In the glory years of the 1970s, Wales won three grand slams in eight seasons. But rarely since then had the men in red started a Six Nations campaign armed with expectation rather than hope. 2012 was different. The previous year they had come within a kick of reaching the World Cup final, losing by a point to France despite playing for the last hour with 14 men after their captain, Sam Warburton, had been sent off for a dangerous tackle. The question when they returned home was how they would cope with the heartache. The answer came in their first match in the 2012 Six Nations Championship. In Dublin against Ireland, the team they had knocked out in the World Cup quarter-final, revenge was on the menu. Wales went there without five of their leading forwards and lost Warburton to injury at half-time. They were trailing by six points with five minutes to go and had a player in the sin-bin. The old Wales would have folded but, as in Life on Mars, it was back to the spirit of the 1970s. This Wales team came back fighting to win not only the game but to sweep the board in the whole tournament, bringing home a Welsh grand slam for the third time in eight years and establishing a strong and exciting team for the future.

A biography of the early life and the playing career of John Dawes, the London Welsh, British Lions (1971) and Barbarians captain. The biography is the result of extensive interviews, with a postscript giving a current analysis detailing Dawes' place in rugby history as one of rugby's greatest innovators.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup in England is set to be the biggest, brightest and most successful tournament to date, as the world's top teams compete for the coveted Webb Ellis Cup and inspire new participants and fans worldwide across 44 days and 48 matches. With over three million tickets set to be sold for the matches, the Rugby World Cup will be viewed in over 207 territories worldwide.However, for all the fanfare of the third biggest sporting event in the world (after the Olympics and FIFA World Cup), it is astonishing that, until now, there has been no single reference book in the marketplace that contains all the rugby internationals, in chronological order, played by the world's major rugby nations since the game's inception. Keith Young has spent six years compiling such a compendium to fill this gap in the market and has undertaken a colossal amount of research in the process.The Complete Rugby Union Compendium contains over 5,200 entries, organized in such a way that details of all matches can beeasily accessed by the reader. It is laid out in a visually engaging and informative format and will be invaluable to every dedicated rugby enthusiast.

Discover this beautiful country with the most incisive and entertaining guidebook on the market. Whether you plan to hike through the wilds of Snowdonia, follow in Wordsworth's footsteps at Tintern Abbey or explore Welsh music and theatre in Swansea, The Rough Guide to Wales will show you the ideal places to sleep, eat, drink and shop along the way. Inside The Rough Guide to Wales - Independent, trusted reviews written with Rough Guides' trademark blend of humour, honesty and insight, to help you get the most out of your visit, with options to suit every budget - Full-colour maps throughout - navigate the arcades of central Cardiff or the peaks of Brecon Beacons National Park without needing to get online. - Stunning, inspirational images - Itineraries - carefully planned routes to help you organize your trip. - Detailed regional coverage - whether off the beaten track or in more mainstream tourist destinations, this travel guide has in-depth practical advice for every step of the way. Areas covered include: Cardiff, Swansea and the southeast; the southwest; the Brecon Beacons and Powys; the Cambrian coast; the Dee Valley; Snowdonia and the Llyn; the north coast and Anglesey. Attractions include: Cardiff Bay; St David's Cathedral; Pembrokeshire National Park; Conwy Castle; Cadair Idris; Ffestiniog Railway; Hay Festival; the beaches of the Llyn and Gower peninsulas. - Basics - essential pre-departure practical information including getting there, local transport, accommodation, food and drink, the media, health, festivals and events, maps, sports and outdoor activities and LGBT Wales. - Background information - a Contexts chapter devoted to Welsh history, politics, natural history, music, film and books, plus a handy language section. Make the Most of Your Time on Earth with the Rough Guide to Wales.

When Wales beat France to clinch the 2012 Six Nations Championship Grand Slam – one player stood out from the rest of the field. A powerful presence on the pitch, Dan Lydiate, the 6ft 4in fearless farmer’s son from Llandrindod Wells truly deserved the title Player of the Tournament. In Grand Slam Man, the heroic Welsh flanker reflects on his comeback from a broken neck in 2008 to become the hero of Wales’s 2012 Grand Slam success. He also reveals his thoughts on the Australia tour, his love of tackling, his life on the farm and his British Lions dream.

'You fall you're dead,' the voice inside my head told me. I was balancing on a knife-edge ridge, sheer drops either side of me. The cold was chilling me to my core. But I could not give up. I had to focus, The summit was within reach. Everest: the highest mountain in the world and also one of the most dangerous. On May 24 2007, Tori James made history when she became the first Welsh woman, and youngest British woman, to climb to the summit of Everest. It was an amazing achievement for the petite farmer's daughter from Pembrokeshire. In Peak Performance Tori shares the inspiration and drive that helped her to succeed in reaching the 'rooftop of the world'.

Twenty years of professionalism has seen rugby union undergo dramatic transformations, from changes to everyday training cultures to the growth of the Rugby World Cup into one of the largest global sporting events. The Rugby World in the Professional Era is the first book to examine the effect that professionalism has had across a number of different aspects of the game and the wider socio-cultural significance of these changes through case studies from across the globe. Drawing on contributions from scholars from across the rugby-playing world, the book explores the role of rugby's professionalisation through a number of social-scientific lenses, including: labour migration race and indigenous populations the globalisation of the game mega-event management male sexualities media representations of rugby - from broadcasting matches to rugby in museums and on stage and screen Offering insights into under-researched areas of the sport, such as the growth of Rugby Sevens into an Olympic sport, and providing the most up-to-date recent history of the sport available, The Rugby World in the Professional Era is essential reading for anyone with an academic interest in rugby, and any student or scholar with interests in sports history, sports sociology, sport management or the economics of professional sport.

Recent years have seen an explosion of new Welsh writing for the stage. With the advent of Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru in 2003 and the launch of National Theatre Wales in 2009, there has been a tectonic shift in Welsh theatre and its perception. Wales has famously celebrated its poets and novelists, but in the twenty-first century, it is the playwright asking the crucial questions. Never before have there been so many playwrights of all ages, from across Wales, finding the stage to be the home for their stories. This collection is the first to officially recognise this new wave of Welsh playwrights. It showcases a wide range of forms, themes and political concerns, as well as representing the most exciting voices at the forefront of Welsh drama, taking the temperature on what be considered to be the first golden age of Welsh playwriting. Tonypandemonium by Rachel Trezise The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning by Tim Price Gardening for the Unfulfilled and Alienated by Brad Birch Llwyth by Dafydd James (published in Welsh) Parallel Lines by Katherine Chandler Bruised by Matthew Trevannion Featured in the volume are the following plays, along with a foreword by Professor David Ian Rabey of Aberystwyth University, and an introduction by the editors, Tim Price and Kate Wasserberg.

Three indispensable books covering three historic milestones of the British Crown. Includes: The Coronation: A Royal History The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Year: A Royal Souvenir William & Catherine: A Royal Wedding Souvenir

This line from Max Boyce's 'Hymns and Arias' usually elicits delirious applause in the rugby world. It is now the title of a book which looks at the classic matches between the two old foes between 1890 and 2013. Included are Wales vs England matches which featured controversies, such as the 1890 match when Wales were victorious for the first time.