This original book examines 1930s football in England in its social, economic and political context by focusing on ten of the top players of the era. It sheds light on the decade that saw players taking on a public persona as 'terrace heroes'.

Nemanja Vidic is one of the best defenders playing in the English Premier League today, a cult figure among Manchester United fans he has enjoyed a meteoric rise to football stardom. Born in Serbia in 1981, Vidic began playing football at the age of just 7 and was quickly spotted by local clubs. By 15 he was signed to Red Star Belgrade's youth system and by 20 he had won the Yugoslav Cup. The captain's armband soon followed and he led his Red Star team to a domestic double in 2004 -- that was to be his last season with the club as he moved into the Russian Premier League and Spartak Moscow. His outstanding play and no-nonsense style soon caught the attention of foreign clubs and in 2006 he signed for Manchester United joining Rio Ferdinand in defence to form one of the most formidable partnerships in English football. Loved by the Old Trafford faithful Vidic was short-listed for the PFA Player of the Year in 2009 and was named Manchester United fans' and players' Player of the Year.

Simran – An actress, is mesmerizing with a golden heart, beauty with intelligence, carries her beautiful smile on her face, not revealing the grief under it, knowing the importance, responsibilities in life, and with the family. She is charitable, a trained dancer, never compares herself with others, passionate for her goals, sympathetic towards humans, loved by her family, friends, fans and god fearing. One winter morning, she is kidnapped by Nelson elder brother of Neil, to avenge his death along with his friends. She was left unconscious for about 14 hours inside the car, raped her, and threw her out on the road. Nelson and his friends were merciless towards Simran, they did so, just to satisfy their ego and pacify the haunting soul of Neil and avenge for his death because of Simran. It was a colossal task for Simran after recovery, not knowing who her kidnappers were, goes out in search for them with her friends to trace and identify the kidnappers to take revenge. Simran sets out with her friends to face the hardships, challenges, and struggles which she has to deal with to revenge her kidnappers in the city of Mumbai, with a single motto to punish them uniquely, not taking law in her hands or killing them.

The story of British football's journey from public school diversion to mass media entertainment is a remarkable one. The Association Game traces British football from the establishment of the earliest clubs in the nineteenth century to its place as one of the prominent and commercialised leisure industries at the beginning of the twenty first century. It covers supporters and fandom, status and culture, big business, the press and electronic media and development in playing styles, tactics and rules. This is the only up to date book on the history of British football, covering the twentieth century shift from amateur to professional and whole of the British Isles, not just England.

What does the ‘Asian’ mean in Asian sport celebrity? With a collection of nine essays on Asian sport celebrities variously associated with Australia, Belgium, China, Japan, New Zealand, North Korea, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States, this book offers a comprehensive understanding of the multi-faceted construction of what it means to be Asian from the perspectives of race, ethnicity and regionality. Sport celebrity, as a modern invention, is disseminated from the West to the rest of the globe including Asia, and so are its functions of symbolizing particular values, desires and personalities idolized and idealized within their respective societies. While Asian athletes were historically depicted as weak, fragile and biologically ‘unsuited’ to modern sport, the emergence of more than a few world-class Asian athletes in the twenty-first century demands an in-depth inquiry into the relationship between sport celebrity and the representation of Asia. This book is therefore essential for those interested in a range of socio-cultural issues—including globalization, transnationalism, migration, modernity, (post-)coloniality, gender politics, spectacle, citizenship, Orientalism, and nationalism—within and beyond Asia. It was originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.

A dangerous shell game is being played in cities across the country. It is a Russian roulette-style series of decisions practiced on a daily basis, involving the safety of a generally unsuspecting public. As fire houses and their companies are closed and disbanded, their communities become unwitting victims to the ravages of fire, awaiting help from ever-increasing distances. The men and women proclaimed heroes doing their job day in and day out become expendable when fire department budgets fall to the domain of those lacking an iota of experience, namely, the politicians. Convenient Heroes is a microcosm of the ongoing struggle between firefighters who fight fires and save lives, versus politicians who don't. It is the story of "The Bravest," who are due far more than a photo op and honorable mention when it is politically expedient. K. Scott Bonovich was granted access to firehouses in three different departments, often living there with the firefighters, listening, observing, and many times riding along to fires. He learned first hand why these average men and women are heroes. He also learned that fires and politics do not mix ... at all. About the Author K. Scott Bonovich spent much of his life in Maryland, and currently lives in Los Angeles. "How could I truly describe what these average men and women experience that does make them heroes in the literal sense of the word?" Publisher's website: http: //sbprabooks.com/KScottBonovich