Dave Hadfield Livres

Despite a disappointing performance by England, the thirteenth Rugby League World Cup wasn't all bad. Far from it. For one thing, the whole affair was staged in Australia, thereby allowing rugby league's best-selling author, journalist and broadcaster Dave Hadfield to gather material for this, his latest book. The result is Down & Under, Hadfield's eagerly-awaited follow-up to Up & Over, in which a walk through the rugby league towns of Northern England was chronicled. This time, Hadfield turns his attentions to the glamorous world of Australian footy and - unless your name is Ron Hill - the outcome is as witty, illuminating and downright enjoyable as you would expect. Whether he's travelling from Brisbane to Sydney, or from Melbourne to Townsville, Hadfield's legendary wit, wisdom and wanderlust is unleashed on the land of Ned Kelly and Wally Lewis.

This title presents the story of the spread of rugby league throughout the universities and colleges of Great Britain.

For almost 50 years, Dave Hadfield has followed the genres of music that grabbed his youthful heart and mind. Now, in 'All the Wrong Notes' he has written not just a musical memoir, but a personal and social history of the last half-century. Like a Zelig with a finger in his ear, he has been where folk music has happened and describes it, affectionately but warts-and-all, in a way it has never been described before.

Early on the morning of his 63rd birthday, DAVE HADFIELD walked out of his front door and caught a bus. It was the first stage in an epic journey, taking him around the furthest flung corners of his native England and showing it to him from a completely new angle. Already acclaimed for his books on sport and music, Hadfield has broadened his canvas for what might well be his finest work yet. South along the Welsh Borders, West to Land's End, along the South Coast to Dover, through London and up the Eastern side of the country to Newcastle, through the Pennines and the Lakes and back home to Lancashire; he chronicles what he sees and hears on an itinerary involving over 100 local buses. Better still, he does it all for nothing, on a free bus pass for which he was qualified by Parkinson's Disease. Undeterred by that disability, he explores the country he loves with a keen eye and ear for the absurd. By turns thoughtful and hilarious, Route 63 will appeal to anyone who has enjoyed Dave Hadfield's writing for the Independent as well as his acclaimed previous books. For those new to his unique style, prepare to discover why he has been called Bolton's Bill Bryson.

Lost in Spain is the result of the dying wish of author Dave Hadfield's oldest friend's wife, Barb, to have her ashes scattered along the route traced by Laurie Lee when he walked from Gloucester to the Mediterranean in the 1930s.