Ed Keller

Jon Berry

One American in Ten Tells the Other Nine How to Vote, Where to Eat, and What to Buy

The Influentials

Chris Yates

‘Beneath the Black Water is the wonderful account of a mad, disrupting, unforgiving but ultimately joyous addiction – an addiction not just to the ferox, but to the truly wild waterscapes they inhabit. No fellow angler could be unimpressed; no ordinary human will quite believe it.’ Chris Yates, writer and eccentric angler ‘This quest for a sense of belonging comes with dreams of great fishes. Mr Berry has written a beautiful, haunted poem of friendship and obsession.’ Jeff Barrett, Caught by the River ‘When I was very young and on holiday in Scotland, my cousin told me about giant trout that lived in small numbers at the bottom of the Highlands’ deepest lochs. They were called salmo ferox, and they were rumoured to be uncatchable.’ In his twenties, wholly accidentally, Jon Berry caught one. This led to an obsession that would cost him every pound he had to his name, a few thousand that he did not, a couple of girlfriends and his home. It would take him to Scotland, Cumbria and the wildest corners of Ireland, in the company of a disparate band of fanatics – alcoholics, mountain men, scientists, tree-planting eco-warriors and one genuine soothsayer. Not all of them survived. This compelling account of Berry’s mission to catch salmo ferox will have you hooked, fellow fisherman or not. His drive and determination is infectious, and the ups and downs of his life in the process thought-provoking. This is not just a story of a fish – albeit a cannibalistic giant trout of the glacial lochs; it is a tale of compulsion and escape, of the author’s rediscovery of a landscape and a clan, and of a willing descent into madness. Jon Berry lives with his partner Victoria in an ancient Wiltshire cottage, 20 yards from a pub and within casting distance of the River Avon. When not teaching in a large secondary school, he is an irregular contributor to Waterlog magazine and caughtbytheriver.net. Beneath the Black Water is his second book.

The Search for an Ancient Fish

Beneath the Black Water

Zurich, 2 December 2010: FIFA president Sepp Blatter pulls the name Qatar from the envelope to reveal the hosts of the 2022 World Cup. The accusations fly and the recriminations start. But once it's all sunk in, we start to look at maps and temperature charts, and try to scrape together fragments of knowledge about kingdoms in the Arabian desert. The Armchair Guide looks beyond the myths and preconceptions to provide the average fan with sound information about what a World Cup in the desert might look like. Was the bidding process corrupt? How many people actually did die building stadiums? How hot will it be? Can I go there with my mates and have a drink anywhere? What will the legacy be - both in the region and for the global game? The Armchair Guide takes a light-hearted, sideways look at the tournament, using stories from within and beyond the game to cover everything about the 2022 Winter World Cup. Although the book can't claim to pick a winner, it goes some way to shedding light on football's place in a changing world.

The Story of How Football Came to the Desert

An Armchair Fan S Guide to the Qatar World Cup

One man's obsession with catching an ancient fish in the deepest waters of the Scottish Highlands and beyond. "When I was very young and on holiday in Scotland, my cousin told me about giant trout that lived in small numbers at the bottom of the Highlands' deepest lochs. They were called Salmo Ferox, and they were rumoured to be uncatchable. In my twenties, wholly accidentally, I caught one. This led to an obsession that would cost me every pound I had to my name, a few thousand that I did not, a couple of girlfriends and my home. It would take me to Scotland, Wales and the wildest corners of Ireland, accompanied by a disparate band of fanatics - alcoholics, mountain men, trophy hunters, scientists, tree-planting eco-warriors and one genuine soothsayer. Not all of them survived. This is the story of Salmo Ferox, the cannibalistic giant trout of the glacial lochs, and five years of madness in search of them - beneath the black water."

What is it like to follow one of English football's perennial non-achievers? Hugging Strangers is a celebration of what it means to support your club through thick and thin. It speaks to all who love the game but are lumbered - by way of family, geography or plain bad luck - with a team whose glory days are few and far between. At the end of the 1963/64 season Birmingham City stayed in the first division by winning on the last day of the campaign. In the 55 years that followed, the Blues kept either survival or promotion for the final fixture on a further 12 occasions. Stir in nine relegations, eight promotions, along with play-off failures and embarrassing exits from cup competitions and you'll have an idea of what it means to be a Blues fan. But you don't have to be a Birmingham fan to enjoy this book. This light-hearted collection of tales from a lifelong, hopeless football addict will strike a chord with anyone who has asked themselves quite why they allow this simple game to assume such importance in their lives.

Jon Berry

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