CAPTAIN'S DIARY 1989-1991. [Author/subject SIGNED copy.]

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED,1st edn. NFINE/NFINE. No owner inscrptn but author's neat, handwritten black ink inscrptn: "Best Wishes Will Carling" to title page,and no price-clip to dw/dj.[Some further handwritten notation to top,left-hand corner of rear free endpaper - believed to be the dated reception after the book's signing by the author,with an address for the book's return to it's owner.] Bright, crisp,clean,glossy laminated,author's portrait colour photographic illustrated dw/dj panels,with black,white and red fluorescent lettering; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no major nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges generally clean; contents bright,tight and clean - near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,would appear unread apart from my own collation. Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,generally sharp-cornered (top 2 corners minimally bumped),original plain maroon cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip and clean plain white endpapers - aforementioned rear free endpaper excepted.Some light indents/impressions to both boards.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn,3-161pp [paginated] includes Pts 1+2 comprising 13 chapters,a postscript,16pp contemporary b/w sports action photographs in 2 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp20/1 and pp84/5 respectively,b/w sketches by author interspersed throughout the text and the book.Plus [unpaginated] half-title,author SIGNED title page,a dedication,separate contents+illus lists/tables,acknowledgements,Pts separator pages,and 2pp blanks at rear.
In 1988 Will Carling at 22,became the youngest ever captain of the England rugby team.In this revealing book Will charts the downs and ups of two years in English rugby,including the high hopes and disappointments of the 1990 championship,and culminating in last season's (1991) victorious Grand Slam campaign.It offers a rare insight into life on and off the pitch and vivid accounts of international matches are interspersed with Carling's own thoughts on his fellow players,the business of captaincy, professionalism and the pressures and rewards of rugby at the highest level.
A unique record of a turbulent,but ultimately triumphant,period in English rugby history.
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