Anthony Bunko – författare

Hugh Jackman is a true Hollywood juggernaut. The magnetic Australian has joined countrymen Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe as an international superstar thanks to his role as Wolverine in the X-Men series, and is loved by fans worldwide thanks to his extremely varied career in film and theatre. When a young Jackman turned down a role in Neighbours to study at the prestigious WAAPA in Perth, his gamble would pay off handsomely. After a string of successful Australian musicals, Jackman's Hollywood break came as he was cast as Wolverine in 2000, catapulting him to heavyweight stardom. He has since reprised the role in box office hits The Last Stand, Origins and The Wolverine. Premium offers including 2006 animation Happy Feet, Baz Lurhmann's epic Australia - and even a rumoured shortlist spot for James Bond - soon followed. With a 2013 Academy Award nomination for his tour de force performance as Jean Valjean in the epic Les Miserables, and a star turn as Wolverine in X-Men: Days of Future Past on the horizon, Hugh is set to dominate the silver screen for the foreseeable future.

Hugh was born in Oxford, and his father, WGRM 'Ran' Laurie, was a doctor who won a gold medal in the coxless pairs at the 1948 Olympics. Hugh followed in his father's footsteps as a rower at Cambridge, but when he was forced to hang up his oars he joined the famous Cambridge Footlights and there began a career in comedy. It was at university that he met Stephen Fry, and the pair forged a hilarious partnership that continued through the 1980s and 1990s. Hugh has also enjoyed great success on the big screen; starring in Sense and Sensibility, 101 Dalmatians, Monsters vs Aliens and the three Stuart Little films. But it is the character of irascible doctor Gregory House, in the US TV drama House, that has brought global fame. He has won two Golden Globes for the role and received a prestigious Emmy nominations in 2005, and continues to receive critical acclaim for his performance in the show - especially for his near-perfect American accent. With worldwide fame and an OBE to his name, Hugh Laurie is undoubtedly one of Britain's best-loved actors.

One of the most colourful and controversial characters in Welsh rugby history, Mike 'Spikey' Watkins remains the only player since 1882 to captain Wales on his debut, and win. Discarded by Cardiff RFC and banned by the WRU after the infamous 'Hookers Night Out' incident in November 1978, Spikey, who had regularly played for the Wales B team and was understudy to Bobby Windsor, thought his chance of a prized Welsh cap has disappeared. In this brutally frank and hard-hitting autobiography, 'Spikey' Watkins, the loveable rogue of Welsh rugby, lifts the lid on his roller-coaster playing career and explains how he fought back against the 'blazer-brigade' he despised, returned to captain a hugely successful Newport team and finally got the call from the WRU, due to public pressure from the supporters who adored him, to captain his country to victory against Ireland in 1984.

Known to thousands of rugby fans as a knowledgeable, passionate and witty broadcaster, and as an entertaining and popular after-dinner speaker, Phil Steele's confident demeanour and humorous disposition mask a life-long battle against depression and anxiety heightened by heartbreak and tragedy in his personal life. Nerves of Steele is a remarkable story and reveals the real Phil Steele, a man known only by his very closest friends and family.The Cardiff-born 'Ely Boy', who dreamed of playing for Wales, suffered his first bout of debilitating clinical depression when he saw his promising rugby career with Newport RFC wrecked by injury at only 23, just as his eye-catching performances had earned him a call up to the Wales B squad.The curse of mental illness and its malevolent twin, chronic anxiety, hung over Phil for years, who describes his suffering as 'like living under a cloak of constant unease' and at times even sapped his will to go on living. His vulnerability was repeatedly tested by losing both patents whilst still in his twenties, his younger sister to alcoholism and his beloved wife Liz who died from a brain tumour aged 48, only a month after being diagnosed.Nerves of Steele is, however, an uplifting story of how, despite all the mental anguish and personal tragedy, Phil's determination, strength of character and infectious personality has enabled him to conquer his condition and live a full and rewarding personal and professional life.With mental illness believed to affect one in every four people, Nerves of Steele will resonate with those that have experienced it themselves as well as their loved ones who've also been affected by it - and offer them all real hope for the future.