Alone by Bill Jones

£12.99
Out of stock
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9781408853566
Published:
04 Jun 2015
Format:
Paperback
Number of pages:
344 , 16 unnumbered of p pages
Dimensions:
198x129x26mm
Weight:
0.271kgs
Author:
One winter's night in 1976, over 20 million people in Britain watched John Curry skate to Olympic glory on an ice rink in Austria. Many millions more watched around the world. Overnight he became one of the most famous men on the planet. He was awarded the OBE. He was chosen as BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Curry had changed ice skating from marginal sport to high art. And yet the man was - and would always remain - an absolute mystery to a world that had been dazzled by his gift. Surely, men's skating was supposed to be Cossack-muscular, not sensual and ambiguous like this. Curry himself was an often-tortured man of labyrinthine complexity. 'Alone' untangles the extraordinary web of his toxic, troubled, brilliant - and short - life.
The previously-untold story of the life and tragic early death of John Curry, one of the most famous ice skaters in history. The book that inspired new film The Ice King, the story of John Curry's life. One winter's night in 1976, over 20 million people in Britain watched John Curry skate to Olympic gold on an ice rink in Austria. Many millions more watched around the world. Overnight he became one of the most famous men on the planet. He was awarded an OBE. He was chosen as BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Curry changed ice skating from marginal sport to high art. And yet the man was a mystery to a world that had been dazzled by his gift. Surely, men's skating was supposed to be Cossack-muscular, not sensual and ambiguous like this? Curry himself was a complex, tortured man. For the first time, Alone untangles the extraordinary web of his toxic, troubled, brilliant and short life. It is a story of childhood nightmares, furious ambition, sporting genius, lifelong rivalries, homophobia, Cold War politics, financial ruin and deep personal tragedy. So much more than a sports biography, Alone reveals the restless, impatient, often dark soul of a man whose words could lacerate, whose skating invariably moved audiences to tears, and who after succumbing to AIDS, as so many of his fellow artists and friends did, died of a heart attack aged just 44.

About the Author: Bill Jones started his working life as a journalist with various Northern provincial newspapers. In the early 80s he joined Granada Television in Manchester where he worked on literally hundreds of documentaries for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and many others - including an award-winning film about the contents of Frank Sinatra's coffin - before embarking on a writing career after almost three decades in broadcasting. His first book - The Ghost Runner - won him The Times Best New Writer in the 2012 British Sports Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the William Hill award. Born in Bridlington, the author currently lives in Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, where - despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary - he insists that his ancestry is Welsh.

More Information
Number of pages 344 , 16 unnumbered of p

We will despatch your order as quickly as we can. If, for whatever reason, a product is out of stock we will contact you to discuss the likely delivery time or an alternative product.

  First Item 2 Items & Over
UK £3.75 £5.00
EU £15.00 £30.00
USA & Canada £30.00 £50.00
Rest of the World £45.00 £60.00
Collect in Store free free

Additional Delivery Information (and some really important bits):

UK Delivery

Orders for delivery in the UK are despatched by Courier and Signed For delivery services and will normally be delivered to you within a few days of placing your order. Signed Books are shipped in our specially made book mailing cartons, with the books themselves wrapped in paper to protect them. Sometimes we may ship your order in several parts, particularly if you have 'Pre-Order' titles in your order or titles which are held in stock with our publishing partners.

The Really Important Bit: Because we use courier and signed for delivery services, please use an address at which your parcel can be signed for during the normal working day, for example, you may want to have your order delivered to your work address if you're not at home during the day.

First Item @ £3.75 (sometimes a shipping supplement may be added for particularly heavy books or specific postcodes*)
2 Items & over @ £5.00 in total

Another Really Important Bit: There are a number of Postcodes in the UK for which we will need to charge a shipping supplement, this will be calculated once we know the size and weight of the shipment. For these orders we will contact customers to agree a suitable and economic method of shipping. There may also be additional time required for delivery to some areas of the United Kingdom. Where possible, we will ship single book orders (under 2kg) by Royal Mail to all UK postcodes. Multiple book orders and books over 2kg are shipped via APC Overnight, regardless of Postcode.

Overseas Delivery

Shipments to EU countries:

First Item @ £15.00 (sometimes a shipping supplement will be added for particularly heavy books)
2 Items & over @ £30.00 in total

A really, really important Brexit bit: From 1st January 2021 shipments to EU addresses may incur additional costs which could be requested by Fed Ex at the time of delivery. These costs may vary from country to country and are not within our control and will be in addition to the costs paid to us for your delivery. If in any doubt, please check with your local Fed Ex office what, if any, additional costs will be applicable to your order - https://www.fedex.com
From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery.

Shipments to the USA & Canada:

First Item @ £30.00
2 Items & over @ £50.00 in total

Shipments to the Rest of the World:

First Item @ £45.00
2 Items & over @ £60.00 in total

All overseas orders are shipped using a 'signed for' courier service - please provide an address at which your parcel can be signed for on receipt. We use the same packaging materials for our overseas deliveries as we do those in the UK. In some cases, particularly large and heavy books, or books being shipped to remote areas, may incur an additional shipping charge - if this is the case with your order, we'll notify you as quickly as possible of these charges and to arrange the additional payment. You can of course cancel your order with an immediate refund should you not wish to accept these additional costs. Shipments to overseas territories may incur additional Duty & Tax costs which could be requested by Fed Ex at the time of delivery. These costs may vary from country to country and are not within our control and will be in addition to the costs paid to us for your delivery. If in any doubt, please check with your local Fed Ex office what, if any, additional Tax & Duty costs will be applicable to your order - https://www.fedex.com

Collect in Person at Coles Books

We're open Monday - Saturday, 9:00am - 5:30pm. If you're collecting your order, please wait until you get the text, phone call or email from us, just to be on the safe side and to ensure we have your order ready for you on arrival (we'll use the contact information provided during checkout). Not everything on our website is available for immediate collection, please do wait for the text, call or email - if time is of the essence, we'd suggest you call us on 01869 320779 and check availability prior to placing your order. You can pick up your order from the till, please bring a copy of your email receipt (electronic or printed is fine).

Coming by Car

If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking!

Where to Find Us

Coles Books
22 Crown Walk
Pioneer Square
Bicester, Oxfordshire
OX26 6HY, United Kingdom

It was the most impressive packaging that I have EVER SEEN!!! The books were in perfect condition!!!!!

Super fast delivery and well packaged. Quality item and service!

Copyright © Coles Books - a Danny Boy Trading Company. All rights reserved.