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The Greatest
- The Quest for Sporting Perfection
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
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The Greatest
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Summary
What can Roger Federer teach us about the secret of longevity? What do the All Blacks have in common with improvised jazz musicians? What can cognitive neuroscientists tell us about what happens to the brains of sportspeople when they perform? And why did Johan Cruyff believe that beauty was more important than winning?
Matthew Syed, the Sports Journalist of the Year 2016, answers these questions and more in a fascinating, wide-ranging and provocative book about the mental game of sport. How do we become the best that we can be as individuals, teams and organisations? Sport, with its innate sense of drama, its competitive edge, its psychological pressures, its sense of morality and its elusive quest for perfection, provides the answers.
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What listeners say about The Greatest
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ian Palmer
- 20-09-22
A good compilation.
I enjoyed this book, and I am a fan of Matthew Syed’s. Some of the material in this book is found in his other books but never the less good to listen to. I found the narrator good, although if I am honest I must say, I found the pretend accents a bit cringe worthy and annoying. Overall, very good.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mas
- 01-10-17
Really good book. excellent narration.
i have become a fan of MS by now. he has provided an insight into greatness of some of the most successful sports people of recent past. love his way of thinking, clear and non judgmental. excellent book in every way...
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kurt
- 28-11-17
Very Enjoyable
Overall a very enjoyable book. I would recommend to any sports enthusiasts. A great look at sporting triumphs, the characters of those heros and political impacts of sport.
The narrator was good, the accents however were not, sort of distracted from the point of what these figures were saying.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Blessing
- 19-10-18
great book
very good story telling. covers the greatest sports personalities of our time with impressive detail.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- CraigB
- 08-03-17
Not as impressive as previous books but still very enjoyable
This is an easy listen and while not as detailed as his previous books in terms of in depth analyses etc - it is still a very enjoyable book. A lot of this is based on articles from his work at the Times. If you love sport and Matthew's approach to analysing what makes people successful then you will enjoy this.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Colin Barrett
- 23-05-17
Amazing book
Very accessible, an easy listen
Performance gets an 8/10, the accents are jarring and inconsistently used they detract from the cadence of Syed's narrative
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr S.
- 18-05-17
Money for old Rope
If you read bounce and/or black box thinking this may not be for you.
This is different in as much that this is based on articles Matthew Syed has written and had published. Insightful and poetic as they are alot of the time there is alot of repition across from the other books and indeed within this one too.
I still enjoyed it none the less as Simon Slater is a good narrator and his very safe accents are amusing.
Worth a read but not a must.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- BEHNAZ
- 13-03-17
repetition and nothing
I am disappointed, I listened to two other books of the author and was expecting more! but most of the stories are repeated from the old books and there is no clear message and full of contradictory stories!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 30-03-17
An enjoyable listen
I am fascinated on what it takes to become great and have always had a particular interest in sporting greatest. This book walks us through the attributes, and lives, of many sporting icons. Overall a very enjoyable listen and you'll definitely have a deeper appreciation of your heroes, and villains.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- peter Thorpe
- 29-04-17
great book on sport
Some really interesting stories on amazing people and interesting viewpoints on sport.
a sports geeks read for sure!
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