Wherever you are on earth, it's only a matter of time before you come across children playing soccer. Another five minutes and you will probably find yourself having a ball rolled to your feet as an invitation to join in the game. Soccer is a common language and a culture shared: a joy, a passion, an escape, and an affirmation of identity understood and celebrated by children—and their parents—in every country around the globe. For this unique collaborative project, soccer writer Tom Watt talked to the world's top players about growing up and falling in love with the game: Argentina's Lionel Messi and Brazil's Gilberto Silva; England's David James and Scotland's Craig Gordon; Italy's Fabio Cannavaro, Spain's Iker Casillas, and France's Franck RibÉry; South Africa's Benni McCarthy and Nigeria's Nwankwo Kanu; USA's Landon Donovan and Japan's Shunsuke Nakamura; and the world's most famous player, David Beckham. A Beautiful Game tells their stories, in the players' own words—stories of boys who would grow up to be heroes for a new generation of young players and fans. They look back to their childhoods: to their family homes, to their schoolrooms, to the friends they grew up with, and to the places where they first played the game that has made them stars. The players' words are brought to life with over 160 full-color images that offer rare, emotive, and striking insights into childhood all over the world, and celebrate soccer's ability to touch the lives of children—and adults—wherever the beautiful game is played. Five percent of the originating publisher's revenue from sales of the book worldwide will benefit selected UNICEF sports-related projects.

Five years after the publication of The Baseball Book, the Sports Illustrated editorial team that created that New York Times best-seller returns with this updated and expanded edition. This 326-page revision brings the original edition up to the minute, with more than 80 pages of new material, including timely stories by Sports Illustrated's best writers and 60 pages of spectacular new photographs up to and including the San Francisco Giants' World Series triumph over the Texas Rangers last October. With unforgettable pictures and award-winning words, this lavish volume brings to life the epic teams and colorful characters, the crucial plays and classic games, the personalities and performances and artifacts that have kept baseball at the heart of American sports for more than a century. The Baseball Book is a perennial favorite in the highly successful series of coffee-table books released by Sports Illustrated every holiday season since 2004.

Capturing the perfect wave "Grannis' [...] book has the effect of a time capsule, bringing back an era that continues to resonate for us in shades of Technicolor and black and white." — Los Angeles Times Book Review At a time when surfing is more popular than ever, it's fitting to look back at the years that brought the sport into the mainstream. Developed by Hawaiian islanders over five centuries ago, surfing began to peak on the mainland in the 1950s—becoming not just a sport, but a way of life, admired and exported across the globe. One of the key image-makers from that period is LeRoy Grannis, a surfer since 1931, who began photographing the scene in California and Hawaii in the longboard era of the early 1960s. First published in a limited edition, which sold out instantly on publication, this new edition showcases Grannis's most vibrant work—from the bliss of catching the perfect wave at San Onofre to dramatic wipeouts at Oahu's famed North Shore. An innovator in the field, Grannis suction-cupped a waterproof box to his board, enabling him to change film in the water and stay closer to the action than other photographers of the time. He also covered the emerging surf lifestyle, from "surfer stomps" and hoards of fans at surf contests to board-laden woody station wagons along the Pacific Coast Highway. It is in these iconic images that a sport still in its adolescence embodied the free-spirited nature of an era—a time before shortboards and celebrity endorsements, when surfing was at its bronzed best.

A unique and colorful collection of photographs featuring the under-celebrated wayward shot, its landing locale and the unexpected encounters with wildlife on and off the green.

The third title in this Formula 1 history series, this incredible book covers in detail the 1960s - what many consider the last golden decade of the sport. Offering the same combination of informative text, race statistics and glorious color photography as the books on the 1970s and 1980s, it brings alive the heroic era of Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, John Surtees, Bruce McLaren, Jack Brabham and Jochen Rindt. For many fans, this was the era when Formula 1 was at its peak--thrilling and dangerous, but still a sport.

As a teenager taking pictures of fellow surfers in 1960s La Jolla, Jeff Divine got to know the original alternative sport before the X-Games were even a gleam in a producer's eye. Through this rare collection of photographs from the momentous decade that followed, he conveys the feeling of being on the beach in its most creative era, being present at the inception of a subculture too large and photogenic to stay down long. The style, the athleticism and the escapism in these images will be familiar to those with even a lazy eye on pop culture: surfing is on the rise again. Of its first time around, Divine says, "Yes, I had long hair. And Pendletons, Mexican wedding shirts, bell bottoms, Wallabies, Zig Zags and tuna, wheat bread, and sprouts in the fridge. Santana, The Dead, Jesse Colin Young, Steppenwolf, Moby Grape, The Stones, Beatles and Clifton Chenier on the stereo. Hippie seamstresses made us custom shirts with embroidered necks and coconut buttons. I had a beaded curtain through which you entered my den. No, I didn't have any black light posters, but I did have the Juan O. Gorman poster "Flores Imaginarias" and Ortner at 3M's on the wall. Reading material? The Life Photography Series, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, M.C. Escher art books, Zap comics, or the Carlos Castaneda series. But our prize possessions were our garage-made surfboards all lined up in the side yard. They mattered the most."

As one of New York's legendary news photographers, Barney Stein covered everything from popes to presidents, from gangsters to glamour girls. But no job brought him more joy and fame than as the official team photographer for the legendary Brooklyn Dodgers. For two decades, his camera captured the Dodgers in all their glory, both on and off the field. Now, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers' last season in Brooklyn, Barney Stein's photos live again.

Half of the courses featured in this second edition of Abrams’ hugely successful Golf Courses of the World: 365 Days are new. Many of the added courses have opened since the first edition was published in 2005, and the best of them have been carefully selected and affectionately described for this new book, including courses from the United States as well as around the world.    Wonderful new photographs by the best golf photographers—365 magnificent courses illustrated with more than 500 pictures—bring the world of golf home. The new edition has also been completely redesigned, with larger type and a two-column format for greater readability.     As before, an index of courses includes information for golfers wishing to play the courses.

During the golden age of baseball, from 1904 to 1942, Charles M. Conlon took thousands of pictures of the heroes of the day: Home Run Baker, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and many others. This volume offers the first comprehensive look at Conlon's remarkable legacy and features lively anecdotal captions packed with evocative stories and trivia. 205 photos. 6-page gatefold.

A Game to Love is the stunning publishing debut of award-winning sports photographer Mike Powell. Featuring 500 highly evocative images, the book celebrates the passion for tennis that exists around the world. Powell's extraordinary images capture the character and brilliance of the greatest players in the game today and are complemented by the words of many of the game's legendary greats of yesteryear, among them John McEnroe, Billie Jean King, Steffi Graf, Boris Becker, and Rod Laver. From superstar players, veterans, and juniors to the spectating cognoscenti and tennis haute couture; from screaming coaches, businesslike trainers, and long-suffering officials to the players' boxes, real fans, and "fan fashion"; from the intimate details of hands-on racquets and the wiping of brows to the textures of clay, grass, and hard court, A Game to Love is a luscious and original visual tribute to one of today's most-watched and most-loved sports.Praise for A Game to Love:"a love letter to tennis. . . What is usually obliterated by the pace of the game is restored to us by Powell's lush frames and a selection of quotes from players past and present." -Publishers Weekly"A Game to Love highlights Powell's ability to capture not only the breathtaking scenery, but the elegance, emotion and art of the human body in action." -Tennis Magazine