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Debating has much in common with sport. It's a competitive, rule based activity; it's conducted in teams; success at the highest level comes from the mastery of a range of skills, constant practice, and, above all, focus, determination and resilience. One feature debating hasn't, so far, shared with sport is the memoir, in which top players take their readers through the highs and lows of their career, detailing the drama of every last free kick, googly and backhand on their way to lifting the trophy of their dreams. Some of these books are tightly paced and thoughtful, and offer fans unique insights into what it is like to play their favourite sport. Others make you wish the writer had stuck to doing their talking on the pitch - after all, you wouldn't pay money to watch the winner of the Booker Prize play at Wimbledon.

Now we have the first debating memoir. The Art of Disagreeing Well: How Debate Teaches us to Listen and Be Heard takes us through the debating career of Bo Seo. Seo arrived in Australia aged nine as the only child of immigrants from South Korea. The trauma of being uprooted from his native country left him tongue tied, unable to disagree with anyone about anything. Then, one day in seventh grade (equivalent to Year 8 in the UK), quaking with fear, he was reluctantly persuaded to speak at his school debating club. He never looked back. Ten years later he was part of the Australian national debating team, winning the world title twice.

Seo is a gifted writer, and paints a vivid picture of life on the elite debating circuit: the camaraderie, the falling outs, the late night prep sessions fuelled by caffeine and junk food, the adrenaline high of competing under pressure, the emotional roller coaster of victory and defeat. He devotes a lot of space to very practical and detailed advice for debaters, walking us through strategies for success. And he is a deeply thoughtful man, reflecting on the ways in which debating can make the world a better place by encouraging a habit of informed and thoughtful dialogue between different points of view. In one particularly moving passage he describes how his parents' church moved slowly but inexorably towards accepting and celebrating same-sex relationships by debating the issue with respect, courtesy and tact.

Any debater will be inspired and informed by this book. Highly recommended this Christmas for the debater in your life.