Biography & True Accounts
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Sherlock Holmes and the Duelling Dukes (The Early Casebook of Sherlock Holmes 6)
Discover one of Sherlock Holmes’ secret early cases! Perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, Anthony Horowitz and classic crime fiction.Is a killer hiding in plain sight…?
1877
Sherlock Holmes and his good friend Mr Stamford have taken a break from their studies at Barts Medical College in London to join a gentlemen’s sporting week at a large country manor house.
But on arrival, they find the guests consumed by old rivalries, with new hatreds and sinister plots festering among them.
And tensions boil over when one of the guests is discovered, dead.
With a large collection of weapons to hand and a group consumed with vengeance and malice, it is soon apparent that there is at least one killer in their midst.
Holmes is determined to solve the mystery and no can leave until he has done so.
But how far will the killer go to escape detection? Will he strike again?
Or can Holmes and Stamford outwit him…?
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE DUELLING DUKES is the sixth Victorian crime thriller in the Early Casebook of Sherlock Holmes series.
THE EARLY CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES SERIES:
BOOK 1: Sherlock Holmes and the Rosetta Stone Mystery
BOOK 2:Sherlock Holmes and the Explorers’ Club
BOOK 3: Sherlock Holmes and the Ebony Idol
BOOK 4: Sherlock Holmes and the Persian Slipper
BOOK 5: Sherlock Holmes and the Legend of the Great Auk
BOOK 6: Sherlock Holmes and the Duelling DukesRead more
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One Life: The True Story of Sir Nicholas Winton
The book that inspired major motion picture ONE LIFE, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter.
‘Remarkable’ – Guardian
Sir Nicholas Winton rescued 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia at the brink of World War II. Most never saw their parents again; nearly all left behind were murdered. This is his story.
In 1938, 29-year-old ‘Nicky’ cancelled a ski holiday and instead spent nine months masterminding a seemingly impossible plan to rescue hundreds of Jewish children and find them homes in the UK. Over 6,000 people are alive today because of his efforts.
What motivated an ordinary man to do something so extraordinary? This book, written by his daughter, Barbara, explores the 106-year life of an incredible humanitarian, a man whose legacy only came to public light decades later.
His life story is a clarion call to choose action over apathy in the face of injustice, and a reminder that every one of us can change the world.
‘If something is not impossible, then there must be a way to do it.’
‘Those of us who came on a Kindertransport from Prague and owe our lives to Nicky will be so grateful to Barbara for writing something so special’ – Lord Alf Dubs, ex-Labour minister and ‘rescued child’
[This book was first published in 2014 as If It’s Not Impossible… The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton]
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Keith Richards: Satisfaction
In celebration of Keith Richards’ 80th birthday, this edition features a new introduction from the author.‘A highly readable portrait of the irresistible millionaire minstrel.’ Independent
‘Highly entertaining . . . Of this latest crop of Stones books, Sandford’s affectionate, warts-and-all portrait of Keith is undoubtedly the best read.’ Charles Spencer, Sunday Telegraph
‘A pungent, air-guitar twanging celebration of one of rock’s true wild men.’ The Times
He’s the shy, half-educated boy from Dartford . . . the ‘elegantly wasted’ junkie who wrote and played the Rolling Stones’ best-known songs . . . the artist formerly known as Wormwood Scrubs’ prisoner 7855 . . . the original Human Riff . . . and, today, the contented family man who continues to be rock’s most indomitable living practitioner.
But who is the real Keith behind the kohl-eyed image? Christopher Sandford’s penetrating and entertaining biography is a hard, fast, sometimes shocking saga of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll — and of a flawed but wildly creative life.
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Nursing In The ’60’s
The NHS, nurse training and hospital life were vastly different in the 1960s when the author qualified as a nurse. Her autobiography covers the pressured years full of incident and humour in which Liz proved she was competent enough to be let loose on the patients of Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Selly Oak and other prominent West Midlands institutions.Read more
£1.90Nursing In The ’60’s
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Hurry up Nurse: Memoirs of nurse training in the 1970s
The nursing profession called to her from a young age. But to make it in this business, she’ll have to grow up fast.Leicester, 1977. Dawn Brookes was excited to trade in her job for a career. While her family worried the hard-partying girl was too immature to take it seriously, the teen eagerly launched into her training as a nurse. But nothing prepared her for the stressful chaos of working in high-stakes hospital wards.
As sickness, death, and struggle became part of her daily routine, the inexperienced woman labored to keep it all together. And each day turned into a challenge to push forward with the relentless admissions of those in need of care.
In this raw and frequently hilarious account of nursing in the 1970s, Dawn Brookes gives a brilliant insight into a beautiful and poignant world. And from changing bedpans to taking orders from razor-sharp sisters who dominated her work, she pulls back the curtain on the sweetest and ugliest sides of this often overlooked role.
Hurry Up Nurse is a touching and humorous memoir. If you like honest accounts, zany situations, and seemingly insurmountable odds, then you’ll love Dawn Brookes’s compassionate memoir.
Revised second edition.
Buy Hurry Up Nurse to don the scrubs today!
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Marketing and Propaganda: A brief history of: Marketing, Marketing thought, Advertising and Propaganda
A brief history of: Marketing, Marketing thought, Advertising and Propaganda…Read more
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The Insanity of Advertising: Memoirs of a Mad Man
If you have anything to do with advertising or are interested in it, this is a must book to read. There is no other book on the subject so revealing and relevant, not to mention engaging. Veteran ad man Fred Goldberg, gives us an unforgettable glimpse into the chaos, drama, and outright wackiness that fuels one of the most loved and hated industries. While Goldberg shares plenty of behind-the-scenes dirt on what it was like to craft ad campaigns for some of the most well known corporate titans, he also doesn’t spare the mad men who worked alongside him. Outsize personalities, some prone to jaw-dropping displays of ego and antics that are truly hard to believe, but true. There’s a week spent with John Wayne shooting commercials, commercials he didn’t want to be shooting; the untold story behind Steve Jobs and the infamous introductory Apple “1984” Macintosh commercial; what it was like working with Michael Dell as Dell Computers mushroomed from $100M to $30+B; along with insights and anecdotes recounted from dealing with advertising legends like Jay Chiat, Guy Day, Lee Clow and Ed Ney; entrepreneurs like Larry Ellison, Les Crane, Ben Rosen, Don Kingsborough and Joseph E. Levine. Insanity of Advertising: Memoirs of a Mad Man is the real story of mad men in a very mad environment.Read more
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The Long Walk: An Anthology by EOD & Search Veterans, 2023
“They call it the long walk. It’s like I’m in a bubble. Like the world went away and it’s just me… focussed… concentrating. You get used to it – it becomes normal.”Men and women who have worked in bomb disposal tell their stories, as they saw them, as they lived them.
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The War in the Shadows: The Battle of the Spymasters in WWII (The Secret War)
An enthralling exposé of the spies who moved in the darkened dangerous back alleys of World War Two.Perfect for readers who enjoy the books of Ian Fleming, Robert Ludlum and John le Carré but who want to learn more about what the real spies really did.
While American, British, German and Russian soldiers clashed in the battlefields of the world, a small group of men and women moved in the shadows, deliberating over actions behind the scenes.
Agents, double-agents and even triple-agents worked to gather intelligence and give their sides advantages during this monumental conflict. Yet, unlike the world of James Bond, there was no glamor to their actions.
Through in-depth research Charles Whiting shines a light on the unvarnished world of espionage in World War Two and demonstrates how all the players of this game, whether French, British, American, Czech, German, Dutch or Russian, lost in this war in the shadows.
This book should be essential reading for anyone interested in the overlooked truth of what it was like to be a spy in the Second World War.
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An Englishman at War: The Wartime Diaries of Stanley Christopherson DSO MC & Bar 1939-1945
‘An astonishing record…There is no other wartime diary that can match the scope of these diaries’ James Holland
‘An outstanding contribution to the literature of the Second World War’Professor Gary Sheffield
From the outbreak of war in September 1939 to the smouldering ruins of Berlin in 1945, via Tobruk, El Alamein, D-Day and the crossing of the Rhine, An Englishman at War is a unique first-person account of the Second World War.
Stanley Christopherson’s regiment, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, went to war as amateurs and ended up one of the most experienced, highly trained and most valued armoured units in the British Army.A junior officer at the beginning of the war, Christopherson became the commanding officer of the regiment soon after the D-Day landings. What he and his regiment witnessed presents a unique overview of one of the most cataclysmic events in world history and gives an extraordinary insight, through tragedy and triumph, into what it felt like to be part of the push for victory.
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Devil Dogs: A New History of the Second World War from the Sunday Times Bestselling Author of SBS Saul David
A Times History Book of the Year 2022
From Sunday Times bestselling historian Saul David, the dramatic tale of the first American troops to take the fight to the enemy in the Second World War, and also the last.
The ‘Devil Dogs’ of K Company, 3/5 Marines, were part of the legendary first Marine Division. They landed on the beaches of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1942 – the first US ground offensive of the war – and were present when Okinawa, Japan’s most southerly prefecture, finally fell to American troops after a bitter struggle in June 1945. In between they fought in the ‘Green Hell’ of Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain, and across the coral wasteland of Peleliu in the Palau Islands, a campaign described by one K Company veteran as ‘thirty days of the meanest, around-the-clock slaughter that desperate men can inflict on each other.’
Ordinary men from very different backgrounds, and drawn from cities, towns, and settlements across America, the Devil Dogs were asked to do something extraordinary: take on the victorious Imperial Japanese Army, composed of some of the most effective soldiers in world history – and defeat it. This is the story of how they did just that and, in the process, forged bonds of brotherhood that still survive today.
Remarkably, the company contained an unusually high number of talented writers, whose first-hand accounts and memoirs provide the colour, emotion, and context for this extraordinary story. In Devil Dogs, award-winning historian Saul David sets the searing experience of K Company into the broader context of the brutal war in the Pacific and does for the U.S. Marines what Band of Brothers did for the 101st Airborne.
Gripping, intimate, authoritative and far-reaching, this is a unique and incredibly personal narrative of war.
Saul David’s previous book SBS -Silent Warriors was in the Sunday Times Bestseller Chart in the 35th and 36th week of 2021.
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Tumult in the Clouds: Original Edition (Penguin World War II Collection)
The classic memoir by one of America’s greatest fighting aces: James Goodson
Anglo-American James Goodson’s war began on Sept 3rd 1939, when the SS Athenia was torpedoed and sank off the Hebrides. Surviving the sinking and distinguishing himself rescuing survivors, Goodson immediately signed on with the RAF. He was an American, but he wanted to fight.
Goodson flew Spitfires for the RAF before later joining his countrymen with the Fourth Fighter Group to get behind the controls of Thunderbolts and Mustangs where he became known as ‘King of the Strafers’.
Chock full of breathtaking descriptions of aerial dogfights as well as the stories of others of the heroic ‘few’, Tumult in the Clouds is the ultimate story of War in the air, told by the one of the Second World War’s outstanding fighter pilots.
Praise for Tumult in the Clouds:
‘A classic . . . Tumult in the Clouds will continue to be read for many many years to come. It is an inspiring book’ Len Deighton
‘An utterly compelling and intensely personal account of war in all its horror and excitement. A thrilling adventure story and an enthralling, compassionate witness to incredible heroism. I was gripped’ John Nichol
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Mr Keynes’ Dance: The compelling historical novel about a remarkable marriage and an intellectual journey
The sequel to the much-praised Mr Keynes’ Revolution.The story of one man’s intellectual journey, and of a very remarkable marriage.
1926. Maynard Keynes has long been a thorn in the side of the British Establishment: an irritant to the Treasury, the Bank of England and his fellow academics alike. Rejected for his radical ideas, he has made an unlikely marriage to a Russian ballerina, her eccentricity charming him almost as much as it infuriates his highbrow Bloomsbury friends. But as the world around them changes, Maynard and Lydia cannot stay cocooned in their private refuge for long.
While Maynard frets about the ever-growing dole queues, and plans his route to power by way of the magnetic Lloyd George, Lydia is tormented by the thought of her family in Leningrad. Exiled by the Russian Revolution, she has found fame and fortune as the star dancer of Diaghilev’s celebrated Ballets Russes. Yet however demanding the role of stage celebrity, it is less challenging than that of the supposedly respectable and fortunate Mrs Keynes: the scrutiny of a crowded theatre less intense than from those convinced her marriage is heading for disaster.
In truth for Lydia and Maynard, marriage was always a gamble, and their life a dance where nobody is quite sure of the steps.
Then comes the Wall Street Crash, followed by a depression the likes of which the world has never seen. A society barely recovered from the Great War seems dangerously close to collapse. In the turmoil of the 1930s, the intellectual Maynard finds that answers must be sought in the most unlikely places.
The story of the man who invented modern economics.
In tumultuous times, it is not enough to hope for calmer waters.
Set during some of the most momentous years of the twentieth century, this novel explores the lives of two figures at the heart of those economic and cultural upheavals: John Maynard Keynes, considered by many as the most important economist of all time, and one of Time Magazine’s most significant people of the twentieth century, and the celebrated and eccentric Russian ballerina, Lydia Lopokova. Beginning in the “roaring twenties”, with ever-growing unemployment queues and a General Strike that pitches the whole labouring class against the governing elite, their journey takes them from the heart of the Bohemian Bloomsbury Group in Sussex, to Leningrad in Soviet Russia, to New York in the grip of the Great Depression, to the quiet colleges courts of Cambridge. The supporting cast ranges from a Welsh kitchen maid to pioneering socialist Beatrice Webb, fascist leader Oswald Mosley, politician Winston Churchill and writer Virginia Woolf.
A sequel to Mr Keynes’ Revolution, which was much praised for the depth of its research, and the way it deftly interwove economic ideas and history into a story of personal relationships and romance, Mr Keynes’ Dance is another intellectually daring and page-turning historical novel, which continues the tumultuous and surprising story of Maynard and Lydia.
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Behind the Sequins: My Life
Leave it all on the floor…
Queen of Latin Ballroom, Shirley Ballas has a spectacular dance career spanning over 40 years – she has Cha-Cha’d her way across the world’s dance floors to become a multi-award-winning ballroom champion and one of the most renowned dancers in the world. In 1996, Shirley retired from competitive dancing to become a highly-acclaimed coach and now holds the enviable position of Head Judge on BBC One’s prime time show Strictly Come Dancing.
In Behind the Sequins, she leads us through her dramatic and determined life, from growing up in a rough estate on the Wirral and leaving home at 14 years old, to conquering the high-octane world of ballroom and coping with betrayal, bullying, two broken marriages and a personal tragedy that left Shirley and her family devastated.
Speaking from the heart, Shirley leaves her dancing shoes at the door to tell you the story of a fiery, strong-willed grafter who could make the brat pack blush.
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Gilded Youth: An Intimate History of Growing Up in the Royal Family
For as long as the British monarchy has existed, royal children have been brought up in ways that seem bizarre and eccentric to the rest of us. From medieval wet nurses to today’s Norland nannies and elite boarding schools, princes and princesses have endured parental abandonment for centuries as their parents farmed out childrearing duties to paid staff.
And as this marvellous romp of a book demonstrates, dysfunctional childhood experiences produce emotionally damaged adults, as evidenced by Edward VIII – who was horribly mistreated by his nanny – and his marriage to his substitute mother figure, Mrs Simpson; by alcoholic party girl Princess Margaret; and by rebellious Harry and his desperate desire to adopt Meghan Markle’s world view, to the detriment of his relationship with his brother.
Interweaving exclusive testimonies from palace staff with historical sources, Tom Quinn also uncovers outrageous tales of royal children misbehaving, often hilariously – from Edward VII smashing up his schoolroom to the Queen mischievously pranking unsuspecting visitors with dog biscuits to Prince William pinching a teacher’s bottom.
Amusing and shocking in equal measure, Gilded Youth examines how the royal family has clung to outmoded traditions that centre on emotional coldness and detachment, and how, when it comes to children, the British royal family is still living in the Dark Ages.
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Harry & Meghan: Vol. 2: A New American Royal Family Takes Their Place in History
Finally, Volume 2, the second installment of the “Harry & Meghan” series, is here! Be one of the first to read this #1 New Release and follow-up to Volume 1, also a #1 New Release when it launched in 2021, examining the next phase of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s historical move from the UK to California. This mini-biography is the first to be released since their daughter and American-born royalty Lilibet “Lili” Diana met her gan-gan Queen Elizabeth—and much of it is told in their own words.An incisive, analytical and occasionally satirical view of the racism, press intrusion and betrayal they’ve faced since moving to America, this mini-biography contains fresh new details and up-to-the-minute news on the couple **(Please note page counts before purchasing; these books are short, quick looks at one moment in time).**
More dramatic than a season of The Crown, more gripping than any soap opera and more intriguing than any mystery thriller, the true story of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex rocking the British royal family is like no other book you’ve ever read.
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Working for the Royals (Kindle Single)
Ask any visitor to London, from Tokyo to Tennessee, what is their number one priority in places to see, and the answer will invariably be: Buckingham Palace. It is by far the most famous building in the world and the lady who lives there, Queen Elizabeth 11, is easily the most famous woman on the planet.
Her Majesty employs some 1,200 men and women, full and part-time, permanent and temporary in her various Royal residences with over 400 working for her at Buckingham Palace alone.
So, what is she like to work for? Is she a generous employer? Does she encourage friendliness among those whose salaries she pays or does she prefer to keep her distance? Is it true she hates her servants to have facial hair – beards or moustaches? Why do the housemaids have to vacuum while walking backwards at all times? How are the servants told to react when they meet the Queen or any member of her family? What’s the money like?
In many ways Her Majesty is a model employer, providing food, drink and accommodation, at the best address in London, to her staff, but one thing she does not offer is high wages.
So why do most of them stay for many years? This book gives all the answers from the inside.Brian Hoey has written 26 books about Britain’s Royal Family and as a former reporter and presenter with BBC Television and Radio he has interviewed Prince Charles, Princess Anne ( whose official biography he wrote), the Duke of Edinburgh and the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Hoey was a television commentator at the wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981 and again, sadly, in 1997 at the funeral of Diana, He has also interviewed many of Hollywood’s Royalty including; Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Ray Milland, Cary Grant, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons and he conducted the final TV interview with Charlie Chaplin.
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Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors. The Sunday Times no 1 bestseller
THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER‘Explosive’ The Sun
‘Accounts from insiders who have never spoken before’ The Times
‘Bombshell’ The MirrorThe British Royal Family believed that the dizzy success of the Sussex wedding, watched and celebrated around the world, was the beginning of a new era for the Windsors. Yet, within one tumultuous year, the dream became a nightmare. In the aftermath of the infamous Megxit split and the Oprah Winfrey interview, the Royal Family’s fate seems persistently threatened.
As Meghan and Harry’s much-trailed Netflix documentary finally airs, the public remains puzzled. Meghan’s success has alternatively won praise, bewildered and outraged. Confused by the Sussexes’ slick publicity, few understand the real Meghan Markle. What lies ahead for Meghan? And what has happened to the family she married into? Can the Windsors restore their reputation?
With extensive research, expert sourcing and interviews from insiders who have never spoken before, Tom Bower, Britain’s leading investigative biographer, unpicks the tangled web of courtroom drama, courtier politics and thwarted childhood dreams to uncover an astonishing story of love, betrayal, secrets and revenge.
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DUTY
Growing up in the 1970s on a tough council estate in North East England, career options were limited. As a young lad, I needed focus. Three days after my 17th birthday, the Royal Marines offered me that.
After serving in the Falklands and Northern Ireland, my career took another path, which eventually led me to almost three decades serving as a firefighter.My driving force for many roles in my life has been that of duty. Throughout life’s challenges, commiserations and celebrations, I began to appreciate just how fragile life can be – and learnt the importance of physical health, a positive mindset, and unbreakable resilience.
My story, my life, my duty.
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£4.70DUTY
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A Family of Kings: The descendants of Christian IX of Denmark (Theo Aronson Royal History)
In 1863, Queen Victoria decreed that her son Edward, Prince of Wales, should marry Princess Alexandra, daughter of the obscure and unsophisticated heir to the Danish throne.The beauty, grace and charm of Prince Christian’s daughter had prevailed over the Queen’s intense dislike of the Danish royal house. Even the embarrassingly difficult Bertie was persuaded to agree to the match.
Thus began the fairy-tale saga of a family that handed on its good looks, unaffectedness and democratic manners to almost every royal house of modern Europe. For, in the year that Alexandra became Princess of Wales, her brother Willie was elected King of the Hellenes; her father at last succeeded to the Danish throne; her sister Dagmar was soon to become wife of the future Tsar Alexander III of Russia; and her youngest sister Thyra later married the de jure King of Hanover.
A Family of Kings is the story of the crowned children and grandchildren of Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark, focusing on the half-century before the First World War. It is an intimate, domestic study of a close-knit family, their individual personalities, and the courts to which they came.
Theo Aronson is the author of over twenty works of royal historical biography, published in eleven languages. Among the widely read are Grandmama of Europe, The King in Love, Napoleon and Josephine and a biography of Princess Margaret. In the course of researching and writing these books he has interviewed major and minor members of Britain’s royal family and members of the royal households, as well as various officials, servants, friends and others whose lives are in some way connected with the monarchy.
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The Royal Station Master’s Daughters at War: A dramatic World War I saga of the royal family (The Royal Station Master’s Daughters Series book 2)
The second heartwarming book in The Royal Station Master’s Daughters series. For readers of Maisie Thomas and Daisy Styles.It is 1917 and Maria has adapted well to her new life on the royal Sandringham estate where she works as a maid in the Big House for Queen Alexandra and is in awe of the many treasures around her. It is two years since she turned up at the royal station master’s house to escape her secret past, destitute and with nowhere else to turn. Having proven herself to Harry Saward and his daughters, she is now welcomed by them as one of the family. But when Nellie, a mysterious relative turns up, on the run from the law, Maria’s new-found happiness could be under threat.
Meanwhile, the impact of World War I is felt deeply in the community as the fate of missing men from the Sandringham Company, who fought in Gallipoli, is still unknown. Harry’s daughters pull together to support each other and women on the royal estate as they face their sorrows and challenges. Ada’s husband, Alfie, is away fighting on the front line while Beatrice is now a VAD nurse at a cottage hospital. Jessie has become a land army girl, proudly doing a man’s job, while pining for her sweetheart Jack.
In a community torn apart by loss and tragedy, how will the station master’s family survive and find the happiness they’re all searching for?
The Royal Station Master’s Daughters at War is the second book in the WWI saga series, inspired by the Saward family, who ran the station at Wolferton in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through this family we get a glimpse into all walks of life – from royalty to the humblest of soldiers.
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Royal Family Royal Scandal: How Scandal Threatens a Thousand Years of British Sovereignty
Can Charles III survive as king? Will Prince William ever be crowned monarch? With modern-day cancel culture, and a growing disenchantment brewing especially amongst younger people in the UK, there are ominous undercurrents evident on all platforms of social media that point to something akin to a social revolution, and it is happening now.
Journalist Roland Gough’s research shows that now King Charles III has ascended the throne, the British Royal Family are under threat as never before. Without the huge support and respect that Queen Elizabeth enjoyed as monarch, Charles will have a daunting task keeping public opinion favourable to himself and his extended family. Various scandals, most notably that of Prince Andrew having to make a large financial settlement to stave off Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit in the USA have brought about a sea-change in the way many people perceive the House of Windsor.
Whatever your views on the Royal Family of Great Britain, this is a must-read book with many insights into how royalty behaves and is perceived in the new cultural landscape dominated by social media.Read more
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The British Sign Language : The Origin Of British Sign Language
The origins of BSL can be traced back to early sign languages used by deaf individuals in Britain. These early sign languages were likely influenced by local gestures and signs used in communities, as well as the manual communication methods employed in educational institutions for the deaf. In the 18th century, a breakthrough occurred when a man named Thomas Braidwood opened a school for the deaf in Edinburgh, Scotland. His teaching methods included a combination of manual alphabets and signs, which likely contributed to the development of a more standardized sign language system.
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The Sea-paddler’s Tale
Set in 1970, “The Sea-paddlers Tale” tells the true story of how, against all the odds and the accepted norms of the canoeing establishment, a young man gave up his job, built an Eskimo kayak and set out to fulfil a personal dream of making the first kayak circumnavigation of mainland Britain.Despite high level boat-handling skills, his early plans exposed a naivety concerning the numerous difficulties that required him to treat every day as an exercise in practical problem solving. Life-threatening battles with the sea were sometimes dwarfed by those on land in finding somewhere to sleep and eat on a minimalist budget.
There were moments of humour bordering the absurd, but more memorably, of extreme adventure and high drama, not least being robbed; spending a night astride a buoy and watching his kayak drift off on the tide. Time and again, when all seemed hopeless, he found people that were prepared to help him so that he was able to continue.
Anyone who has a taste for adventure, laced with grit, determination and resilience will find this a compulsive read.
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£2.80The Sea-paddler’s Tale
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SAS: Sea King Down
The thrilling, edge-of-your-seat true story of one soldier’s Special Forces operations in the Falklands War
‘BRILLIANT. A ROLLERCOASTER OF BLISTERING ACTION, SURVIVAL AND BEHIND-THE-LINES DARING’ DAMIEN LEWIS
________THE BIGGEST SINGLE LOSS OF LIFE FOR THE SAS SINCE WORLD WAR TWO . . .
1982, the British task force sails to liberate the Falkland Islands. Aboard: SAS D Squadron, determined to make their mark.
No one more so than Mark ‘Splash’ Aston.
But they have barely seen action when their Sea King helicopter crashes in freezing South Atlantic waters, killing 22 of Mark’s comrades.
The last out of the sinking wreck, he suffers a broken neck. But defying medical evacuation orders, Mark sneaks off ship, re-joins his SAS comrades to land on a mountain near Port Stanley – to defend it against days of attacks by Argentine special forces . . .
SAS Sea King Down is a pulse-pounding account of D-Squadron’s tragic loss and subsequent heroic stand in one of the most hostile places on Earth.
A story told by a man who barely survived to tell it.
________‘A gripping untold story of heroism, hardship and sacrifice within the SAS’ BEAR GRYLLS
‘Gripping, fast moving and completely authentic. A brilliant piece of work. Better than Bravo Two Zero’ – Mike Rose, former Commanding Officer of the SAS
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£5.70SAS: Sea King Down
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A Funny Life: The Sunday Times Bestseller
The Sunday Times top 10 bestseller.
Laugh along with Michael McIntyre as he lifts the curtain on his life in his revealing autobiography.
Michael’s first book ended with his big break at the 2006 Royal Variety Performance. Waking up the next morning in the tiny rented flat he shared with his wife Kitty and their one-year-old son, he was beyond excited about the new glamorous world of show business. Unfortunately, he was also clueless . . .
In A Funny Life, Michael honestly and hilariously shares the highs and the lows of his rise to the top and desperate attempts to stay there. It’s all here, from his disastrous panel show appearances to his hit TV shows, from mistakenly thinking he’d be a good chat show host and talent judge, to finding fame and fortune beyond his wildest dreams and becoming the biggest-selling comedian in the world. Along the way he opens his man drawer, narrowly avoids disaster when his trousers fall down in front of three policemen and learns the hard way why he should always listen to his wife.
Michael has had a silly life, a stressful life, sometimes a moving and touching life, but always A Funny Life.
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David Bowie FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About Rock’s Finest Actor
David Bowie was one of the world’s most famous rock stars. But, as David Bowie FAQ shows, he was also far more than that. After spending the latter part of the 1960s searching for the best medium through which to express his artistic aspirations—and trying out several performing arts in the process—he experienced fleeting but significant success in music with the top-ten UK hit “Space Oddity,” released at the time of the successful Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
Subsequently he achieved true international fame in the early 1970s through playing the role of the androgynous alien rock-star Ziggy Stardust. From here he went on to a career that spanned five decades, exploring numerous artistic disciplines, challenging societal mores and conventions, and building a platform of constant change and reinvention. Whereas most rock stars would find a winning formula and rigidly stick to it to avoid alienating their fans, David Bowie made stylistic variation his cornerstone—an entirely new and model for rock stardom.
But David Bowie was more than a rock star. Reflecting an approach to art that knew no boundaries, he also made his mark in movie acting, legitimate stage acting, and more. There was a unifying factor in all of the roles he played, regardless of medium, because even from childhood he’d felt himself to be an outsider, alienated and estranged. Bowie’s fans quickly recognized this quality in him, and it created a bond that went far beyond the usual star-fan relationship. Through David Bowie, fans found themselves able to accept their sense of difference as a positive thing rather than a negative one. David Bowie didn’t simply entertain people—he empowered them.
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£15.40 -
Johnny Ruffo : The biography of Home and Away’ actor and singer, cause of death and legacy
It is a short interesting Biography of Home and Away Actor and Singer, Cause of Death and LegacyJohnny Ruffo was more than just a celebrity. He was a man who faced the most difficult challenge of his life with courage, optimism, and humor. He was a man who never stopped chasing his dreams and never stopped spreading his joy. He was a man who left an indelible mark on the world with his talent, charisma, and spirit.
Johnny Ruffo: The Biography of Home and Away Actor and Singer, Cause of Death and Legacy is the definitive account of Johnny Ruffo’s extraordinary life, from his childhood in Perth to his meteoric rise to fame and his brave battle with brain cancer. It is a story of passion, perseverance, and resilience, told with honesty and compassion by those who knew him best.In this book, you will discover:
How Johnny Ruffo became a star on The X Factor Australia, impressing the judges and the audience with his singing and dancing skills.
– How Johnny Ruffo landed a role on Home and Away
– How Johnny Ruffo balanced his music and acting careers, releasing hit singles, touring with international artists, and starring in TV shows and movies.
– diagnosis of brain cancer
– lasting legacy in the entertainment industry, the cancer community, and the hearts of his family, friends, and fans.Johnny Ruffo: The Biography of Home and Away Actor and Singer, Cause of Death and Legacy is a tribute to a man who lived a remarkable life and touched the lives of many. It is a book that will remind you to never give up and never stop smiling.
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£3.10 -
Went to London, Took the Dog: A Diary: From the Prize-winning Author of Love, Nina
‘Painfully funny, but also deeply moving’ – Meg Mason
‘Vulnerable, sharp, funny, wise’ – Bonnie Garmus
‘A unique comic voice, endlessly funny’ – David Nicholls
Twenty years after leaving London, Nina Stibbe is back in town with her dog, Peggy. Together they take up lodging in the house of writer Deborah (Debby) Moggach in Camden for ‘a year-long sabbatical’. It’s a break from married life back in Cornwall, or even perhaps a fresh start altogether.
Debby does not have many demands – only to water the garden, watch for toads, and defrost the odd pie – so Nina is free to explore the city she once called home. Between scrutinising her son’s online dating developments, navigating the politics of the local pool, and taking detergent advice at the laundrette, this diary of a sixty-year-old runaway reunites us with the inimitable voice of Love, Nina, as the writer becomes, as she puts it, ‘a proper adult’ at last.
As heard on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour
‘An utter, UTTER treat! It was like spending time with my most clever, insightful, funny, FUNNY friend’ – Marian Keyes
‘No one writes heartbreak more hilariously, or hilarity more heartbreakingly’ – Katherine Heiny
‘So sharp and funny, blissfully gossipy, enviably well-observed . . . I loved it’ – India Knight
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£8.50 -
Carry On Actors: The Complete Who’s Who of the Film Series
The release of Carry On Sergeant in 1958 saw the beginning of one of the most successful film series in cinema history. The ensuing thirty Carry On films and numerous television specials spanned two decades and featured some of the finest comedy actors ever to appear on our screens. Watched by generations of comedy fans the Carry On series and its unforgettable cast members have become a global phenomenon.Carry On Actors brings together every actor from the beloved series for the very first time in one book.
With comprehensive biographies on all of the main stars of the series, including comedy greats such as Kenneth Williams, Sid James, Joan Sims and Barbara Windsor, along with over 500 individual entries featuring little-known facts about the supporting actors who featured in the films, Carry On Actors is the ultimate guide for fans of the series. The book also reveals those celebrities whose appearances in the classic series did not make it into the final films and brings the Carry On story up to date with details of recent reunions and celebrations.
Fully revised and updated for 2015 Carry On Actors features more than 100 unique quotes from the Carry On actors and their contemporaries along with exclusive memories from the series producer, the late Peter Rogers.
Featuring a truly astonishing array of well-known names this is the essential reference for Carry On fans and British comedy enthusiasts alike.
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David McCallum: A Journey Through Time and TV
Step into the captivating world of David McCallum, the enigmatic actor who traversed time, space, and television screens. In this compelling biography, Kelvin Pen takes you on an extraordinary journey through McCallum’s life, illuminating the man behind iconic roles and unveiling the profound impact he left on both the entertainment industry and humanity.
Explore his early days and the family that nurtured his talents. Witness his formative years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the pivotal moments that propelled him into the spotlight. Delve into the enigmatic Illya Kuryakin from “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” an era-defining character that captured the world’s imagination.
Follow McCallum’s post-“U.N.C.L.E.” odyssey as he reinvented himself, leaving an indelible mark in films and television. Experience his triumphant return to pop culture in the 21st century, mesmerizing a new generation of fans in “NCIS.”
Discover McCallum’s profound commitment to philanthropy and humanitarian work, reflecting a heart as generous as his talent was vast. Uncover the enduring legacy and influence he cast upon the entertainment industry, inspiring generations of actors and creators.
Join us in a heartfelt tribute as we remember the life and career of David McCallum, cherishing his accomplishments and the unforgettable characters he brought to life. Immerse yourself in the worlds of “The Outer Limits,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” and “Sapphire and Steel,” exploring the genius that defined an era.
This book is a treasure trove of fascinating facts about David McCallum, a comprehensive celebration of his remarkable journey, and a poignant conclusion to a life well-lived.
Get ready to embark on a journey through time, television, and the extraordinary life of David McCallum.
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Sean Connery: A Life from Beginning to End (Biographies of Actors)
Discover the remarkable life of Sean Connery…
Free BONUS Inside!Sean Connery is still well remembered for his role in the epic James Bond series. Although we often picture him as a smooth, daring, and debonair agent, surviving all manner of incredible stunts, Sean Connery was more than just James Bond. His films were indeed action-packed, but so was his personal life.
Connery was a man who was always on the move. Since his earliest days growing up in Scotland, he sought to make the most of everything he had. Whether he was involved in theater, film, or worthy causes in his ancestral homeland, he gave it his all. This book explores the life and legend of Sean Connery in full.
Discover a plethora of topics such as
- Early Days in Edinburgh
- Connery, the Bodybuilder and Casket Polisher
- Becoming James Bond
- Work with Hitchcock
- Sci-Fi Era
- Late Life and Death
- And much more!
So if you want a concise and informative book on Sean Connery, simply scroll up and click the “Buy now” button for instant access!
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£1.90 -
Diana Dors
Diana Dors, born Diana Mary Fluck on 23rd October 1931, at Haven Nursing Home, Swindon, Wiltshire, England, UK was a feature film and television actress, TV personality and singer. Dors first became famous as a blonde bombshell in the style of Marilyn Monroe, promoted by her first husband, Dennis Hamilton, mainly via sex movie-comedies and risqué modelling.Read more
£16.90Diana Dors
£16.90 -
Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
‘Epic, moving and important’ ROBERT HARRIS
‘A modern classic’ OBSERVER
‘An unforgettable epic of a book’DAILY MAIL
From longstanding political columnist and commentator Daniel Finkelstein, a powerful memoir exploring both his mother and his father’s devastating experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during the Second World War.
Daniel’s mother Mirjam Wiener was the youngest of three daughters born in Germany to Alfred and Margarete Wiener. Alfred, a decorated hero from the Great War, is now widely acknowledged to have been the first person to recognise the existential danger Hitler posed to the Jews and began, in 1933, to catalogue in detail Nazi crimes. After moving his family to Amsterdam, he relocated his library to London and was preparing to bring over his wife and children when Germany invaded the Netherlands. Before long, the family was rounded up, robbed and sent to starve in Bergen-Belsen.
Daniel’s father Ludwik was born in Lwów, the only child of a prosperous Jewish family. In 1939, after Hitler and Stalin carved up Poland, Ludwik’s father was arrested and sentenced to hard labour in the Gulag. Meanwhile, deported to Siberia and working as a slave labourer on a collective farm, Ludwik survived the freezing winters in a tiny house he built from cow dung.
Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad is a deeply moving, personal and at times horrifying memoir about Finkelstein’s parents’ experiences at the hands of the two genocidal dictators of the twentieth century. It is a story of persecution; survival; and the consequences of totalitarianism told with the almost unimaginable bravery of two ordinary families shining through.
‘Danny Finkelstein has written an elegant, moving account of the history of one family, and in doing so shines light on the history of the 20th century. If you want to understand Hitler and Stalin, read this book about people whose lives were upended by both of them’ ANNE APPLEBAUM, author of Gulag: A History, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
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£2.80
