BIOGRAPHIES OF MUHAMMAD Ali and Bob Paisley are among the seven to have been shortlisted for the annual William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize.
The choices, which have been whittled down from a longlist of 16, also include Centaur, the memoir of jockey Declan Murphy, who survived a near-death experience following a horrific fall and Swell, the story of ”the fearless ‘swimming suffragettes’ who took on the status quo.”
Previous winners of the William Hill include Rough Ride: An Insight into Pro Cycling by Irish journalist Paul Kimmage, Fever Pitch: A Fan’s Life by Nick Hornby and Provided You Don’t Kiss Me: 20 Years With Brian Clough by Duncan Hamilton, while the 2016 prize went to Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan.
The winning author receives a £29,000 cash prize, as well as a £2,500 William Hill bet, and a day at the races.
The winner of the award will be announced at a ceremony in central London on 28 November.
The shortlist in full (alphabetically by author’s surname):
- The Greatest Comeback: From Genocide to Football Glory by David Bolchover (Biteback Publishing)
- Ali: A Life by Jonathan Eig (Simon & Schuster)
- Quiet Genius: Bob Paisley, British Football’s Greatest Manager by Ian Herbert (Bloomsbury Sport, Bloomsbury)
- Swell: A Waterbiography by Jenny Landreth (Bloomsbury Sport, Bloomsbury)
- Tom Simpson: Bird on the Wire by Andy McGrath (Rapha Editions)
- Centaur by Declan Murphy and Ami Rao (Doubleday, Transworld)
- Breaking Ground: Art, Archaeology and Mythology edited by Neville Gabie, Alan Ward and Jason Wood (Axis Projects)
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