Xiii Worlds: Pursuing Rugby League Around the Globe by Hadfield, Dave
XIII Worlds: Pursuing Rugby League Around the Globe
A Global, Captivating Journey Through the Grit, Culture, and Eccentric Tales of International Rugby League
A Global, Captivating Journey Through the Grit, Culture, and Eccentric Tales of International Rugby League
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: XIII Worlds: Pursuing Rugby League Around the Globe
- Author: Dave Hadfield (Editor / Principal Contributor)
- Publisher: Mainstream Publishing Company Ltd, Edinburgh
- Publication Date: 1996
- ISBN-10: 1851587594
- ISBN-13: 9781851587599
- Edition Details: First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover Release.
- Binding: Original publisher’s premium cloth-bound hardcover casing with crisp spine titles.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 192 pages. Enhanced with an array of evocative narrative frameworks, travel logs, and rare cross-continental dispatches from iconic international venues.
- Language: English [1]
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Used - Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Exterior / Boards: The original cloth hardcover casing remains in beautiful condition, presenting exceptionally flat, neat, and defensively square corners. The boards show minimal storage contact, free from warping, edge scuffing, or typical structural leaning. The spine is robustly intact, holding its crisp profile perfectly without compression to the head and tail bands.
- Interior: The text block is robustly bound, tight, and highly crisp. Internal leaves are clean, bright, and completely intact. The pages remain entirely free of user underlying annotations, highlighters, library processing stamps, owner name inscriptions, or dealer pencil markings. A well-sheltered copy that has been preserved with care.
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The Dust Jacket: Used - Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Condition Detail: The original illustrated pictorial dust jacket is completely whole and intact, retaining its striking design features and crisp texture. Shows only microscopic signs of light shelf wear, remaining bright, vibrant, and completely free of heavy open tears, sun-fading, or edge chipping.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in 1996, XIII Worlds: Pursuing Rugby League Around the Globe is a brilliant, highly engaging piece of sports travel literature that maps the true, unfiltered soul of international rugby league. Rather than delivering a dry statistical analysis or standard match reports, this book takes readers on a sweeping journey across several continents to uncover the intimate, eccentric, and human stories that define the sport's global subculture. [1]
Compiled by veteran sports journalist Dave Hadfield, the narrative draws on diverse travelers' tales from a highly respected stable of sports writers. The book masterfully balances humor and cultural observation, shifting effortlessly from the raucous atmosphere of inebriated coach trips across France to bizarre, surreal experiences deep within the remote forests of Papua New Guinea. Capturing the sport right as it faced structural shifts in the late 1990s, this used collectible book is a rare, highly scarce collectible copy that offers incredible insight, profound bibliographic context, and pure entertainment for international rugby league enthusiasts and sports history purists alike. [1]
Author Profile: Dave Hadfield
Dave Hadfield (1952–2022) was a legendary British sports journalist, author, and broadcaster widely revered as one of the finest and most witty voices in rugby league history. Best known for his brilliant, long-running coverage for The Independent, Hadfield possessed an extraordinary gift for capturing the sociology, humor, and working-class roots of the game, particularly across its northern heartlands. Over his illustrious career, he authored numerous classic rugby books, including XIII Winters and Up and Over. [1, 2]
Hadfield’s unique literary talent allowed him to strip away media spin and look at the eccentric characters, grueling travel itineraries, and passionate communities that form the backbone of the sport. His exceptional narrative pacing, deep relationships within the international locker rooms, and unwavering love for the game ensured that his compilations serve as an authentic primary historical record of sports journalism.
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