Brian Clough, believed by many to be the greatest manager the England football team never had, is the subject of the winner of this year's award, the most valuable prize of its type in the world.
Provided You Don't Kiss Me by Duncan Hamilton, Deputy Editor of the Yorkshire Post, is an analysis of the phenomenon that was Clough, based on Hamilton's twenty-plus year relationship with the maverick manager.
Hamilton carried off the £20,000 Award at a ceremony held at Waterstones bookshop in Piccadilly, London.
"The judges were as close to unanimous in their decision as any panel is ever likely to be' said William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe.
Hamilton held off the challenge of the other five short-listed books to pick up the award. They were: Sir Bobby Charlton's (with James Lawton) autobiography,
My Manchester United Years; Kevin Cook's
Tommy's Honour; Nick Ward's untold story of the tragic 1979 Fastnet sailing race,
Left For Dead; American writer Chuck Culpepper's tale of his induction into the world of English football fandom,
Up Pompey; and Simon Wilde's penetrating take on the inimitable Shane Warne in
Portrait Of A Flawed Genius.
Graham Sharpe said: "This was perhaps the strongest short list ever assembled for the Award and is proof of the success of the Prize in encouraging publishers to commission high quality writing as well as the block-buster 'kiss and tell' titles."
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COCKSURE, brash, intelligent, and deeply generous, Brian Clough was, according to biographer Duncan Hamilton, an unforgettable character who was "larger than larger life".
In Provided you don't kiss me: 20 years with Brian Clough, the highs and lows of Clough's turbulent career at Nottingham Forest are laid bare by the man who was there to see it all.
A former football reporter, Hamilton had access to every aspect of the club and its master manager and paints an intimate portrait which covers Clough's relationship with Peter Taylor, the double European cup triumph, the famed 44 days at Leeds and the crumbling of his career in the 80s.
He also provides an insight into the life of a football reporter, from his first meeting with Clough in which the manager turned the tables on the nervous teenager, to his shock at the news of his death in 2004.
Hamilton now lives in Leeds, where he is also working on his first novel.
Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years with Brian Clough, is published in hardback by Fourth Estate, ISBN: 0007247109, and costs £14.99. Please use the commenting facility to let us know what you think of this book, using the following ratings:
1) Dull as dishwater
2) Okay, but could have been better
3) Pretty good, decent holiday read
4) Really liked it, can't wait for the next one
5) FANTASTIC - couldn't put it down! 