Biography & True Accounts
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My Effin’ Life
“As someone who has spent his life telling made-up stories that are obliged to sound somewhat plausible, I am deeply envious of Geddy Lee. And it’s not only the improbable, absurd, wondrous and at times heartbreaking true story that life has gifted him that envy, but also the warmth, care, artfulness, hard-earned wisdom and—always—the gently skewed humor with which he tells it. He’s one of my musical heroes, for reasons that are there on record, but with this book everyone can see why for so long he has also been one of my heroes as a man.”—Michael Chabon
The long-awaited memoir, generously illustrated with never-before-seen photos, from the iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Rush bassist, and bestselling author of Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book of Bass.
Geddy Lee is one of rock and roll’s most respected bassists. For nearly five decades, his playing and work as co-writer, vocalist and keyboardist has been an essential part of the success story of Canadian progressive rock trio Rush. Here for the first time is his account of life inside and outside the band.
Long before Rush accumulated more consecutive gold and platinum records than any rock band after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, before the seven Grammy nominations or the countless electrifying live performances across the globe, Geddy Lee was Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, after his grandfather was murdered in the Holocaust.
As he recounts the transformation, Lee looks back on his family, in particular his loving parents and their horrific experiences as teenagers during World War II.
He talks candidly about his childhood and the pursuit of music that led him to drop out of high school.
He tracks the history of Rush which, after early struggles, exploded into one of the most beloved bands of all time.
He shares intimate stories of his lifelong friendships with bandmates Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart—deeply mourning Peart’s recent passing—and reveals his obsessions in music and beyond.
This rich brew of honesty, humor, and loss makes for a uniquely poignant memoir.
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£17.10My Effin’ Life
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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
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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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IT Girls: Pioneer Women in Computing
Women have played a vital role in the development of computing, although at times their participation has gone unrecognised. Their scholarly inventiveness and discoveries have provided a rich tapestry to add to the evolution of computer science in the world. It is important that these women be viewed through the lens of their time, placing their achievements in context throughout the past few centuries.These significant contributions by women date from the earliest times and this book brings together the stories of those who have left their mark, despite the significant hurdles they have faced. There are numerous tales of remarkable women in computing and their incredible achievements serve as an encouragement to others who have a yearning to follow in their footsteps.
Although there are many women who deserve recognition in this way, including the much vaunted Ada Lovelace, Hedy Lamarr and Grace Hopper, there are others whose talent is undoubted although they have not received the plaudits they deserve. This book outlines the lives and work of talented women from different eras and countries.
Inspired by the success of the author’s book Women of Science, this volume will provide a valuable reference tool and starting point for those who wish to further expand their knowledge of these women who played such a vital role in the development of computers that have changed the way we live.
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Finucane & Me: My Life with Marian
Marian Finucane was a trailblazing broadcaster, the first to champion women’s issues on air, and respected for her fairness, empathy and doggedness. One of a small group of Irish people known simply by their first name, the nation mourned when she died suddenly, aged 69, in January 2020.
But John Clarke, Marian’s widower, doesn’t use her moniker – instead, he calls her ‘Finucane’. It highlights the gap between the woman so many felt they knew and the woman he loved – the real Marian – who was by turns curious, fiery, emotional, stubborn, charming and endlessly excited by life.
When John and Marian first got together, they promised each other that they’d never be boring. What ensued was forty years of conversation and thousands of miles travelled. Finucane & Me is an unexpected love story: the story of two people who ‘made a pact for madness’; the story of a never-ending search for meaning; the story of two people who lived life to its fullest.
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Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton and Me
‘This is the most glorious of books. I am besotted by the life I never knew he had.’ -Elton John
‘Orgasmic. Every page of Scattershot is a delight, a joy, a name-dropper fan’s delight. Divine. I couldn’t put it down.’ -Pete Townshend
‘In Bernie Taupin’s miraculous memoir Scattershot you’ll meet legends, cowboys, geniuses, unforgettable faces in the night, shady purveyors of outrageous fortune, warriors of the heart, and most of all, Taupin himself. Hilarious and so emotionally true, Scattershot is like a letter from a cherished friend. You’ll want to keep it close, so you can read it again and again.’ -Cameron Crowe
‘Touching. Charming. Humble. Witty. And exquisitely written. Taupin’s words need no musical accompaniment. They sing with a poets voice.’ -Gary Oldman
‘Eloquent and inspiring, Scattershot is a freewheeling memoir that is as warm and evocative as Bernie Taupin’s most memorable lyrics. A born storyteller, Taupin gives us the life of an artist whose outlook was shaped by a rare but fascinating blend of lifelong innocence and endless intellectual curiosity.’ -Robert Hilburn, author of Johnny Cash: The Life
This is the memoir music fans have been waiting for. Half of one of the greatest creative partnerships in popular music, Bernie Taupin is the man who wrote the lyrics for Elton John, who conceived the ideas that spawned countless hits, and sold millions and millions of records. Together, they were a duo, a unit, an immovable object. Their extraordinary, half-century-and-counting creative relationship has been chronicled in biopics (like 2019’s Rocketman) and even John’s own autobiography, Me. But Taupin, a famously private person, has kept his own account of their adventures close to his chest, until now.
Written with honesty and candour, Scatterhot allows the reader to witness events unfolding from Taupin’s singular perspective, sometimes front and center, sometimes from the edge, yet always described vibrantly, with an infectious energy that only a vivid songwriter’s prose could offer. From his childhood in the East Midlands of England whose imagination was sparked and forever informed by the distinctly American mythopoetics of country music and cowboys, to the glittering, star-studded fishbowl of ’70s and ’80s Beverly Hills, Scattershot is simultaneously a Tom Jones-like picaresque journey across a landscape of unforgettable characters, as well as a striking, first-hand account of a creative era like no other and one man’s experience at the core of it.
An exciting, multi-decade whirlwind, Scattershot whizzes around the world as we ride shotgun with Bernie on his extraordinary life. We visit New York with him and Elton on the cusp of global fame. We spend time with him in Australia almost in residency at an infamous rock ‘n’ roll hotel in an endless blizzard of drugs. And we spend late, late night hours with John Lennon, with Bob Marley, and hanging with Frank Sinatra. And beyond the world of popular music, we witness memorable encounters with writers like Graham Greene, painters like Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali, and scores of notable misfits, miscreants, eccentrics, and geniuses, known and unknown. Even if they’re not famous in their own right, they are stars on the page, and we discover how they inspired the indelible lyrics to songs such as “Tiny Dancer,” “Candle in the Wind,” “Bennie and The Jets,” and so many more.
Unique and utterly compelling, Scattershot will transport the reader across the decades and around the globe, along the way meeting some of the greatest creative minds of the 20th century, and into the vivid imaginings of one of music’s most legendary lyricists.
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The Chateau – Forever Home: The instant Sunday Times Bestseller, as seen on the hit Channel 4 TV Series Escape to the Chateau
Take a journey to Château-de-la-Motte Husson in the spellbinding memoir from Sunday Times bestselling authors, Dick and Angel Strawbridge.
Dick and Angel recount the newest and biggest challenges they faced on the journey to transforming their once derelict and abandoned château in France’s Pays de la Loire into a thriving family home and sustainable business.
When the Covid-19 pandemic engulfs the world, the château faces a new challenge and the Strawbridges must find ways to adapt in order to keep their dream life in France alive. From the cancellation of the wedding season to finding new ways to complete renovations, living in an isolated bubble whilst continuing to film their TV series through to life after the pandemic, this is Dick and Angel at their most honest and heartfelt, revealing many details never seen on TV.
As entertaining, warm and irresistible as ever, Join Dick and Angel on their remarkable journey to find their family’s forever home.
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Rites of Passage: Death and Mourning in Victorian Britain
In Rites of Passage, acclaimed historian Judith Flanders deconstructs the intricate, fascinating, and occasionally – to modern eyes – bizarre customs that grew up around death and mourning in Victorian Britain.
Through stories from the sickbed to the deathbed, from the correct way to grieve and to give comfort to those grieving to funerals and burials and the reaction of those left behind, Flanders illuminates how living in nineteenth-century Britain was, in so many ways, dictated by dying.
This is an engrossing, deeply researched and, at times, chilling social history of a period plagued by infant death, poverty, disease, and unprecedented change. In elegant, often witty prose, Flanders brings the Victorian way of death vividly to life.
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Kammy: The Funny and Moving Autobiography by the Broadcasting Legend
Foreword by Ben Shephard
‘Everyone loves Kammy . . . Full of humour and endless blunders’ – The Times
‘What a man, what a life, what a story, and what a great read’ – Paddy McGuinnessPresenter, commentator, (sometimes masked) singer, footballer, manager and campaigner, Kammy has done it all. His irrepressible enthusiasm – and a couple of legendary gaffes on Sky Sports – have seen him become broadcasting royalty.
Now Kammy reveals all in this funny and moving autobiography. What happens when you double cross José Mourinho? What it’s like to play with Vinnie Jones? Who comes off better: Kammy or a rampaging gorilla? How did Kammy end up releasing his own top-ten record? What’s the real story behind his infamous line, ‘I don’t know, Jeff!’?
But despite the crazy tales, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Kammy had a tough upbringing, faced racism during his playing career and has, in recent years, dealt with a rare brain condition – apraxia – that has affected his speech and seen him say goodbye to Sky Sports. Relating his battle against the condition, Kammy shows how he’s met every challenge with courage, determination and his infectious smile.
Packed with hilarious stories and featuring a cast of famous names, from Elton John to Channing Tatum, this is a book about friendship, courage and why it’s always important to have a good laugh.
‘A talented (and daft) lad from the Boro who has entertained the nation for decades, on and off the pitch. So get the tissues ready – this book will make you laugh and cry in equal measure’ – Steph McGovern
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Do All the Good You Can: How Faith Shaped Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Politics
Methodism in the public and private lives of the politician
After more than forty contentious years in the public eye, Hillary Rodham Clinton is one of the best-known political figures in the nation. Yet the strong religious faith at the heart of her politics and personal life often remains confounding, if not mysterious, to longtime observers. Even many of her admirers would be surprised to hear Clinton state that her Methodist outlook has “been a huge part of who I am and how I have seen the world, and what I believe in, and what I have tried to do in my life.”
Gary Scott Smith’s biography of Clinton’s journey in faith begins with her Methodist upbringing in Park Ridge, Illinois, where she faithfully attended worship services, Sunday school, and youth group meetings. Like many mainline Protestants, Clinton’s spiritual commitment developed gradually throughout childhood, while her combination of missionary zeal and impressive personal talents has informed her career from the time of her pro bono work at Yale on behalf of children to the present.
Her Methodist faith has been very important to many of Clinton’s high-profile endeavors and in helping her cope with the prominent travails brought on by two presidential campaigns, never-ending conservative rancor, and her husband’s infidelity. Smith’s account examines Clinton’s faith in the context of work ranging from her 1990s pursuit of healthcare reform to a “Hillary doctrine” of foreign policy focused on her longtime goal of providing basic human rights for children and women–a project she saw as essential to United States security. The result is an enlightening reconsideration of an extraordinary political figure who has defied private doubts and public controversy to live by John Wesley’s dictum: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
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The Tourist: What happens on tour stays on tour … until now!
What Goes on Tour, Stays on Tour…Until Now!
As a cricketer, broadcaster and celebrity jungle-dweller, Phil Tufnell has travelled the world far and wide. From the great cricket tours of Australia and South Africa to his equally memorable jaunts to Benidorm and Blackpool, Phil has spent much of his life living out of a suitcase, meeting a host of colourful and memorable characters along the way.
The Tourist takes you out on the road, into the dressing room and behind the scenes of the commentary box to reveal just what really happens on Tour. Did Phil once push a baby grand piano down the stairs of a plush hotel? Did he accidentally eat a rat? Was he blamed for England being bowled out for 46 against the West Indies without even being in the team?
There’s only one way to find out…
It’s time to take a hilarious trip across the world with one of our most treasured sports personalities.
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My Account: The official autobiography
GIVE THE STORY ON EVERYONE’S LIPS THIS CHRISTMAS: COLEEN ROONEY’S OFFICIAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
A candid, intimate, behind the scenes look at the reality of a life lived on social media and under the scrutiny of the public eye.
‘It was the biggest thing that had ever happened to me, and like nothing I’d ever experienced…
Looking back on it now, it still amazes me how inflated it all got, how ridiculous, how serious.
That’s why I need to tell what happened in full…’
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Coleen Rooney has always been true to herself.
In My Account, she tells us how her upbringing prepared her for a life in the full glare of public and media scrutiny. In fact, from an early age, she was no stranger to responsibility, having two younger brothers as well as welcoming disabled foster sister Rosie into the family.
At just seventeen, she and boyfriend Wayne left their childhood homes to live together and
in time they had their own young family to care for. But being married to one of the world’s most successful sportsmen has also meant that any private difficulties they faced were inevitably exposed very publicly.And that is no more true than in the now infamous tale of how a casual acquaintance of
Coleen’s ended in an extraordinary deception.Here, she recounts how she first suspected someone was betraying her trust (and how devastated it left her), and then the meticulous steps she took to identify, trap and finally reveal to the world her suspect.
With the consequences playing out around the world and Coleen dragged unwillingly into a devastating court case whose outcome was far from certain, only now can she candidly give us her side of the story.
This, then, is My Account, Coleen Rooney’s tale of what it means to stand up for yourself and your family.
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Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly
Get ready for another trip back to Clarkson’s Farm this Christmas with the brand new bestseller from our favourite wellie-wearing wannabe farmer, Jeremy Clarkson
Welcome back to Clarkson’s Farm. Since taking the wheel three years ago Jeremy’s had his work cut out. And it’s now clear from hard-won experience that, when it comes to farming, there’s only one golden rule:
Whatever you hope will happen, won’t.
Enthusiastic schemes to diversify have met with stubborn opposition from the red trouser brigade, defeat at the hands of Council Planning department, and predictable derision from Kaleb – although, to be fair, even Lisa had doubts about Jeremy’s brilliant plan to build a business empire founded on rewilding and nettle soup. And only Cheerful Charlie is still smiling about the stifling amount of red tape that’s incoming . . . But he charges by the hour.
Then there are the animals: the sheep are gone; the cows have been joined by a rented bull called Break-Heart Maestro;. the pigs are making piglets; and the goats have turned out to be psychopaths.
But despite the naysayers and (sometimes self-inflicted) setbacks, Jeremy remains irrepressibly optimistic about life at Diddly Squat. Because It’s hard not to be when you get to harvest blackberries with a vacuum cleaner.
And, after all, it shouldn’t just be Break-heart Maestro who gets to enjoy a happy ending . . .
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£10.99Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly
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Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER
This Christmas let Dame Judi Dench take you behind the scenes as she shares her life with, and love of Shakespeare.
‘A MAGICAL LOVE LETTER TO SHAKESPEARE’ Sir Kenneth Branagh
‘Companionable and compelling – it genuinely feels like you’re sitting at her kitchen table with her. If you love Judi Dench or Shakespeare (and most of us do), look no further’ Guardian
‘It swirls and dances with brilliance and mischief’ Daily Mail
‘Gloriously entertaining’ ObserverTaking a curtain call with a live snake in her wig…
Cavorting naked through the countryside painted green…
Acting opposite a child with a pumpkin on his head…
These are just a few of the things Dame Judi Dench has done in the name of Shakespeare.
For the very first time, Judi opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played throughout her seven-decade career, from Lady Macbeth and Titania to Ophelia and Cleopatra.
Here she reveals her behind the scenes secrets; inviting us to share in her triumphs, disasters, and backstage shenanigans, all brightened by her mischievous sense of humour and striking honesty.
Witty, provocative and inspiring, this is ultimately Judi’s love letter to Shakespeare, or rather, The Man Who Pays The Rent.‘An utterly delightful book… Shakespeare from a great actor’s perspective – that repeatedly strikes to the heart of the matter with a sharp instinctive intelligence that puts fancy-pants literary critics to shame’ Telegraph
‘A wonderful ode to the bard’ I
‘The book is pure enchantment. It swirls and dances with brilliance and mischief, so forget traditional Shakespearean criticism and analysis. Sack the Eng. Lit. professors. As never before, this book brings the subject to wild, authentic life.’ Daily Mail‘Riveting, revealing and witty’ Gazette and Herald
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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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A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women
Rome as you’ve never seen it before – brazenly unconventional, badly behaved and ever so feminine.‘Hugely entertaining and illuminating’ —Elodie Harper, author of The Wolf Den
Here’s how the history of the Roman Empire usually goes…
We kick off with Romulus murdering his brother, go on to Brutus overthrowing Tarquin, bounce through an appallingly tedious list of battles and generals and consuls, before emerging into the political stab-fest of the late Republic. After ‘Et tu, Brute?’, it runs through all the emperors, occasionally nodding to a wife or mother to show how bad things get when women won’t do as they’re told, until Constantine invents Christianity only for Attila the Hun to come and ruin everything.
Let’s tear up this script. The history of Rome and its empire is so much more than these ‘Important Things’.
In this alternative history, Emma Southon tells another story about the Romans, one that lives through Vestal Virgins and sex workers, business owners and poets, empresses and saints.
- Discover how entrepreneurial sex worker Hispala Faecenia uncovered a conspiracy of treason, human sacrifice and Bacchic orgies so wild they would make Donna Tartt blush, becoming one of Rome’s unlikeliest heroes.
- Book yourself a table the House of Julia Felix and get to know Pompeii’s savviest businesswoman and restauranteur. Indulge in an array of locally sourced delicacies as you take in the wonderful view of Mount Vesuvius… what could possibly go wrong?
- Join the inimitable Septimia Zenobia, who – after watching a series of incompetent, psychopathic and incompetently psychopathic emperors almost destroy the Empire – did what any of us would do. She declared herself Empress, took over half the Roman Empire and ran it herself.
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One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up: A Memoir of Growing Up and Getting On
The Sunday Times bestseller
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‘[A] compelling story of overcoming adversity… Unexpectedly fascinating… amazingly inspiriting…’ — The Observer
‘…the vitality of the book lies in its directness and conversational candour… An engaging memoir’ — The Sunday Times
‘Extraordinary’ — Evening Standard
‘Funny, honest and at times heart-breaking – a terrific read.’ — Lorraine Kelly
‘For a politician to have such an extraordinary story to tell is rare. For that politician to be able to tell it with such eloquence and benevolence is rarer still. This book is a triumph.’ — Alan Johnson
‘This riveting tale of social aspiration leads us from the East End to Westminster in detailed honesty.’ — Ian McKellen
‘A moving and inspiring hymn to the ups and downs of life – to love, to adversity and above all courage.’ —Michael Cashman
‘Compulsive reading: Wes’s story is inspiring, surprising and full of compassion.’ — Jess Phillips
‘A remarkable and enchanting book.’ — The House
‘One of the most extraordinary memoirs that I have read.’ — Lewis Goodall, The News Agents
‘Searingly honest… a really inspirational book.’ — Iain Dale
Wes Streeting might have ended up in prison rather than in parliament. His maternal grandfather Bill, an unsuccessful armed robber, spent time behind bars, as did his grandmother, who was also a political campaigner.
Brought up on a Stepney council estate, the young Streeting saw his teenage parents struggle to provide for him. In One Boy, Two Bills & A Fry Up he brings to life the poverty, humiliation and incredible struggle for them choosing whether to feed the meter and heat the flat, put carpet on the floor, or food on the table.
Wes Streeting knows it was the help and inspiration he received from the great characters that surrounded him, especially his paternal grandfather (also called Bill), that ultimately set him on the way to Cambridge and then Parliament. He knew he could draw on the strengths in childhood to eventually come out, and to go on and face his now successful struggle with kidney cancer.
This honest, uplifting, affectionate memoir is a tribute to the love and support which set him on his way out of poverty, and informs everything about Wes Streeting’s mission now in politics.
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Watford Forever: How Graham Taylor and Elton John Saved a Football Club, a Town and Each Other
‘The heartwarming story of the collaboration and friendship between English football’s oddest couple, Elton John and Graham Taylor’ The Times
‘An ever-entertaining telling of a remarkable sporting fairy-tale’ Daily Telegraph
_____________________An unforgettable British underdog story from one of our greatest narrative nonfiction writers, John Preston, and the international musical icon and bestselling author, Sir Elton John.
Britain in the 1970s was beset by unrest and unemployment, as inflation soared, fuel was scarce, and hooliganism was on the rise. And for Watford FC, the outlook was even gloomier. Rundown and rat-infested, Watford were an ailing side with holes in their kit and barely enough fans to fill a stand. Of the 92 clubs in the Football League, spread across four divisions, Watford were in 92nd place.
Meanwhile, Elton John was the most successful rockstar in the world. With six-inch platforms, spangled jumpsuits, and peroxide hair, he was glamorous, gay, and seemingly a world away from the semi-detached house in Pinner where he had supported Watford FC as a child. Many assumed he would move to America. Instead, he bought the football club.
Watford Forever is the remarkable story of Elton John’s ownership of Watford FC and its transformational journey to the top of the First Division under iconic manager Graham Taylor. Perhaps most remarkably, four of the same players who had been written off as has-beens went with them all the way from the bottom to the top. Inspiring and infectiously funny, this is a tribute to football’s unlikeliest friendship as Elton John and Taylor, a straight-talking former fullback with a love of Vera Lynn, beat the odds and their personal demons to save a club and a community.
Immersed in the grime and glamour of ’70s Britain, Watford Forever is one of sport’s great underdog stories and a love letter to the beautiful game.
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Pretty Boys Are Poisonous: Poems: A Collection of F**ked Up Fairy Tales
‘A glimpse to the person behind the glamour and drama . . . you get a real sense of the beating soul of Megan Fox’ – Glamour
Megan Fox showcases her wicked humor throughout a heartbreaking and dark collection of poetry. Over the course of more than 80 poems, Fox chronicles all the ways in which we fit ourselves into the shape of the ones we love, even if it means losing ourselves in the process.
“These poems were written in an attempt to excise the illness that had taken root in me because of my silence. I’ve spent my entire life keeping the secrets of men, my body aches from carrying the weight of their sins. My freedom lives in these pages, and I hope that my words can inspire others to take back their happiness and their identity by using their voice to illuminate what’s been buried, but not forgotten, in the darkness,” says Fox.
Pretty Boys Are Poisonous marks the powerful debut from one of the most well-known women of our time. Turn the page, bite the apple, and sink your teeth into the most deliciously compelling and addictive book you’ll read all year.
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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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A Life in Movies: Stories from 50 years in Hollywood
“A lively memoir . . . a first-hand work of cinema history . . . the testament of a pivotal figure in American moviemaking.” —Martin ScorseseThe list of films Irwin Winkler has produced in his more-than-fifty-year career is extraordinary: Rocky, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, De-Lovely, The Right Stuff, Creed, and The Irishman. His films have been nominated for fifty-two Academy Awards, including five movies for Best Picture, and have won twelve.
In A Life in Movies, his charming and insightful memoir, Winkler tells the stories of his career through his many films as a producer and then as a writer and director, charting the changes in Hollywood over the past decades. Winkler started in the famous William Morris mailroom and made his first film—starring Elvis—in the last days of the old studio system. Beginning in the late 1960s, and then for decades to come, he produced a string of provocative and influential films, making him one of the most critically lauded, prolific, and commercially successful producers of his era.
This is an engrossing and candid book, a beguiling exploration of what it means to be a producer, including purchasing rights, developing scripts, casting actors, managing directors, editing film, and winning awards. Filled with tales of legendary and beloved films, as well as some not-so-legendary and forgotten ones, A Life in Movies takes readers behind the scenes and into the history of Hollywood.
“Charming and anecdote packed . . . popcorn for movie nerds.” —Newsweek
“A deftly written recollection of an eventful and happy life in a precarious and, frankly, insane business; a remarkably clear-eyed look behind the scenes of moviemaking.” —Kevin Kline
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Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II
A classic of World War II literature, an incredibly revealing work that provides a near comprehensive account of the war and brings to life the legendary general and eventual president of the United States. • “Gives the reader true insight into the most difficult part of a commander’s life.” —The New York TimesFive-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower was arguably the single most important military figure of World War II. Crusade in Europe tells the complete story of the war as he planned and executed it. Through Eisenhower’s eyes the enormous scope and drama of the war–strategy, battles, moments of great decision–become fully illuminated in all their fateful glory. Penned before his Presidency, this account is deeply human and helped propel him to the highest office. His personal record of the tense first hours after he had issued the order to attack leaves no doubt of his travails and reveals how this great leader handled the ultimate pressure. For historians, his memoir of this world historic period has become an indispensable record of the war and timeless classic.
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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 -
Seeking Safety: A journey of moving forward
Sometimes you need to look back to move forward.
Join Ieva on her journey back through her tumultuous childhood into early adulthood, beginning in Latvia and traversing Scotland, Dubai, Lanzarote, the UK, and Italy. While her story is one of poverty, neglect, abuse, and unexpected tragedy, Ieva refuses to be defeated.
Arson, explosions, death threats, boarding school, foster care, drugs, narcissists— she endures them all, while searching for solace and the safety she never found in her parents. Instead, she finds resilience, crawling her way from one hardship to the next until eventually she learns to dance.
This inspiring true story will show you the power of the human spirit, as we all strive toward lives filled with love and self-discovery.
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The Murderer and the Taoiseach: Death, Politics and GUBU – Revisiting the Notorious Malcolm Macarthur Case
A Murderer. A Leader. The Scandal of an Era.
‘Reads like a thriller but is sadly all too true … a brilliant account of shocking crimes and the dramatic political crisis they caused’ David McCullagh
The summer of 1982 was long-seared into the Irish public imagination for more than just its record high temperatures. That July, an aristocrat named Malcolm Macarthur went on a brutal killing spree, taking the lives of two innocent young people – Bridie Gargan and Dónal Dunne – in a doomed plan to remedy his financial woes.
A massive manhunt was launched and, in a sensational turn of events, Macarthur was captured in the home of the State’s top law officer, Attorney General Patrick Connolly.
The scandal attracted worldwide headlines and resulted in untold damage to Taoiseach Charles Haughey. The words he used to describe the dark events – grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented – coined the era-defining phrase GUBU.
Here, award-winning political journalist and GUBU podcast-maker Harry McGee retraces the happenings of that long hot summer and beyond. From the cat-and-mouse game to track down an unpredictable killer to Macarthur’s extraordinary capture, he considers both the life and psyche of a murderer, and that of the leading political figure of the time – a man similarly driven by greed, status and a sense of himself as existing above the law.
Including previously unknown aspects of the trial and interaction with Malcolm Macarthur himself, The Murderer and the Taoiseach is a compulsive journey through tragedy and scandal.
‘Brisk, illuminating, crackling with detail’ Tony Connelly
‘An incredible and compelling story’ Matt Cooper
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The Lost Coin: A Memoir of Adoption and Destiny
In The Lost Coin, Stephen Rowley shares his lifelong journey—searching for his birth parents, seeking his true identity, and discovering his soul’s calling. We join him when, as a boy growing up in Iowa, he visits Chicago for the first time and is shocked by blatant racial segregation and sprawling urban poverty. We see Stephen as a young athlete sustaining a life-changing injury, then becoming radicalized at the University of Wisconsin, entering the field of education at Stanford, and becoming a visionary school administrator before being fired by a vindictive Silicon Valley school board.He plays golf with a Tibetan lama, and experiences transcendence in a vivid dream, ultimately becoming a psychotherapist in his sixties. We witness the heart-rending scene when he and his wife adopt their own son, and we join him for a poignant reunion with his birth mother, who, it turns out, had desperately hoped he might appear in her life after she’d given him up for adoption.
As we accompany Stephen Rowley on this adventurous and reflective journey, we come to understand more deeply the trauma engendered when separating mother from child, and the unspoken restlessness and yearning for connection many adoptees feel.
“It is my hope,” he writes, that we all “may discover the unique capacity within us to heal and even thrive, not in spite of the wounds we carry, but because of them.”
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£7.80 -
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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Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief
The No. 1 Bestseller
‘One of the best [books] I have read about the complexities of poverty . . . one of the most remarkable people you will ever meet’ Guardian
As the middle of five kids growing up in dire poverty, the odds were low on Katriona O’Sullivan making anything of her life. When she became a mother at 15 and ended up homeless, what followed were five years of barely coping.
This is the extraordinary story – moving, funny, brave, and sometimes startling – of how Katriona turned her life around. How the seeds of self-belief planted by teachers in childhood stayed with her. How she found mentors whose encouragement revitalised those seeds in adulthood, leading her to become an award-winning academic whose work challenges barriers to education.
Poor is not only Katriona’s story, but is also her impassioned argument for the importance of looking out for our kids’ futures. Of giving them hope, practical support and meaningful opportunities.
* * *
‘Full of insight into a live lived right up against the boundaries placed on it by poverty … so important … we’d highly recommend’ – Fi Glover, Times Radio
‘I read poor in one sitting … I found it so complelling. An amazing story … moving, uplifting, brave, heroic’ – Nuala McGovern, Woman’s Hour, BBC
‘Moving, funny, brave and original – just like the author … absolutely incredible’ – Roísín Ingle, Irish Times Women’s Podcast
‘One of the most important books I have ever read … a beautiful telling of determination despite the odds’ – Lynn Ruane, Irish Times
‘Fearless, funny and searingly honest’ – Adil Ray OBE
‘Raw and remarkable’ – Irish Independent
‘A book of empowerment and hope’ – Patricia Scanlan
‘An important contribution to our understanding of poverty and its impact’ – Sinéad Gibney, Business Post
‘An incredible read’ – Business Post
‘Phenomenal’ – Louise O’Neill
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Gordon Ramsay: Angel in Disguise
An unauthorized mini biography of Chef Gordon Ramsay, written in 2013.Read more
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Walsall Borough Police – 101 Historical Cases from 1832 to 1898
Walsall Borough Police – 101 Historical Cases from 1832 to 1898
Not for the fainthearted, this fascinating collection of 101 policing snapshots taken between 1832 and 1898, gives an intriguing yet brutal insight into the murder, mystery and mayhem of the nineteenth century.
In 1832, Walsall Borough Police became the first force in the area and we focus on the trials and tribulations of the pioneering men, who in the face of adversity made the new system work.
True and hard hitting historical facts are graphically laid bare in these accounts of crime and punishment during the early years of policing. At a time when the hanging of felons was a spectator sport and trips to Australia were free, it was a lucky escape to get an hour in the stocks or a few strokes of the whip.
Step into this long gone world and try to guess the conclusions of these gripping tales, then ask yourself the question are things better or worse now, you decide?
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The Jamie Oliver Effect: The Man, The Food, The Revolution
By the age of eight, Jamie Oliver was already cooking in his parents’ pub and restaurant in Essex. From Westminster Catering College, he went straight to the apron strings of Antonio Carluccio as his head pastry chef. Spotted by the director who would make Nigella, Jamie’s cheeky chappy image in the kitchens of “The River Cafe” won him his own TV series, “The Naked Chef”, by the tender age of 22. A monster advertising deal with Sainsbury’s was soon to follow, allowing Jamie and his mates – strewn through his series as effortlessly as he chucked herbs on his easy dishes – to come into our sitting rooms several times a night. We watched him marry his sweetheart, become a father twice, and chewed our fingernails with Jools in Jamie’s School Dinners”, willing him to come home more often. His campaign, Jamie’s “Fowl Dinners”, highlights the animal welfare implications for chickens of our constant demand for cheap food. The story of Jamie Oliver is the story of a culinary revolution. Speaking to people at the very heart of this revolution, from chefs and food stars to politicians and media commentators, Gilly Smith asks if it was Jamie who struck the match, or whether it was simply time to turn up the heat under a world finally ready to feed itself.Read more
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A Royal Navy Cold War Buccaneer Pilot: Flying the Famous Maritime Strike Aircraft
This is a vivid and powerful story of life on board the last of our great Second World War-era aircraft carriers, modernized to serve beyond their time. It is a story of the Cold War which conveys the trials and tribulations of flying one of the best-loved military aircraft in history.Steve Kershaw joined the Royal Navy in 1963. He began flying training in 1968 and progressed to the Blackburn Buccaneer – a world-class naval strike jet that was designed to fly very fast at ultra-low altitudes. In 1970, Steve joined 800 Naval Air Squadron, which embarked on HMS Eagle on its epic final cruise.
The voyage to the Far East was far from trouble-free – an aircraft crashed into the sea, there was a devastating explosion on board the carrier, and then two sailors were arrested for murder in Auckland. New year 1972 saw HMS Eagle decommissioned and 800 NAS disbanded.
Steve was transferred to 845 Naval Air Squadron, on which he flew Wessex helicopters. Embarked on HMS Hermes, the squadron supported Royal Marines Commandos during their deployment to the mountains of Norway under NATO plans for a European war. During this time, helicopters were strangely sabotaged on board and one of them crashed into a fjord at night.
By 1974, HMS Ark Royal was the last remaining Royal Navy fixed-wing aircraft carrier to which Steve returned to fly Buccaneers on 809 Squadron. It was in this period that he participated in a NATO exercise in Norway and a Mediterranean cruise.
On return, the squadron prepared for a bombing competition between the RAF and Royal Navy Buccaneers. As part of this, Steve flew a low-level sortie off the Lincolnshire coast. The light was fading, and he was struggling to see the target ahead. He failed to see they were losing height. The aircraft hit the sea. Steve and his observer, David, were ejected into the water.
In this book, Steve’s story is revealed by his son, Simon, through the words of his father, drawn from a mass of letters sent by him, and the recollections of those who served alongside him.
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Don’t Be a Donkey: Lessons Learned from Chef Gordon Ramsey
Don’t be a Donkey is a true story about the life and career of Chef Chadd McArthur. It is about the lessons, about both kitchen and life, that he learned while working for Gordon Ramsay.Eighteen hours a day, five days a week…when you work with a great chef and leader that much, his wisdom will rub off on you, and at times traumatize you. The lessons learned will stick with Chef McArthur for the rest of his life, and now, with funny stories and clever insights into working with one of the world’s most well-known chefs, he’s sharing them in this very book.
From having Chef Gordon Ramsay himself fling a ravioli at him, to the integrity with which Ramsay dealt with the death of a colleague, Chef McArthur has a lot to tell about his three years spent working in Ramsay’s flagship restaurant in London, sometimes directly under the man himself.
Each chapter also includes a recipe, some created wholly by the author, and some influenced by Chef Ramsay’s own signature dishes. Enjoy this fresh new take on Gordon Ramsay, and the challenges of a chef who survived Ramsay’s kitchen for years.
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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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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
£5.70 -
David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music
The definitive book on the influence of LGBT performers on modern music: a Duckworth contemporary classic, beautifully repackaged for our 125th anniversary
From Sia to Elton John, Dusty Springfield to Little Richard, LGBT voices have changed the course of modern music. But in a world before they gained understanding and a place in the mainstream, how did the queer musicians of yesteryear fight to build foundations for those who came after?
Pulling back the curtain on the colourful world that shaped our musical and cultural landscape, Darryl W. Bullock reveals the inspiring and often heartbreaking stories of internationally renowned stars, as well as lesser-known names, who have led the revolution from all corners of the globe. David Bowie Made Me Gay is a treasure trove of moving and provocative stories that emphasise the right to be heard and the need to keep up the fight for equality in the spotlight.
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In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile
A major source for the BBC drama The Reckoning
Winner of the 2015 Gordon Burn Prize and the 2015 CWA Non-Fiction Dagger
Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and the James Tait Black Prize
Dan Davies has spent more than a decade on a quest to find the real Jimmy Savile, and interviewed him extensively over a period of seven years before his death. In the course of his quest, he spent days and nights at a time quizzing Savile at his homes in Leeds and Scarborough, lunched with him at venues ranging from humble transport cafes to the Athenaeum club in London and, most memorably, joined him for a short cruise aboard the QE2. Dan thought his quest had come to an end in October 2011 when Savile’s golden coffin was lowered into a grave dug at a 45-degree angle in a Scarborough cemetery. He was wrong. In the last two and a half years, Dan has been interviewing scores of people, many of them unobtainable while Jimmy was alive. What he has discovered was that his instincts were right all along and behind the mask lay a hideous truth. Jimmy Savile was not only complex, damaged and controlling, but cynical, calculating and predatory. He revelled in his status as a Pied Piper of youth and used his power to abuse the vulnerable and underage, all the while covering his tracks by moving into the innermost circles of the establishment.
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The War Twins of London: A WWII Historical Fiction Novel (World War II Brave Women Fiction Book 2)
When the war hits London, all they have is each other.Identical twins Maggie and Tillie are thriving in 1940s London. Waitresses in one of the city’s finest institutions and both with budding romances, the war could not feel farther away.
But, slowly, the tides begin to change. The war in Europe is creeping toward the UK, and the men are being called to aid in military efforts. Tillie’s fiancé Colin joins the RAF, flying dangerous missions over Germany, and Maggie’s childhood love Micah finds himself far away in France, with no way to return. Devastated but determined, the twins resolve to do their part for their country – Maggie in the Women’s Voluntary Service and Tillie for the British Red Cross.
Then, the Blitz begins. And everything changes.
Nightly airstrikes wreak havoc on the city, leaving ruin in their wake. Ambulance shifts for Tillie become desperate missions to pull injured women and children from the rubble, while the constant fear for the fates of their beloveds, far from home, is almost too much for the girls to bear.
And when tragedy strikes for both sisters, they know nothing will ever be the same again.
Will the twins be strong enough to protect themselves and the ones they love? And can true love really prevail when the skies are darkened by war?
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£5.63
