Hitler And Vialli Up For 20 Grand Prize

The authors of six sports books are in the running for the 2006 William Hill Sports Book of the Year which will be announced on Monday when one of them will land the richest prize ever offered for sporting literature of £18,000 cash and a £2000 free William Hill bet.

The short-listed books for the 18th annual prize are: Andrew Greig's 'Preferred Lies; A Journey to the Heart of Scottish Golf'; Paul Rambali's 'Barefoot Runner; The Life of Marathon Champion Abebe Bikila'; Matt Rendell's 'The Death of Marco Pantani'; Gianluca Vialli and Gabriele Marcotti's 'The Italian Job; A Journey to the Heart of Two Great Footballing Cultures'; Guy Walters' 'Berlin Games: How Hitler Stole the Olympic Dream'; US author, Geoffrey C Ward's 'Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and fall of Jack Johnson'.

The winner will be announced at lunchtime on Monday in a ceremony at Waterstones bookstore in Piccadilly, London.