Arrow Books State of Play. Under the Skin of the Modern Game Calvin Michael

Hannah Buchan thinks herself ordinary. She is not the revolutionary child that her painter mother and famous radical father had hoped for. Raised in the creative chaos of 1960s America, Hannah vows to reject her parents' liberal lifestyle, and settles instead for typical family life in a nondescript corner of Maine • But normality isn't quite what Hannah imagined it would to be, and try as she might to fight it, the urge to rebel against the things that hem her in grows ever stronger. Eventually, a series of encounters puts Hannah in an exhilarating but dangerous position - one in which she never thought she would find herself • For decades, this one transgression in an otherwise faultless life lies buried deep in the past, all but forgotten - until a turn of fate brings it crashing back into the limelight

The third novel in the compelling Conquest series (1066: The Bloody Aftermath) from the author of Sworn Sword. Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwall, Simon Scarrow and Ben Kane • Autumn, 1071. The struggle for England has been long and brutal. Five years after the fateful Battle of Hastings, only a desperate band of rebels in the Fens stands between King William and absolute conquest • Tancred, a proud and ambitious knight, is among the Normans marching to destroy them. Once lauded for his exploits, his fame is now dwindling. He yearns for the chance to restore his reputation through spilling enemy blood • But as the Normans' attempts to assault the rebels' island stronghold are thwarted, the King grows ever more frustrated. With the campaign stalling and morale in camp failing, he looks to Tancred to deliver the victory that will crush the rebellions once and for all

“What’s your dream, son?” • A six year-old boy, head bowed, mumbles the eternal answer: “Be a footballer….” Steadman Scott, football’s most unlikely talent scout, smiles indulgently, and takes him in from the street. He knows the odds. Only 180 of the 1.5 million boys who play organised youth football in England will become a Premier League pro. That’s a success rate of 0.012 per cent • How and why do the favoured few make it? What separates the good from the great? Who should they trust – the coach, the agent or their parents? • Michael Calvin provides the answers on a journey from non-league grounds to hermetically sealed Premier League palaces, via gang-controlled sink estates and the England team’s inner sanctum. He interviews decision makers, behavioural specialists, football agents and leading coaches

1778: a seminal year for the young Richard Bolitho... The American War of Independence changes to an all-out struggle for freedom from British rule - and Bolitho takes command of the Sparrow, a small, fast and well-armed sloop of war • As the pace of war increases, the Sparrow is called from one crisis to another - and when the great fleets of Britain and France convene on the Chesapeake, Bolitho has to throw aside the early dreams of his first command to find maturity in a sea battle that might decide the fate of a whole continent • Bolitho's adventures continue in To Glory We Steer

Sunderland, 1943: With the future of Britain uncertain, the shipyard girls fight to keep their lives on an even keel • Head-welder Rosie is just about managing to keep her double life hidden from little sister Charlotte's prying eyes. But Charlotte senses something is up and, with a secret this big, the truth is bound to come out • After a whirlwind wedding, Polly must bid farewell to her sweetheart as he returns to the front line • And there is something odd about yard manager Helen's newest recruit Bel. But in resolving to uncover the truth, Helen might discover more than she bargained for • Only by rallying together will the shipyard girls triumph

The second novel in the uplifting railway girls series. Perfect for fans of Nancy Revell and Margaret Dickinson • Manchester, November 1940 • As the war continues and secrets threaten the railway girls, they will discover the true meaning of friendship • For Dot, her job on the railways is everything. Transporting parcels around the country gives her pride that she is doing her bit for the war effort, but a growing friendship causes problems when home and work collide • Joan loves her boyfriend Bob dearly, but when tragedy strikes, her heart is torn apart, and she is forced to make a decision that could hurt those she loves most • Meanwhile Mabel has finally found a place to call home and her relationship seems to be going from strength to strength

A Golf collection From his favourite chair on the terrace above the ninth hole, The Oldest Member tells a series of hilarious golfing stories. From Evangeline, Bradbury Fisher's fifth wife and a notorious 'golfing giggler', to poor Rollo Podmarsh whose game was so unquestionably inept that 'he began to lose his appetite and would moan feebly at the sight of a poached egg', the game of golf, its players and their friends and enemies are here shown in all their comic glory. One of Wodehouse's funniest books, The Heart of Goof is a collection of peerlessly comic short stories

New York: Late 1958 • Walter Withers had given the best years of his life to the CIA, setting honeytraps and reeling in the victims of his plots. But Withers has returned to his hometown for an easier, safer life as a Private Investigator • Manhattan in the late Fifties is alive with new possibilities, new sounds and new faces, including young presidential hopeful Senator Joe Keneally. Withers is assigned to bodyguard Keneally's girlfriend at a society gathering: a simple enough job. But next morning, she's dead - and Withers is the prime suspect • To clear his name, Withers must take on his old masters from the CIA, as well as J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, all of them determined to set Keneally up. And Withers, expert hunter, becomes another disposable victim of the trap closing in on the Senator

1774: The new year seems to offer Richard Bolitho and his friend Martyn Dancer the culmination of a dream. Both have been recommended for promotion, although they have not yet gained the coveted lieutenant's commission • But a routine passage from Plymouth to Guernsey in an untried schooner becomes, for Bolitho, a passage from midshipman to King's officer, tempering the promise of the future with the bitter price of maturity • Will he rise to the occasion?

In the tragedy of war, will love conquer all? • Liverpool, 1940 • When nurses Nancy Kerris and Jess Williams both lose their lovers in the trenches during the Great War, their future in Liverpool looks bleak. As the war finally ends, their lives are set on different paths, with Nancy choosing to marry an Australian, leaving behind her life - and her friend - for the Outback • Years later with the outbreak of the Second World War, Nancy's son Pete decides to join the Royal Air Force and as such travels to England. He promises to pay his mother's friend a visit, however when he arrives in Liverpool, he is dismayed to find half the city has been demolished by the May Blitz. Jess's home has been destroyed, and even worse, her daughter Debbie is missing

How far will a woman travel to find a father, a lover a destiny? Across seas, across time – across the grave itself • It began in Scotland, at an ancient stone circle. Claire Randall was swept through time into the arms of James Fraser whose love for her became legend - a tale of tragic passion that ended with her return to the present to bear his child. Two decades later, Claire travelled back again to reunite with Jamie, this time in frontier America. But Claire had left someone behind in her own time - their daughter Brianna • Now Brianna has made a disturbing discovery that sends her to the stone circle and a terrifying leap into the unknown. In search of her mother and the father she has never met, she risks her own future to try to change history - and to save their lives

In the jungles of Vietnam, Bob Lee Swagger was known as 'Bob the Nailer' for his high-scoring target rate at killing. Today the master sniper lives in a trailer in the Arkansas mountains, and just wants to be left alone. But he knows too much- about killing. The mission is top secret. Dangerous, patriotic, and rigged from the start. One thing goes wrong: double-crossed Bob has come out alive. Now he is on the run. His only allies: an FBI agent in disgrace and a beautiful woman. His only hope: find the elusive mastermind who set him up. Multi-layered with non-stop action, this hot-shot torcher of a thriller is addictive, exciting and right on target. A high-tech, high-ride reading experience