Sports, Games & Hobbies

When the World Cup comes around, many of us think of our national teams and their chances of winning. But the beauty of football is how international it is, and its ability to cut across borders. John Turnbull of the Global Game blog introduces us to football (or soccer) 'as a second language.'

The respected horticulturalist says if you plant an oak tree you know you’re never going to see it grow into maturity, but in planting it you are asserting your belief in the future and in future generations.

Debanjan Chakrabarti, head of the Intercultural Dialogue Programme of the British Council in India, says good sportsmanship is a 19th-century imperial construct. He walks us through five engaging books on sportsmanship and cheating.

The Professor of Comparative Politics & German Studies at the University of Michigan and avid baseball, basketball, American football and ice-hockey fan gives us his views on Global Sport.

Computer games aren’t just for teenage boys locked in their bedrooms says author and former Prospect senior editor Tom Chatfield – they are vital tools for social development. Here he selects five of the best books on the theory behind games, and the culture that grows up around them.

The author, plantsman and rhododendron expert selects his favourite books on botanical exploration and explains his passion for plant hunting

Historian of garden design Penelope Hobhouse says creating a garden is not about pulling out weeds - it's about fulfilling man’s need for organisation and security

Discussion of the lesser-known subject of guerilla gardening - the illicit cultivation of someone else's land. A fascinating and historical topic, and eclectic book selections include a history of Google

What drives people's passion for birds and birdwatching? For Jeremy Mynott, it's as much about us as it is about them. He recommends the best books on birds and birdwatching.

European poker champion, author and presenter, Victoria Coren Mitchell, talks us through her library of the best books on poker.