Combat Memoirs

Dr Dan Pronk served on over 100 combat missions in Afghanistan as a frontline special forces combat doctor, where the casualties he treated were his fellow SAS soldiers and commandos, local civilians and even the enemy. The thrill of adventure and the challenges of battlefield medicine brought out the very best in Dan; he discovered a sense of purpose in pushing his medical skills and courage to the limits. But there was a cost. In this frank memoir, Dan describes the highs and lows of his military-medical career, and the very real toll they took on his mental health and family life.

Mike Hayes has lived a lifetime of once-in-a-lifetime experiences. He has been held at gunpoint and threatened with execution. He’s jumped out of a building rigged to explode, helped amputate a teammate’s leg, and made countless split-second life-and-death decisions. He’s written countless emails to his family, telling them how much he loves them, just in case those were the last words of his they’d ever read. Outside of the SEALs, he’s run meetings in the White House Situation Room, negotiated international arms treaties, and developed high-impact corporate strategies.

Un bouleversant ode à la mère. Roukiata est née au Burkina-Faso. De sa plume, légère et nostalgique, elle raconte avec tendresse et humour ses années d'enfance, son pays, ses écrasantes sécheresses et ses pluies diluviennes, la chaleur de ses habitants, la corruption et la misère. Elle raconte sa famille, sa fratrie, ses parents, l'injustice qui les frappe avec l'arrestation de son père.

Roberto Duran is a sporting legend. Often called the greatest boxer of all time, he held world titles at four different weights and is the only boxer in history to have fought in five different decades. His bouts with fellow greats like Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler have gone down in fistic folklore. He finally retired in January 2002 at age 52, with a professional record of 104 wins (69 by KO) in 120 fights. They called him Manos de Piedra: "Hands of Stone".

In 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaïre, two African American boxers were paid five million dollars apiece to fight each other. One was Muhammad Ali, the aging but irrepressible "professor of boxing." The other was George Foreman, who was as taciturn as Ali was voluble. Observing them was Norman Mailer, a commentator of unparalleled energy, acumen, and audacity.

A Manchester lad from Irish Traveller stock, born three months premature and weighing just a pound at birth, Tyson (named after his father’s boxing hero) grew up to become one of the most unlikely heavyweight champions in history. This ‘dream come true’ soon turned to nightmare, however, as alcohol and cocaine abuse took hold and Tyson was stripped of his titles. What followed was the darkest moment of his life - detailed in this book for the first time - in which he came within seconds of ending everything.

On January 5, 1971, Sonny Liston was found dead in his home - of an apparent heroin overdose. But no one close to Liston believed that his death was accidental. Digging deep into a life that Liston tried hard to hide, Shaun Assael treats the boxer's death as a cold case. The result is a riveting whodunit that evokes a glorious and grimy era of Las Vegas.

Muhammad Ali’s daughter captures the legendary heavyweight boxing champion, Olympic Gold medalist, activist, and philanthropist as never before in this candid and intimate family memoir, based on personal recordings he kept throughout his adult life.

In this work of sporting and social history we have a biography of Canadian-born, Boston-raised boxer George Dixon (1870–1908), the first Black world champion of any sport and the first Black world boxing champion in any division. George Dixon: The Short Life of Boxing’s First Black World Champion, 1870–1908 chronicles the life of the most consequential Black athlete of the nineteenth century. Yet despite his triumphs, Dixon has been lost to history, overshadowed by Black athletes whose activism against white supremacy far exceeded his own.

Alan Scott Haft provides the first-hand testimony of his father, Harry Haft, a holocaust victim with a singular story of endurance, desperation, and unrequited love. Harry Haft was a 16-year-old Polish Jew when he entered a concentration camp in 1944. Forced to fight other Jews in bare-knuckle bouts for the perverse entertainment of SS officers, Harry quickly learned that his own survival depended on his ability to fight and win. Haft details the inhumanity of the "sport" in which he must perform in brutal contests for the officers.

Anthony Robles is a three-time all-American wrestler, the 2011 NCAA National Wrestling Champion, and a Nike-sponsored athlete. He was also born without his right leg. Doctors could not explain to his mother, Judy, what led to the birth defect, but at the age of five, the one-legged toddler scaled a fifty-foot pole unassisted. From that moment on, Judy knew without a doubt that her son would be unstoppable.

The battle between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns is remembered as one of the greatest fights of all time. But in the months before the two finally collided on April 15, 1985, there was a feeling in the air that boxing was in trouble.

They called him Manos de Piedra - Hands of Stone - and he was one of the greatest boxers of all time. Now Roberto Durán tells his unbelievable story, from the streets of Panama to being crowned one of the Four Kings, along with Hearns, Leonard, and Hagler, as he blazed a trail through the golden age of boxing.

Andre Ward was the undefeated light heavyweight boxing champion of the world when he walked away from the ring and did not look back. Now that he has taken off his gloves for the final time, the Olympic gold medalist is ready to share the heartbreaking and uplifting stories of his formative years and unprecedented boxing career. Rich with colorful characters, fascinating detail, and biblical truths, this is the story of a man known for his integrity outside the ring, his warrior's instinct inside it, and his unrelenting bond with the God who called him to the greatest victory of all.

Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) is a once-in-a-hundred-year athlete with immense sporting talent in rugby league, rugby union and boxing. Sonny Bill has built an incredible career and sporting reputation across the globe. His athleticism has taken him from inner-city Auckland, where he grew up, to the highest sporting moments in Twickenham, Eden Park and Sydney's Olympic Stadium. But there is so much more to Sonny Bill Williams' life and journey than his on-field and in-the-ring triumphs.

He shares that experience in Rolling Through Afghanistan for the benefit of those who have wondered what it's like to be part of the United States armed forces fighting on the front lines in war...and to help those who may not be ready to face the memory of their own experiences.

In Tod is God—so named for a chant the ECW fans created to honor the founder—Gordon chronicles each step of the company's meteoric rise to prominence, as well as the elements that led to his removing himself from the company before its demise. Gordon's former partnership with ECW booker Paul Heyman made for magical TV and in-ring moments. The friendship between Gordon and Heyman, both a blessing and curse, was the once-in-a-lifetime bond responsible for so many of history's greatest teams, bands, and partners.

Bartley Gorman was the greatest bareknuckle fighter of modern times. He reigned as King of the Gypsies for 20 years, beating all comers in illegal contests at fairs and racetracks, down mineshafts and in quarries, on campsites and car parks. He fought for honour and pride and became a legend among the travelling community.

One of WWE's most unlikely champions of all time and also one of its most popular, Bryan has proved to the world and to all of WWE that looks can be deceiving. Just ask anyone who's ever underestimated him . . . right before he went out and whipped the WWE universe into a frenzy. This is Bryan's behind-the-scenes story told for the first time ever by the "YES!" Man himself---from his beginnings as a child wanting to wrestle to his ten years circling the globe on the independent circuit and his remarkable climb to the upper ranks of WWE.

While most of Postl's adult life has been spent in the wild world of the wrestling industry, his is more than a story of a little person's journey through a world of giants; it's a memoir of elation and anguish, triumph and disappointment, and of how an endlessly positive outlook combined with the unwavering support of family and friends helped a long shot become a success in his industry and a loving, responsible father.