Sport has always delivered thrilling victories and gut-wrenching defeats, but moments of good sportsmanship are increasingly rare. It's Not the Winning that Counts celebrates, among others, the football team who kicked their penalties wide because they refused to believe their opponents would foul them, the round-the-world yachtsman who turned back to rescue a rival; the tennis player (Jimmy Connors!) who deliberately double faulted in a Grand Slam final to cancel out line calls that had gone against his opponent.

In the era of the dive, the head butt and the professional foul, Max Davidson takes a roll call of the white knights of sport, from David Beckham to Freddie Flintoff, Jesse Owens to Mohammed Ali.