Combat Memoirs

Picture a man, he’s tall, not excessively so, yet as wide as he is high. This man is a spitting and growling street brawler; a tank full of ready-to-blow, muscle-fuelled aggression. Imagine, if you will, the comic-book style Bulldog of Great British stamp. Well, there you have him! The prototypical face taken from the terraces of an ’80s football fan’s rolled-up newspaper cosh; a poster-boy of malevolence left over from Thatcher’s post-punk Britain.

The sequel to the Amazon best seller Unfinished Agony, this is the third and final audiobook on the wild man of Wakefield Paul Sykes.

Pittsburgh’s Paul Spadafora defeated Israel Cardona to capture the International Boxing Federation lightweight belt and the heart of a city that had not boasted a world champion prizefighter in over a half-century. Outside the ring, Paul’s dependency on drugs and alcohol marred his legacy and bore tragic consequences. Paul’s narrative was one of brilliance, crippled by madness, a dichotomy of in-ring savant and out-of-ring calamity. Fighting Till the End is a candid examination of a flawed champion determined to conquer his demons and come out on top in the final round of his life.

The gripping, forgotten tale of Ira Hayes—a Native American icon and World War II legend who famously helped raise the flag at Iwo Jima but spent the latter half of his life haunted by being a war hero. IRA HAYES tells the story of Ira Hamilton Hayes from the perspective of a Native American...

On October 19, 1965, American Special Forces in Vietnam came under attack at their camp at Plei Me. This marked the first major confrontation between the North Vietnamese and US armies during the war. Throughout six days of constant hostile fire, Captain Lanny Hunter sorted the seriously wounded from the dead and saved those comrades-in-arms he could. For his actions, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. In Exit Wounds, Hunter recalls his tour in the central highlands of Vietnam in 1965/66 at the bloody interface of medicine and combat.

By the age of 24, Big Joe Egan had over 80 boxing wins and seven Irish titles and was a Golden Gloves champion. A mean body puncher with a durable chin, he went the distance with Lennox Lewis and beat future WBA champion Bruce Seldon. Encouraged by Floyd Patterson to try his luck in the USA, Joe joined "Iron" Mike Tyson’s training camp in the Catskill Mountains with the great Cus D’Amato. Joe became like a brother to Mike, who described him as the Toughest White Man on the Planet. Big Joe Egan is a gripping, entertaining, and uncompromisingly emotional account.

You're about to discover the incredibly inspirational story of UFC superstar Georges St-Pierre. If you're reading this, then you must be a GSP fan, like so many others. As a fan, you must wonder how this man is so talented and want to know more about him. Georges is considered one of the greatest MMA fighters in the world, and it's been an honor to be able to watch him fight throughout his career. This book will reveal to you much about Georges' story and the many accomplishments throughout his career.

An in-depth exploration of the pivotal Cassius Clay transformed into Muhammad Ali, exploring the events, relationship, and experiences that shaped him.

Raised in 1970s Spanish Harlem, Hector Camacho lived a life as fast as his fists flew in the ring. Handsome, flamboyant, and outspoken, Camacho electrified the boxing scene of the 1980s and, shouting his mantra "Macho Time!", beat some of the greatest fighters of his generation. His fast-lane life caught up with him eventually - and tragically - when he was shot dead outside a nightclub in Puerto Rico at the age of 50.

Running with Scissors meets Grey Gardens in this “vivid tragicomedy” (People), a riveting riches-to-rags tale of a wealthy family who lost it all and the unforgettable journey of a man coming to terms with his family’s deep flaws and his own hidden secrets. “Wake up, you filthy beasts...

Many regard Muhammad Ali simply as 'The Greatest' heavyweight of all time. Others admire his battles against racial injustice and religious intolerance. A few just call him 'Dad'. They are all here in this book - 50 men and women of note coming together to celebrate the man Sports Illustrated crowned 'Sportsman of the Century': Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer; Billy Crystal, actor; Sir Henry Cooper, former British and European heavyweight champion; Bert Sugar, journalist and boxing historian; and more.

For 21 years, Dan Russell trained for four to six hours a day, six days a week in pursuit of winning an Olympic Gold medal in the sport of wrestling. He pushed his body to the limits, enduring brutal weight loss regimens, shattering injuries, personal tragedy, and constant inner battles with the voices from his past telling him that he wasn't good enough.

Bullied as a child, the guvnor, prisoner, Roy Shaw belt holder, barred out of the city of Newcastle for six years, doorman, bareknuckle fighter... Gary Firby has led just a bit of a colorful life. Now for the first time, with Jamie Boyle (author/filmmaker), he'll be penning his life story.

Want to become elite? Get ready for Chosen Suffering. Real champions aren’t born - they’re built. It’s true in life, business, athletics, and faith. We must transcend physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual limits if we want to achieve ultimate victory. Author Tom Ryan calls this “chosen suffering”. He knows that success comes with a price, paid for by the daily choices we make. He also believes every person encounters “unchosen suffering”, the type that brings us to our knees. In Coach Ryan’s darkest hour, he and his wife discovered joy, peace, and hope.

This is the final audiobook in the series of Agony books. For the first time, in his own words, Amazon best-selling author Jamie Boyle tells of the unheard stories he has unearthed during his eight years of researching the anomaly that was Wakefield's Paul Sykes. Final Agony follows Paul's journey from the cradle to the grave.

When most people think of the celebrated greatness that is Coach Dan Gable, they think of an almost mythic intensity toward wrestling. Gable breathes and bleeds the sport and faithfully applies lessons learned from both on and off the mat. Expanding upon Gable's first collection of stories, A Wrestling Life 2 goes a little deeper into the mindset and life events that have shaped the man, the wrestler, and the coach.

This book has all the ingredients of an exciting action film because it's a highly entertaining coming-of-age martial arts memoir about a karate-crazed teen who discovers that his martial arts heroes are deep into drug, drinking, and debauchery. John Graden joined the Florida Karate Academy at the height of the Bruce Lee Kung Fu Boom in the 1970s. Within a decade, he became a protégé of the legendary Joe Lewis, twice voted as the greatest karate fighter of all time. With humor and unflinching honesty, this story is a pause-resister.

Stephen McAllister was a grunt, a dog handler in Vietnam, tasked not only with fighting what was by then an unwinnable war but with rehabilitating a scout dog named Big Mike whose trauma ran even deeper than his own. McAllister's voice has an abundance of heart and humor, but the laughter has a catch in its throat. For all the ingenuity and camaraderie, a dark and suspenseful melody plays behind the adventures of McAllister and his unforgettable constellation of young characters, American and Vietnamese.

They put a price on his head. They did everything they could to disrupt his mission. Finally, when an antitank mine tore off his right foot, the warriors of jihad in Iraq thought they had neutralized one of their most resourceful, determined foes.

The story of Jeff Horn is like a fairy tale. Written with award-winning author, journalist and boxing aficionado Grantlee Kieza, The Hornet is the tale of a boy who, slapped around by bullies, saw through tears in his eyes a vision of himself as a hero, a champ, someone other people might one day look up to. Horn took up boxing after being tormented as a teenager. Fast-forward a dozen years and the former bullied schoolboy - now humble schoolteacher - became world boxing champion on 2nd July 2017 at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.