► Confront the legend
Rafael Nadal, the greatest of all timeby Fabrice Abgrall and François Thomazeau
In Exergue, 191 p., €27.90
Djokovic? Federer? Nadal? In this eternal debate, everyone will have their opinion to determine who is the greatest tennis player in history. The authors Fabrice Abgrall and François Thomazeau have, for their part, decided. The Spaniard Rafael Nadal is a novel in himself. Through photos retracing his career and tributes pronounced by his peers, collected by the authors, we rediscover the entire career of the man at the 13 Roland-Garros. For Nadal, winning a tournament does not mean winning the war, this is what we understand throughout his life and which inspires entire generations of budding tennis players.
Very comprehensive, the work pays tribute to both the athlete and the human. “More than anything, I would like to be seen as a good person. If people remember me like that, it would make me much happier than if they only remember the tennis player.”pleads the person concerned on the back cover. This is good, the book is aimed at fans of the yellow ball as well as those simply curious to know a little more about the Mallorcan legend.
► Ride youth!
Skateboard Cultureby Morgan Bouvant and Sébastien Carayol
Éditions Chêne, 511 p., €59.90
“Told by those who live it. » It is with this promise that the two authors of this gigantic work, Morgan Bouvant and Sébastien Carayol, immerse us in the half-sporting, half-artistic world of skateboarding. From the gutters of Los Angeles, to the park specially designed for the Paris 2024 Games, skateboarding has undergone a major evolution over the last 50 years while taking care not to lose its DNA.
Retracing, with the help of photographs, the history of this discipline, we see to what extent the worlds of cinema, music, design and even dance have been impregnated with skateboard culture over the decades. Living legends of urban sport, such as Tony Hawk, Lizzie Armanto and Geoffrey Rowley speak openly throughout the pages. For the uninitiated, don't panic: the book includes a glossary as well as diagrams that will make you want to reproduce the craziest figures!
► Take off
The legend of the Vendée Globeby Philippe Joubin
Albin Michel, 303 p., €35
They have been going to sea since November 10 and continue to fascinate thousands of followers. The Vendée Globe skippers are undoubtedly among the last great adventurers on the planet, along with the mountaineers. The race, which is rightly nicknamed the Everest of the seas, is told to us in this fascinating book by Philippe Joubin, through the portraits of those who have marked its various editions since its creation in 1989.
From sleep management, to the solutions found to repair your boat, alone thousands of kilometers from life on earth, through the stories of memorable rescues, this book, which looks like an encyclopedia, immerses us in this extraordinary adventure .
► Admire the photo
Sports looksFranck Seguin
Ramsay Editions200 p., 40 €
Rewarded with the international World Press Photo Award, photographer Franck Séguin excels in his category. Passionate about the world of sport for years, he likes to capture the very essence of sporting performance, as well as its actors and actresses.
Faithful to the appointment of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, he delivers an artistic work and takes us back into this global celebration, for our greatest pleasure. Capturing every moment of effort, joy, disillusionment, despondency or triumph, he magnifies sport on every page. “It's more than a book of sports photos, it's a book of photos that celebrates the spirit of sportsmanship and a tribute to the beauty of the moment livedclaims the person concerned. Each image tells an emotion and explores a universe like so many invitations to travel. »
► Analyze the opium of the people
A people and their Football, a social historyby François da Rocha Carneiro
Éditions du Détour224 p., 19,90 €
Football remains the number 1 sport in France and this is no coincidence. For the historian François da Rocha Carneiro, specialist of the French team, the round ball has forged, in the same movement, the popular history of France and that of sport itself: in more than one hundred and twenty years, it is a whole identity which is structured around its competitions, its mythical events, its rituals, its dramas and its child prodigies.
From its first bourgeois steps in France in the 19th century, to a practice that has become the emblem of working-class neighborhoods, the book traces the entire social dimension of football through the decades. A history of sport thought in sociological terms, to offer a cultural analysis of football, which will appeal to football fans as well as those who avoid the stadiums. The author's fluid and accessible writing makes it a joy to read.
