Books like The Boys of Winter by Wayne Coffey

A true‑story chronicle of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight‑oar crew, whose perseverance and teamwork led them to Olympic gold amid the Great Depression and the rise of Nazi Germany.

An inside look at a single season of the Portland Trail Blazers, revealing the dynamics of stars, salaries, media, fans, ethics, drugs, and racial tension in professional basketball.

Former Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden offers a masterful memoir that blends personal insight, vivid portraits of 1970s NHL legends, and a deep reflection on the sport that has earned it a place among the greatest hockey books.

A coming‑of‑age memoir set in Brooklyn that follows a boy’s youth in the shadow of Ebbets Field, his work as a sportswriter for the Herald Tribune during the Jackie Robinson era, and the eventual paths of the people he knew.

"This shit would be really interesting if we weren't in the middle of it."—Barack Obama, September 2008In 2008, the presidential election became blockbuster entertainment. Everyone was watching as the race for the White House unfolded like something from the realm of fiction. The meteoric rise and historic triumph of Barack Obama. The shocking fall of the House of Clinton—and the improbable resurrection of Hillary as Obama's partner and America's face to the world. The mercurial performance of John McCain and the mesmerizing emergence of Sarah Palin. But despite the wall-to-wall media coverage of this spellbinding drama, remarkably little of the real story behind the headlines has yet been told.In Game Change, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two of the country's leading political reporters, use their unrivaled access to pull back the curtain on the Obama, Clinton, McCain, and Palin campaigns. How did Obama convince himself that, despite the thinness of his resume, he could somehow beat the odds to become the nation's first African American president? How did the tumultuous relationship between the Clintons shape—and warp—Hillary's supposedly unstoppable bid? What was behind her husband's furious outbursts and devastating political miscalculations? Why did McCain make the novice governor of Alaska his running mate? And was Palin merely painfully out of her depth—or troubled in more serious ways?Game Change answers those questions and more, laying bare the secret history of the 2008 campaign. Heilemann and Halperin take us inside the Obama machine, where staffers referred to the candidate as "Black Jesus." They unearth the quiet conspiracy in the U.S. Senate to prod Obama into the race, driven in part by the fears of senior Democrats that Bill Clinton's personal life might cripple Hillary's presidential prospects. They expose the twisted tale of John Edwards's affair with Rielle Hunter, the truth behind the downfall of Rudy Giuliani, and the doubts of those responsible for vetting Palin about her readiness for the Republican ticket—along with the McCain campaign staff's worries about her fitness for office. And they reveal how, in an emotional late-night phone call, Obama succeeded in wooing Clinton, despite her staunch resistance, to become his secretary of state.Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived the story, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel. Character driven and dialogue rich, replete with extravagantly detailed scenes, this is the occasionally shocking, often hilarious, ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.

Crazy '08 retraces the 1908 baseball season, when the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants raced through the National League pennant, while the American League was fought over by stars like Cy Young, Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson.

An inspiring true story of a WWII pilot’s survival, resilience, and redemption, examined through detailed battlefield context and human courage.

'Paris is the World, the rest of the Earth is nothing but its suburbs' - MarivauxIn this intelligently-written and supremely entertaining new history, Colin Jones seeks to give a sense of the city of Paris as it was lived in and experienced over time. The focal point of generation upon generation of admirers and detractors, a source of attraction or repulsion even for those who have never been there, Paris has witnessed more extraordinary events than any other major city. No spot on earth has been more walked around, written about, discussed, painted and photographed. With an eye for the revealing, startling and (sometimes) horrible detail, Colin Jones takes the reader from Roman Paris to the present, recreating the ups and downs in the history of the city and its inhabitants. Attentive to both the urban environment and to the experience of those who lived within it, PARIS: BIOGRAPHY OF A CITY will be hugely enjoyed by habitual Paris obsessives, by first-time visitors, and by those who know the city only by repute.

A comprehensive biography that charts Michael Jordan’s rise to basketball legend and examines the people, teams, and commercial forces that shaped him.

E-Book Extra: Bill Belichick: Snapshots and StatsAn unprecedented look at the innerworkings of a pro football team and the rise, fall, and rise of a champion When Bill Belichick arrived in New England, the Patriots were a laughingstock, an organization with a losing record, spiraling morale, salary cap problems, and a bloated payroll filled with a who's who of underperforming players. Belichick was supposed to change all that. But there were many questions: Could he turn it around? Could he win without Bill Parcells? He is smart, certainly, some would say a genius, but could he inspire and motivate a team to win it all? After his mediocre run as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, and the strange end to his relationship with Parcells and the New York Jets, what kind of head coach could he be?Four years later, he has two Lombardi trophies in his hands, and the Patriots organization has become the gold standard in professional football. How did they do it? With unprecedented access granted by Belichick and his staff, author Michael Holley takes us deep inside the heart of a champion. A fly on the wall for two years, Holley captures Belichick at his most candid in team, coaches, and production meetings. What emerges is a portrait of a complicated man who is cerebral, yes, but also tough, demanding, stubborn, funny, profane, and a master strategist.With his brain trust -- Scott Pioli, Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis, and Ernie Adams -- Belichick has imposed a winning system and painstakingly selected players who thrive in that system. Holley provides, for the first time, insights into how Belichick and his coaching Cabinet prepare for opponents, evaluate talent, run the draft, and how they design their offensive and defensive schemes. Readers will also learn the real stories behind the controversial Drew Bledsoe trade and the cutting of Lawyer Milloy, and how Belichick fought to keep the team together.Frank, uncompromising, and stunning, Patriot Reign is required reading for football fans who want to understand what makes a champion tick.

The Bad Guys Won! A look back at the 1986 New York Mets, a team known for their wild antics, but ended up as the winners of the World Series.

The "death of hockey star Derek Boogaard at twenty-eight was front-page news across the country in 2011 and helped shatter the silence about violence and concussions in professional sports. Now, in a ... work of narrative nonfiction ... reporter John Branch tells the ... story of Boogaard's life and heartbreaking death"--Amazon.com.