Epic. In Search of the Soul of Sport and Why It Matters; Simon & Schuster, 2019

‘For 30 years I was the voice of sport at The Times – but that’s enough about me. What matters is sport.’

This is an autobiography from which the author, award-winning writer Simon Barnes, has been surgically removed. He has reported on six World Cups, seven Olympic Games, cricket on five continents and more than 20 Wimbledons, watching Diego Maradona, Usain Bolt, Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer at their peak. Along the way he had soul-revealing conversations with Ayrton Senna and sat on Desert Orchid.

His journalist’s experience gives him perspective, until the addictive madness of sport takes over. Epic is a stunning mosaic of some of the greatest sporting moments in recent years, which build up to provide the reader with a better idea of what sport is for, what differentiates winners from losers, and reveals how sport teaches us how better to enjoy life.

This is sport unplugged. Speaking for itself. Allowing the reader to understand sport with more clarity and depth than ever before.