courage, survival, horror and loss, that explores how, under the conditions of siege, a bond of affection and intimacy can develop between captive and captor."

Ray Robinson

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