Richard Beard's Top Book Recommendations
Want to know what books Richard Beard recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Richard Beard's favorite book recommendations of all time.
In 1996, when Rugby Union turned professional, John emigrated to France where he played for a decade in top competitions. His team ricocheted between fear and ecstasy, as they battled to save the club from relegation and their careers from the scrap heap.
Now he lifts the lid on the dark world of the journeyman player, where losing a home game is considered a crime, coaches and club owners will do anything to win, and agents ruthlessly manipulate players.
His compelling confessions are... more
Recommended by Richard Beard, and 1 others. Richard BeardThis is quite a recent book, and it represents the genre of player biography. A large part of sports books output is player biography and autobiography. John Daniell wrote this himself, and it’s good because he’s a star player but not a superstar player. He wasn’t an international. It’s an authentic picture of what it’s like on the inside now to be a professional rugby player, just below the top... (Source)
Recommended by Richard Beard, and 1 others. Richard BeardFrance is essential to rugby history. You can’t have a list without a French book in it. If the French weren’t there, the game wouldn’t be the game as we know it today. It would just be a jamboree with former colonies and the Empire. The fact that France took up rugby through the 20th century meant that there was a platform for it to become a global game. If it had been an Empire-only game, it... (Source)
Recommended by Richard Beard, and 1 others. Richard BeardThis is a book written in 1993, just before the game went professional. Stephen Jones is the chief rugby writer for The Sunday Times, and has been for years. He realised that the pressure was on the game to change and to go professional to survive in the modern world. He writes this book looking to the past as well as the future; it’s written just on that tipping point, and he is standing on the... (Source)
Recommended by Richard Beard, and 1 others. Richard BeardThis is actually a book about rugby league, but – like some players of rugby – it can play both codes. This book really goes across both codes, and is about the harshness of the game on the pitch, and how that can relate to life off the pitch as well. It is just a very accurate, gritty representation of how the hero can be expressive on the pitch among men, and much less expressive in the life... (Source)
Ever since Tom Brown's Schooldays the sport has seen itself as the guardian of traditional English middle-class values. In this fascinating new history, leading rugby historian Tony Collins demonstrates how these values have shaped the English game, from the public schools to mass spectator sport, from strict amateurism to global professionalism.
Based on unprecedented access to the official archives of the... more
Recommended by Richard Beard, and 1 others. Richard BeardWell, before we do that, it’s important to say that this list is a rugby union list, so these are essential books for rugby union. There would be a different five books for rugby league, which has a different literature. (Source)
Don't have time to read Richard Beard's favorite books? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.