Caused me to laugh out loud The Times As a teenager Cox dreamed of sporting immortality. For four years he devoted himself to the game of golf. & then one day he walked away. But as he got older those dreams kept coming back. Perhaps it was turning thirty perhaps it was having his first hole in one but he decided it was time to start again to live the dream for real. So he switched off his computer grabbed his checked trouser & headed for the golf course. To turn pro. The Open Championship was only five of the best rounds of his life away & given a few warm-up tournaments how hard could it be? Cox may not have much to boast about in the field of sporting achievement but he has what many of his rivals palpably lack: an inner landscape an imagination. These are terrible handicaps for a golfer but pretty darn useful in a writer. A very very good book Daily Telegraph Im not a golf fan myself but Cox is such an enthusiastic writer that hes made me see the sport in a new light Mail on Sunday Tom Cox writes brilliantly about golf. He knows the game inside-out: its potent allure its absurd comedy & its mind-bending frustrations. If they had a handicap-system for golf-writers Tom Cox would be scratch William Boyd ...

West Ham United last won a major trophy in 1980 but the roller-coaster ride of the past three decades has produced enough twists & turns heroes & villains & contrasting emotions to grace the script of the most thrilling TV soap opera. Since Trevor Brooking headed home the FA Cup final winner against Arsenal the Hammers have experienced delight & despair in not so equal measure with a cast of controversial characters
- either adored or abhorred
- playing the key roles in a tale of fact rather than fiction. The saving of the club by David Sullivan & David Gold as West Ham stared into the financial abyss following the ill-fated Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson reign is the latest chapter in a saga that

Includes:: numerous promotions & relegations great escapes contentious changes of ownership & management internal feuds bust-ups & power struggles the Carlos Tevez affair & the passing of legends Ron Greenwood John Lyall & Bobby Moore as well as several false dawns in the endless quest for success. Including exclusive interviews with key protoganists Bring Me the Head of Trevor Brooking" tells
- for the very first time
- the inside story behind 60 of the most significant developments at Upton Park in the modern era. Whether examining the contributions of Paolo Di Canio Harry Redknapp & Frank Mc Avennie or Gianfranco Zola Marco Boogers & Iain Dowie the book celebrates the good the bad & the ugly of West Ham United."





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Here is Niven at his best. He & Errol Flynn were filming The Charge of the Light Brigade for a director Michael Curtiz 'whose Hungarian-orientated English was a joy to us all'. High on the rostrum he decided the moment had come to order the arrival on the scene of a hundred riderless chargers. Okay " he yelled into a megaphone " Bring on the empty horses!" ' BRING ON THE EMPTY HORSES is the second part of David Niven's internationally bestselling autobiography following the superbly entertaining THE MOON'S A BALLOON. Both books were highly acclaimed by the critics & remain as wonderful reminders of a much-loved actor who epitomised for many the essential British gent even when surrounded by the stars of Hollywood." ...

Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2012 With this historic win for BRING UP THE BODIES Hilary Mantel becomes the first British author & the first woman to be awarded two Man Booker Prizes as well as being the first to win with two consecutive novels. Continuing what began in the Man Booker Prize-winning WOLF HALL we return to the court of Henry VIII to witness the irresistible rise of Thomas Cromwell as he contrives the destruction of Anne Boleyn. By 1535 Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry his fortunes having risen with those of Anne Boleyn. But the split from the Catholic Church has left England dangerously isolated & Anne has failed to give the king an heir. Cromwell watches as Henry falls for plain Jane Seymour. Negotiating the politics of the court Cromwell must find a solution that will satisfy Henry safeguard the nation & secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge unscathed from the bloody theatre of Anne's final days. An astounding literary accomplishment BRING UP THE BODIES is the story of this most terrifying moment of history by one of our greatest living novelists. ...

Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2012 With this historic win for BRING UP THE BODIES Hilary Mantel becomes the first British author & the first woman to be awarded two Man Booker Prizes as well as being the first to win with two consecutive novels. Continuing what began in the Man Booker Prize-winning WOLF HALL we return to the court of Henry VIII to witness the irresistible rise of Thomas Cromwell as he contrives the destruction of Anne Boleyn. By 1535 Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry his fortunes having risen with those of Anne Boleyn. But the split from the Catholic Church has left England dangerously isolated & Anne has failed to give the king an heir. Cromwell watches as Henry falls for plain Jane Seymour. Negotiating the politics of the court Cromwell must find a solution that will satisfy Henry safeguard the nation & secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge unscathed from the bloody theatre of Annes final days. An astounding literary accomplishment BRING UP THE BODIES is the story of this most terrifying moment of history by one of our greatest living novelists. ...

Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2012 the 2012 Costa Book of the Year & shortlisted for the 2013 Women's Prize for Fiction. With this historic win for ' Bring Up the Bodies' Hilary Mantel becomes the first British author & the first woman to be awarded two Man Booker Prizes (her first was for ' Wolf Hall' in 2009). By 1535 Thomas Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry VIII his fortunes having risen with those of Anne Boleyn the king's new wife. But Anne has failed to give the king an heir & Cromwell watches as Henry falls for plain Jane Seymour. Cromwell must find a solution that will satisfy Henry safeguard the nation & secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge unscathed from the bloody theatre of Anne's final days. An astounding literary accomplishment ' Bring Up the Bodies' is the story of this most terrifying moment of history by one of our greatest living novelists. ...

Real-life all too rarely offers stories that are quite as satisfying as fiction. Bringing Down the House" is one of the exceptions. Cheating in casinos is illegal: card-counting
- making a record of what cards have so far been dealt to enable the player to make some prediction of what cards remain in the deck
- is not. But casinos understandably dislike the practice & make every effort to keep card-counters out of their premises banning them & using private detectives to share information on suspected & known counters. " Bringing Down the House" tells the true story of the most successful scam ever in which teams of brilliant young mathematicians & physicists won millions of dollars from the casinos of Las Vegas being drawn in the process into the high-life of drugs high-spending & sex."

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I was now very aware of Ronnies dreaded list". The list contained the names of people he wanted to kill; that he was going to kill. As soon as I saw it I knew something had to be done. The Krays were out of control. They had the East End buttoned up too tight & someone had to undo it. Slowly I realised that someone had to be me... Bobby Teale & his brothers David & Alfie were the three men the Kray twins trusted most. They werent in the Firm they were closer than that. They were old family friends confidants companions... But then things changed. Witnessing Ronnie & Reggie become increasingly psychotic
- taking murder torture & rape to sickening new levels
- Bobby knew he had to take action. Unknown to his brothers he became a police informer; risking not just his own life but those of the people dearest to him too. Using the codename Phillips he was forced to live on his wits feeding back information to Scotland Yard. With bent cops on their side the Krays knew they had a grass in their midst but before they could flush him out Bobbys evidence saw the gangsters get locked up for life. Bobby fled the country but now 40 years on hes back. & he wants to set the record straight. With the help of his brothers the man brave enough to stand up to the Krays has rewritten history as we know it; dispelling the myths & tearing apart the gangsters glamorous veneer to reveal the true sadistic nature of Ronnie & Reggie. Crammed full of explosive new revelations " Bringing Down The Krays" is the last great untold story of Britains most infamous crime family."

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' The Krays were out of control. They had the East End buttoned up too tight & someone had to undo it. Slowly I realised that someone had to be me...' Bobby Teale & his brothers David & Alfie were the three men the Kray twins trusted most. They weren't in the Firm they were closer than that. They were old family friends confidants companions... But then things changed. Witnessing Ronnie & Reggie become increasingly psychotic
- taking murder torture & rape to sickening new levels
- Bobby knew he had to take action. Unknown to his brothers he became a police informer; risking not just his own life but those of the people dearest to him too. Using the codename ' Phillips' he was forced to live on his wits feeding back information to Scotland Yard. With bent cops on their side the Krays knew they had a grass in their midst but before they could flush him out Bobby's evidence saw the London gangsters get locked up for life. Bobby fled the country but now 40 years on he's back. & he wants to set the record straight. With the help of his brothers the man brave enough to stand up to the Krays has rewritten history as we know it; dispelling the myths & tearing apart the gangsters' glamorous veneer to reveal the true sadistic nature of Ronnie & Reggie. Crammed full of explosive new revelations Bringing Down The Krays" is the last great untold story of Britain's most infamous crime family."

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Hot-diggerty! Whatever's that?" exclaims Mole as he burrows out of the ground one night & catches sight of the moon. He thinks it's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen & he wants it so he sets about trying to pull it down
- to no avail. When all of his efforts prove to be in vain he suddenly notices the moon's in a puddle at his feet & reaches to pick it up...and breaks it. Poor Mole's inconsolable until he is shown that the moon is not broken at all but just as beautiful as ever hanging in the sky like a bright silver coin. & it's not as near as it looks!"
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