Shortlisted for the 2023 Illustrated Sports Book of the Year

Remarkable Football Grounds is a collection of some of the most memorable places to watch and play football around the world.

Ranging from the stellar stadiums of the Premier League to windswept islands in the Scottish Hebrides or the far-flung Pacific, including stadia that resemble flying saucers, a crocodile and an armadillo! Remarkable Football Grounds features a range of the oldest, biggest, highest, quirkiest and furthest flung stadia and the stories behind their existence. Italian Serie B team Venezia can be reached by canal, with moorings nearby; Bamburgh Castle football ground lies in the shadow of a Game of Thrones-scale fortress, while Estadio Silvestre is a full-size pitch on the roof of a building in Tenerife.

Some of the oldest, storied stadiums are here, including Anfield for Liverpool, Fulham, which has a tunnel under the pitch and the two Dundee football clubs, that have sizeable grounds, Tannadice and Dens Park, just 183 metres (200 yards) apart.

At the quirkier end of the scale, the Aveiro stadium in Portugal looks like a giant children's playset, while in Gangwon, South Korea, the football pitch doubles as a ski jump landing area.

Many of the stadiums come with spectacular views. The Faroe Islands have produced some strong football teams in the past and many of their grounds are set in picture perfect landscapes. The same can be said of Norway's Lofoten Islands where flat land is at a premium and the pitch sides are used for drying fish. In Slovakia, the Janosovka football pitch has a narrow gauge railway that runs between the pitch and the grandstand.

Others are located in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. Nobody loves the 'away' fixture at Coroico which entails tackling the 'Death Road'.

Grounds include: the impressive new Qatari World Cup venues, Wembley Stadium, Camp Nou, Monaco, Old Trafford, Allianz Arena, Petrovsky (Zenit St.Petersburg), Trogir in Croatia, Longgang in China and the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

And Finally... is the injection of cheer we all need in these rather depressing times. This heart-warming book takes a look at the very best '...and finally' segments of the news - those funny, silly and often eccentric stories the newsreaders save until the end of the programme, to leave on a high note.

A marvellous little feel-good book that makes a charming gift - Platinum Magazine

Author and journalist Ryan Herman has selected the finest moments of serendipity, the astounding acts of kindness and generosity, the outrageous ideas come to life and the downright silly happenings and brought them together in this book.

The tales range from the drunken mice causing havoc but ultimately endearing themselves to the workers at a sherry distillery in Spain; the bride-to-be and huge Swiftie who invited Taylor Swift to her wedding and got the surprise of her lifetime when Taylor flew to Ohio to attend her bridal shower; the owner of a riding school for disabled children who raised tens of thousands of pounds after Lucian Freud popped into one of her amateur horse-sketching classes and left his drawing behind, and Stephanie, the child refugee who founded a female-run software company in 1960s Britain, who was routinely faced with sexism when selling her products. When she posed as 'Steve' when writing to software companies her business suddenly took off and when she later sold her business, she made 70 of her employees millionaires.

This is a feel-good book for dark times - packed with uplifting human interest stories, people (and a few animals) doing extraordinary things, idiosyncratic slices of life and simple fun tales. There is a quote in the book from filmmaker Ali Catterall that sums it up best of all. He says, I think we need stories that shake us out of our complacency [...] You can find magic in a dustbin. It depends where and how you look.

Shortlisted for the 2024 Illustrated Sports Book of the Year

Launched as rugby hit fever pitch at the 2023 World Cup, Remarkable Rugby Grounds is the perfect title for the passionate rugby fan who will be astonished at the worldwide reach of their favourite game.

Remarkable Rugby Grounds continues the blend of earlier 'Remarkables' by mixing some of the world's cathedrals of rugby with some of the quirky club grounds and local pitches set in beautiful locations.

We travel 'Around the World in 80 pitches' with grounds in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, Japan, Alaska, Argentina, Romania, along with the Six Nations venues.

Apart from Aviva Stadium/Lansdowne Road in Dublin (which has a train running beneath the grandstand), the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Murrayfield and Twickenham, there are the genteel splendours of Bath's Recreation Ground nestling alongside the River Avon or the historic home of Richmond FC one of the founding clubs of English rugby.

Featuring 80 of the world's most interesting rugby grounds, the book also delves a little into the history of the grounds by including a sprinkling of archive photos.

Proposed rugby grounds from across the globe: Alaska, Brisbane, Central Coast (NSW), Canada, Mumbai, Cumbria, Sydney, Melbourne, Swansea, Ebbw Vale, Llandaff, Porth, Pontypridd, Johannesburg, Romania, Auckland, Dunedin, Perth WA, Cape Town (3), Bordeaux, Paris, Clermont Ferrand, Cardiff, Japan, Chile, Colorado, Twickenham, Hong Kong, Durban, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Edinburgh, Melrose, Bath, Gloucester, Wellington, Sligo, Donegal, Marseille, Mangatinoka (NZ), South Korea, Rugby School, Dubai, London, Las Vegas.