Download or read book Sonny Bill Williams written by Sonny Bill Williams and published by . This book was released on 2023-03-21 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this powerful, open and honest memoir, sporting champion Sonny Bill Williams shares the triumphs and missteps of his extraordinary sporting life and reveals how faith and family have made him the man he is today. Unforgettable and inspiring. 'compelling and open-hearted' Donald McRae, Guardian 'Excellent' David Walsh, Sunday Times 'an athlete like no other...complex and interesting.' Weekend Australian 'full of hard truths that sporting teams, sportspeople and fans can learn from.' Sun-Herald Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) is a once in a hundred-year athlete with immense sporting talent in Rugby League, Rugby Union and Boxing. Sonny Bill has built an incredible career and sporting reputation across the globe. His athleticism has taken him from inner-city Auckland, where he grew up, to the highest sporting moments in Twickenham, Eden Park and Sydney's Olympic Stadium. But there is so much more to Sonny Bill Williams' life and journey than his on-field and in-the-ring triumphs. Sonny Bill's love of family, his faith, his skill and performance throughout his unparalleled sporting career, his ability to unite a team under pressure, his grace in owning his mistakes, the challenges of leaving home as a young man and dealing with a negative culture and the temptations that followed, and his courage in speaking out for the vulnerable and calling out injustice are all aspects of an inspiring life story. Sonny Bill Williams was the first Muslim to play for the All Blacks. Driven by a fierce moral compass, Sonny Bill thoughtfully and authentically uses his standing and platform as both a UNICEF Ambassador and an elite sportsperson to speak out on political issues that confront the world today and to benefit those struggling in life. He is a dedicated family man, devoted to his faith, committed to his teammates, respectful of his fans and aware that the path he has taken can inspire and empower others. He is especially focused on opening up opportunities for his Pasifika brothers and sisters and for people of colour. Writing with Alan Duff, award-winning author of Once Were Warriors, this is a must-read memoir for anyone who loves sport and an inspiring story of faith, family and the power of daring to dream.
Download or read book Sonny Bill Williams written by John Matheson and published by HarperSports. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Saviour or sellout? The story behind the star who shines across the codes Adulation for rugby league sensation Sonny Bill Williams turned to incrimination overnight when he left the Bulldogs to play for rich French club toulon, earning himself the new name of 'Money Bill' Williams. then he made no secret of the fact that he would like to change codes to rugby union if that allowed him to front up in the All Blacks' 2011 Rugby World Cup squad. Rumours and counter-rumours swirled, until the guy with the big hand was signed to Canterbury and duly made an appearance in the All Blacks. throw in sporadic stints boxing, and the tale of this superb athlete follows the highways and byways of professional sport across the codes. Is Sonny Bill King of the Codes or King of Cash? the controversy still rages.
Download or read book Sonny Ball written by Paul Kent and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2015-08-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A thrilling and original sports book... a fantastic read about a remarkable athlete' Ray WarrenBig, powerful, handsome, gifted and enigmatic, Sonny Bill Williams has the ability to get fans flocking, sponsors scrambling and coaches dreaming of winning dynasties.But 'SBW' is not like other footballers. He broke his Bulldogs contract mid-season to play rugby union for Toulon in France, leaving teammates shocked, fans enraged and the NRL threatening a life ban. Yet Sonny's star never dimmed. His legend only grew.When Sonny Bill returned to New Zealand, he steered the Crusaders to a Super Rugby final before leading the Chiefs to their inaugural title and helping the All Blacks with the Rugby World Cup...while becoming a heavyweight boxing champion.Then he returned to League and led the Roosters to a premiership before switching back to Union again for the All Blacks' 2015 World Cup defence. Along the way, Sonny Bill proved a modern truth - success is currency, memories are short, star power eclipses everything.Paul Kent's Sonny Ball tells the extraordinary story of Sonny Bill Williams in an extraordinary way. It's a book as intriguing and action-packed as any grand final in any sport, anywhere.'A superb insight into the complex, political world of Rugby League and Sonny Bill Williams, the man who changed the way it was played on and off the field' Matthew Johns
Download or read book Off Loading with Sonny Bill Williams written by David Riley and published by . This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The story of how a determined and humble young man became a champion in three different sports ... and one of the most sought after athletes in the world" -- Back cover.
Download or read book Once Were Warriors written by Alan Duff and published by . This book was released on 2023-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This classic has been released in the Popular Penguin format to mark 50 years of publishing in New Zealand. The format reaches further back to 1935, when Allen Lane founded Penguin Books with a clear vision- 'We believed in the existence of a vast reading public for intelligent books at a low price, and staked everything on it.' Ground-breaking. Original. Heart-rending. Most talked about book in New Zealand, ever. Adapted into a blockbuster movie. Still in print three decades later.
Download or read book City of Ambition FDR LaGuardia and the Making of Modern New York written by Mason B. Williams and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2013-05-28 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Fascinating. . . . Williams tells the story of La Guardia and Roosevelt with insight and elegance.”—Edward Glaeser, New York Times Book Review
Download or read book Sport in Aotearoa New Zealand written by Damion Sturm and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-12-28 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating book investigates the sporting traditions, successes, systems, "terrains" and contemporary issues that underpin sport in New Zealand, also known by its Māori name of Aotearoa. The book unpacks some of the "cliches" around the place, prominence and impact of sport and recreation in Aotearoa New Zealand in order to better understand the country’s sporting history, cultures, institutions and systems, as well as the relationship between sport and different sections of society in the country. Exploring traditional sports such as rugby and cricket, indigenous Māori sport, outdoor recreation and contemporary lifestyle and adventure sports such as marching and parkour, the book examines the contested and conflicting societal, geographical and managerial issues facing contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand sport. Essential reading for anybody with a particular interest in sport in Aotearoa New Zealand, this book is also illuminating reading for anybody working in the sociology of sport, sport development, sport management, sport history or the wider history, politics and culture of Aotearoa New Zealand or the South Pacific.
Download or read book Elephant Company written by Vicki Croke and published by Random House. This book was released on 2014-07-15 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK The remarkable story of James Howard “Billy” Williams, whose uncanny rapport with the world’s largest land animals transformed him from a carefree young man into the charismatic war hero known as Elephant Bill In 1920, Billy Williams came to colonial Burma as a “forest man” for a British teak company. Mesmerized by the intelligence and character of the great animals who hauled logs through the jungle, he became a gifted “elephant wallah.” In Elephant Company, Vicki Constantine Croke chronicles Williams’s growing love for elephants as the animals provide him lessons in courage, trust, and gratitude. Elephant Company is also a tale of war and daring. When Japanese forces invaded Burma in 1942, Williams joined the elite British Force 136 and operated behind enemy lines. His war elephants carried supplies, helped build bridges, and transported the sick and elderly over treacherous mountain terrain. As the occupying authorities put a price on his head, Williams and his elephants faced their most perilous test. Elephant Company, cornered by the enemy, attempted a desperate escape: a risky trek over the mountainous border to India, with a bedraggled group of refugees in tow. Part biography, part war epic, Elephant Company is an inspirational narrative that illuminates a little-known chapter in the annals of wartime heroism. Praise for Elephant Company “This book is about far more than just the war, or even elephants. This is the story of friendship, loyalty and breathtaking bravery that transcends species. . . . Elephant Company is nothing less than a sweeping tale, masterfully written.”—Sara Gruen, The New York Times Book Review “Splendid . . . Blending biography, history, and wildlife biology, [Vicki Constantine] Croke’s story is an often moving account of [Billy] Williams, who earned the sobriquet ‘Elephant Bill,’ and his unusual bond with the largest land mammals on earth.”—The Boston Globe “Some of the biggest heroes of World War II were even bigger than you thought. . . . You may never call the lion the king of the jungle again.”—New York Post “Vicki Constantine Croke delivers an exciting tale of this elephant whisperer–cum–war hero, while beautifully reminding us of the enduring bonds between animals and humans.”—Mitchell Zuckoff, author of Lost in Shangri-La and Frozen in Time
Download or read book Bare Knuckle written by Stayton Bonner and published by Blackstone Publishing. This book was released on 2024-04-23 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Father. Fighter. Champion. Outlaw. Hailed as an “exhilarating debut” by Publishers Weekly, Bare Knuckle by former Rolling Stone editor Stayton Bonner (nominated for the Dan Jenkins Medal of Excellence in Sportswriting) takes readers into a previously unknown world: the underground circuit of illegal bare-knuckle fighting. Bare Knuckle is the remarkable true tale of Bobby Gunn, the 73–0 undisputed champion of bare-knuckle boxing. An inspiring underdog story that reads like a real-life Rocky. Bobby Gunn has been fighting for his existence since a childhood spent living under the hand of his volatile father, and would do anything to give his seven-year-old daughter a better life—including betting on himself in the underground world of bare-knuckle boxing. In 1984, Gunn was an eleven-year-old boxer in Ontario when his father woke him in the middle of the night to fight grown men in motel parking lots for money, his old man pocketing the cash. From there, Gunn traveled to Las Vegas, Tijuana, and beyond, competing in ringed matches as well as in biker bars and mobster dens on the side, brawling to make ends meet. But it was only with the birth of his daughter—and his desire to help her avoid his fate—that Gunn entered the big-time world of underground Russian-mob matches of up to $50,000 a night in New York City, hoping to finally raise his family above the fray. Former Rolling Stone editor Stayton Bonner travels the underground for years with Gunn, the world champion of bare-knuckle boxing with a 73–0 record, shining a light on a secret circuit that’s never before been revealed. Along the way, we explore the fascinating history of this first sport in America, Gunn’s Irish Traveler community—a sect of religious fighters best known through Brad Pitt’s depiction in Snatch—as well as his part in the improbable rise of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the first legal revival of the sport. Bare Knuckle, a tale of triumph, loss, and a father’s love for his family, is a heartbreaking but ultimately inspiring story that will have you rooting until the end.
Download or read book Sonny Bill Williams written by Sonny Bill Williams and published by Hachette Australia. This book was released on 2021-10-13 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) is a once in a hundred-year athlete with immense sporting talent in Rugby League, Rugby Union and Boxing. Sonny Bill has built an incredible career and sporting reputation across the globe. His athleticism has taken him from inner-city Auckland, where he grew up, to the highest sporting moments in Twickenham, Eden Park and Sydney's Olympic Stadium. But there is so much more to Sonny Bill Williams' life and journey than his on-field and in-the-ring triumphs. Sonny Bill's love of family, his faith, his skill and performance throughout his unparalleled sporting career, his ability to unite a team under pressure, his grace in owning his mistakes, the challenges of leaving home as a young man and dealing with a negative culture and the temptations that followed, and his courage in speaking out for the vulnerable and calling out injustice are all aspects of an inspiring life story. Sonny Bill Williams was the first Muslim to play for the All Blacks. Driven by a fierce moral compass, Sonny Bill Williams thoughtfully and authentically uses his standing and platform as both a UNICEF Ambassador and an elite sportsperson to speak out on political issues that confront the world today and to benefit those struggling in life. He is a dedicated family man, devoted to his faith, committed to his teammates, respectful of his fans and aware that the path he has taken can inspire and empower others. Working with Alan Duff, award-winning author of Once Were Warriors, this will be the must-read autobiography of the year.
Download or read book The Dinosaur Artist written by Paige Williams and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this 2018 New York Times Notable Book,Paige Williams "does for fossils what Susan Orlean did for orchids" (Book Riot) in her account of one Florida man's attempt to sell a dinosaur skeleton from Mongolia--a story "steeped in natural history, human nature, commerce, crime, science, and politics" (Rebecca Skloot). In 2012, a New York auction catalogue boasted an unusual offering: "a superb Tyrannosaurus skeleton." In fact, Lot 49135 consisted of a nearly complete T. bataar, a close cousin to the most famous animal that ever lived. The fossils now on display in a Manhattan event space had been unearthed in Mongolia, more than 6,000 miles away. At eight-feet high and 24 feet long, the specimen was spectacular, and when the gavel sounded the winning bid was over $1 million. Eric Prokopi, a thirty-eight-year-old Floridian, was the man who had brought this extraordinary skeleton to market. A onetime swimmer who spent his teenage years diving for shark teeth, Prokopi's singular obsession with fossils fueled a thriving business hunting, preparing, and selling specimens, to clients ranging from natural history museums to avid private collectors like actor Leonardo DiCaprio. But there was a problem. This time, facing financial strain, had Prokopi gone too far? As the T. bataar went to auction, a network of paleontologists alerted the government of Mongolia to the eye-catching lot. As an international custody battle ensued, Prokopi watched as his own world unraveled. In the tradition of The Orchid Thief, The Dinosaur Artist is a stunning work of narrative journalism about humans' relationship with natural history and a seemingly intractable conflict between science and commerce. A story that stretches from Florida's Land O' Lakes to the Gobi Desert, The Dinosaur Artist illuminates the history of fossil collecting--a murky, sometimes risky business, populated by eccentrics and obsessives, where the lines between poacher and hunter, collector and smuggler, enthusiast and opportunist, can easily blur. In her first book, Paige Williams has given readers an irresistible story that spans continents, cultures, and millennia as she examines the question of who, ultimately, owns the past.
Download or read book The Visiting Privilege written by Joy Williams and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2015-09-08 with total page 511 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive story collection “by one of the most celebrated American short-story writers…. Powerful, important, compassionate, and full of dark humor. This is a book that will be reread with admiration and love many times over” (Vanity Fair). Joy Williams has been celebrated as a master of the short story for four decades, her renown passing as a given from one generation to the next even in the shifting landscape of contemporary writing. At long last the incredible scope of her singular achievement is put on display: thirty-three stories drawn from three much-lauded collections, and another thirteen appearing here for the first time in book form. Forty-six stories in all, far and away the most comprehensive volume in her long career, showcasing her crisp, elegant prose, her dark wit, and her uncanny ability to illuminate our world through characters and situations that feel at once peculiar and foreign and disturbingly familiar. Virtually all American writers have their favorite Joy Williams stories, as do many readers of all ages, and each one of them is available here.
Download or read book The Laughing Monsters written by Denis Johnson and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2014-11-04 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Denis Johnson's New York Times bestseller, The Laughing Monsters, is a high-suspense tale of kaleidoscoping loyalties in the post-9/11 world that shows one of our great novelists at the top of his game. Roland Nair calls himself Scandinavian but travels on a U.S. passport. After ten years' absence, he returns to Freetown, Sierra Leone, to reunite with his friend Michael Adriko. They once made a lot of money here during the country's civil war, and, curious to see whether good luck will strike twice in the same place, Nair has allowed himself to be drawn back to a region he considers hopeless. Adriko is an African who styles himself a soldier of fortune and who claims to have served, at various times, the Ghanaian army, the Kuwaiti Emiri Guard, and the American Green Berets. He's probably broke now, but he remains, at thirty-six, as stirred by his own doubtful schemes as he was a decade ago. Although Nair believes some kind of money-making plan lies at the back of it all, Adriko's stated reason for inviting his friend to Freetown is for Nair to meet Adriko's fiancée, a grad student from Colorado named Davidia. Together the three set out to visit Adriko's clan in the Uganda-Congo borderland—but each of these travelers is keeping secrets from the others. Their journey through a land abandoned by the future leads Nair, Adriko, and Davidia to meet themselves not in a new light, but rather in a new darkness.
Download or read book The Sentinel written by Lee Child and published by Dell. This book was released on 2021-04-27 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Don’t miss the hit streaming series Reacher! Jack Reacher is back! The “utterly addictive” (The New York Times) series continues as acclaimed author Lee Child teams up with his brother, Andrew Child, fellow thriller writer extraordinaire. “One of the many great things about Jack Reacher is that he’s larger than life while remaining relatable and believable. The Sentinel shows that two Childs are even better than one.”—James Patterson As always, Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. One morning he ends up in a town near Pleasantville, Tennessee. But there’s nothing pleasant about the place. In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush. “It was four against one” . . . so Reacher intervenes, with his own trademark brand of conflict resolution. The man he saves is Rusty Rutherford, an unassuming IT manager, recently fired after a cyberattack locked up the town’s data, records, information . . . and secrets. Rutherford wants to stay put, look innocent, and clear his name. Reacher is intrigued. There’s more to the story. The bad guys who jumped Rutherford are part of something serious and deadly, involving a conspiracy, a cover-up, and murder—all centered on a mousy little guy in a coffee-stained shirt who has no idea what he’s up against. Rule one: if you don’t know the trouble you’re in, keep Reacher by your side.
Download or read book It s My Egg and You Can t Have It written by Heather Hunt and published by . This book was released on 2017-09 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kiwi, our national bird, are facing a precarious battle for survival on mainland New Zealand as predators, especially cats, dogs and stoats, take their toll. Inspired however by the success of Backyard Kiwi, a kiwi recovery project that she is heavily involved with around her home on the Whangarei Heads, illustrator Heather Hunt has teamed up with writer Kennedy Warne to produce another stunning natural history book for children. It's my Egg (and you can't have it) is both beautiful, but powerful. It captures the reality of life for a kiwi trying to hatch an egg, fending off attacks from cats and dogs, and ultimately being saved from stoat predation by trapping. This is an important, inspiring book for children that deftly communicates the importance of recovery programmes for our native wildlife. Heather Hunt and Kennedy Warne¿s stunning book The Cuckoo and the Warbler, from 2016, was selected by Storylines as a Notable Book, and It's my Egg is a book of equal quality.
Download or read book Openside written by David Pocock and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Pocock's story is one of dedication to self, family, team and others. Detailing his incredible talent and drive, Openside showcases both his spectacular rise and personal insights in the world of Rugby. From his early days growing up in Zimbabwe, immigrating to Australia and playing for the Australian Schoolboys, his debut with Western Australia's The Force to his call up to the Wallabies, David has won many honours in the game and is held in great esteem by fans and peers alike. In Openside: My Journey to The Rugby World Cup ... and Beyond, David shares the life and times of a professional rugby player. It includes key tournaments in Rugby throughout 2011: Super Rugby, Tri-Nations, Bledisloe, as well as the highlight of the Rugby calendar the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Two new chapters brings David's story into 2018 ... his standout performance at Rugby World Cup 2015, his one-year break across 2017 that saw him return to Zimbabwe, study and excel in Japanese rugby, and his return to the Brumbies in 2018 in preparation for another World Cup campaign. Even if you don't follow rugby at the international level, his story will still provide insight into what it takes to become a top-notch athlete through dedication and perseverance.
Download or read book Goat written by Jeff Koons and published by Taschen America Llc. This book was released on 2004 with total page 788 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: GOAT - GREATEST OF ALL TIME: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali "... the biggest, heaviest, most radiant thing ever printed in the history of civilization. - Der Spiegel, Hamburg, October 6, 2003 Muhammad Ali is one of the most remarkable personalities of our time and the greatest sportsman ever to walk the earth. To honor this living legend, TASCHEN has created a work that is epic in scale and as unique and vibrant as the man himself. A worthy tribute to his life should reflect the scale of his achievements, and GOAT - GREATEST OF ALL TIME is fully up to that task: The Collector's Edition: No. 1,001 - 10,000 The "Collector's Edition" shows Ali's torso with pink lettering. Limited to 9,000 individually numbered copies, each one signed by Muhammad Ali and Jeff Koons. Every "Collector's Edition" comes with the photo-litho Radial Champs by Jeff Koons in the size 50 x 40 cm (20" x 16"). Over 3,000 images - photographs, art and memorabilia, much of it published for the first time - from over 150 photographers and artists. Original essays and the best interviews and writing on the Champ of the last five decades, from hundreds of writers, totaling 600,000 words. XXL-format: 792 pages, including two gatefold sequences measuring 200 cm x 50 cm (80" x 20") and nine gold-metallic double-page spreads printed in silkscreen, open each chapter. Measuring 50 cm x 50 cm (20" x 20"), GOAT tips the scales at 34 kgs (75 lbs). Each copy comes in a silk-covered box illustrated with Neil Leifer's iconic 1966 photo, Ali vs Williams. Bound by the official bindery for the Vatican, in pink leather, the color of Ali's first Cadillac. The bindery, specializing in the most elaborate and oversized editions of the Bible and the Koran, enforces the strictest standards of quality control and only several hundred copies can be assembled per week. Utilizing state-of-the-art digital technology, no expense has been spared to restore the original photographic materials to the highest possible standards. The results of this effort create unparalleled intensity and range in the colors, and exquisite tone and density within the duotone images. Eight-color printing on Galaxi Keramik 200 gsm semi-matte paper with gloss varnish on all images. Prioritized delivery of GOAT has started in the Spring of 2004. As copies are completed they will ship to customers in the order in which the pre-orders were received. "Full of stunning, never seen before photographs and articles, GOAT will fairly take your breath away with its sheer beauty and size. The book is a must-have collector's item." --In Press, Manila, on GOAT
