Tony s Francis' biography of Alex "Hurricane" Higgins is so much more than the definitive biography of a world champion snooker player, because Higgins transcended sport in a way very few sportsmen ever have. The author describes how Alex threw himself into life like a man throwing himself off a cliff. No safety net. No plan. No fear. No shame. Francis interviews more than 30witnesses to this extraordinary life and comes up with a series of adventures Don Quixote would have been proud to call his own. The author investigates the Irish drink culture which undermined his family, colleagues and, of course Higgins himself. How did Higgins' fellow Irish sportsman and biggest fan, Barry McGuigan, escape the excesses which dragged Higgins and George Best into the gutter? Did drink account for Higgins' wild outbursts or was there something more to it? Why did his lost love describe the man who once head-butted a tournament official as "the gentlest man I ever met"? For all his faults, Higgins was, for a time, the most loved sportsman in Britain. He remains a legend and the most outstanding, charismatic snooker player who ever walked into an arena."