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Jerry Hall escaped from
small-town Texas and was
discovered on a St Tropez
beach at the age of 16.
Within a year she had
appeared on the covers of
magazines all over the
world. A whirlwind life
as a top model jetting
from Paris to New York to
London and all over the
world was followed by a
four-year affair with
Bryan Ferry and then by
20 years married to Mick
Jagger, travelling with
the Rolling Stones and
appearing on stage and
screen. Over the years
she has been photographed
by all the greats and has
consistently presented an
impeccably glamorous
image. She has also
managed to maintain a
private life without too
much intrusion. Curated
by Jerry herself, this
book is a celebration of
her life so far - a
fabulous collection of
photographs from her
earliest modelling days
to the present time,
including her appearances
on rock album covers,
TV, film and stage.
Works by Richard Avedon,
Irving Penn, Andy
Warhol, David Bailey,
Norman Parkinson, Helmut
Newton, Karl Lagerfeld,
Rankin - and many others
- are featured alongside
shots of her glamorous
life and intimate
snapshots of friends and
family, Mick Jagger and
their children.
Interwoven through it all
is Jerry's candid
narrative, charting the
highs and lows of her
extraordinary life. Jerry
Hall: My Life in Pictures
documents the truth
behind the image of one
the world's most enduring
and photographed stars.
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The 1970s was not just
the decade of power-cuts
and three-day weeks, of
Chopper bikes and
Spacehoppers, of kipper
ties and bad perms, of
Abba and the Bay City
Rollers.. .it was also
the decade of Fawlty
Towers and Porridge; A
Bouquet of Barbed Wire
and I, Claudius; The
Sweeney and Starsky and
Hutch. There was no such
thing in those days as
Wacky Warehouse or
Playstation or even video
recorders -- for its
entertainment, the
nation switched on the
telly. Some programmes,
such as The Morecambe and
Wise Christmas Show,
were practically part of
the national psyche,
while some characters --
such as Benny from
Crossroads and Olive from
On The Buses -- became
the unlikeliest of icons.
Watching the box will
never again be the
collective experience it
was then, and Brian
Viner, in this hilarious
and affectionate memoir,
pays tribute to an era in
televison -- the
forgettable as well as
the memorable -- which
happily coincided with
his own formative years.
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A deeply personal account
of Congresswoman
Gabrielle Giffords' and
astronaut Mark Kelly's
lives together,
recounting their
courtship, Ms Giffords'
rise in politics, and
the tragic 8th January
2011 shooting in Arizona
which killed six people
and gravely wounded
Representative Gifford
and twelve others. The
book also tells the story
of her recovery progress
and traces Kelly's career
from decorated Desert
Storm combat pilot to his
recent mission as the
commander of Space
Shuttle Endeavour's final
flight.
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Despite a privileged
upbringing, the abuse
she suffered at the hands
of her father, a society
photographer, meant Tori
Dante's childhood was
spent in the shadows of
fear, loneliness and
confusion. Even after
leaving home, her life
was ruined by feelings of
rebellion and self-hatred
which led her to search
for ways to escape
reality, and an inherent
distrust of men made it
difficult for her to form
lasting relationships.
Her healing began after
she and her husband
Cameron Dante - of the
World Wide Message Tribe
- committed their lives
to Jesus. This is an
astonishing story of
God's power to heal
broken lives. It has been
written with the help of
Premier Radio's Julia
Fisher to inspire all
readers, and will be of
particular help to all
who have suffered abuse
themselves, or those who
are close to them. This
brand new edition of this
deeply moving and
powerful tale includes a
Foreword from her
husband, Cameron Dante
and a new chapter by Tori
herself, updating the
story for new readers and
those already familiar
with the book.
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Drawn from more than
three decades of media
coverage print,
electronic, and online
this tribute serves up
the best, most
thought-provoking
insights ever spoken by
Steve Jobs: more than
200"ations that are
essential reading for
everyone who seeks
innovative solutions and
inspirations applicable
to their business,
regardless of size. Jobs,
who passed away on
October 5, 2011 at the
age of 56, co-founded
Apple in 1976. He stepped
down from that role in
August 2011, bringing an
end to one of the
greatest, most
transformative business
careers in history. Over
the years, Jobs gave
countless interviews to
the media, explaining
what he called the vision
thing his unmatched
ability to envision, and
successfully bring to the
marketplace, consumer
products that people find
simply irresistible. Jobs
made an indelible mark in
multiple industries, and
played an enormous role
in creating others.
Consider how Jobs and
Apple shaped the
following fields:
personal computers
(laptop and desktop),
apps (for multiple
electronic devices),
computer animation
(Pixar), music (iTunes),
telecommunications
(iPhone), personal
digital devices (iPod),
books (iBook), and,
most recently, tablets
(iPad). Jobs was the
greatest business
visionary of our era. I,
Steve is the perfect gift
or reference item for
everyone interested in
this great entrepreneur
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Nelson Mandela is one of
the world's most revered
and popular public
figures, a man
synonymous with the long,
bitter struggle to rid
South Africa of a racist
regime and replace it
with a multi-racial
democracy. He was seen as
a symbol of world
freedom, an ambassador
for civil rights, a
heroic liberator whose
influence and image of
moral integrity that
extended beyond his
homeland. Fully
illustrated, this book
chronicles his remarkable
life, from his days as a
student activist and
guerrilla leader to the
position as an iconic
statesman. From his
infamous trial for
treason and his 27 year
imprisonment, to the
euphoria that greeted his
eventual release and then
his election as South
Africa's first black
president.
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At the heart of Once Upon
a Hill are the author's
grandparents, Jack and
Kate, whose sedate old
age belies the turmoil of
their early life
together, and apart -
they had to wait ten
years to marry. For Glenn
Patterson trying to make
sense of this small-town
life in a family
dominated by a formidable
matriarch becomes a
detective story written
against the reluctance of
surviving family members
to talk and the simple
erosion of memory. It
becomes, too, a
revelation of how much
his own life - not least
his own mixed marriage -
has been shaped by events
decades before he was
born. So Once Upon a Hill
is part memoir, part
all-of-themoir. It is the
story of what happens
when history tries to
squeeze itself into a
town of ten thousand
people, most of them
related somewhere down
the line. It is about the
consequences of violence
and the conditions
required for love to
survive. It is a story of
frailty, fortitude, and
finally forgiveness.*
*With footnotes.
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Details: Alfred
Wainwright, the
legendary fell walker and
author of the
incomparable and unique
Pictorial Guides to the
Lakeland Fells was also a
fluent, eloquent and
diligent correspondent.
Writing to old friends
and to the many new ones
gained through his books,
and to his love, and
later second wife,
Betty, his letters
display a much warmer,
more sensitive and
emotional character than
his gruff popular image
would suggest. Hunter
Davies, Wainwright's
biographer, has here
collected a selection of
letters that range from
his early years in
Blackburn to his
established position as
Borough Treasurer in
Kendal, and cover all
aspects of his
professional and personal
life, as well as the
voluminous correspondence
that was a consequence of
writing and publishing
the Pictorial Guides. The
latter vividly illuminate
many aspects of that
turbulent but ultimately
triumphant process,
while the former present
a picture of a dedicated
public servant whose
personal life had been
deeply unhappy until late
in life he found
unexpected but
transcendent love and
happiness. Ideal for: A
fascinating read and an
ideal gift for Wainwright
fans. This hardback book
has 414 pages and
measures: 24 x 16.5 x
3.5cm.
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Linda Smith was the
brilliant mainstay of
Radio 4's The News Quiz,
Just a Minute, and I'm
Sorry I Haven't A Clue
for many years. She was
just establishing her
career on TV through
blistering performances
on Have I Got News for
You, QI and Room 101,
when she died of ovarian
cancer in 2006. Linda was
one of the few women to
conquer the male
dominated world of comedy
and she had the wit and
the charm to win over
millions of male and
female fans in equal
measure. She had an eye
for the absurdities of
modern life and loved to
prick the egos of the
pompous and the vain.
When she called David
Blunkett 'Satan's bearded
folk singer', it was a
simple statement of fact.
No wonder then Linda was
voted the 'wittiest
person alive' by Radio 4
listeners in 2002. This
collection of her
material, from her early
stand-up to her radio
days, is a must-have for
any comedy fan.
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Binyavanga Wainaina
tumbled through his
middle-class Kenyan
childhod out of kilter
with the world around
him. This world came to
him as a chaos of loud
and colourful sounds: the
hair dryers at his
mother's beauty parlour,
black mamba bicycle
bells, mechanics in
Nairobi, the music of
Michael Jackson - all
punctuated by the
infectious laughter of
his brother and sister,
Jimmy and Ciru. He could
fall in with their
patterns, but it would
take him a while to carve
out his own. In this
vivid and compelling
debut, Wainaina takes us
through his school days,
his failed attempt to
study in South Africa, a
moving family reunion in
Uganda, and his travels
around Kenya. The
landscape in front of him
always claims his main
attention, but he also
evokes the shifting
political scene that
unsettles his views on
family, tribe, and
nationhood. Throughout,
reading is his refuge and
his solace. And when, in
2002, a writing prize
comes through, the door
is opened for him to
pursue the career that
perhaps had been
beckoning all along. A
series of fascinating
reporting assignments
follows in other African
countries. Finally he
circles back to a Kenya
in the throes of
postelection violence and
finds he is not the only
one questioning the old
certainties. Resolutely
avoiding stereotype and
cliche, Wainaina paints
every scene in One Day I
Will Write About This
Place with a highly
distinctive and hugely
memorable brush.
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The Yorkshire dales have
never seemed more
beautiful for James - now
he has a lovely wife by
his side, a partner's
plate on the gate and the
usual menagerie of farm
animals, pets and owners
demanding his constant
attention and teaching
him a few lessons along
the way. All of the old
Darrowby friends are on
top form - Siegfried
thrashes round the
practice, Tristan
occasionally buckles down
for finals, and James is
signed up for a local
cricket team. 'He can
tell a good story against
himself, and his
pleasure in the beauty of
the countryside in which
he works is infectious',
observes "The Daily
Telegraph". 'Full of
warmth, wisdom and wit'
- "The Field". 'It is a
pleasure to be in James
Herriot's company' -
"Observer".
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Tony Blair's least
favourite colleague casts
a mordant eye on whips
and rebels, wars and
liberties, spin and
patronage, and expenses
and legacies - and at the
same time delivers a
passionate message about
parliament's enduring
value. This subversive
and richly comical
account of British
political life during New
Labour's term in office
presents an intimate
picture of what it was
like to be its most
prominent dissident
member. Bob
Marshall-Andrews looks at
the sombre events of the
last thirteen years
including wars in Kosovo
and Iraq, sustained
assaults on ancient
English liberties, and
the worst scandal of
recent political history.
He reveals the stories
that lie behind them and
the Westminster dramas of
intrigue, triumph and
disaster. He describes
the delights and trials
of his work as
constituency MP and
examines his own and
others' motives for
entering politics: should
the ambition, he asks,
be to achieve power or to
control it. Bob
Marshall-Andrews breathes
new life into the old
values of libertarian
socialism. "Off Message"
is as provocative and
entertaining as its
author's campaigns and
interventions.
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'I can't think of any
part of my childhood when
I was not fascinated by
steeplejacks. I'd seen
them dancing through the
rolling smoke at the
chimney top or hanging at
the end of a rope in a
bosun's chair, blowing
about like a cork in the
wind'. When Fred Dibnah
debuted on television in
1979, British audiences
immediately embraced a
new cultural icon: a
steeplejack from Bolton
who fell in love with
England's decaying
industrial landscape and
an exhaustive storyteller
whose charm and wit was
matched only by his
down-to-earth manner. The
Producer of that first
film, Don Haworth,
would go on to make
nineteen films about this
unlikely celebrity and
true British eccentric.
"Did You Like That?"
collects the best stories
from these films:
colourful tales told by
Fred himself, recounting
key moments in his life,
his experiences as a
steeplejack, his
fascination with
machinery, his work as
an engineer, craftsman,
artist, inventor and
steam enthusiast, and
his forthright views on
life in general. Told
with true Northern grit,
Did You Like That? is the
story of a man who never
shied away from a
hair-raising challenge,
and the closest thing to
Fred's autobiography
we're likely to get. This
is Fred's story, in his
own words.
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Przemysl, Poland, 1939.
No one has explained to
three-year-old Renata
what war is. She knows
her Tatus, a doctor, is
in Europe with the Polish
Army and that her Mamusia
is not allowed to work
anymore. One morning
Mamusia returns home with
little yellow stars for
them to wear. Renata
thinks that they will
keep them safe. June,
1942. Renata, Mamusia
and grandmother 'Babcia'
are taken to the Ghetto.
The adults are forced to
work at the factory and
to survive on next to no
food. One day Mamusia and
Babcia do not return from
their shifts. Utterly
alone Renata survives
through the willingness
of ordinary people to
take the most deadly
risks. Her blonde hair
and blue eyes and other
twists of fate save her
life but stories become
her salvation. Let Me
Tell You a Story is a
powerful and moving
memoir of growing up in
extraordinary times, and
of the magical discovery
of books.
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As he fell into the
abyss, he asked himself:
Why do explorers put
themselves in dangerous
situations. And, once
the worst possible
situation occurs, how do
explorers find the
resources to survive? In
answering these
questions, Benedict
Allen weaves a series of
tales from his own
experiences driving a
dogsled across the ice
bridge linking Siberia
with North America, as
well that of other
explorers including
Columbus, Cortez,
Shakelton, Stanley,
Livingstone - and their
modern counterparts: Joe
Simpson and Ranulf
Fiennes.
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Now, in a beautiful new
book, richly illustrated
with his own artwork,
Tony takes the time to
reflect on his career,
and the inspiration that
continues to infuse both
his music and his art.
Along with journalist
Robert Sullivan, he
explores recurring themes
in his life, including
jazz, individualism,
the creative zone, love,
truth and beauty,
chiaroscuro (the balance
of light and shadow,
both in painting and
life), and the lifelong
adventure that has taken
him around the world and
back again. His own
personal memorabilia will
be on display, along
with album covers and
notes. And for everyone
who loves Bennetts
gorgeous voice and
elegant song stylings: an
exclusive CD featuring
his favourite tunes,
including some rare
choices.
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Told with startling
honesty and humour, Jo
Wood takes you behind the
scenes of life married to
Ronnie Wood, the most
controversial member of
the Rolling Stones and
how she bounced back from
heartbreak. From teenage
model to rock-chick,
motherhood to marriage
breakdown and starting
over again in her 50s,
Jo's had a roller-coaster
ride of a life. A raw and
rollicking narrative from
the eye of the storm,
Jo's extraordinary story
of life as a Rolling
Stone girlfriend, then
wife, mother and more,
is a never-before-heard
account of the heady
hedonistic Ronnie Wood
years - the drugs, the
roadies, the tours, and
the booze - and a
celebration of her
new-found happiness as an
entrepreneur, fashion
icon and beauty expert.
Following the public
breakdown of her
marriage, Jo moved on
with a dignity and lack
of bitterness that won
her fans across the
country. Now a successful
businesswoman, a
passionate campaigner of
pure, organic living,
and a thriving name in
fashion, Jo has learnt
to embrace her new found
vitality, and in doing
so has become the heroine
of everyone from
20-something fashionistas
to Strictly Come Dancing
devotees. This is Jo's
journey, from the
breathtaking highs of her
and Ronnie's shared
infatuation and love, to
the devastating lows of
his sudden
disappearances,
drug-induced mania and
seizures, and how she
learned to walk away
without regret or
bitterness, and forgive.
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When Elisabeth Sladen
first appeared as plucky
journalist Sarah Jane
Smith in the 1973 Doctor
Who story The Time
Warrior, little did she
know the character would
become one of the most
enduring and fondly
remembered of the series?
long history. The years
that followed saw
Elisabeth traverse time
and space alongside
classic Doctors Jon
Pertwee and Tom Baker,
whilst a generation of
children crouched behind
the sofa, terrified but
transfixed as their
tea-time heroine found
herself menaced by
Daleks, dinosaurs,
Cybermen, Egyptian
mummies, actors in green
Bubble Wrap and even the
Loch Ness Monster. By the
time she quit the TARDIS
in 1976, making
front-page news,
Elisabeth had become one
of the most familiar
faces of a TV golden
age.But you don?t just
walk away from Doctor
Who. Elisabeth was asked
to reprise her role many
times, appearing in
anniversary specials, an
ill-fated 1981 spin-off
with robotic sidekick
K-9, radio plays, and
for the BBCs
Children in Need. She
toured the weird, wide
and wonderful world of
Doctor Who fandom and
became one of the series?
all-time favourite
companions. So when TV
wunderkind Russell T
Davies approached her to
come back again, this
time to a show backed by
multi-million-pound
budgets and garlanded
with critical plaudits,
how could she refuse?
This warm and witty
autobiography, completed
only months before
Elisabeth died in April
2011, tells her
remarkable story, from
humble beginnings in
post-war Liverpool,
through an acclaimed
theatrical career working
alongside stage
luminaries such as Alan
Ayckbourn, to Coronation
Street, Some Mothers Do
?Ave ?Em and the furthest
reaches of the Universe.
A unique insiders
view of the worlds
longest-running science
fiction series, and of
British television
yesterday and today,
Elisabeths memoir
is funny, ridiculous,
insightful and
entertaining and a
fitting tribute to a
woman who will be sadly
missed by millions.
Elisabeth Sladen played
Sarah Jane Smith in
Doctor Who and The Sarah
Jane Adventures. She also
appeared in Coronation
Street, Z-Cars and Some
Mothers Do ?Ave ?Em among
others, and enjoyed a
long, successful and
very happy career in the
theatre. She died in
April 2011.
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Details: When Chris
Wadsworth, and husband
Michael, upped sticks in
the South and moved north
to the Lake District she
had no inkling she was
about to begin a new life
as the owner of an art
gallery. The small town
of Cockermouth was hardly
at the cutting edge of
contemporary art ? as the
well-meaning locals were
at pains to point out.
?You?ve got to have
views, ? they told her.
?Thats what people
here want!? Chris had
other ideas. And they
didn?t include views.
Instead she set out to
find artists ? famous,
infamous, lost and
unknown ? whose work
would eventually make her
gallery in little-known
Cockermouth not just a
local but an
international success.
But artists are a funny
bunch, and art springs
from the most unexpected
sources. Like Karen, the
farmers wife,
whose Turneresque
canvasses were painted
with whatever came to
hand ? hessian, skirting
boards ? but ?mainly in
Dulux?. Or the reclusive,
transvestite Percy
Kelly, whose refusal to
exploit his art for
personal gain, and
troubled relationship
with his estranged
family, might have seen
his work lost for ever if
not for some surprising
twists of fate. In
Hercules & the
Farmers Wife Chris
tells their stories, and
recounts the many other
unlikely incidents ?from
the exploding treacle
pudding and the mystery
of the Purple House, to
knitting vicars flogging
Mick Jagger carpets ?
that make up life in a
Cumbrian art gallery. By
turns funny, and others
bittersweet, Chris
Wadsworth offers a
private view of the
wonderful world she
discovered when she made
art her business. Chris
Wadsworth is the
gallerist of Castlegate
House Gallery in
Cockermouth. Her
exhibitions have included
artists such as L.S.
Lowry, Sheila Fell,
Bill Peascod, Percy
Kelly, Winifred
Nicholson and Mary
Fedden. Ideal for: Art
lovers with an interest
in the world of
contemporary art. This
paperback book has 260
pages and measures: 19.7
x 13 x 2cm
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By the time he was ten
years old Billy Brown was
running a successful
little business on the
black market: whatever
you needed, from bricks
and fire wood to condoms,
dress material or
machetes Billy Brown
could get it - or knew a
man who could. And, for
the right price, he
would deliver it direct
to your door in an old
carriage pram. This is
the highly entertaining
and eye-opening memoir of
a young boy growing up in
1950s post-war London.
With energy and insight,
Billy Brown paints a
vivid and lively picture
of Britain emerging from
the ruins of the war,
the hunger for
opportunity, the growing
pace of modernisation,
and the pride and
optimism that held
communities together.
Londoners were intent on
getting themselves back
on their feet and it
provided the perfect
opportunity for a boy
with ambition and a
lively imagination. Born
in Brixton, south
London, in 1942 Billy
Brown was a loveable
scamp with a nose for
mischief. Left to his own
devices whilst both his
parents went out to work,
if there was trouble to
be had, Billy would be
in the thick of it.
Ignoring the shaking of
fists from his
neighbours, his mother's
scoldings and the regular
thwack of the cane on his
bottom at school, Billy
wheeled and dealed,
charmed Woolies Girls,
planned coronation
celebrations, ran
circles around circus
performers and persuaded
villains to work on his
terms.
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Details: In An Animated
Life, Ray Harryhausen
told the story of his
career as the
acknowledged grandmaster
of special effects in the
pre-computer era, the
creator of classics such
as One Million Years BC,
Jason and the Argonauts
and Clash of Titans. In
this book the focus is
not on the movies
themselves, but on the
vast hoard of artwork
which Harryhausen has
carefully preserved in
his London home. These
include preliminary
sketches, elaborate
drawings of key scenes
and carefully plotted
storyboards, all
produced as he sought
backing for his next
venture and prepared to
undertake the laborious
task of animating the
prehistoric creatures,
aliens and mythical
monsters which stole
scene after scene from
the human actors. There
are also the tiny,
elaborately articulated
models which Harryhausen
created to play these
roles and the bronzes
which he cast to preserve
their forms in
perpetuity. This stunning
array of images is a
tribute to the scope of
Harryhausens
imagination and his
artistic skills. Ideal
for: No student of
special effects or cinema
history will want to be
without this book. This
paperback book has 230
pages and measures: 28.5
x 24.7 x 2cm.
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Committed is an offbeat,
hilarious memoir that
shows how the most
ridiculed punching-bag in
school became an
internationally renowned
crusader for the most
downtrodden individuals
of all - animals. As the
irreverent force behind
the colorful and
controversial crusades
carried out by People for
the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PETA), one of
the most effective and
enduring pressure groups
in the world, Mathews
has strutted naked before
a fur convention in
Tokyo, halted GM's use
of animals in crash tests
by storming a parade
float dressed as a
rabbit, and sabotaged a
fashion show in Milan
dressed as a priest. With
self-deprecating wit and
candour, Mathews reveals
all the details of his
unorthodox coming-of-age
and equally outrageous
career.
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Bestselling author Jeff
Guinn combines exhaustive
research with surprising,
newly discovered
material to tell the real
tale of two kids from a
filthy Dallas slum who
fell in love and then
willingly traded their
lives for a brief
interlude of excitement
and, more important,
fame. Go Down Together
has it all?true romance,
rebellion against
authority, bullets
flying, cars crashing,
and, in the end, a
dramatic death at the
hands of a celebrity
lawman. This is the real
story of Bonnie and Clyde
and their troubled times,
delivered with cinematic
sweep by a masterful
storyteller.
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The Junior Doctor is
back! He's into his
second year of medicine,
but this time Max is out
of the wards and onto the
streets, working for the
Phoenix Outreach Project.
Fuelled by tea and more
enthusiasm than
experience, he attempts
to locate and treat a
wide and colourful range
of patients that somehow
his first year on the
wards didn't prepare him
for.. .from Molly the
80-year-old drugs mule
and God in a Tesco car
park, to middle-class
mums addicted to
appearances and pain
killers in equal measure.
His friends don't approve
of the turn his career is
taking, his mother is
worried and the public
spit at him, but Max is
determined to make a
difference. Despite
warnings that miracles
are rare, and that not
everyone's life can be
turned around, Max is
still surprised by those
that can be saved. Funny,
touching and uplifting,
Max goes from innocence
to experience via
dustbin-shopping-trips
without ever losing his
humanity.
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If we are to accomplish
anything in this world,
it will in equal measure
be due to the work and
achievements of others.
Richard Stengel is one of
those people who readily
grasps this idea.. . He
has shown remarkable
insight into the many
complex leadership
challenges still facing
the world today and all
the individuals in it.
Everyone can learn from
it. (Nelson Mandela) "A
beautiful book - even
better than A Long Walk
to Freedom - and even
more inspiring." (Sir
Richard Branson) "The
most insightful
explanation yet of what
has become known as the
"Mandela magic"."
(Financial Times) "There
is no man I admire more
than Nelson Mandela. Rick
Stengel's wise and moving
book captures the Nelson
Mandela I have been
privileged to know.. . I
was inspired anew, and I
know others will be too"
(Bill Clinton)
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Prue Leith describes
herself as greedy in all
senses of the word. Cook,
caterer, restaurateur,
food writer, journalist,
novelist,
businesswoman, teacher,
television presenter,
charity worker, lover,
wife and mother, she has
certainly been greedy for
life. Born in South
Africa, the daughter of
a well-known actress,
Prue came to London in
the early 1960s, set up
a successful catering
company, and later
opened Leith's
Restaurant, a food
lovers' oasis in London's
then gastronomic desert.
By the mid-seventies she
was a regular food
columnist on the Daily
Mail, had published
several cookbooks and
opened Leith's School of
Food and Wine. But it
wasn't all work. For
thirteen years she had a
secret affair with the
married man who was to be
her husband for another
twenty-five years. She
writes movingly of the
anguish for both
families; of her longing
for children; the birth
of her son, Daniel, and
the adoption of her
daughter, Li-Da. Prue
writes with relish,
humour and honesty.
Whether she is running
her own businesses or
sitting on the boards of
public companies;
founding charities or
leading institutions,
her down-to-earth
attitude to triumph and
disaster is an
inspiration. She is
forthright about her love
life; her mother's
senility; her husband's
smoking himself to death;
the theft of her savings,
and falling in love at
sixty-six with a
manic-depressive. Above
all, Relish reflects one
lucky woman's incredible
zest for life.
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When Mark Radcliffe was
born in the late 1950s,
Britain was trying to
find its own version of
the dangerously sexy
Elvis.. .we gave the
world Cliff Richard but
by the time Mark was old
enough to recognise pop
songs on the radio, the
UK was exploding into the
world's most exciting
place to be for a young
music fan. In this, his
eagerly awaited new book,
Mark Radcliffe takes a
record from each year of
his life, using the song
as a starting point from
which to reach out and
pull together a
wonderfully entertaining
catalogue of memories and
asides about British
culture. And, as one
would expect from this
unique and popular
broadcaster, the tunes
he lists are not the
usual suspects. From The
Kinks' 'See My Friends',
through Slade's 'Coz I
Luv You' to Kraftwerk's
'Europe Endless' and Joy
Division's 'Atmosphere',
Mark's selections bring
forth a diverse collision
of styles from eras
uniquely defined by their
musical genres and
fashions. Bringing his
choices right up to the
present day, we see the
inclusion of artists such
as Richard Hawley, Elbow
and Fleet Foxes. Mark's
hugely entertaining and
affectionate trawl
through his favourite
music of the past 50
years is guaranteed to
surprise and delight his
many fans.
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His work has long been
recognised for its
innovation and his
reputation for clashes
with the so-called
gardening 'establishment'
are famous. He has won
many accolades including
Silver Gilt at Chelsea
Flower Show, however,
arguably his biggest
achievement was to
popularize gardening
through the medium of
television and move it
away from the exclusive
and stultifying
atmosphere of a private
club. This is Diarmuid's
characteristically open
and honest account of his
chaotic, inspired and
infuriating (to himself
and others) road to
success.
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Details: Lorcan Dillon
was seven years old when
his mother, Jayne,
first heard him say 'I
love you.' The words were
not directed at her, but
at Jessi-cat, the family
pet. Lorcan suffers from
autism and selective
mutism, a condition that
renders him unable to
speak in certain
situations, unable to
express emotions or enjoy
hugs and he has never
told anyone he loves
them. This all began to
change with the arrival
of a kitten named
Jessi-cat. Jessi-cat is
the stirring tale of how
the affection and
attention of a constant
loving companion allowed
a little boy to start to
connect to the world
around him. Lorcan spends
hours playing with her,
cuddling her and telling
her how much he loves
her. He has also begun
opening up to others,
making friends at school
and is constantly making
progress. Ideal for: A
must read for cat lovers
and parents. This
hardback book has 224
pages and measures: 23.8
x 16 x 2.4cm.
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In this electrifying
autobiography, Rik
stands naked in front of
his vast legions of fans
and disciples and invites
them to take communion
with the blood he has
spilled for them during
his thirty year war on
show business. He
invented alternative
comedy with The Young
Ones, he brought down
the Thatcher
administration with The
New Statesman and he
changed the face of
global culture with his
masterpiece Bottom. Not
only was his number one
single 'Living Doll' the
saviour of rock 'n' roll
but he also rescued the
British film industry
with the vast revenues
created by his legendary
movie Drop Dead Fred. In
1998, he survived an
assassination attempt and
spent five days in a coma
before he literally came
back from the dead.
Having completed
countless phenomenal
feature films, TV
series, live
extravaganzas and radio
voice-overs since then,
Rik Mayall is now poised
on the brink of a whole
new epoch-shattering
revolution. For the first
time ever, Rik reveals
in print the deep inner
truth behind his
gargantuan ascent to the
pinnacle of international
light entertainment - the
mental hospitals he has
broken out of, the
television executives he
has assaulted, the drugs
he has definitely not
taken, the charities he
has bankrupted, the
countless pregnancies he
has engendered, and so
much more.
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Laced with the
experiences and memories
of an old man to form his
lessons about life
'Granddad?' 'Yes, Kate.'
Do all old people die?'
In this uplifting and
beautifully-written
memoir, Tom Nestor
recounts conversations
with his five-year-old
granddaughter, Kate. In
their chats and the
thoughts prompted by what
the inquisitive Kate says
or does, Tom - now in
his seventies - realises
what a sea change has
taken place in Ireland in
the space of a single
generation. He shares his
experiences and the
wisdom that comes with
the perspective of years,
hoping to instil in Kate
his appreciation of the
beauty of the natural
world, an understanding
of life and
relationships, and
guidance for how Kate and
her generation might cope
with life's future trials
and tribulations. Tom
Nestor sees life with a
poet's eye and in Talking
to Kate his memories of
childhood and his
conversations with the
precocious and innocent
Kate enchant and
enlighten. Takes readers
into the different and
innocent times of both
the child and her
grandfather
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A Rothschild by birth and
a Baroness by marriage,
beautiful, spirited
Pannonica - known as Nica
- seemed to have it all:
children, a handsome
husband and a trust fund.
But in the early 1950s
she heard a piece by the
jazz legend Thelonious
Monk. The music overtook
her like a magic spell,
and she abandoned her
marriage to go and find
him. Arriving in New
York, Nica was shunned
by society but accepted
by the musicians. They
gave her friendship; she
gave them material and
emotional support. Her
convertible Bentley was a
familiar sight outside
the clubs and she drank
whisky from a hip flask
disguised as a Bible. Her
notoriety was sealed when
drug-addicted saxophonist
Charlie Parker died in
her apartment. But her
real love was reserved
for Monk, whom she cared
for until his death in
1982. The Baroness traces
Nica's extraordinary,
thrilling journey - from
England's stately homes
to the battlefields of
Africa, passing under
the shadow of the
Holocaust, and finally
to the creative ferment
of the New York jazz
scene. Hannah
Rothschild's search to
solve the mystery of her
rebellious great aunt
draws on their long
friendship and years of
meticulous research and
interviews. It is part
musical odyssey, part
dazzling love story.
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150 Station Road,
Wheeldon Mill - a short
stride across the
Chesterfield Canal in the
heart of Derbyshire - was
home to the Nash family
and their corner shop,
which served a small
mining community with
everything from Brasso
and Dolly Blue, to cheap
dress rings and bright
sugary sweets. But just
as this was no ordinary
home, theirs was no
ordinary family. Lynn
Knight tells the
remarkable story of the
three adoptions within
it: of her
great-grandfather, a
fairground boy, given
away when his parents
left for America in 1865;
of her great-aunt,
rescued from an
Industrial School in
1909, and of her mother,
adopted as a baby in
1930, and brought to
Chesterfield from London.
Full of light, life and
colour, spanning three
generations and two world
wars, this memoir weaves
a rich portrait of a
community and of family
love and loyalty
regardless of blood ties.
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For the first time in
"Through Thick and Thin,
Gok reveals all about his
life changing period. The
lessons Gok learned
during this time helped
him bounce back from a
difficult childhood to
become a stylist to the
stars, every woman's best
friend, and a national
treasure. In this
intimate memoir Gok tells
his full story in his own
words. Whether he's
recounting the horrors of
childhood bullying or
riotous anecdotes about
his loving family, behind
the scenes in the fashion
world or TV shows, Gok's
voice jumps off the page
with all the honesty,
wit, and warmth for which
he is known and loved.
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'I still don't understand
why those men in the
militias didn't just put
a bullet in my head and
execute every last person
in the rooms upstairs but
they didn't. I survived
to tell the story, along
with those I sheltered.
There was nothing
particularly heroic about
it...' Paul Rusesabagina
was an ordinary man - a
quiet manager of a luxury
hotel in Rwanda. But on 6
April 1994 mobs with
machetes turned into
cold-blooded murderers,
and commenced a slaughter
of 800, 000 civilians in
just 100 days.
Rusesabagina, with
incredible courage,
saved the lives of 1, 200
people. In this
powerfully moving
autobiography
Rusesabagina tells his
story and explores the
complexity of Rwanda's
history and the insanity
that turned neighbours
and friends into killers.
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Oliver Reed may not have
been Britain's biggest
film star - for a period
in the early 70s he came
within a hairsbreadth of
replacing Sean Connery as
James Bond - but he is an
august member of that
small band of people,
like George Best and Eric
Morecambe, who
transcended their chosen
medium, became too big
for it even, and grew
into cultural icons.For
the first time Reed's
close family has agreed
to collaborate on a
project about the man
himself. The result is a
fascinating new insight
into a man seen by many
as merely a brawling,
boozing hellraiser. And
yet he was so much more
than this. For behind
that image, which all
too often he played up to
in public, was a vastly
complex individual, a
man of deep passions and
loyalty but also
deep-rooted vulnerability
and insecurities. Why was
a proud, patriotic,
intelligent, successful
and erudite man so
obsessed about proving
himself to others, time
and time again?Although
the Reed myth is of
Homeric proportions, he
remains a national
treasure and somewhat
peculiar icon.
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Fear and Loathing at
Rolling Stone showcases
the evolution of a writer
through his work at the
magazine that he helped
to put on the map. Jann
S.Wenner, Hunter
Thompson's editor and
friend for nearly
thirty-five years, has
chosen the pieces,
including many never
collected before. They
show how Thompson's
Rolling Stone writing,
when taken as a whole,
forms an extended,
allusive autobiography of
the writer himself as he
pursues his lifelong
obsession, the king-hell
story of them all: The
Death of the American
Dream.
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The autobiography of a
young girl growing up in
Mao's China. Hong Ying
grew up in a slum on the
banks of the Yangtze, an
area permanently veiled
in fog and steeped in
superstition. Life was
precarious and Hong Ying,
the youngest of the six
children, grew up afraid
that she would be
condemned to a life of
carrying sand and
emptying chamber pots.
Gradually, Hong Ying
began to try and solve
some of the mysteries
which had seemed to
surround her early life:
a stalker who had
followed her since she
was a child, a VD record
in her father's file,
and a persistent feeling
that there was something
strange about her birth.
Among her discoveries,
Hong Ying learnt that her
mother was once married
to a Triadman who had
died in a labour camp as
a counter-revolutionary,
while her father, now a
blind sailor, had
several times barely
escaped with his life
during the civil war.
Under the corrupt rule,
her mother had taken
extreme measures to keep
the children alive while
several of her relatives
starved to death during
the Great Famine.
Moreover, Hong Ying's
stalker turned out to
have an astoundingly
close connection with
her. After the tragic
deaths of both her first
lover and her first
child, Hong Ying decided
she had to take control
of her own life: she left
home and worked hard to
become a published poet
and a novelist. After the
events in Tian'anmen
Square, she left China
to live in London.
Availability: In Stock
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Ireland's best-known
journalist, broadcaster,
historian and
bestselling biographer
Tim Pat Coogan has not
only reported the news -
he's been the news.
Through the Irish Press,
where he served as editor
for twenty years, he is
renowned for bringing
social and political
change to Ireland. He
went on to play a vital
role in bringing the
IRA/Sinn Fein to the
peace talks table, and
has always been uniquely
placed to comment
authoritatively - if not
controversially - on all
aspects of Irish current
affairs. From personal to
political, his
revelatory memoir gives
genuine insight into the
life and high-profile
career of a man at the
centre of Irish politics
and society.
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Enter the mind of a
genius who changed the
world. Physicist,
mathematician,
astronomer, humanist -
Albert Einstein
(1879-1955) was so
radical a thinker that
his brilliance is
difficult to grasp. He
was not an outstanding
student, yet in 1905,
at the age of 26, he
published groundbreaking
studies of the
relationships of mass,
energy, the speed of
light, and the ways in
which they are observed
and measured. Relativity
theory, as these ideas
are known, forever
altered our understanding
of the universe. This
thought-provoking,
profusely illustrated
book explains Einstein's
work in plain language
and examines the life of
one of the most
remarkable figures of all
time.
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When The Best of Myles
was published in 1968,
it was hailed (by S. J.
Perelman among others) as
one of the supreme comic
achievements of the
English language. Now,
in response to the
clamorous demands of men
of science and the arts,
men of steam, of straw
and of the law, comes
Further Cuttings from
Cruiskeen Lawn. Flann
O'Brien adopted the name
"Myles na Gopaleen" for
the hilarious Cruiskeen
Lawn column which he
wrote for The Irish Times
from 1940-1966. Whereas
The Best of Myles covered
the first five years of
the column's life, this
companion edition covers
the period from
1947-1957. Here can be
found the true
transcripts of Myles's
clashes with the law
courts on charges of
larceny, currency
offenses, marrying
without the consent of
his parents, gang
warfare, and using bad
language; here too are
bizarre obituaries,
bores, banalities,
jovialities and
immoralities, and the
return of the
preposterous Brother.
Also included is the
first-ever Myles article.
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In January 1988, aged
twelve, Martin Pistorius
fell inexplicably sick.
Within eighteen months he
was mute and
wheelchair-bound, being
cared for at centres for
severely disabled
children. What no-one
knew is that while
Martin's body remained
unresponsive, his mind
slowly woke up, yet he
could tell no-one, a
prisoner inside his own
body. During this time,
he suffered abuse of a
kind that is barely
imaginable, yet still he
kept the spirit of hope
alive. It wasn't until he
was twenty-three that a
gentle therapist realised
he was alert to
everything and, along
with his parents,
assisted his road to
recovery. Since then,
against all odds, he has
fallen in love, married
and moved to Essex and
taught himself web
design. Martin's
extraordinary story is a
deeply moving account of
the power of love.
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The authorised biography
of Brendan OCarroll,
based on extensive
interviews with the
hugely popular star of
BBCs Mrs Browns Boys.Whod
have thought a
potty-mouthed Dublin
mammy with a cream
cardigan and elasticated
tan tights could storm
British TV screens and
leave a nation helpless
with laughter? Brendan
OCarroll performs to tens
of thousands of people a
night in packed-out
stadiums across the
country. In the last four
years Mrs Browns Boys has
become a number 1 ratings
success and hes even
making a movie. But
Brendan has had to battle
hard for success. The
youngest of eleven
children, his mother was
Maureen OCarroll, a
former nun who went on to
become the first woman to
be elected to the Irish
parliament. Brendan
adored his strong,
widowed mother - and she
later became the
inspiration for his
indomitable character
Agnes Brown. However,
the family endured
poverty reminiscent of
Angelas Ashes and Brendan
saw no option but to
leave school at 12 to
work. He married young
and for decades struggled
to make ends meet.
Eventually, bankrupt and
desperate, Brendan went
to see a fortune teller
who told him she could
see his future achieving
worldwide success as a
comedian and actor. At
first Brendan laughed at
the notion, but then he
thought of how much his
friends loved his gags,
and decided to give it a
go...This is the magical
story of how a loveable
Irishman with a wig and a
wit as caustic as battery
acid surprised everyone -
most of all himself - by
becoming one of the
best-loved comedians in
the world. It is a story
of hardship, heartbreak,
and talent and will
remind readers afresh
that sometimes the facts
can be even more
extraordinary than the
fiction.
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When I Were A Lass. looks
back through rose-tinted
NHS spectacles (held
together with an old
plaster) to a time when
the world was a simpler
place. A girl's view of
the 1930s, 40s and 50s
is revealed through a
series of vintage photos.
From a time when radio
and gramophones were the
only distraction and toys
were few and far between,
a doll was a thing to be
treasured and a trip to
the seaside was a grand
adventure. The book takes
a nostalgic and offbeat
look at the photos of a
distant childhood.
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Ian Thorpe's achievements
in the water are nothing
short of phenomenal. He
has won a record-holding
eleven World Championship
titles and ten
Commonwealth Games gold
medals. He has broken
twenty-two world records
and won five gold, three
silver and one bronze
Olympic medals. Having
been under the spotlight
since he was a young
teenager, Thorpe retired
from competitive swimming
in 2006 because of the
intense pressure he felt,
but five years later he
decided to make a hugely
publicised comeback. Ian
is one of the world's
most successful
sportsmen, but it is the
way he has managed his
triumphs and his
commitment to helping
others that have earned
him respect and
admiration
internationally. Thorpe's
autobiography follows him
all the way from his
childhood in Sydney right
up to the London
Olympics. This is a man
who has had highs and
lows away from the pool,
who has led an
extraordinary life of an
elite athlete that most
of us will never know,
who has faced up to his
own demons, and who has
the courage to come back
and stake his claim for
the ultimate goal once
more.
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Deborah Devonshire is a
natural writer with a
knack for the telling
phrase and for hitting
the nail on the head. She
tells the story of her
upbringing, lovingly and
wittily describing her
parents (so memorably
fictionalised by her
sister Nancy); she talks
candidly about her
brother and sisters, and
their politics (while not
being at all political
herself), finally
setting the record
straight. Throughout the
book she writes
brilliantly about the
country and her deep
attachment to it and
those who live and work
in it. As Duchess of
Devonshire, Debo played
an active role in
restoring and overseeing
the day-to-day running of
the family houses and
gardens, and in
developing commercial
enterprises at
Chatsworth. She tells
poignantly of the deaths
of three of her children,
as well as her husband's
battle with alcohol
addiction.
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The iconic broadcasting
legend dusts down his
suitcase for a final
journey around the globe,
revisiting locations of
significance to his life
and career. "You might
say I'm set in my
airways. I'm one of those
lucky people whose
professional and private
lives blend exactly."
Alan Whicker, 2007
Published to coincide
with a major BBC TV
series of the same name,
Alan Whicker's Journey of
Lifetime is a glorious
celebration of 50 years
in front of the camera.
For as long as most can
remember, Whicker has
roamed far and wide in
search of the eccentric,
the ludicrous and the
socially-revealing
aspects of everyday life
as lived by some of the
more colourful of the
world's inhabitants.
Since the late 1950s,
when the long-running
Whicker's World
documentary was first
screened, he has probed
and dissected the often
secretive and unobserved
worlds of the rich and
famous, rooting out the
most implausible and
sometimes ridiculous
characters after gaining
admittance to the places
where they conduct their
leisure hours. The great
man's legacy contains a
number of genuine TV
firsts. As well as
landmark interviews with
figures as diverse as
Papa Doc, Paul Getty and
The Sultan of Brunei, he
was a pioneer, covering
subjects like plastic
surgery, gay weddings,
polygamy, swinging and
following gun-toting
cops, fly-on-the-wall
style, for British
screens long before
anyone else. This
wonderful new book is the
end product of a very
personal journey. Whicker
retraces his steps,
catching up with some
past interviewees and
reflecting on how the
world has changed - for
good and bad - over the
passing of time. Journey
of a Lifetime is lyrical,
uplifting and peppered
with our favourite
globetrotter's brand of
subtle satire.
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William Golding was born
in 1911 and educated at
his local grammar school
and Brasenose College,
Oxford. He published a
volume of poems in 1934
and during the war served
in the Royal Navy.
Afterwards he returned to
being a schoolmaster in
Salisbury. "Lord of the
Flies", his first novel,
was an immediate
success, and was
followed by a series of
remarkable novels,
including "The
Inheritors", Pincher
Martin and "The Spire".
He won the Booker Prize
for "Rites of Passage" in
1980, was awarded the
Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1983, and
was knighted in 1988. He
died in 1993.
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Cocktail Hour Under the
Tree of Forgetfulness
tells the story of the
author's mother, Nicola
Fuller. Nicola Fuller and
her husband were a
glamorous and optimistic
couple and East Africa
lay before them with the
promise of all its
perfect light, even as
the British Empire in
which they both believed
waned. They had
everything, including
two golden children - a
girl and a boy. However,
life became increasingly
difficult and they moved
to Rhodesia to work as
farm managers. The
previous farm manager had
committed suicide. His
ghost appeared at the
foot of their bed and
seemed to be trying to
warn them of something.
Shortly after this, one
of their golden children
died. Africa was no
longer the playground of
Nicola's childhood. They
returned to England where
the author was born
before they returned to
Rhodesia and to the civil
war. The last part of the
book sees the Fullers in
their old age on a banana
and fish farm in the
Zambezi Valley. They had
built their ramshackle
dining room under the
Tree of Forgetfulness. In
local custom, this tree
is the meeting place for
villagers determined to
resolve disputes. It is
in the spirit of this
Forgetfulness that Nicola
finally forgot - but did
not forgive - all her
enemies including her
daughter and the Apostle,
a squatter who has taken
up in her bananas with
his seven wives and
forty-nine children.
Funny, tragic,
terrifying, exotic and
utterly unself-conscious,
this is a story of
survival and madness,
love and war, passion
and compassion.
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Eartha Kitt was a skinny,
mixed-race woman with an
odd, angular face, who
seduced fifties white
America into thinking
that she was, in the
words of Orson Welles,
'the most exciting woman
in the world'. She could
count Marilyn Monroe,
T.S. Eliot, Prince
Philip and Albert
Einstein among her
friends and admirers,
and was almost able to
forget she had once been
a poor black girl from
the Deep South. But her
new persona was also a
prison from which she
found it impossible to
escape. John L. Williams'
moving and unsettling
biography shows a star
adrift in a bewildering
new America torn apart by
the Civil Rights
movement. Shunned by many
of her former friends,
shocked by her country's
insiduous racism, and
with a perilously fragile
sense of her own
identity, Eartha Kitt
would pay the price that
came from trying to be
America's mistress.
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John Forsters original
three-volume text is
abridged and brought to
life with the addition of
illuminating extracts
from Dickenss own work
and from recent
criticism, biography and
fiction. It is also
generously illustrated
with materials including
original artwork from the
serial parts of Dickenss
novels, rare photographs
and portraits of Dickens
and his circle, as well
as specially commissioned
images from the Charles
Dickens Museum of the
authors personal
possessions and favoured
locations.
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£6.99
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-
Our society has gone
through a weird,
unremarked transition:
we've gone from regarding
the Net as something
exotic to something that
we take for granted as a
utilitarian necessity,
like mains electricity or
running water. In the
process we've been
remarkably incurious
about its meaning,
significance or cultural
implications. Most people
have no idea how the
network works, nor any
conception of its
architecture; and few can
explain why it has been -
and continues to be - so
uniquely disruptive in
social, economic and
cultural contexts. In
other words, our society
has become dependent on a
utility that it doesn't
really understand. John
Naughton has distilled
the noisy chatter
surrounding the
internet's relentless
evolution into nine
clear-sighted and
accessible areas of
understanding. In doing
so he affords everyone
the requisite knowledge
to make better use of the
technologies and networks
around us, and see
lucidly into their future
implications. Along the
way FROM GUTENBERG TO
ZUCKERBERG covers areas
as diverse as the science
of complexity, the
economics of abundance,
the appeal of disruption
and the problematic
nature of intellectual
property. FROM GUTENBERG
TO ZUCKERBERG gives you
all the basic,
conceptual equipment you
need to understand the
Internet phenomenon.
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London, a city which has
over the centuries,
survived attack, fire
and devastation, is a
place where people feel
enabled to create and
empowered to invent. It
is and always has been
home to a great variety
of remarkable men and
women whose lives have
enriched the rest of the
world. Boris
Johnsons book is a
celebration of the people
who, from the Romans to
the present day, give
the city its vibrant and
exuberant character.
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Since his death 80 years
ago Houdini's life has
been chronicled in
numerous books, now in
this ground breaking
biography by a renowned
magic expert find the man
behind the myth. Drawing
from millions of pages of
research William Kalush
describes in extreme
detail the passions that
drove Houdini to perform
ever more dangerous
feats, his secret life
as a spy and precious
plot to preserve his
legacy. This is an
intimate and riveting
portrayal of Houdini the
man and the legend.
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-
Joan Woodcock always
dreamed of becoming a
nurse. And in 1966 the
dream came true. From her
very first day as a naive
sixteen-year-old cadet,
standing nervously
outside the matron's
office, this is Joan's
story of an eventful
career spanning over
forty years in NHS
nursing. Working on
hospital wards, casualty
units and out in the
community, as well as
stints in a prison and a
police unit dealing with
sexual assault, Joan has
seen it all. In this
moving memoir she gives
an honest, revealing
account of a challenging,
unpredictable and
ultimately rewarding life
in nursing. From an early
encounter with a horrific
axe injury, to the
patient who swallowed
their suppositories, to
daily dealings with
difficult patients and
all kinds of bodily
fluids, Joan shares
memories of laughter and
tragedy, and of the now
defunct matron system
that at one time
instilled nurses with
such high standards of
professionalism and
patient care.
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Kim Phuc was nine years
old in 1972. Severely
burned by napalm, she
ran from her burning
village and was captured
on film. Denise Chong
relates Kim's experience
and recovery in this
astonishing biography and
history of America's
shameful war. The
photograph of Kim, seen
around the world, was
one of many to turn
public opinion against
the war in Vietnam. This
is the story of how the
picture came to be and
also what happened to Kim
after it was taken. It
provides an insight into
the country Vietnam
became after the US army
left, and explains why
Kim finally had to flee
to Canada, where she now
lives.
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Details: The authorised
biography of one of the
greatest storytellers of
all time. "Irresistible.
I thought I knew quite a
lot about Roald Dahl,
but now I know much much
more. Donald Sturrock's
book lucidly describes a
complicated life and
relates it to the
richness of Dahl's
storytelling."Quentin
Blake Roald Dahl is one
of the greatest
storytellers of all time.
He pushed children's
literature into uncharted
territory and almost
twenty years after his
death his popularity
continues to grow -
worldwide sales of his
books have now topped 100
million. The man behind
the stories, however,
remains an enigma. Dahl
was a single-minded
adventurer, an eternal
child, and his public
persona was often
controversial. To his
readers, Dahl was always
a hero and his stories
have had an impact on the
lives and imaginations of
generations of children.
Since his death his
reputation has been
transformed. Critics now
too celebrate his wild
imagination, quirky
humour and linguistic
elegance; figures like
Willy Wonka, the BFG and
the Grand High Witch are
immortal literary
creations. In this
masterly biography,
Donald Sturrock reveals
many hitherto hidden
aspects of Roald Dahl's
life: his terrifying
experiences as a fighter
pilot; the mental anguish
caused by the death of
his seven-year-old
daughter; his work for
military intelligence at
the end of the war and
more. Written with
exclusive access to his
private papers and
manuscripts as well as
with reference to
hundreds of
newly-discovered letters,
Dahl lives on every page
of this utterly
compelling book, which
reveals the man as we've
never seen before. Ideal
for: Fans of Roald Dahl,
for those interested in
the life of one of the
greatest storytellers of
all time. This hardback
book has 655 pages and
measures: 24.2 x 16 x
4.5cm
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The charming, funny
successor to the hugely
popular 'Notes to my
Mother-in-Law', from the
inimitable Phyllida Law.
When her Uncle Arthur
dies, actress Phyllida
Law returns to the tiny
Scottish village of
Ardentinny to look after
her ma, Mego. Mego's
always been deliciously
dotty. She once put a new
packet of tights in the
fridge (and the bacon in
her sock drawer). But
Mego's older now and
becoming ever more
muddled. So Phyllida
devotes herself to
looking after Mego, but
not without the help of
friends, local
villagers, and her two
daughters, actresses
Emma and Sophie Thompson:
pulling together, they
maintain order in the
cottage, find Delia on
the telly and keep Mego's
spirits up-with a G&T if
all else fails. Somehow,
Phyllida even manages to
slip away on acting
jaunts in Glasgow and
Italy. Running through
Phyllida's account of
Mego's final months are
the anecdotes, memories
and legends that form the
fabric of every family.
Phyllida's account
captures the warmth and
tenderness of two
generations of daughters
brought together to care
for their much-loved
mother and grandmother.
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A lively, full and
absorbing book, both
biographical and
critical, relating the
plots and characters to
experiences in the
novelist's life. Trollope
is presented as one of
the most brilliant
witnesses and recorders
of life during the later
decades of Queen
Victoria's reign.
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'A uniquely charming and
enticing journey through
a remarkable life.
Coward's own record is
made all the more
delightful by the wise
and helpful
interpolations of Barry
Day, the soundest
authority on the Master
that there is.' Stephen
Fry 'Precise, witty,
remarkably observed and
gloriously English' Dame
Judi Dench 'Barry Day's
analysis is both
perceptive and
irresistible' Lord
Richard Attenborough With
virtually all the letters
in this volume previously
unpublished - this is a
revealing new insight
into the private life of
a legendary figure.
Coward's multi-faceted
talent as an actor,
writer, composer,
producer and even as a
war-time spy(!), brought
him into close contact
with the great, the good
and the merely ambitious
in film, literature and
politics.With letters to
and from the likes of:
George Bernard Shaw,
Virginia Woolf, Winston
Churchill, Greta Garbo
(she wrote asking him to
marry her), Marlene
Dietriech, Ian Fleming,
Graham Greene, Evelyn
Waugh, Fred Astaire,
Charlie Chaplin, FD
Roosevelt, the Queen
Mother and many more,
the picture that emerges
is a series of vivid
sketches of Noel Coward's
private relationships,
and a re-examination of
the man himself.
Deliciously insightful,
witty, perfectly bitchy,
wise, loving and often
surprisingly moving,
this extraordinary
collection gives us
Coward at his crackling
best. A sublime portrait
of a unique artist who
made an indelible mark on
the 20th century, from
the Blitz to the Ritz and
beyond.
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101 chance meetings,
juxtaposing the famous
and the infamous, the
artistic and the
philistine, the pompous
and the comical, the
snobbish and the vulgar,
told by Britains
funniest writer. Life is
made up of humans meeting
one another. They speak,
or don?t speak. They get
on, or fall out. They
laugh, they cry, are
excited, are
indifferent. One on One
is a chain of 101
extraordinary but true
encounters, from Tolstoy
rumbling Tchaikovsky in
1876 to George Galloway
baiting Michael Barrymore
in 2006. The Royal Family
giggle at T.S. Eliot,
Walter Sickert draws the
curtains on the
carol-singing Edward
Heath, Youssoupoff
assassinates Rasputin,
Marilyn Monroe
commissions Frank Lloyd
Wright. Circular in its
construction, panoramic
in its breadth, One on
One is a book like no
other. ?Browns
glorious book is an
original and a complete
delight? Miranda Seymour,
Sunday Times, Books of
the Year
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Ecclestone has never
before revealed how he
graduated from selling
second-hand cars in
London's notorious Warren
Street to become the
major player he is today.
He has finally decided to
reveal his secrets: the
deals, the marriages,
the disasters and the
successes on the
racetrack, in Downing
Street, in casinos, on
yachts. Surprisingly he
has granted access to his
inner circle to Tom
Bower, the most
controversial biographer
of them all. The result
is a unique story of a
simple, driven man who
unlike shady tycoons
offers an intriguing
insight into the sport,
business and the human
spirit.
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-
From the author of the
ever-popular Flashman
novels, a collection of
film-world reminiscences
and trenchant thoughts on
Cool Britannia, New
Labour and other
abominations. In between
writing Flashman novels,
George MacDonald Fraser
spent thirty years as an
"incurably star struck"
screenwriter, working
with the likes of Steve
McQueen, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Cubby
Broccoli, Burt
Lancaster, Federico
Fellini and Oliver Reed.
Now he shares his
recollections of those
encounters, providing a
fascinating glimpse
behind the scenes. Far
from starry-eyed where
Tony Blair & Co are
concerned, he looks back
also to the Britain of
his youth and castigates
those responsible for its
decline to "a Third World
country.. .misruled by a
typical Third World
government, corrupt,
incompetent and
undemocratic".
Controversial, witty and
revealing - or
"curmudgeonly",
reactionary, undiluted
spleen, according to the
critics - The Light's on
at Signpost has struck a
chord with a great
section of the public.
Perhaps, as one reader
suggests, it should be
"hidden beneath the
floorboards, before the
Politically-Correct
Thought Police come
hammering at the door,
demanding to confiscate
any copies".
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Eight million people
improve their mornings by
tuning into Terry's words
of wisdom on Wake up to
Wogan. But is their
appetite sated by this
daily exposure? Not in
the slightest. So it's
lucky that Terry has been
known to turn his hand to
the odd bit of writing.
This has allowed him to
shed light on such
weighty matters as how to
survive a wedding, what
Bank Holidays are for,
why Eurovision could be
responsible for the
Celtic Tiger, whether we
should watch out for
potatoes, and where
exactly it all went
pear-shaped.. .WHERE WAS
I? gives his devoted
followers exactly what
they want - the
unadulterated,
inimitable Wogan
viewpoint; a droll,
forthright voice of
sanity in a world gone
gently mad (or is it
them?). Like his
broadcasting, his
writing is an effortless
flow of easy wit and sage
opinion. WHERE WAS I?
builds up a picture not
only of Terry's world,
but of Terry himself - a
man who somehow manages
to be off the wall and on
the money all at the same
time. Never less than
funny, and never less
than frank, WHERE WAS I?
demonstrates exactly how
he has come to be
regarded as a national
treasure.
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-
Details: The search for
the ?the real Saint
Patrick? has puzzled and
intrigued scholars for
centuries. How much can
we really know about the
life and times of
Patrick? Why and how was
the Patrick myth built up
in the seventh century,
and what was its
influence on the
development of Irish
Catholicism? This new
study takes a new
approach to these
questions. It begins by
looking at what we expect
from history; and the
very different
expectations of those who
made Patrick famous,
gave value to his
writings so that they
were preserved, and
produced the interest
that is still with us.
Only when we can
distinguish between the
problems and perspectives
of the hagiographer, on
the one hand, and the
historian, on the other,
can we begin to approach
Patrick. This is superb
popular history, rooted
in a lifetime of research
and study of the original
sources, that undermines
many of our
preconceptions about
Patrick and reveals
several surprises. It
includes new translations
of the life of Patrick
and Patricks own
writings, as well as an
extensive bibliography
and resources for further
reading. Part One is a
narrative outlining the
problems of coming to
know Patrick and to
outline the earliest
evidence for Christianity
in Ireland. Part Two is
made up of fresh
translations of the basic
sources for Patrick and
his cult. Ideal for: a
must-read for anyone who
is curious to understand
what St. Patrick's Day is
really all about. This
paperback book has 254
pages and measures: 21.5
x 13.5 x 2cm
Availability: In Stock
£5.99
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-
Who was the real Jane
Austen? Overturning the
traditional portrait of
the author as
conventional and genteel,
bestseller Paula Byrne's
landmark biography
reveals the real woman
behind the books. In this
new biography,
bestselling author Paula
Byrne (author of Perdita,
Mad World) explores the
forces that shaped the
interior life of
Britain's most beloved
novelist: her father's
religious faith, her
mother's aristocratic
pedigree, her eldest
brother's adoption, her
other brothers' naval and
military experiences,
her relatives in the East
and West Indies, her
cousin who lived through
the trauma of the French
Revolution, the family's
amateur theatricals, the
female novelists she
admired, her residence
in Bath, her love of the
seaside, her travels
around England and her
long struggle to become a
published author. Byrne
uses a highly innovative
technique whereby each
chapter begins from an
object that conjures up a
key moment or theme in
Austen's life and work-a
silhouette, a vellum
notebook, a topaz cross,
a laptop writing box, a
royalty cheque, a
bathing machine, and
many more. The woman who
emerges in this biography
is far tougher, more
socially and politically
aware, and altogether
more modern than the
conventional picture of
'dear Aunt Jane' would
allow. Published to
coincide with the
bicentenary of Pride and
Prejudice, this lively
and scholarly biography
brings Austen dazzlingly
into the twenty-first
century.
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-
'Hunger is the loudest
voice in my head. I'm
hungry most of the time.'
On a January morning in
2003, William Leith woke
up to the fattest day of
his life. That same day
he left London for New
York to interview
controversial diet guru
Dr Robert Atkins. But
what started out as a
routine journalistic
assignment set Leith on
an intensely personal and
illuminating journey into
the mysteries of hunger
and addiction. In his
twenties, Leith's weight
had risen steadily. In
his early thirties, he
was slim again, but
then, predictably, his
weight began to creep up
- and up, and up. At his
worst he was driven to
the kitchen, manically
consuming slice after
slice of buttered toast,
lusting after fries,
bacon sandwiches and
peanut butter, wracked
by a need that was
emotional as well as
physical. Fat has been
called a feminist issue.
But in this unflinching
investigation into the
bodily consequences and
psychological pain of
being overweight, Leith
reveals how it affects us
all. Our fat society, he
tells us, is a lot like
him: always hiding from
the truth about itself.
"The Hungry Years" charts
fascinating new territory
for everyone who has ever
had a craving or counted
a calorie. It is a story
of food, fat, and
addiction that is both
funny and
heart-wrenching.
Availability: In Stock
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-
The war is over, the RAF
uniform has been handed
in and James Herriot goes
back where he ought to be
- at work in the dales
around Darrowby. Much has
changed, but the
blunt-spoken Yorkshire
folk and the host of
four-legged patients are
still the same. So is
their vet, who doesn't
yet know that literary
success is just around
the corner...'After an
evening among his tales,
anyone with as much as a
dog or a budgerigar will
feel he should move to
Darrowby at once'
Yorkshire Post 'Wonderful
tales...a joyous book, a
celebration of life
itself' Publishers Weekly
Availability: In Stock
£1.99
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-
Celebrated novelist
Daphne Du Maurier and her
sisters, eclipsed by her
fame, are revealed in
all their surprising
complexity in this
riveting new biography.
The middle sister in a
famous artistic dynasty,
Daphne du Maurier is one
of the master
storytellers of our time,
author of 'Rebecca',
'Jamaica Inn' and 'My
Cousin Rachel', and
short stories, 'Don't
Look Now' and the
terrifying 'The Birds'
among many. Her stories
were made memorable by
the iconic films they
inspired, three of them
classic Hitchcock
chillers. But her sisters
Angela and Jeanne, a
writer and an artist of
talent, had creative and
romantic lives even more
bold and unconventional
than Daphne's own. In
this group biography they
are considered side by
side, as they were in
life, three sisters who
grew up during the 20th
century in the glamorous
hothouse of a theatrical
family dominated by a
charismatic and powerful
father. This family
dynamic reveals the
hidden lives of Piffy,
Bird & Bing, full of
social non-conformity,
love, rivalry and
compulsive make-believe,
their lives as
psychologically complex
as a Daphne du Maurier
novel.
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-
When Barbara Davies was
sent to Russia on a
newspaper assignment,
she met Lieutenant
Valinsky and her world
was turned upside down.
Fascinated by the harsh
simplicity of his
day-to-day existence in a
freezing Russian winter,
she embarked on a
whirlwind, passionate
affair with him,
determined to turn her
back on her old life
forever. But Barbara soon
had to confront the stark
differences between their
two worlds, and ask
herself whether their
lives could ever come
together to give her what
she desired the most.
Sensual and uplifting,
this frank memoir
reflects on the
complexities of love and
how one chance meeting
can change everything.
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Alan and Irene first met
in Rennie Road children's
home when he was seven
and she was nine. Both
had lost their mothers
when they were very
young. When the car Irene
was in drew up outside
the Home, seven year-old
Alan was staring out of
the window. And when he
saw the little girl step
out of the car, he knew,
in that instant, that
she was someone special.
Alan dashed outside to
meet her, and promised
to show her where
everything was. Over the
next year the children
were inseparable. But
close friendships weren't
encouraged and when it
was discovered how close
they were Alan was sent
away without any
explanation and no
goodbye. Despite being
forcibly parted their
bond was never broken and
each started an
incredible 45 year
journey to find the other
again. This is a love
story that stretches
across what is now 50
years and regardless of a
series of amazing
coincidences and almost
insurmountable obstacles,
they found each other at
last and married in 2007.
NOT WITHOUT YOU contains
painful memories of
lonely childhoods,
cruelty and desperate
attempts to escape the
system, but it's an
astonishing story that
demonstrates the ultimate
truth: that love can
surmount all odds.
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-
As Obama's triumphant
'Yes we can' continues to
reverberate, it's
tempting to believe that
a new era of opportunity
has dawned. But there
still are several million
dirt-poor, disgruntled
Americans for whom the
possibility of change is
as far away as ever.
These are the gun-owning,
donut dunkin,
uninsured, underemployed
rednecks who occupy
America's heartland: the
ones who never got a
slice of the pie during
the good times, and the
ones who have been hit
hardest by the economic
slump. Theirs is a
hard-luck story that goes
back generations and Joe
Bageant tells it here
with poignancy,
indignation, and
tinder-dry wit. Through
the tale of his own
rambunctious Scots-Irish
family, starting with
his grandparents Maw and
Pap, Bageant traces the
post-war migration of the
rural poor to the
sprawling suburbs where
they found, not the
affluence they'd dreamed
of, but isolation and
deprivation, and the
bitter futility of hope.
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The life of Nelson
Mandela, one of the most
charismatic statesmen of
all time, is celebrated
in this book with a
unique collection of
photographs telling the
story of his rise from
humble beginnings in the
tribal huts of his native
Transkei to become a
firebrand lawyer,
political campaigner,
Nobel Prize winner and
President of South
Africa.
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£6.99
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Details: A newly edited,
single-volume
commemorative edition of
?The Path to Power? and
?The Downing Street
Years?; this is Margaret
Thatcher in her own
words. Margaret Thatcher
was the towering figure
of late-twentieth-century
British politics. Now
following her death in
2013, this is her own
account of her remarkable
life. Beginning with her
upbringing in Grantham,
she goes on to describe
her entry into
Parliament. Rising
through the ranks of this
mans world, she
led the Conservative
Party to victory in 1979,
becoming Britain's first
woman prime minister.
Offering a riveting
firsthand version of the
critical moments of her
premiership ? the
Falklands War, the
miners' strike, the
Brighton bomb and her
unprecedented three
election victories, the
book reaches a gripping
climax with an
hour-by-hour description
of her dramatic final
days in 10 Downing
Street. Margaret
Thatchers frank and
compelling autobiography
stands as a powerful
testament to her
influential legacy. Ideal
for: Fans of Margaret
Thatcher and people with
a keen interest in
politics. This paperback
book has 788 pages and
measures: 23.2 x 15.2 x
4.9cm
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The compelling biography
of the beautiful,
talented Garman sisters
and the glittering,
romantic era in which
they lived. Each of the
seven Garman sisters were
strikingly beautiful,
artistic and wild. Born
around the turn of the
nineteenth century, most
of the siblings were to
become involved in the
radical literary and
political circles of
British life between the
First and Second World
Wars. Their morals were
unconventional:
bisexuality,
unfaithfulness and
illegitimate children
were a matter of course.
Nevertheless they were
high-minded and intensely
loyal. They were the last
muses: women who were
prepared to sideline
their own talent,
friendships, material
comforts - even their own
children - in order to
beguile and inspire the
men they loved. Cressida
Connolly's family
biography delves into the
lives of three of the
sisters in intense and
revealing detail.
Kathleen Garman, the
father's favourite, ran
away to London to study
music. She was spotted by
the American sculptor
Jacob Epstein, who
promptly fell in love
with her, and remained
his muse until his death.
They had three children,
she was shot in the
shoulder by his first
wife and she finally
became Lady Epstein in
1955. Mary Garman came to
London with Kathleen and
studied art at the Slade.
She married poet Roy
Campbell, who was to
become the scourge of the
literary establishment by
espousing General
Franco's side during the
Spanish Civil War.
Finally there was Lorna
Garman, the youngest and
most beautiful of all the
family. At sixteen she
married the wealthy
Ernest Wishart, a
landowner, communist and
founder of the socialist
publishing house Laurence
& Wishart, who spent
most of his life turning
a blind eye to his wife's
infidelities. Lorna was
the love of Laurie Lee's
life and they had a
daughter. Lucian Freud
painted several pictures
for her. Through Cressida
Connolly's skilfull
retelling of these
remarkable lives, we get
an intimate portrait of a
golden age of romance,
passion and art that is
an original, beguiling
read.
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'We had no antibiotics,
few drugs. A lot of time
was spent pouring things
down cows' throats. The
whole thing added up to a
lot of laughs. There's
more science now, but
not so many laughs'. We
all know James Herriot,
possibly the most famous
vet in the world. But how
did a young student named
Alf Wight become the man
who would charm millions
of readers the world
over? "Young Herriot"
tells the fascinating
story of James Herriot's
formative years at
veterinary college. Set
in Glasgow in the 1930s -
pre-antibiotics, when
veterinary practice was,
as Herriot wrote, 'more
art than science' - the
book shines a light on
his calling to work with
animals (which began when
he read an article in
"Meccano Magazine"
entitled 'Veterinary
Surgery as a Career'),
his early friendships and
quest for knowledge at
Glasgow's Veterinary
College and the early
development of his
legendary compassion for
animals. Accompanying a
major BBC drama series,
Young Herriot uses
previously unpublished
diaries and casebooks
from Herriot's days as a
student to bring to life
a fascinating time and
place, and represents a
thrilling new addition to
the James Herriot canon.
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The authorised biography
of one of the greatest
storytellers of all time,
written with complete
access to the archives
stored in the Roald Dahl
Museum and Story Centre.
Roald Dahl is one of the
greatest storytellers of
all time. He pushed
children's literature
into uncharted territory
and almost twenty years
after his death his
popularity continues to
grow ? worldwide sales of
his books have now topped
100 million. The man
behind the stories,
however, remains an
enigma. Dahl was a
single-minded adventurer,
an eternal child, and
his public persona was
often controversial. To
his readers, though,
Dahl was always a hero
and his stories have had
an impact on the lives
and imaginations of
generations of children.
Since his death his
reputation has been
transformed. Critics too
now celebrate his wild
imagination, quirky
humour and linguistic
elegance; figures like
Willy Wonka, the BFG and
the Grand High Witch are
immortal literary
creations. In this
masterly biography,
Donald Sturrock reveals
many hitherto hidden
aspects of Roald Dahl's
life: his terrifying
experiences as a fighter
pilot; the mental anguish
caused by the death of
his seven-year-old
daughter; his work for
military intelligence at
the end of the war and
more. Written with
exclusive access to his
private papers and
manuscripts as well as
with reference to
hundreds of
newly-discovered letters,
Dahl lives on every page
of this utterly
compelling book, which
reveals the man as we've
never seen him before.
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Michele Hanson grew up an
'oddball tomboy
disappointment' in a
Jewish family in Ruislip
in the 1950s - a
suburban, Metroland
idyll of neat lawns,
bridge parties and
Martini socials. Yet this
shopfront of
respectability masked a
multitude of anxieties
and suspected salacious
goings-on. Was Shirley's
mother really having an
affair with the man from
the carpet shop? Did
chatterbox Dora Colborne
harbour unspeakable
desires for Michele's
sulky dad? Whose
Battenburg cake was the
best? An atmosphere of
intense rivalry prevails,
with Michele's mum very
suspicious of her
non-Jewish neighbour's
domestic and personal
habits, and Michele very
wary of children's games
like 'Doctors and Nurses'
that might bring bottoms
into the equation. And
with glamorous, scheming
Auntie Celia swanning
around in silk dresses
demanding attention,
Michele has a lot to
contend with. Only the
annual holidays to the
south of France relieve
the tension. This
hilarious and wonderfully
evocative memoir charts
Michele's childhood and
coming of age in a
Britain that was emerging
from post-war austerity
into the days of 'you've
never had it so good'. It
is a characterful and
affectionate look at a
way of British life long
since disappeared but one
for which we continue to
hold huge affection.
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When the newly qualified
vet, James Herriot,
arrives in the small
Yorkshire village of
Darrowby, he has no idea
of the new friends he
will meet or adventures
that lie ahead. From the
author whose books
inspired the BBC series
"All Creatures Great and
Small", this first
volume of unforgettable
memoirs chronicles James
Herriot's first years as
a country vet, with the
signature storytelling
magic that has made him a
favourite the world over.
Here is a book for all
those who find laughter
and joy in animals, and
who know and understand
the magic of wild places
and beautiful
countryside.
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Details: Performance is a
cult 1968 film that
inhabits a disturbing
world of sex, violence,
reality, fantasy and
unexpected role
reversals. Beset by
controversy, it brought
together London's violent
gangster subculture and
the hedonistic world of
1960s rock stardom. When
it was finally released
in 1970 it attracted
everything from puzzled
admiration to vitriolic
hatred. Mick Jagger's
participation had helped
director Donald Cammells
sell his original idea to
Warner Bros, but the
studio heads were
appalled by the perverted
result presented at their
first screening. Ordered
to recut, and almost
destroyed altogether,
the scene was set for
endless rumours and myths
surrounding the history
of the film as well as
the personality of future
suicide Cammell. This
book is a detailed
account of the film from
its inception, offering
new and surprising
insights into how it was
made. Ideal for: Those
with a passion for
classic film history.
This hardback book has
320 pages and measures:
24 x 16 x 3.2cm.
Availability: In Stock
£4.99
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Stephenie Meyer is as
important to Twilight
fans as the characters in
her novels. This
wonderful book answers
all your burning
questions about Stephenie
and her incredible
bestselling books. It
includes exclusive
interviews, photos and
never-before revealed
details.
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Until the posthumous
publication of the
Millennium Trilogy,
Stieg Larsson was
probably best known for
his commitment to
left-wing causes, and
his tireless work as an
anti-fascist activist.
Horrified by the rise of
far-right extremism in
Sweden, he threw himself
into monitoring and
exposing these often
shadowy and violent
groups and gained an
international reputation
for the depth of his
achievements and
knowledge. However his
work carried substantial
risks and he and his
partner Eva Gabrielsson
lived in constant fear
for their lives. Jan
Erik-Pettersson shows how
Stieg's activism and
energetic championing of
social justice and
women's rights
characterised his life,
as well as demonstrating
how these concerns
animated his huge-selling
Millennium Trilogy, in
particular the
unforgettable character
of Lisbeth Salander. He
also persuasively
establishes Stieg's place
within the explosion of
Scandinavian crime with
which his novels are so
closely associated,
showing that in many ways
his fiction stands
somewhat apart from the
work of other authors in
this tradition. In Stieg:
From Activist to Author,
Jan Erik-Pettersson
portrays a man willing to
put his life at risk in
order to fight for the
things in which he
believed, and an author
whose inimitable work was
energized by the causes
to which he was so
strongly committed.
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A frank, gripping,
moving - and
controversial -
autobiography from one of
the most idiosyncratic
and effective politicians
of the last fifty years.
His political
convictions, his
distance from New Labour,
and his direct,
plain-speaking style and
personality have allowed
him to survive longer
than any of his
contemporaries as a man
of principle and
influence. From his
eccentric South London
working class childhood
to running one of the
biggest cities in the
world, Livingstone is
one of the very few
politicians to have
scored a major victory
over the Thatcher
Government and has
championed issues as
diverse as the
environment, gay rights
and anti-racism. Written
in Livingstone's
unmistakable voice, by
turns angrily sincere
about social injustice,
wickedly droll and
gossipy, and
surprisingly wistful
about people he has known
and loved, this is a
hugely important and
remarkable book from one
of the very few respected
politicians at work
today.
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