Will Carling by Will Carling & Paul Ackford

Will Carling (First UK Edition in Illustrated Jacket)

The England Captain's Own Account of Three Grand Slams, Leadership and Life in the Spotlight

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Will Carling: My Autobiography
• Authors: Will Carling & Paul Ackford
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, London
• Publication Date: 1998
• ISBN-13: 9780340696583
• ISBN-10: 0340696583
• Edition Details: First published in Great Britain in 1998. Written with Paul Ackford.
• Binding: Publisher's dark blue cloth boards with an illustrated, laminated dust jacket.
• Physical Format: Medium octavo hardcover with sections of colour photographic plates.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
• Exterior / Boards: The dark blue cloth boards are clean and square, with only a tiny speck to the lower front board. The text block edges are clean. The spine and edges are protected beneath the jacket.
• Interior: The pages are clean and cream-coloured, with no foxing, markings or staining. The binding is tight, and the colour photographic plate section is bright and clean.
• The Dust Jacket: Present. The glossy, laminated pictorial jacket carries a colour portrait of the author in an England rugby shirt, gilt lettering and a photo collage to the back. There is light rubbing to the edges and minor wear with small nicks at the head of the spine. It is protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.

Synopsis & Historical Value

Published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1998, Will Carling: My Autobiography is the England centre's own account of his career, written with the rugby journalist and former England lock Paul Ackford. It follows his time as England captain, his approach to leadership and his farewell from the captaincy in 1996.

Carling led England on 59 occasions between 1988 and 1996 and captained the side to three Grand Slams. The book also deals with the intense tabloid attention on his private life, including his friendship with Princess Diana, and with his views on contemporaries such as Martin Johnson, Clive Woodward and Jeremy Guscott.

For collectors of rugby literature and followers of English rugby in the early 1990s, it is a first-hand record of the amateur-to-professional transition years from one of the era's defining players. This copy includes the colour plate section, with images from his Twickenham farewell.

Author Profile: Will Carling & Paul Ackford

Will Carling, born in 1965, played centre for England and was named national captain at the age of 22. He led the side 59 times between 1988 and 1996 and won 72 caps. He was ITV Sports Personality of the Year in 1991 and later pursued business interests after retiring from the game.

Paul Ackford, born in 1958, was an England lock who won the 1991 Five Nations Grand Slam and later became a rugby journalist.

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