A Race With Love and Death by Richard Williams review – Britain's first great grand prix driver
A splendid account of the dashing times, and tragic end, of Richard Seaman, a British motor racing star in the 1930s, who met Hitler
The Impossible Climb by Mark Synnott review – can you 'free solo' El Capitan?
This description of Alex Honnold’s ascent without a safety rope is as gripping as a thriller
Book of the day
Things I Learned from Falling review – desert hike, accident, no hope of rescue
In 2018 Claire Nelson took a lone hike in the desert. She shattered her pelvis in a fall and ran out of water. She has written a gripping account of her determination to survive
January 2020
Haunts of the Black Masseur author Charles Sprawson dies aged 78
The author of ‘the best book about swimming ever written’ had been suffering from vascular dementia
November 2019
Best books of 2019
Best sports books of 2019
Best books of 2019
Best books of 2019
Observer New Review Q&A
Joe Simpson: ‘To be a serious climber, you have to be a little bit unhinged’
Further reading
Rugby, races and the rumble in the jungle: the best books on the biggest days in sport
October 2019
Further reading
Ultrarunning, prison, surviving Aids ... the best tales of endurance
The Age of Football by David Goldblatt review – a tour de force
September 2019
Tobias Jones: ‘Italy’s ultras are eloquent critics of modern football’
The author of a book on the hardcore fans discusses their political connections, charitable deeds – and the day he got a kicking
At home with Italy's ultras: ‘It isn’t about watching football, but watching each other’
Italy’s hardcore football fans are often reviled. In this extract from his new book, Tobias Jones joins the anti-fascist supporters of one small club, Cosenza
Book of the day
Ultra by Tobias Jones review – Italian football and the far right
Newcastle bookseller bans Michael Owen memoir over slights to city
Observer book of the week
The Age of Football by David Goldblatt review – not just a beautiful game
July 2019
The Great Romantic by Duncan Hamilton – one of the best biographies of a sports writer
The interest never falters in Duncan Hamilton’s life of the colourful Guardian cricket correspondent Neville Cardus, who rose from poverty to invent literary sports reporting
June 2019
What We Really Do All Day review – surprising truths about modern life
Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer review – winning at 19 a 600-mile horse race
Book of the day
Homing by Jon Day review – on pigeons and why we return
In brief: Manchester Happened; Freshwater; Zonal Marking – reviews
