Pitch Publishing imprint: 247 books

In the 1960s, 70s and 80s, children's comics were a massive part of a young person's life. Comic Book Hero tells the inside story of how Barrie Tomlinson built up a successful boys' publishing group at IPC Magazines - now the stuff of legend among nostalgic and modern-day fans of the UK comic scene and...

Say hello to the world's only undefeated heavyweight champion, a guy called Rocky Marciano, who defied physical limitations - 'He's too small, too short, too light, too old.' With just a 67-inch reach, two left feet and under six feet tall, tough, hard-hitting Marciano blasted his way to 49 wins,...

At 34 years of age, Gregory Howe quit teaching in London to chase his childhood dream of becoming a world-ranked tennis professional. He started his year-long journey in the minor leagues, playing across four continents, as far afield as Bangkok, Kampala and Lahore, initially struggling against younger,...

Imagine living in a box at the bottom of the sea for a month at a time. Locked away in a saturation chamber, plumbed to depths of more than 500 feet, this has been David Beckett's love, life and work for all his adult life. Destined to become a pig farmer in the late 1960s, a twist of fate saw David...

Booked! The Gospel According to our Football Heroes is a funny, fascinating digest of over 120 footballer autobiographies. Authors John Smith and Dan Trelfer have forensically examined the life stories of legends, hard-cases, cult heroes and one or two players they vaguely remember playing for Portsmouth...

Fred Perry, three-time Wimbledon champion in the 1930s, was one of Britain's greatest sportsmen of the 20th century. His success on the hallowed Wimbledon turf went unmatched by a British man for a remarkable 77 years, until Andy Murray's triumph in 2013. Perry was the first player to hold all four Grand...

As wrestling superstar 'Big Daddy', Shirley Crabtree became a larger-than-life national icon in the 1970s, even if the fights themselves were a bit dodgy. These were the halcyon days of televised wrestling in Britain, an innocent age when men in leotards were still allowed out in public - and surely...

Tony Waddington: Director of a Working Man's Ballet is a biography of the former Stoke City manager, Tony Waddington, one of the most underrated figures in 60s and 70s football. It charts how a man with the appearance of an urbane bank manager belied the stereotype of the hard-nosed football manager...

The funny, heart-warming tale of Adam Carroll-Smith's enduring love of sport on the radio - a uniquely personal collection of memories with the power to generate a shared, nostalgic sense of deja vu. From furtively listening to Premier League matches under his duvet as a boy, to secretly following Ashes...

For some players, the final whistle heralds the beginning of an infinitely more difficult chapter in their lives. Some simply find it impossible to cope, replacing one addiction with another. Not well known is the story of Paul Vaessen, perhaps the most powerful and tragic tale of them all. Paul was...

He's the man whose goal delivered Southampton's only major trophy in 130 years and counting. Bobby Stokes's winning goal in the 1976 FA Cup Final marked an unforgettable 11-second sequence of play for Saints fans, but just how did a Portsmouth-born Pompey supporter end up scoring a cup-winning goal for...

Derbyshire County Cricket Club has had its share of big names and fascinating stories down the years. In Their Own Words recounts the county's history, ever since the Second World War, through the eyes and words of the men who helped create it. Beginning with the county's legendary 98-year-old former...

Close Encounters With the Gloves Off is a rollercoaster ride through boxing history in the words of the boxers themselves, as they recall their highs and lows, their greatest triumphs, the background stories and many shock revelations. Acclaimed boxing writer, author and historian Thomas Myler has interviewed...

Johnny Haynes: Portrait of a Football Genius is the biography of one of England's greatest ever footballers - a player described by Pele as 'the greatest passer of a ball I have ever seen.' He was capped 56 times, 22 as captain, including the 9-3 hammering of the Scots at Wembley in 1961. He succeeded...