Biography: arts and entertainment Books

Book SynopsisMahler's life was a remarkably complex one, his success as a conductor continually overshadowed by his craving for recognition as a composer. Recognition which never came in his lifetime. In this biography, the author reveals how Mahler's personality, his extraordinary life and his music are inseparable. New light is shed on his strange relationship with Alma Mahler, his wife, and on his turbulent love affairs. In Vienna, where he directed the Opera, Mahler was a prime target for rumour mongers. Nothing he did, whether private or public, escaped the attention of a Vienna avid for details of his personal life. The author portrays vividly the conflict which arose from the demands made on Mahler by his enormously successful career, and his desperate desire to pursue the creation of great music. Illustrated with portraits of the people who made up Mahler's world and photographs of places associated with him, this book unfolds Mahler's story with impressive psychological insight. Includes a CD featuring a selection of recordings by the composer.

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Book SynopsisArguably the greatest of all piano virtuosi, Liszt was one of the few composers of his day who had the technique to perform his own compositions. A child prodigy pianist who could read music before he could recite the alphabet, Franz Liszt is one of the most outrageously gifted and most controversial figures in classical music. Unconventional in both his approach to composing and his personal life, he had a reputation for courting hostility and riding rough-shod over other people's feelings, particularly those of his musical peers. This lavishly illustrated book chronicles Liszt's life and times with the help of many rare photographs and contemporary prints. With numerous quotations from the people who knew him best, extracts from personal letters and diaries, this remarkable book gives an intimate picture of the composer's private life, and also investigates the complex religious and emotional forces which inspired his music. Includes a CD featuring a selection of recordings by the composer.

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Book SynopsisHollywood superstar; Oscar-winning director; greatest stage actor of the twentieth century. His era abounded in greats - Gielgud, Richardson, Guinness, Burton, O'Toole - but none could challenge Laurence Olivier's range and power. By the 1940s he had achieved international stardom. His affair with Vivien Leigh led to a marriage as glamorous and as tragic as any in Hollywood history. He was as accomplished a director as he was a leading man: his three Shakespearian adaptations are among the most memorable ever filmed. Off-stage, Olivier was the most extravagant of characters: generous, yet almost insanely jealous of those few contemporaries whom he deemed to be his rivals; charming but with a ferocious temper. With access to more than fifty hours of candid, unpublished interviews, Philip Ziegler ensures that Olivier's true character - at its most undisguised - shines through as never before.Trade Review'A triumph ... It succeeds, as far as is humanly possible, in bringing alive on the page Olivier's magnetic theatrical presence, which those who saw him act will never forget' John Carey, Sunday Times. * Sunday Times *'An elegant and increasingly compelling book' Simon Callow, Guardian. * Guardian *'Without adulation, sentimentality and or sneer, layer by layer as the 82 years of Olivier's life flow by Ziegler painstakingly uncovers a portrait of a real man. It is enthralling. I took it on holiday and could hardly bear to finish it ... tremendous' Libby Purves, The Times. * The Times *'Philip Ziegler's splendid biography confirms the contention that Lord Olivier OM is as great a figure in the history of the English theatre as David Garrick or Sir Henry Irving' Economist. * Economist *'Philip's book is the Larry I knew' Tarquin Olivier. * Tarquin Olivier *Table of ContentsList of illustrations. Beginnings. Apprentice Days. Breakthrough. Birth of a Classical Actor. Film Star. War. Naval Officer. The Old Vic. 'Hamlet'. Australasia. Life Without the Old Vic. Disintegration of a Marriage. Stratford. L.O.P. Marking Time. Chichester. The National: Act One. The National: Act Two. The National: Act Three. Problems. Challenges. Who Will Take Over? The Coming of Hall. Olivier's Occupation Gone? Old Age. Death. Biographer's Afterword. Note on Sources. Notes. Acknowledgments. Index. Picture Credits.

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Book SynopsisDoctor Who has had children hiding behind sofas since 1963. With it’s re-launch in 2005, it is now more popular than ever. Eleven actors have played the famous Time Lord, starting with William Hartnell, and it has been a career landmark for all of them. Indeed, no other role in television history is as iconic, demanding, or as anticipated by its legion of fans as that of the famous time traveller with two hearts. All the bizarre facts of Doctor Who are explained as the lives and careers of each Doctor are put under the spotlight and given credit they so richly deserve. Find out o Who was a bouncer for the Rolling Stones o Who was nearly blown up in the Second World War aboard the HMS Hood o Who played a transvestite barmaid before becoming a Dr Who heart-throb

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Book SynopsisIn Two Minds is the first comprehensive biography of Jonathan Miller – the story of one of post-war Britain’s most intriguing polymaths. Descended from immigrants who fled Tsarist anti-Semitism to become shopkeepers in Ireland and London’s East End, Miller was born into an intellectual milieu, between Bloomsbury and Harley Street – the son of a novelist and a leading child psychiatrist. Miller trained as adoctor but then forged a career as a stellar comedian and as a world-renowned theatre and opera director. He is a controversial humorist, public intellectual and TV personality. As a star in the groundbreaking satirical revue Beyond the Fringe, he shot to fame alongside Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett. His expertise and interests encompass many areas, from medicine (he wrote and presented the hugely acclaimed BBC documentary series The Body in Question) to the history of art, Mozart, atheism and the nature of laughter. Jonathan Miller is one of the most multi-talented Britons of his generation, celebrated for his dazzling intelligence and anti-establishmentarian wit. Drawing on in-depth interviews, this is an entertaining and illuminating portrait of a fascinatingly complex man.Trade ReviewA remarkable portrait of a complex and Coleridgean figure, a man in two minds about himself for most of his life * The Telegraph *Bassett is herself a fine, fierce theatre critic – her write-ups of Miller's productions have verve and perceptive grace… thorough… entertaining * Guardian *‘An admirably thorough job of a biography: sympathetic, deeply researched, informed by long conversations with Miller and dozens of friends, colleagues and, occasionally, enemies.’ * The Spectator *‘Kate Bassett’s fascinating book draws together the many strands that combine to make this renaissance man.’ * Jewish Chronicle *‘Sir Jonathan Miller is a remarkable man. As one of the great egocentrics of his generation, he would not question this judgment... Ms Bassett’s first-class biography does not mask Sir Jonathan’s weaknesses, but she says that, “in conversation, his flaws seem more tragicomic than intolerable—the bile and bitterness never quite obliterate the man’s warmth.”’ * The Economist *‘Absorbing, in-depth and erudite… Bassett, who clearly likes and respects her subject but isn't overawed by him, sensibly marshals the arguments on both sides and leaves it up to the reader how posterity will regard Miller.’ * Observer *‘Miller’s bravura is exemplary and life-enhancing, so it is sad to learn from Kate Bassett’s magnificent biography (brilliantly researched – even the extensive endnotes are a joy) that the man himself somehow feels hard-done-by, unappreciated and under-rewarded.' * Financial Times *‘Bassett’s beautifully balanced account… describes how caring [Miller] can be to friends, and how he can enthuse them with his dazzling cross-disciplinary ideas. His secret of survival? For every bridge he burns, he’s somehow able to build another. He’s inexhaustible, and unceasingly curious. Bassett treats her subject with respect, and, thankfully, without kid gloves… fascinating’ * Bloomberg *‘There is no more extraordinary figure in British public life than Jonathan Miller… His achievement is undeniable, as In Two Minds makes clear, and though his workaholic days are behind him, he reveals no signs of retirement.’ * Wall Street Journal *A remarkable portrait of a complex and Coleridgean figure, a man in two minds about himself for most of his life. * Five stars - Telegraph *Scrupulously researched, always fascinating... As Bassett says in her admirably measured book, there's 'bile and bitterness' here. As she demonstrates, there's also genius. * London Times *Bassett is herself a fine, fierce theatre critic - her write-ups of Miller's productions have verve and perceptive grace... thorough... entertaining. * Guardian *An admirably thorough job of a biography: sympathetic, deeply researched, informed by long conversations with Miller and dozens of friends, colleagues and, occasionally, enemies. * Spectator *Kate Bassett's fascinating book draws together the many strands that combine to make this renaissance man. * Jewish Chronicle *Sir Jonathan Miller is a remarkable man. As one of the great egocentrics of his generation, he would not question this judgment... Ms Bassett's first-class biography does not mask Sir Jonathan's weaknesses, but she says that, "in conversation, his flaws seem more tragicomic than intolerable--the bile and bitterness never quite obliterate the man's warmth. * Economist *Absorbing, in-depth and erudite... Bassett, who clearly likes and respects her subject but isn't overawed by him, sensibly marshals the arguments on both sides and leaves it up to the reader how posterity will regard Miller. * Observer *Kate Bassett's brilliant, exhaustively researched biography... reminds us what a truly astonishing man he is. Just try to imagine post-war British culture without him. * Jewish Chronicle *Compelling.. a dense, exhaustively well-researched portrait... a persuasive, ultimately rather sad portrait of a North London Jewish boy. * Sunday Times *‘Jonathan Miller…prodigiously multi-talented: mimic, comic actor, opera director, television-talker, scientist – he has excelled in all those spheres… This absolutely brilliant biography…shows us that Miller is still the brilliant schoolboy, fascinated by dissecting animals and reading philosophy, still with an adolescent sense of mischief and the adolescent sense of grievance.’ -- A.N. Wilson‘Bassett’s beautifully balanced account…describes how caring [Miller] can be to friends, and how he can enthuse them with his dazzling cross-disciplinary ideas. His secret of survival? For every bridge he burns, he’s somehow able to build another. He’s inexhaustible, and unceasingly curious. Bassett treats her subject with respect, and, thankfully, without kid gloves…fascinating.’ * Bloomberg *‘Showing tremendous understanding of the poisoned chalice that his Janus-faced intellect has been… A remarkable portrait of a complex and Coleridgean figure, a man in two minds about himself for most of his life.’ * Telegraph *‘Absorbing, in-depth and erudite…Bassett’s book…produce[s] an appealingly multifaceted figure of a man whose polymathic genius has never been in doubt, but whose refusal to toe the British line of self-deprecation has seen him become something of a prophet without honour at home.’ * Observer *‘Sympathetic, deeply researched, informed by long conversations with Miller and dozens of friends, colleagues and, occasionally, enemies.’ * The Spectator *‘Bassett is herself a fine, fierce theatre critic – her write-ups of Miller’s productions have verve and perceptive grace…entertaining.’ * Guardian *‘Miller’s bravura is exemplary and life-enhancing…Kate Bassett’s magnificent biography [is] brilliantly researched – even the extensive endnotes are a joy.’ * Financial Times *Scrupulously researched, always fascinating… As Bassett says in her admirably measured book, there’s ‘bile and bitterness’ here. As she demonstrates, there’s also genius * The Times *Compelling.. a dense, exhaustively well-researched portrait... a persuasive, ultimately rather sad portrait of a North London Jewish boy * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisIn a world of boy bands and manufactured pop, Jake Bugg's simply-strummed tales of life on the council estate where he grew up have connected with music fans around the world. Bugg has turned the music industry inside out with the unexpected success of his country folk songs with a rockabilly twist. He's taken the sounds of the 1950s and 60s into the 21st century. But how did a teenager from Nottingham - a city whose music scene was previously notable for one hit wonders and novelty records - go from the bottom of the bill to the top in such a short space of time? Journalist David Nolan has immersed himself in the Nottingham music scene and tracked down the key players who helped Jake along the way. Here, for the first time, is Bugg's story, in this unofficial biography. Jake Bugg: is he The Council Estate Bob Dylan, The Cockiest Lonnie Donegan Wannabe in Nottingham or The King of the Clifton Delta? Maybe he's all three.

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Book SynopsisMetallica's ascension from thrash metal obscurity to becoming arguably one of the greatest rock bands the world has ever known, can be directly attributed to its lead singer and guitarist, James Hetfield. Having sold 110 million records worldwide and with an impressive eight Grammy Awards to their name, Metallica is undoubtedly a commercial triumph, but what of the man behind the music? Of Metal and Man is the newly revised biography of this rock legend, offering an exclusive insight into the life and career of one of Metallica's founding members. Author Mark Eglinton charts the hidden complexities of the relationships within the band, exploring the effects that global fame has had on Hetfield and his cohorts. Eglinton sheds light on both the highs of worldwide success and the lows of addiction and alcohol abuse, giving details of exclusive first-hand interviews with key figures from the band's inner circle. Dramatic and compelling, and now with newly updated material, this is the definitive biography of James Hetfield - singer-songwriter, guitarist and co-founder of a band which has changed the face of rock, the world over.

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Book SynopsisA relentless innovator, scoring chart hits while simultaneously incorporating radical and ground-breaking elements into his work.As with all great pop stars, Bowie's image changed with almost every new album release. This appetite for reinvention, both musically and visually, saw him dubbed the 'chameleon of pop'. But Bowie's influence extended well beyond his discography and make-up drawer. His androgynous qualities and public statements on his sexuality proved liberating for those who were uncertain about their own. Lives of the Musicians: David Bowie covers the years he spent struggling to find the right artistic outlet to the dramatic breakthrough in 1972 with Ziggy Stardust - and afterwards, the excessive lifestyle that nearly cost him his sanity. It continues with his artistic rebirth in Berlin during the late Seventies, the mainstream success he achieved with Let's Dance in 1983 and the artistic price that he paid for it.

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Book Synopsis'Entertaining... Wilson is affectionate without being reverential.' Daisy Goodwin, The TimesIn this original and vibrant examination of the life and times of Queen Elizabeth II, biographer and novelist A.N. Wilson paints a vivid portrait of 'Lilibet' the woman, and of her reign. He also considers the history of the monarchy, drawing a line that stretches from Queen Victoria to the bloody history of Europe in the twentieth century, examining how and why the Royal Family has survived. In part historical overview, but with a keen eye to the future, Wilson writes with his signature warmth, intelligence and humour, celebrating the life of the Queen and her role as figurehead of Britain and the Commonwealth.Trade ReviewEntertaining... Wilson is affectionate without being reverential. -- Daisy Goodwin * The Times *The clear-eyed biographer sets his sights on our monarch in this unusual examination of life and times of HM The Queen * Britain magazine *

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Book SynopsisThe Little Guide to Betty White captures the humor, tenacity, optimism and candor of this beloved comedian, actress, and legend in her own time. In honor of Betty's illustrious 80-plus-year career – from radio and TV variety shows to game shows and sitcoms, from Sue Ann Nivens in The Mary Tyler Moore Show to Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls – this celebration of her famous catchphrases, quips, one-liners, and words of wisdom delivers her own brand of quick-fired laughs to her millions of fans.One of the hardest-working actresses of all time and a tiny powerhouse of talent, Betty's gained a multigenerational fan base who are drawn to her comedic talent and plucky positivity – characteristics that have seen her make the most of her exceptional life and career while remaining authentic, humble, and down to earth. As she approaches her 100th birthday in January 2022, Betty continues to trailblaze as an entertainer and amuse ever-new audiences.Table of ContentsLife Lessons - With sage advice on everything from stage fright to friendships • Laughing Out Loud - A quick wit with expert comedic timing, here are some of her most memorable lines, scripted and unscripted • Show Business - Betty's insights on acting, the audience, and working in Tinseltown • Women & Romance - An early trailblazer for women in TV, Betty never let anything hold her back • Cats, Dogs... & Elephants - A love affair with pets and wildlife led her to promote more responsibility and kindness toward her special friends • Aging (Dis)Gracefully - Betty was pivotal in portraying the vibrant lives of senior women in the groundbreaking The Golden Girls and, in doing so, became a cultural icon for all generations.

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Book Synopsis‘Enthralling . . . an essential read, particularly for fans of 007.’ - Cinema Retro‘When Harry Met Cubby is a fitting tribute to two extraordinary men. If you love behind the scenes stories about the making of movies, there’s plenty of drama to sate you here.’ - Entertainment FocusAlbert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and Harry Saltzman remain the most successful producing partnership in movie history. Together they were responsible for the phenomenally successful James Bond series; separately they brought kitchen-sink drama to the screen, made a star out of Michael Caine in the Harry Palmer films and were responsible for the children’s classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. But their relationship was fraught almost from the very beginning. With such contrasting personalities, their interactions often span out of control. They managed to drive away their coveted star, Sean Connery, and ultimately each other.Loved and hated in equal measure, respected and feared by their contemporaries, few people have loomed as large over the film industry as Broccoli and Saltzman, yet their lives went in very different directions. Broccoli was feted as Hollywood royalty, whereas Saltzman ended up a forgotten recluse. When Harry Met Cubby charts the changing fortunes and clashing personalities of two titans of the big screen.

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Book Synopsis‘It is impossible not to be thrilled by Edgar Wallace.’ So said the blurbs of Wallace’s own books.Indeed, he was a prolific author of over 170 books, translated into more than thirty languages. More films were made from his books than any other twentieth-century writer, and in the 1920s a quarter of all books read in England were written by him. His success is written in black and white, but his life got off to an inauspicious start.Edgar Wallace, the illegitimate son of a travelling actress, rose from poverty in Victorian England to become the most popular author in the world and a global celebrity of his age.Famous for his thrillers, with their fantastic plots, in many ways Wallace did not write his most exciting story: he lived it, and here Neil Clark eloquently tells his tale to allow you to live it too.Trade ReviewClark’s aim is less to claim Wallace as a neglected genius than to 'generate renewed interest in this remarkable man'. In this he succeeds admirably. -- Duncan Campbell * The Guardian *A very readable biography about an extraordinary writer. -- Martin EdwardsA fascinating book which I wholeheartedly recommend. -- Christopher Gray * The Oxford Times *

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Book SynopsisIt was love at first taste for fifteen-year-old Tadhg Hickey when he drank a can of Scrumpy Jack on the night of his exam results. Straight away it provided a cure for that constant feeling of 'something wrong, something not quite right', a way of numbing anxiety and childhood trauma. He realised he was extraordinarily good at drinking and energetically threw himself into a life of pubs, parties and staying pissed, while also managing to become a comedian. But alcohol had the last laugh ...A Portrait of the Piss Artist as a Young Man shows us the often-hilarious lengths of self-deception an alcoholic will go to, the horrific consequences of addiction and the redemptive process of recovering from this deadly but ultimately treatable illness, and remaining sober. A deeply touching memoir and with a side of self-help, Tadhg's easy-going writing style belies his serious message - that each of us has the power to change our lives.Trade Review'Tadhg has mastered the skill of making the difficult shit that us humans deal with in life accessible, through a beautiful irreverent cocktail of vulnerability, hilarity, emotional intelligence and charm' -- Niall Breslin, aka Bressie'An amazing story of addiction and redemption' -- Paul Howard * author of the Ross O’Carroll-Kelly series *'Hickey's memoir is self-deprecating and well-paced, but the liveliness is a smokescreen for his more serious intent. However familiar the addiction arc, Hickey's candour could actually really help people, especially those noticing the "craic" mutating into something decidedly less fun' * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisBy day Percy Monkman (1892 to 1986) worked in the same Bradford bank for 40 years, ending up as chief cashier. Everything else about Percy was totally unconventional. By night, at weekends, on holidays he transformed himself into an entertainer, actor, artist and cartoonist whose work was regularly acclaimed by the public and held in great respect by colleagues. Percy was highly creative, talented and energetic, a man who achieved high standards in all his artistic activities. The eldest of five boys, he was born into a humble working-class family and attended school until he was nearly 14. After a couple of office jobs, at 16 he passed a banking examination and started to work at Becketts Bank (later acquired by the Westminster Bank). Unexpectedly, the First World War gave Percy an opportunity for a new life that he grasped firmly with both hands. He spent much of the war as a comedian in an entertainment troupe that ran concert party shows for soldiers just behind the front line. Back in civilian life he continued his entertainment career with great success throughout the interwar years. In the Second World War he was back at entertaining the troops, this time groups of returning servicemen across Yorkshire. In 1935 Percy joined the Bradford Civic Playhouse and became a fixture in the cast for over 20 years. Here, in one of the best amateur theatres in the country, he played in many diverse productions, usually in comic roles. Alongside entertaining and acting, Percy developed his third creative passion of watercolour painting. He took advantage of every opportunity to paint, usually landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales. When he retired from the bank in 1952, he was able to devote all his time to this passion, which he described as 'fanatic, dedicated and impulsive'. Largely self-taught, he believed strongly in being part of a community of like-minded painters so that he could learn from them. The Bradford Arts Club gave him this network for all his adult life. He exhibited widely and sold most of his paintings. When the mood took him, he was also a talented cartoonist whose works were sometimes published. A committed family man, Percy also built a large number of life-long friends, who were a fascinating mixture of people from all walks of life, with similar passions for entertaining, acting and painting, often eccentrics and sometimes very well connected in Bradford society. His most significant friendship was with JB Priestley, his exact contemporary and England's most famous man of letters in the 20th century. Percy's extraordinary life of achievement is a unique record of social history, reflecting life in 20th century Bradford. Sadly, this is now largely a lost world. This affectionate and comprehensive biography by his grandson, illustrated with over 90 images, is both a visual delight and a joy to read, including high quality reproductions of some of Percy's most famous paintings.

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Book SynopsisArthur Jeffress was an art dealer and collector from a Virginian family who bequeathed his “subversive little collection” (Derek Hill) to Tate and Southampton City Art Gallery on his suicide in 1961. That suicide, a result of his expulsion from Venice, has been the subject of speculation in many memoirs. Gill Hedley’s biography of Jeffress has benefited from access to many hundreds of unpublished letters written between Jeffress and Robert Melville, who ran Jeffress’ own gallery from 1955-1961. The letters were written largely while Jeffress was in Venice and reveal a vivid picture of the London gallery world as well as frank details of artists, collectors and the definitive story of his suicide. Previously unpublished research reveals new information about the lives of Jeffress’ lover John Deakin, his business partner Erica Brausen, the French photographer André Ostier and Henry Clifford, and the way in which all of them influenced Jeffress’ first steps as a collector from the 1930s onwards.Trade ReviewPicaresque and tragic by turns, packed full of incident, Gill Hedley has breathed new life into a near-forgotten figure. Soon not to have heard of Arthur Jeffress will be seen as betraying a shameful ignorance of our art historical past. * Robin Muir author of Under the Influence John Deakin, Photography and the Lure of Soho (2014) *In this impressive and immersive biography, Gill Hedley seeks to go beyond Arthur Jeffress' reputation as 'flamboyant American millionaire, eccentric and exotic art collector, [and] tragic homosexual', revealing the complexities of the man behind the caricature whilst also offering a compelling portrait of the cultural jet set through much of the 20th century. * Art Quarterly *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Virginia and New York 2. Acton and Tobacco 3. Harrow and the Far East 4. Cambridge 5. 1925 and its Consequences 6. Grand Tours 7. A Medley of Extemporanea 8. "The Muff was Particularly Unfortunate" 9. John Deakin and New Homes 10. The Zam Zam Adventure 11. "I Shall Still Be Hungry in the Spring" 12. "What A Lovely War. What Shall I Do At the End of It/" 13. "Tante Cose" 14. Modern Art to Frighten the Horses in Hampshire 15. Erica Brausen 16, The Hanover Gallery 17. "Arthur Jeffress for Painting" 18. Gentle Friends 19. Portrait of Arthur Jeffress 20. Dear Robert, Love Art 21. Private Lives 22. "My Love to the Wife and Kids" 23. Life in Venice 24. Death in Paris 25. At Home in Sunlight

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Book SynopsisWith Barry Flanagan is a vivid account of a friendship that evolved into a working relationship when Richard McNeff became ‘spontaneous fixer’ (Flanagan’s description) of the sculptor’s show held in June 1992 at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Ibiza, where they were both living. McNeff was to gain a privileged insight into the sculptor’s singular personality and eccentric working methods, learning to decipher his memorably surreal turns of phrase and to parry his fascinating, if at times unsettling, pranksteresque quirks. In September 1992 Flanagan and McNeff took the show to Majorca, resulting in a lively visit to the celebrated Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo. The following year McNeff was involved in Flanagan’s print-making venture in Barcelona and in his Madrid retrospective. Flanagan rescued him from a rough landing in England in 1994 by commissioning a tour of stone quarries there.Subsequently McNeff ran into a fourteen-year-old profoundly deaf girl who turned out to be his unknown daughter. She had a talent for art and the generous sculptor was instrumental in helping with her studies. Late in 2008 Barry was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. By June 2009 he was wheelchair-bound. Two months later he died, and McNeff read the lesson at his funeral. Fleshed out with biographical detail, much of it supplied by the sculptor himself, this touching memoir is the first retrospective of a major Welsh-born artist. Photographs of him as well as of his drawings and sculpture fully complement the text. With Barry Flanagan captures the spirit of this remarkable Merlinesque figure in a moving portrait that reveals a true original.

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Book SynopsisNevill Johnson is better known as a painter and photographer than as a writer. Eoin O'Brien, close friend of Nevill Johnson and literary executor of his estate, has edited his writings in this volume for the first time. The resulting book, provides an intriguing insight into the life of one of the most innovative artists of the 20th century.

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Book SynopsisRemembered in his native Ireland primarily as a harpsichordist and interpreter of Bach’s music, and in the UK as a conductor of the ground-shaking early music group Musica Reservata, John Beckett also composed avant-garde incidental music, performed on several instruments and was an authoritative, if controversial, conductor. Music was not his only passion: he was interested in films, the theatre, art and pottery, and loved to travel. His varied career included devising music programmes for Radio Éireann, writing for The Bell magazine, working in Dublin’s Pike Theatre, presenting and performing for the BBC Third Programme, composing music for his famous cousin Samuel Beckett, founding Musica Reservata, conducting Bach cantata concerts in Dublin over a ten-year period, and working as a producer and presenter for BBC Radio 3. Despite his reputation as a gruff, confrontational individual with a fondness for Guinness, whiskey and garlic, he made many friends and was familiar with Dublin’s intellectual, musical and bohemian milieu, such as the writers Aidan Higgins, Anthony Cronin, Patrick Kavanagh, Brendan Behan and James Plunkett, composers E.J. Moeran and Frederick May, counter-tenor Alfred Deller, musician John O’Sullivan, Desmond MacNamara, Ralph Cusack, singer and sculptor Werner Schürmann, publisher John Calder and musician David Cairns. Complex, self-deprecating and private, John’s character and achievements are examined with detail garnered from information both published and in archival collections in Ireland and the UK. Recollections from those who knew him at different stages of his life enliven this fascinating biography. The book also examines the development of Musica Reservata, and contains excerpts from unpublished letters written by Samuel Beckett. Extracts from correspondence between John and James Plunkett, Aidan Higgins, Arland Ussher and music critic Charles Acton are also included.

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Book SynopsisRise above!: Letters from Tyrone Guthrie details the life of the celebrated theatrical director whose influence on international theatre lives on. Here, in a stunning volume of letters, we are offered a glimpse into the vision of this extraordinary figure as well as a view of the intimacies of his relationships with his mother, sister, wife and friends. During the 1940s and 1950s Guthrie was renowned for liberating the plays of Shakespeare from declamatory delivery and excessive staging. His most enduring legacy was in inspiring the creation of modern theatre buildings where the plays of antiquity could be brought closer to the audience, such as at Stratford, Canada, and the theatre that bears his name in Minneapolis, USA. Of Scots-Irish parentage, he identified most closely with his mother’s home at Annaghmakerrig, Co. Monaghan, which he made his professional headquarters after her death, hosting producers, designers, playwrights and composers there while planning worldwide productions. Guthrie’s letters to his mother, Norah, his wife, Judith, and his sister, Peggy, give a balanced account of his professional and domestic life, and it was on the advice of his sister and her husband, Hubert Butler, that he left his mother’s house to the Irish nation as a workplace for writers and artists. Faced with often seemingly insurmountable financial and personal disaster, his celebrated mantra ‘Rise above!’ was testament to a life lived in the wings of an operatic opening night or a Shakespearean tragedy. Guthrie’s vivid descriptions of places visited are matched by the observational skills of his remarks on the people he worked with, among them well-known figures such as Benjamin Britten, Alec Guinness, Charles Laughton, Siobhán McKenna, Micheál MacLíammóir, the Oliviers and others. Family members come in for as many amused comments as do the famous and distinguished: Cousin Molly is no more spared than Sir Winston Churchill. Fitz-Simon has gathered an important, and entrancing, collection of Tyrone Guthrie’s letters, raising a curtain on the life of Ireland’s leading theatre director of the twentieth-centuryTrade ReviewAn admirable collection. -- Fintan O'Toole * The Irish Times *Fitz-Simon has gathered an important, and entrancing, collection of TyroneGuthrie’s letters, raising a curtain on the life of Ireland’s leading theatre director of thetwentieth-century. * Writing.ie *

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Book SynopsisFierce Love is a compelling and candid biography of Cork-born theatre pioneer (1918-2006) Mary O’Malley, founder-director of Belfast’s Lyric Players Theatre from 1951 to 1981. Neé Hickey, Mary went to Loreto Secondary School in Navan, Co. Meath, writing and directing her first play, The Lost Princess, before living with her mother in Dublin. There she became a key member of the New Theatre Group, immersed in the city’s social and cultural life and joining the Irish Society for Intellectual Freedom. On 14 September 1947 Mary married Armagh-born psychiatrist Pearse O’Malley, later moving to Belfast’s Derryvolgie Avenue off the Malone Road. There she formed a fifty-seat studio theatre above the stables and created Belfast Lyric Players Theatre, a company of actors and artists who were to put on 140 plays over seventeen years on a stage only ten-foot wide, asserting a broad Irish and European culture. W.B Yeats, twenty-six of whose plays were performed, was her standard-bearer. In 1952 she was elected to Belfast Corporation as an Irish Labour Party councillor, and in 1957 she founded the literary magazine Threshold, which enjoyed a thirty-year lifespan. Her other activities included running a drama school, an art gallery and music academy, while raising a family of three. As she battled conservatism, a socialist and nationalist in a Unionist city, this courageous and tenacious woman transformed Belfast with her playhouse — Liam Neeson and Ciarán Hinds were among her protégées — expanding her repertoire and bridging the political quagmire of the sixties to build a permanent 300-seater Lyric Players theatre, which opened with Yeats’s Cuchulain Cycle in October 1968. Her fierce will survived the Troubles, ensuring that her broad-based community theatre never had to close its doors. Her vision was posthumously crowned by the 2011 Lyric Theatre building overlooking the Lagan. Fierce Love celebrates these achievements, chronicling a resourceful and controversial individual, who swam against the tide of populism and sectarianism to establish an independent academy for actors and artists in a tireless quest for imaginative freedom and excellence. Mary O’Malley’s life was complex, and her legacy enduring.Trade ReviewEnter stage left: Mary O’Malley and Belfast’s Lyric Theatre – Irish Times. Read here. Mary O’Malley: Bernard Adams’ new book on the Lyric Theatre founder’s quest to expand cultural horizons in Belfast – Belfast Telegraph. Read here.‘Adams follows the evolution of O'Malley's development as a socialist activist and theatrical director with penetrating insight … He is to be commended for his realistic and refreshingly human portrait of a “complex woman who was remarkable but not always lovable.” … For readers interested in the historical development of theatre in Belfast, Fierce Love is indispensable reading.’ Reading Ireland

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Book SynopsisNo Better Boy tells the story of a master of traditional Irish music: the legendary East Clare fiddler Paddy Canny, whose haunting music was remarkable for its virtuosity and sophistication. In the 1950's, when he was in his thirties, and at the pinnacle of his career, Paddy Canny became an international radio star, played solo in Carneige Hall, toured England with the renowned Tulla Ceili Band, and made a much-loved recording. All were extraordinary achievements for a man raised on a marginal farm, where the gramophone records that inspired him were accessible only through the good grace of neighbours. In richly evocative prose, Helen O'Shea distils stories of success and adversity that Paddy Canny told to family and friends, to radio interviews and historians. These stories illuminate the rural life in mid-twentieth-century Ireland, major social and economic changes, and the decline and revival of traditional music and dancing. A compelling story told with passion and insight, this is a book for readers with an interest in Ireland's social history and for music lovers everywhere. No Better Boy includes annotated transcriptions of music played by Paddy Canny and his contemporaries, sourced from archives and personal collections as well as commercial recordings.Trade Review‘A “must-read” for anyone who loves traditional music. Paddy Canny was a master fiddle player who was reluctant to seek attention for his craft. Helen O'Shea's portrait offers insights into his rural background, his musical influences, the peers he engaged with, and how his musical values shaped his style. The book is beautifully illustrated and the musical transcriptions will be welcomed by practitioners who appreciate the nuances in the art form. No Better Boy is a remarkable achievement.’ Liam O'Connor, Director, Irish Traditional Music Archive‘This book is a delight. Helen O'Shea captures intimately the musical, physical and personal landscapes of East Clare as if they were her own. I found myself, my locale, and the people and the music I know and love, illuminated in new and wonderful ways.’ Paula Carroll, Broadcaster and Oral Historian‘The playing on the recording I am hearing is nearly as ebullient and restless as [Michael] Coleman’s, but Canny could squeeze a note to make it cry at nearly the same speed, with an exquisitely tasteful glissando, and he let the subtlest decrescendo fall with a nearly imperceptible slackening of the pace to end a phrase. O’Shea has said just about all that can be said about these matters, and said it well.’ The Journal of Music‘[This] beautifully illustrated tome goes to the heart of the man and his music.’ Fiona McGarry, Clare Champion‘No Better Boy provides a profound and compelling picture of Canny’s life and music, accessible to non-musicians and musicians alike. O’Shea’s prose style bears a certain kinship to Canny’s music, at once lyrical and economical … this is a meticulously researched piece of writing … her diligence as an oral historian must be applauded [and her] command of narrative and imagery leaves such a profound emotional impact. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is its depiction of the series of technological and cultural revolutions that reshaped Irish traditional music in the 20th century.’ Matthew Horsley, Tinteán‘Helen O'Shea has written a splendid and multi-layered book, blending text, image and music. The Lilliput Press have produced a very handsome book; it is most attractive to the eye and to the holding hand. Paddy Canny is most fortunate in having Helen O'Shea as his recording angel.’ Peter Beirne'This is a tastefully-written and presented, musically-competent, expert and tender chronicle of an exceptional, pre-Revival-days player who loved his music, and was aware of the limitations living in Ireland implied. It is tremendous that Helen O’Shea now brings it into the light of day. [Her] twenty or so detailed tune transcriptions and much music analysis make tremendous sense of Paddy Canny as a stylist, his technique, and composition and arrangement ingenuity. This makes the work much more than a personal tale set in an evocative historical landscape. It is the story of a musician among his peers, in his community—with his unique music.' Fintan Valley, Companion to Irish Traditional Music'A richly enlightening journey through the life and times of one of Ireland’s most important fiddle players.' Martin Dowling, The Journal of Music'The book is a tremendous accomplishment, and we in the world of Irish trad are all indebted to you.' Steve Jones, musician, Montreal'A wonderful contribution to the social history of traditional music.' Geoff Wooff, musician and uilleann pipes maker'The texture and tone of the prose is like softly woven tweed. Tactile. It’s so gentle and filled with utter respect for the lives lived in that musical locale.' Máire Winters, Galway

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Book SynopsisShe's Hollywood's highest-paid female star with millions of fans all over the world and she's barely out of her teens. Emma Watson's life has been an incredible story, one in which a girl whose parents divorced when she was very young ended up finding stability on a film set among the cast and crew of the Harry Potter movies. A film set that became her home for the next ten years. Like her fellow stars of the franchise, she has had to live her early years out in public. As a nine-year-old, she had never acted professionally before she was cast as Hermione Granger - the character that author JK Rowling based on herself. These days Emma Watson has grown up to be a sleek, international star dealing with being part of a global phenomenon that shows no sign of diminishing even as it reaches its story's end. As much at home at a fashion show as she is at a film premiere, Emma Watson's every utterance is news - even her hairstyle makes headlines around the world. She's already been the face of Burberry and her passion for fashion runs very deep.

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Book SynopsisReprinted for the first time since 1889, this is the first biography and considered appraisal of one of England's most prodigiously talented painters. Sir John Everett Millais, P. R. A. (1829-1896) was the most precociously talented artist England has ever produced. His astonishing facility gained him entry as the Royal Academy's youngest ever pupil. At just 19 he founded with six other painters the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which revolutionised the English art world with a visionary intensity of both subject matter and style. Millais was its most creative member; as Jason Rosenfeld says in the introduction to this volume, "the sheer quality and distinctness of each of Millais's paintings of the 1850s is unmatched by any Western artist of the period." Yet there is much more to Millais' career than Pre-Raphaelitism. Some of the most emotive narrative paintings of the Victorian era, its greatest portraits, and especially some of its most beautiful, if neglected, landscapes, came from his brush - as did some of its most notoriously successful paintings, like Bubbles, the "fancy picture" that was made into an advertisement for Pears' Soap. This volume includes not only Millais's only published work of art criticism, the pithy "Thoughts on Our Art of Today," but also the first extended biography and appraisal of his work by the important critic M. H. Spielmann. This hugely engaging "Sketch" gives both a warm and personal picture of the man and a level-headed evaluation of the qualities - and defects - of his work as they appeared to contemporaries. Neither essay has been in print for more than a century.Trade Review"The London publishing house Pallas Athene has come up with the very welcome and worthwhile project of assembling English translations of early biographies of artists in an easily accessible publication." - Historians of Netherlands Art Reviews

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Book SynopsisFrom his legendary 50s Sun recordings to his classic 'American' albums of the late 90s, Johnny Cash has always been the country voice of rock. This is his amazing story - Stephen Miller's vivid account of the life and times of a man who started out with stablemates Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins but who would later become a loyal musical friend of Bob Dylan, Nick Lower, Willie Nelson and Elvis Costello. Once on the point of death from drug addition, Cash turned his life around and for 50 years went on to participate in the rock music that grew out of these original sun recording studio sessions. Here are all the anecdotes behind the rowdy days, the prison albums, the relationships and the music. Rockabilly king, movie actor and activist, Cash enjoyed a rollercoaster career that lurched between million selling albums and periods of dark obscurity. Through it all the Man in Black remained a hero to discenring country and rock fans all over the world. This is his unique story.Trade Review'Miller tells his tale rather well with an eager unjaundiced eye.' Q

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Book SynopsisJohnny Cash had one of the most recognisable voice in the history of country music, and indeed in the history of recorded music itself. Building musical bridges between the worlds of country, folk, rock and gospel, Cash's influence is as broad as his fanbase.Table of ContentsJohnny Cash had one of the most recognisable voice in the history of country music, and indeed in the history of recorded music itself. Building musical bridges between the worlds of country, folk, rock and gospel, Cash's influence is as broad as his fanbase. His story is an amazing rags-to-riches tale about a kid who battled against poverty and depression to end up performing on the same stage as Elvis Presley... Johnny Cash: He Walked the Line is the definitive biography of the man. It is the only book to delve deeply into the personality and work of this prolific yet elusive artist, and its no-holds-barred look at the more uncomfortable aspects of Cash's life provides the first truly rounded portrait.

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Book SynopsisA wonderful biography of the undisputed king of celebrity chefs, Neil Simpson paints a fascinating picture of the man in full, and uncovers the secret tragedies that turned Gordon Ramsay into one of the most driven, successful and angry men in Britain. He details: the violent, alcoholic, absent father who died just days after the pair had been reconciled as adults; the best-friend and protege whose bizarre suicide came hours after the two had shared a final meal; the decade-long battle to save his younger brother from heroin addiction and crime; and, the real reason why Gordon wasn't at the birth of any of his four children - and has never changed a nappy in his life. Sometimes hilarious and frequently heart-breaking, Gordon Ramsay's life story runs from the council estates of Glasgow and the picture post-card countryside of Stratford-upon-Avon to some of the finest and most expensive restaurants in the world. This is his incredible, inspiring story.

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Book SynopsisOnly one woman knows - his mother Debbie Nelson, at one point reviled on dozens of Internet sites as the most hated mother in the world. But by cleaning out her own personal closet, Debbie reveals a bitter-sweet story of a single mother who gave her son everything in an attempt to make up for his absent father and her own miserable childhood. This, her no holes barred autobiography, is an open letter to Marshall Bruce Mathers III, a loving reminder of how they once were, and an attempt to set the record straight by untangling the unspoken and enigmatic alter egos Eminem and Slim Shady. It reveals that there's much more to the story than his fans ever thought.

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Book SynopsisPaolo Cherchi Usai provides a comprehensive introduction to the study, research and preservation of silent cinema from its heyday in the early 20th century to its present day flourishing. He traces the history of the moving image in its formative years, from Edison’s and Lumière’s first experiments to the dawn of ‘talkies’; provides a clear guide to the basics of silent film technology; introduces the technical and creative roles involved in its production, and presents silent cinema as a performance event, rather than a passive viewing experience. This new, greatly expanded edition takes the reader on a new journey, exploring silent cinema in the broader context of technology, culture, and society, from the invention of celluloid film and its related machinery to film studios, laboratories, theatres and audiences. Among the people involved in the creation of a new art form were filmmakers, actors and writers, but also engineers, entrepreneurs, and projectionists. Their collective efforts, and the struggle to preserve their creative work by archives and museums, are interwoven in a compelling story covering three centuries of media history, from the magic lantern to the reinvention of silent cinema in digital form. The new edition also includes comprehensive resource information for the study, research, preservation and exhibition of silent cinema.Trade ReviewSilent Cinema is a must-have book for everyone interested in cinema of all eras … If you’re not a silent fan, this giddy ride can make you one. * Observations on Film Art *Paolo Cherchi Usai, renowned film curator, filmmaker, and programmer, has created an engaging saga of the diverse ways in which people have made films—and rescued them for others to enjoy. Silent Cinema is a rare feast of information, ideas, and insights. Using Méliès’ moon-shot as a recurring example, Cherchi Usai surveys everything from perforations and acting performances to musical accompaniment, each treated with clarity and wit. Particularly valuable are the nuanced accounts of how digital technology has transformed our attitudes toward silent films. The reader comes away with a deeper appreciation of the patient curators who have dedicated themselves to making ‘old cinema’ perpetually new. * David Bordwell, Jacques Ledoux Professor Emeritus of Film Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA *For decades, Paolo Cherchi Usai’s book had been a definitive and inspiring guide to silent cinema—and stays so today when this formerly out-of-the-way and obscure field of study has entered the realm of mainstream entertainment. It stays so because Cherchi Usai has kept it up to date—by way of questioning rather than going along with contemporary dogmas and illusions. Silent film was a performative rather than a technologically reproductive medium; digitization of the photochemical is a deadly remedy instead of a hoped-for panacea. No stone unturned. I fully endorse Paolo Cherchi Usai’s daringly cautionary guide. * Yuri Tsivian, William Colvin Emeritus Professor at the University of Chicago, USA *This third edition of an already classic introduction to cinema’s ‘silent’ era may be the best of all. Instead of merely updating his pioneering text, Paolo Cherchi Usai has re-thought what the early period means to us today, and addresses the ‘digital natives’ who will be its main readers. It’s hard to imagine a more enthusiastic or authoritative introduction. * Ian Christie , Anniversary Professor of Film and Media History, Birkbeck, University of London, UK *Table of ContentsPreface to the Third Edition Acknowledgements Note Introduction Chapter 1 – Pixels Chapter 2 – Celluloid Chapter 3 – Chroma Chapter 4 – Machines Chapter 5 – People Chapter 6 – Buildings Chapter 7 – Works Chapter 8 – Show Chapter 9 – Acoustics Chapter 10 – Collections Chapter 11 – Evidence Chapter 12 – Duplicates Chapter 13 – Lacunae Chapter 14 – Traces Chapter 15 – Curatorship Bibliographic resources and research tools Appendix 1 – Film Measurement Tables Appendix 2 – Eastman Kodak Edge Codes on Motion Picture Film Stock, 1913–1928 Appendix 3 – Identification of Pathé Films by Their Edge Inscriptions Credits of Illustrations Index About the author

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Book SynopsisSince his first tentative steps on stage, Alex Norton’s career has been both highly colourful and eventful beyond his wildest dreams. His journey from the streets of Glasgow’s notorious Gorbals to blockbuster Hollywood movies has rarely been smooth, but in a career spanning six decades he has pretty much seen it all - and done most of it. When the teenage Alex discovered acting was a great way to meet girls, he was hooked for life and embarked on an adventure that has taken him from kids’ TV to radical theatre and from panto to Hollywood, working with a host of famous faces along the way. As a jobbing actor in the late sixties Alex met and played guitar with young Davy Jones on a movie set - the next time he saw him, David Bowie had hit the big time. Alex has appeared in iconic movies like Local Hero, Gregory’s Girl and Braveheart; nearly killed Clint Eastwood on a movie shoot in South Africa; had whale for dinner in Moscow with John Voight; been named by Dudley Moore as the funniest actor he’d ever worked; starred alongside Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest; and made an everlasting mark on British television as DCI Matt Burke in Taggart. Uproariously funny and highly entertaining, in There’s Been A . . . Life! Alex Norton takes us on an irreverent journey behind the scenes of a showbiz life very well lived.

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Book SynopsisHe's made $100 million, is the hottest DJ in the world and has worked with the pop royalty - but who is Calvin Harris? And how did he go from stacking shelves in his local supermarket to such astonishing global success? He's come a long way from making music in his bedroom in his native Dumfries but since bursting onto the music scene with 'Acceptable in the 80s' in 2007, he has broken Michael Jackson's record for most hits from one album, become the first British artist to have one billion plays on Spotify and turned hit-maker for stars like Kylie Minogue, Rihanna, Cheryl Cole and Dizzee Rascal. This is the astonishing story of Calvin Harris's journey from struggling musician to international star, revealing what makes him tick, why he has the Midas touch, how he went from being a lanky kid with little self-confidence to a modelling deal with Armani and how he became a global megastar.

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Book SynopsisCompleted with the enthusiastic support and participation of the late Laureate, Jean Antoine-Dunne’s lively and enriching study begins in a recognition of how important film has been in the whole of Derek Walcott’s career. It is not merely that Derek Walcott wrote a number independent film scripts such as The Rig, The Haitian Earth and To Die for Grenada and wrote film treatments of several of his plays such as for Marie Laveau, Ti Jean and O Babylon, and also a film treatment of his poetic epic Omeros, but that the whole of Walcott’s work, whether poetry, drama or painting, is infused with the sense of the filmic. As she says, “I see him as a film poet”.This study, written with unrivalled access both to Walcott and to his multiple library archives, moves in several directions. Firstly, it comprises a record of all Walcott’s work in film, extensively illustrated with his storyboards and quotation from this mostly unpublished work. Secondly, it tracks Walcott’s own commentary on the place of film in his aesthetics and on his ideas about reaching the widest possible audiences. Thirdly it tracks those explicit moments in the texture of his work (Omeros is a key focus in this regard) where Walcott references film and the filmic. Fourthly the study proposes ways of rereading Walcott’s work – its narrative modes, imagery and construction -- through the lense of the filmic and in particular through the work of Sergei Eisenstein and his conception of film montage. Finally, the book makes an important contribution to the underdeveloped area of reception in Caribbean literary and aesthetic studies, exploring the concept of hybrid forms and their capacity to reach audiences excluded by the exclusively literary. Here, in an immensely stimulating argument, she brings together both the theoretical work of Gilles Deleuze and Caribbean discussions of the role of oral and visual traditions in Caribbean culture.

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Book SynopsisFalco and Beyond is devoted to the most popular Austrian song-writer, singer and rapper of the twentieth century and one of the most successful European singers of all time.

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Book SynopsisPresents a collection of some thirty profiles which have appeared periodically in "Ireland's Own". This book aims to give readers an overview of some of the most interesting and important figures in Irish music. It can be used as a work of reference, for writing or preparing programme notes for a concert, or, simply to be read from cover to cover.

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Book SynopsisThis is the b format version of the critically acclaimed book on the singer. In "Waiting for Kate Bush", the reader will not only laugh out loud at Herskovits' attempt to make sense of his life in an alien culture, but also learn in detail what Kate Bush - known alternately as 'the barmiest bird in pop', 'the pre Raphaelite mymph with Minnie Mouse's soprano' and the 'greatest artist of the last 30 years' has been up to in the silent decade - plus - since the release of her last album.Trade Review'To straight biography, Mendelssohn introduces elements of fiction, telling the story of uber fan Lesley Herskovits. Like the singer herself, it is baffling as well as beautiful.' The Observer.

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Book SynopsisNow a Major Feature Length Documentary: 'Cassius X: Becoming Ali’ (Cinema release Spring 2023) Miami, 1963. A young boy from Louisville, Kentucky, is on the path to becoming the greatest sportsman of all time. Cassius Clay is training in the 5th Street Gym for his heavyweight title clash against the formidable Sonny Liston. He is beginning to embrace the ideas and attitudes of Black Power, and firebrand preacher Malcolm X will soon become his spiritual adviser. Thus Cassius Clay will become ‘Cassius X’ as he awaits his induction into the Nation of Islam. Cassius also befriends the legendary soul singer Sam Cooke, falls in love with soul singer Dee Dee Sharp and becomes a remarkable witness to the first days of soul music. As with his award-winning soul trilogy, Stuart Cosgrove’s intensive research and sweeping storytelling shines a new light on how black music lit up the sixties against a backdrop of social and political turmoil – and how Cassius Clay made his remarkable transformation into Muhammad Ali.Trade Review'Cassius X is a delightful ride in a cherry-red Cadillac, with soul music on the radio and a steady hand at the wheel. A thoroughly enjoyable journey' -- Jonathan Eig, author of Ali: A Life'Crisply written, fast-paced, and original, this book surges with the kind of effervescence we have long associated with a young Cassius Clay ... Filled with colourful details, with a learned eye toward the music of the era, Cassius X hits all the right notes' -- Michael Ezra, author of Muhammad Ali: The Making of an Icon'An exciting trip through the urban worlds of boxing, soul music, and crime, as Cassius Clay joins the Nation of Islam, becomes Muhammad Ali, and ascends the ranks of boxing to become World Heavyweight Champion during the early 1960s' -- Lewis Erenberg, author of The Rumble in the Jungle'There are many books about Muhammad Ali, but none like Stuart Cosgrove's Cassius X ... The book is a deeply personal look at one of 'The Greatest' public figures of the last one hundred years and is a model of how biographies of African Americans should be written' -- Ray Winbush, author of Belinda’s Petition: A Concise History of Reparations for the Transatlantic Slave Trade'Fascinating ... a different take on its subject, like a wayward B-side of a highly familiar tune' * Scotsman *'A vivid, knowing close-up of a crucial year in the life of boxing’s most iconic figure' * Kirkus *'Stuart Cosgrove's deep research and very human storytelling highlights how black music lit up the Sixties against a backdrop of political turmoil - and how Cassius Clay began his remarkable transformation into Muhammad Ali winning the world heavyweight title from scratch three times in the process' * Harrogate Advertiser *'You can almost smell the liniment and sweat and hear the classic songs of Tamla Motown when you start reading Mr Cosgrove’s work Cassius X... a compelling reminder of why he [Muhammad Ali] made such an impression' * Dundee Courier *'An engrossing and revelatory read.. and a great playlist. You do not have to be a fan of boxing or soul music to love this book' -- Val McDermid at Edinburgh International Book Festival'A benediction of a book about the early years of the sporting deity. Cassius X is a unique take – no easy feat when faced with an athlete who has been embalmed in books over the decades' * Sunday Times *'Equivalent to a biopic which portrays the fast-moving 1960s social, political and cultural scene and gives a fascinating insight into a lesser-known part of the legendary champion's life' * Dundee Courier *'A riveting profile of one of the world’s greatest sportsmen and the world he moved in' * Herald *'No ordinary tale of the life of The Greatest. Tells the story of the many social forces that shaped the life of the former world champion' * Press & Journal *'A terrifically fresh insight into sport’s greatest superstar' * The Scotsman, Best Sports Books of 2020 *'Another belter from The Soul Trilogy author... shines a light on how black music lit up politically turbulent 1960s America' * Sunday Post *

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary story of Malcolm Williamson is one of rare musical talent combined with outrageous behaviour. An Australian, Williamson was the first non-Briton to hold the post of Master of the Queen's Music. He was appointed in 1975 and looked set to embellish his already illustrious career as a composer. By the time of his death in 2003 he was unproductive and largely forgotten. Authors Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris tell his bizarre story unflinchingly, sifting fact from fiction and offering a strong case for re-evaluating this flawed man and multi-talented musician. An investigation of the myths, rumours and half truths surrounding this controversial and misunderstood figure. The authors reveal the rift between Williamson and the Royal family. He was pointedly not invited to contribute to several high profile occasions including the wedding of Charles and Diana. They discuss if his failed marriage and open bisexuality was deemed beyond the pale at the Palace.Trade Review'Out of tune with his private life, Williamson's work was also out of tune with the orthodoxy of his era, which decreed that only bands and shrieks could be inflicted on the public. Let's hope this marvellous book will provoke a Williamson revival.' Daily Telegraph

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Book SynopsisThe biography of French composer, Halevy. The book contains excerpts from his diary, and also correspondence and photographs. Halevy is the composer of La Juive.

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