A Golden Era 2, like the first volume published in 2016, showcases Irish athletics with a particular emphasis on masters athletes. It captures the history, social climate, family fortunes, politics and personal stories of a fascinating group of Irish sports stars, including well known figures such as Sonia O'Sullivan, Ronnie Delany, Marcus O'Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan among others. The athletics world is replete with great characters.

Their stories, personalities, philosophies and training methods shine through these pages. Some pieces have been written by the subjects themselves, others by family, friends or professional writers. As Michael Gygax explains: `A Golden Era was written for the athletic community and people who have an interest in history, sport, sociology and human interest stories. We Irish are great people, giants in sports and bards of literature. These qualities shine through this work and we should rightly feel proud of our achievements, as sportspeople and scribes.' The best years of our lives are lived actively: the characters in this book are living proof of this, and their stories are inspirational.