Throughout its chequered history, snooker has had more than its fair share of heroes and villains, champions and chumps, rascals and rip-off artists. In the last 20 years, every sleazy scandal imaginable has attached itself to this raffish sport: corruption, match fixing, bribery, sex, recreational drugs, performance-enhancing drugs, ballot rigging, fraud, theft, domestic violence, common-or-garden violence, paranoid politicking, dirty tricks - all against a background of inept petty tsars fixated on the pursuit, retention and abuse of power. In Black Farce and Cue Ball Wizards, Clive Everton recounts the glory and despair, the dreams and disillusion, and the treachery and greed that have characterised the game since it was invented as an innocent diversion by British Army officers in India in the nineteenth century. He tells the true and unexpurgated tale of snooker's transformation into a television success story second only to football and exposes how its potential has been shamefully squandered.

A Billiards & Snooker Compendium A Billiards & Snooker Compendium is the most extensive work on the literature of billiards and snooker ever published and took over two years to compile. It contains bibliographical information on over 650 books, a detailed description of each book's content, tips on identifying different editions, notes on scarce dustjackets, plus the estimated values of 1st editions. These values have been calculated using a variety of well respected sources. This essential reference book is easy to use, is clearly laid out, and includes both an author and title index. Each book has its own unique reference number and entries are fully cross referenced. It will appeal to all collectors of billiards and snooker memorabilia, book dealers and collectors, fans of both sports, and those simply wishing to add a few books to their sports collection. About the author Gary Clarke has been playing and watching snooker for over 25 years and has a great knowledge and deep affection for the game. He is also an avid reader and book lover and this work combines two of his most passionate interests. The author currently lives in his home town of Ipswich and this is his first work of non-fiction.

In this volume, contributors present narratives and explore the way they influence the perception of the past. While acknowledging the debate about the validity of qualitative research based on narratives, this volume aims to illuminate how truth and evidence form part of a much wider debate on the representation of history.The volume includes the work of historians but the interdisciplinary nature of the contributions shows that the validity debate also applies to the broader fields of cultural studies, sociology, and other social sciences. The distinction between memory and testimony is a crucial theme. Memory, though selective, is the basis of testimony. Testimony provides an audience with information that becomes evidence of what was seen or experienced. Such evidence can form the basis of legal truth.Nanci Adler and Selma Leydesdorff divide the volume into three core sections: Official Testimony and Other Facts and Evidence; The Creation of New History and the Integration of Collective Memory in the Story of One's Self; and Claims Based on Narratives vs. Official History. After a comprehensive introduction by the editors, the volume offers twelve essays by leading scholars. This work is a new offering in Transaction's acclaimed Memory and Narrative series.

‘Immaculate footballer. Imperial defender. Immortal hero of 1966. Master of Wembley. Captain extraordinary. Gentleman of all time.’ These are some of the words inscribed beneath the statue of England’s World Cup-winning captain, Bobby Moore, at Wembley stadium. Since Moore’s death, of bowel cancer at just 51, these accolades represent the accepted view of this national treasure. But what do we actually know about Bobby Moore as a person? What about the grit alongside the glory? Moore was undeniably an extraordinary captain and player. Pelé called him the greatest – and fairest – defender he ever played against. His feats for West Ham United and England are legendary and his technical mastery of the game ahead of its time. Few footballers since have come close to his winning combination of intelligence, skill, temperament and class. Yet off the pitch, Moore knew scandal, bankruptcy, divorce and drink. What about the string of failed businesses, whispers of bad behaviour, links to the East End underworld and turbulent private life? Ignored by the football world post-retirement, this great of the game drifted into obscurity and, famously, there was no knighthood. Acclaimed football writer Matt Dickinson traces the journey of this Essex boy who became the patron saint of English football, peeling away the layers of legend and looking at Moore’s life from all sides – in triumph, in failure, in full.

Crowood Sports Guides are the perfect tool for anyone wanting to improve their performance, from beginners learning the basic skills to more experienced participants working on advanced techniques. In this second edition of Snooker & Billiards - Skills, Tactics Techniques, the history of the game is covered along with the rules of the game; choosing the right equipment and top tips from many of the game's great players. All the skills and techniques are explained clearly with full-colour sequence photography and detailed table diagrams help explain more advanced tactics such as breakbuilding and safety play. Aimed at beginners taking up the game for the first time, false beginners wanting to revise their technique and also more experienced players looking to further develop their tactics. Superbly illustrated with 65 colour images in sequence photography and 108 table diagrams.

'A brilliant book . . . brilliantly written. You really do need to read it' Adrian Chiles 'Mixing the sacred and the profane, high culture and low culture, the sublime and the ridiculous, Deep Pockets is the book this game of unfathomable difficulty and infinite mystery well deserves' Critic The game of snooker has a remarkable history. From humble origins, it blossomed spectacularly in the 1980s into the nation's most popular sport. Top players became celebrities. The papers were stuffed with snooker scandals. It even conquered the pop charts. In the twenty-first century, the game is still big news. Along with millions of British fans, a vast audience continues to grow across every corner of the world, from Europe to the Middle East to China. The global thirst for snooker has never been greater. But - strangely perhaps - snooker's deeper meanings have rarely been explored. It is a game that celebrates subtlety and mystery; a slow undertaking in a fast-paced world. Elegant and profound, snooker invites serious contemplation. Deep Pockets is a study of this uncharted territory - a love letter to snooker, and an impassioned journey into its soul. Because snooker, in fact, is more than a game. It is a belief set; a way of seeing; an entire philosophical system. In chapters that cover everything from time, truth, loss, luck and more, Deep Pockets explores how snooker can help us to trace the meaning of life itself.

On hearing that Jackser, her childhood abuser, is seriously ill, Martha is elated, thinking that finally she will be able to watch him suffer. But in the hospital she sees a frightened, lonely old man and realises with a shock that he seems to regret his earlier actions. During her vigil, she is joined by Charlie, her little brother, then her ma and some of her other siblings. But as she sits with Jackser during his dying days, other memories come back to Martha - fleeting moments of concern and kindness, and a sense of closeness as he recalls his own tormented past in one of Ireland's industrial schools.

In 2018, 'Rocket' Ronnie O'Sullivan further cemented his position as one of snooker's all-time greats by claiming his record-breaking seventh Masters title. 'Simply the Best' traces Ronnie's course from carefree junior prodigy to deeply troubled and depressed adult, and so to maturity and self-knowledge. Along the way, he emerges as instinctively warm-hearted, the most loyal of sons and a true sportsman in his acceptance of defeat. Even so, this is no hagiography. Full consideration is given to Ronnie's episodes of vulgarity and stupidity in a rounded portrait of one of snooker's most fascinating, complicated and successful characters.

This book deals with the exposing of various impostors and hoaxes. One of Bram Stoker's last works, it is a survey of various charlatans, rogues, and other practitioners of make-believe. With a cheerfully withering eye for their cons, Stoker introduces us to many famous fakers including: royal pretenders (such as Perkin Warbeck, who claimed King Henry VII's throne), the Wandering Jew, John Law, Arthur Orton, women masquerading as men, hoaxers, Chevalier D'eon, the Bisley Boys, and others.