Steven Luckings is deputy sports editor for The National
At first I thought narrowing down my five favourite reads would be difficult, but actually it was incredibly easy. The criteria was pretty simple: which books had I read more than once. With the exception of Tom Bower’s book, which I had only recently finished, the others are all books I turn to during that rare luxury of down time.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1861)
One of Dickens's most famous works, Great Expectations follows the journey of a young orphan whose fortunes are transformed via a lavish settlement of an anonymous benefactor. The psychological development of the book's central character Pip offers so many twists it left me in knots the first time I read it and that feeling has never left me in subsequent read. By far my favourite read.
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas: A Savage Journey To The Heart Of The American Dream by Hunter S Thompson (1971)
Thompson’s most famous book, the genesis that spawned its very own genre known as Gonzo journalism, a blend of fact and fiction with the writer placing his own experiences at the heart of the story. I wrote my university dissertation on the counterculture movement of 1960s and 1970s America and Thompson’s nostalgic dissection of its successes and failures would greatly influence my own research. The illustrations of Ralph Steadman are the stuff of legend, too.
Broken Vows: Tony Blair The Tragedy of Power by Tom Bower (2016)
Bower spent years speaking to hundreds of sources inside the former Labour Prime Minister’s inner circle, government, the army, the treasury and various others to paint arguably the most damning picture of any prime ministership. At the heart of everything is the eternal internal squabbling between Blair and his chancellor, Gordon Brown, the latter constantly refusing to back Blair’s pledges financially on everything from schools, hospitals and the armed forced fighting Blair’s “morally just” crusades in Iraq and Afghanistan. Horror and humour in equal measure.
Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga by Hunter S Thompson (1966)
You hear them before you see them: the Hell’s Angels, the notorious outlaw motorcycle group made up of depraved hoodlums, miscreants, rapists and bandits “badly in need of a bath” terrorising the California highways, stomping anyone who gets in their way.
Like many, I was always curious about the Hell’s Angels, but was fairly happy to settle on the conventional stereotype that they were just bad news. Although Thompson never tries to deny the Angels are excessively violent, he offers a portal into a world most of us would never dare enter, he debunks many myths about the scale of the group’s menace.
ISIS: Inside The Army Of Terror by Hassan Hassan and Michael Weiss (2015)
Probably the most comprehensively detailed book about the rise and inner workings of the terrorist group that took the world by storm before declaring a caliphate after capturing large swathes of territory in both Iraq and Syria. An inner look at the governance of ISIS, its origins, aims and objectives, as well as ideology and funding as told by sources ranging from military, the intelligence community, defectors and diplomats, the book also details the many warring factions and proxies operating inside Syria that created a vacuum for the terror group to flourish. This, for me, is the most detailed book on the history of the group ever written.
Steven Luckings is deputy sports editor for The National
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Read more:
My favourite reads: Declan McVeigh
My favourite reads: Mary Ercilia Gayen
My favourite reads: Karen Bowden
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More on Quran memorisation:
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged W12
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 626bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh1,050,000
On sale: now
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Company profile
Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Afghanistan fixtures
- v Australia, today
- v Sri Lanka, Tuesday
- v New Zealand, Saturday,
- v South Africa, June 15
- v England, June 18
- v India, June 22
- v Bangladesh, June 24
- v Pakistan, June 29
- v West Indies, July 4
