Calling the Horses: A RACING AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.NFINE/NFINE.No owner inscrptn and no price- clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,subject/author's colour+b/w portrait photographic illustrated front+rear panels respectively of dw/dj,with green,black and purple lettering to front,white lettering to spine/backstrip; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present. Majority of light creasing to top edges and head of spine/ backstrip of dw/dj.Top+fore-edges lightly aged/toned but bright and clean - fore-edges with a couple of foxing/ spotting blemishes; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread - apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered, original plain dark green cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,7-368pp [paginated] includes 30 chapters,32pp of contemporary b/w (the majority) and colour autobiographical photographs in 4 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp96/7, pp160/1,pp224/5 and pp288/9 respectively,assorted b/w facsimile illustration reproductions throughout the text and the book,an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a contents list/table with photographic acknowledgements to its verso.
Horse racing journalist,owner and the doyen of TV racing commentators,Peter O'Sullevan has written a delightful book of reminiscences recalling more than fifty years' involvement with the sport.A marvellous raconteur,with an unrivalled knowledge of the racing scene,he includes a wealth of colourful anecdotes from track and turf. Peter O'Sullevan recalls his childhood in Surrey when a wrong diagnosis that he was allergic to horses almost put paid to his budding career as a jockey; the recurrent ill-health that cut short his schooldays at Charterhouse and landed him in Middlesex Hospital as a long-term patient,and his early efforts to make it as a racing journalist from his hospital bed.After the war,he started in earnest in journalism as a racing reporter for the Press Association.He then joined the 'Daily Express (UK tabloid paper) where he remained for thirty-six years,while also becoming the best-known voice in racing as the BBC-TV commentator.The highlights of half a century's achievements - including sensational victories of his horses Be Friendly and Attivo - are recalled in vivid and amusing detail.His forthright views on controversial aspects of the sport,in particular the use and abuse of the whip,make thought-provoking reading. Peter O'Sullevan has written one of the year's (then 1989) most entertaining sporting autobiographies,packed with stories about horses,jockeys,trainers and owners. Please contact selller @ rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.
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