Memoirs Books

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Book Synopsiswacky, romantic, unrequited, boozy, open, compassionate,loving, a different kind of love story

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Book SynopsisJeremy & Amy is the first book to tell the story behind internationally famous Monkey World.Trade ReviewEnchanting and touching * Mail on Sunday *Amy is a delight. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisWe developed reputations real fast. We treated our entertainers right. We got them paid. Other agents and promoters and managers showed them the money. We got them the money. We brought respect to the African American artist in America. We brought them prestige. We really cared about our artists and those who worked for us, and it was obvious because we fought like hell for them. So when you listen to some of that music today an Otis Redding record or Percy Sledge or anyone from our shop you re not just hearing music but also the sound of iron being hammered and bricks being laid for those especially African Americans who are in the business today. Southern Man is the memoir of a life in music during one of the most racially turbulent times in American history. It presents the voice of Alan Walden a remarkable, sensitive, humble, and brilliant man; a boy from the country who, serendipitously, along with his brother Phil and best friend Otis Redding, helped to nurture a musical renaissance. It is the story of a son of Macon, Georgia, and his passion for R&B and rock n roll at a time when it took wits and a Southern persistence to overcome the obstacles on the hard scrabble road to success the tragedy of loss, disappointment, and betrayal, along with the joy of victory, optimism, and hope and taking a dream right over the mountain. That dream led him to work with and nurture the talents of a virtual who s who of Southern music, from Sam & Dave and Percy Sledge to Boz Scaggs and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Anyone who was alive during the golden age of R&B and Southern rock remembers the music, but Alan s narrative invites the reader to the centre of the story, into the studio and on the road, to backroom deals and backroom brawls. It wasn t always peaches and cream. The music business is tough, and Alan Walden was one of the toughest kids on the street. He had to be, in order to survive in a world of guitars, guts, and guns. This is rock n roll noir the story of a few pioneers who cut the rock and laid the pipe under the hard scrabble terrain so that the water of creativity can more freely flow today.Trade ReviewAlan, I got to tell you you re one soulful guy I don t think I ve ever met a white guy with more soul than you. QUINCY JONES

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Book SynopsisAt twenty-one, Kathy Valentine was at the Whisky in Los Angeles when she met a guitarist from a fledgling band called the Go-Go s?and the band needed a bassist. The Go-Go s became the first multi-platinum-selling, all-female band to play instruments themselves, write their own songs, and have a number one album. Their debut, Beauty & The Beat, spent six weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 and featured the hit songs We Got the Beat and Our Lips Are Sealed . The record s success brought the pressures of a relentless workload and schedule culminating in a wild, hazy, substance-fuelled tour that took the band from the club circuit to arenas, where fans, promoters, and crew were more than ready to keep the party going. For Valentine, the band s success was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream?but that s only part of her story. All I Ever Wanted traces the path that took her from her childhood in Texas?where she all but raised herself?to the height of rock n roll stardom, devastation after the collapse of the band that had come to define her, and the quest to regain her sense of self after its end. Valentine also speaks candidly about the lasting effects of parental betrayal, abortion, rape, and her struggles with drugs and alcohol?and the music that saved her every step of the way. Populated with vivid portraits of Valentine s interactions during the 1980s with musicians and actors from The Police and Rod Stewart to John Belushi and Rob Lowe, All I Ever Wanted is a deeply personal reflection on a life spent in music.Trade ReviewAll I Ever Wanted is a raw look at the highs and lows of being high and low. Long live the Go-Go s! - Amy Poehler. Like a scorching guitar solo emerging from the prettiest pop song, Kathy Valentine s All I Ever Wanted blows away every other music memoir out there. - Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors

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Book Synopsis'Rich and moving' New York Times'A book that expands and breaks your heart' Adelle Waldman, author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.A revelatory enquiry into selfhood, freedom, mortality, storytelling, and what it means to be a mother's daughterDuring one of the texting sessions that became our habit over the period I now think of as both late and early in our relationship, my mother revealed the existence of someone named Janis Jerome.So begins Michelle Orange's extraordinary inquiry into the meaning of maternal legacy - in her own family and across a century of seismic change. Jerome, she learns, is one of her mother's many alter egos: the name used in a case study, eventually sold to the Harvard Business Review, about her midlife choice to leave her husband and children to pursue career opportunities in a bigger city. A flashpoint in the lives of both mother and daughter, the decision forms the heart of a broader exploration of the impact of feminism on what Adrienne Rich called 'the great unwritten story': that of the mother-daughter bond.Through a blend of memoir, social history, and cultural criticism, Pure Flame pursues a chain of personal, intellectual, and collective inheritance, tracing the forces that helped transform the world and what a woman might expect from it.Trade ReviewThe best book I've read this year...unsparing, stylishly written, and profoundly loving, the book is as original as it is powerful... a book that expands and breaks your heart, not with sentimentality but with its intelligence and compassion. -- Adelle WaldmanA provocative, meditative, funny, feminist adventure about two women trying to tell each other the stories that matter while there's still time. -- Alexander CheeRich and moving . . . Orange skirts the traps of the mother-daughter memoir by going beyond personal history. . . Pure Flame may be Orange's legacy. -- Maggie Doherty * New York Times *Recasts the notion of maternal legacy and fills it with pointed mystery and informed sincerity. Pure Flame is a tutorial in bending creative non-fiction. -- Kiese LaymonSometimes achingly sad, but often warm and evocative... a brilliant work of feminist critique. -- Lauren Puckett-Pope * US Elle *Powerful . . .honest, fair, and compassionate. -- Veronica Esposito * Literary Hub *[A] nuanced and original memoir -- Terri Apter * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisYou're diagnosed with an aggressive cancer - what do you do? Devamitra - English actor and Buddhist teacher - describes the discomforts and indignities of being treated for prostate cancer. He also draws on the deep well of his Buddhist practice to work with his mind and meet fear, uncertainty and frailty with resolve. It is an entertaining read, full of wit and fantastically funny dialogue. If you or someone you know is facing a cancer diagnosis, this book will help light your way.Trade ReviewI read this book in one sitting! It is very amusing for such a fearful subject and demystifying in its impact. Devamitra captured it optically in one's mind and poetically, 'Life is gossamer at the mercy of shifting winds.' It has real whimsical charm. I hope it is read by many, especially men. - Corrine Bougaard, Founder, Artistic Director and Producer, Union Dance; Devamitra has written a compelling book about his cancer journey that straddles a wide range of emotions: gruelling, funny, poignant and uplifting. As a reader you are drawn into his world as he undergoes particularly challenging cancer treatment, whilst always maintaining a uniquely wry, even amused, perspective on life and death. All the way through he reflects on what Buddhism has to offer his predicament, and clearly the strength of his practice helps him to not only navigate this journey with character, but to emerge enriched. The timeless teachings of the Buddha are truly tested in the fires of his experience, and the confidence and faith he finds in these teachings can inspire confidence and faith in all of us. - Vidyamala Burch, co-founder of Breathworks, author of Living Well with Pain and Illness and Mindfulness for Health; Entertaining Cancer: The Buddhist Way is a remarkable book - honest, lucid, unflinching, funny and radical in its willingness to confront the facts of life and death. Devamitra's book tells the story of prostate cancer, and how his Buddhist practice met the challenges of diagnosis and treatment, even how cancer led to the deepening of his Buddhist practice and his love of life. Entertaining Cancer: The Buddhist Way is not just for those struggling with illness or the fear of death; anyone interested in how Buddhism can help us live with courage, wit and generosity will find answers in this book. - Maitreyabandhu, author of Life with Full Attention and The Journey and the Guide; Devamitra, a senior member of the Triratna Buddhist Order, provides a very entertaining memoir on his prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. It is an acutely observed and often painful account of a long ordeal, yet one liberally laced with wit and irony, gratitude and compassion. He writes fluidly and candidly, revealing the frustrations, joys and contradictions of modern health care, with pithy and amusing sketches of the situations and personalities he encounters. Although the subject is serious, he writes with a light touch and always warmly. Many changeable thoughts and feelings come with the almost uncountable succession of ills afforded by the treatment, in stark contrast with the trivial presenting symptom of his cancer. The narrative flows easily, revealing almost incidentally to this reader, how life is on the 'other side' of the consulting desk; the interminable hours in the chemotherapy suite, holding a tight bladder under the 'Saturn' or 'Mars' radiation unit; and enduring the punishment of his legs, at one time becoming incessantly restless, another time lifeless with fatigue. There is systemic enervation that confines him to bed, a numbness that impairs finger function, the skin changes, fingernails and hair fall out and more. Yet consolation comes in the way of music and from the love and care of friends. Devamitra writes movingly of his appreciation for their help, his affection for them equal to his love for the Buddha's teaching and path, and how this savage trial provides opportunity for deep understanding of the impermanent and conditional nature of human life. He realizes how much he longs to live only for the Buddha's teaching and to communicate it, to reach out to those suffering and in need. Whenever the time comes for the author to leave us, this heartfelt, humorous and insightful account will no doubt be his 'parting kiss'. - Siladasa (Dr Mark R. Newton, FRACP); Quite often stories about cancer are framed in terms of a battle. This isn't always helpful, as it implies that disease progression means defeat or failure on the part of the sufferer. Devamitra frames his account with interweaving themes of struggle, victory and setback, yes, but also of calm and insight. He brings to the story his physicality as a serious, life-long swimmer; his variable energy levels from the disease and the treatment; the importance of friendship; and the impact of words spoken during consultations with his doctors, nurses and acupuncturist. We hear this story flavoured with his love of romantic poetry, his deep engagement with Buddhist teachings and practice, and his devotion to his teacher. I got to know Devamitra well in 1978, when he led the Buddhist retreat during which I joined the Triratna Buddhist Order. Our lives have intertwined since then in many ways, no doubt with some disagreements along the way! What a pleasure to read this book and get closer to the man and his wry, entertaining but deep reflections on life, cancer and everything. - William Stones, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and researcher in global health; Who would have thought that having cancer could be so instructive - and at times so amusing? Devamitra writes of his experiences with a style unique to him: beautifully crafted, engaging, witty, poignant, reflective and always disarmingly honest. If you have not had cancer you will surely understand what it means from reading this book. And if you have it now you will find a companion here who has faced with courage and clarity the terrors and indignities of this great test of character. Devamitra faces his test as a Buddhist, but he wears his Buddhism lightly, even though it is Buddhism that guides him through it. For him Buddhism is simply the truth about life, not a set of dogmatic beliefs, and so his writing is relevant whether or not you are a Buddhist. I recommend this book very highly. - Subhuti, author of Mind in HarmonyTable of ContentsAuthor's Acknowledgements Publisher's Acknowledgements Prologue Chapter 1 Diagnosis Chapter 2 Chemo Limbo - Impact Chapter 3 Chemo Sostenuto Chapter 4 Chemo's Parting Kiss Chapter 5 Chemo's Ghost Chapter 6 Susie and the Skunk Chapter 7 Living Paradoxes Chapter 8 Surviving Chapter 9 Testosterone Toll Epilogue Notes and References

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Book SynopsisAN ENTERTAINING AND STYLISH EXPLORATION OF FOOD AND NATIONALITY, FROM AWARD-WINNING WRITER ANYA VON BREMZEN 'This voyage into culinary myth-making is essential reading... I couldn't love it more!' Nigella Lawson 'A truly captivating and evocative book. National Dish takes you on a food journey written with real warmth, wit and perception' Dan Saladino 'A sparklingly intelligent examination of, and a meditation on, the interplay of cooking and identity' Spectator ________ In National Dish, award-winning food writer Anya von Bremzen sets out to investigate the eternal cliché that "we are what we eat". Her journey takes her from Paris to Tokyo, from Seville, Oaxaca and Naples to Istanbul. She probes the decline of France's pot-au-feu in the age of globalisation, the stratospheric rise of ramen, the legend of pizza, the postcolonial paradoxes of Mexico's mole, the community essence of tapas, and the complex legacy of multiculturalism in a meze feast. Finally she returns to her home in Queens, New York, for a bowl of Ukrainian borscht -a dish which has never felt more loaded, or more precious. As each nation's social and political identity is explored, so too is its palate. Rich in research, colourful? characters and lively wit, National Dish peels back the layers of myth and misunderstanding around world cuisines, reassessing the pivotal role of food in our cultural heritage and identity. Featuring an epilogue on Ukrainian borscht, recently granted World Heritage status by UNESCO ________ FURTHER PRAISE FOR NATIONAL DISH 'So enlightening - as well as well so much fun to read... Von Bremzen is a superb describer of flavours and textures' Bee Wilson Financial Times A fast-paced, entertaining travelogue, peppered with compact history lessons that reveal the surprising ways dishes become iconic' New York Times 'Enchanting, fascinating, thought provoking and humorous' Claudia Roden 'A playful, erudite and mouthwatering exploration of ideas around food and identity. With the help of a diverse group of characters and dishes, Anya von Bremzen highlights the intricacies and contradictions of our relationship with what we eat' Fuschia Dunlop 'Anya von Bremzen's new book reads like an engrossing unputdownable novel about the perpetual soup of humanity' Oli Hercules 'An evocative, gorgeously layered exercise in place-making and cultural exploration...'Boston Globe 'Von Bremzen's knowledge is staggering and her writing witty, urgent and personal. I couldn't put it down' Diana HenryTrade Review'A fast-paced, entertaining travelogue, peppered with compact history lessons that reveal the surprising ways dishes become iconic' - New York Times'This voyage into culinary myth-making and identity is essential reading. Its breadth of scope and scholarship is conveyed with such engaging wit. I couldn't love it more' - Nigella Lawson'Enchanting, fascinating, thought provoking and humorous' - Claudia Roden'Anya von Bremzen's new book reads like an engrossing unputdownable novel about the perpetual soup of humanity. And it made me think so much!' - Olia Hercules'A quest to get to the heart of culinary identity and myth-making, von Bremzem's knowledge is staggering and her writing witty, urgent and personal. I couldn't put it down' - Diana Henry'Entertaining' -Independent'In this lively blend of travelogue, food writing and cultural critique, Anya von Bremzen explores the idea of the "national dish" ... [and] calls for food preparation, writing - and of course eating - to be treated with greater political significance than we typically give it' -New Statesman'New and compelling... For all its dry wit and vivid descriptions of puttanesca and tortillas, this is a serious book - a skilful blend of academic research and lived experience. It's a sparklingly intelligent examination of, and a meditation on, the interplay of cooking and identity' - Spectator'This dazzlingly intelligent examination of how foods become national symbols . . . so enlightening - as well as so much fun to read . . . Von Bremzen is a superb describer of flavours and textures - but she also understands that food is never just about food' -Bee Wilson, Financial Times

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Book SynopsisIf you can't change a system from the inside, you have no choice but to try and change it from the outside. That act starts with telling my own story as a brown Muslim woman in the Met.''A devastating critique of the Met'' Mail on Sunday''Nusrit Mehtab has gone through the Met like a force of natureHer story is one worth reading.'HH Wendy Joseph KC, author of Unlawful KillingsOff The Beat lifts the filthy carpets at the Met Police and shines a light on the darkness below. Gripping, fascinating and crucial to the future of UK policing.'Alice Vinten, author of On the Line.A disturbing account of institutionalised sexism and racism in the Metropolitan police told from the perspective of a tough and fiercely ambitious officer who strove to rise up through the ranks'Harriet Wistrich, author of Sister in LawWhen Nusrit Mehtab joined the Metropolitan Police, the organization was rife with racism and misogyny. Officers refused to patrol with her, or even call her by her name. Her attempts to get promoted were met with hostility and ridicule, and she was subjected to cruel pranks.As the years passed and her seniority grew, Nusrit was dismayed to find that these problems got worse, not better. In this searing memoir, she recounts her thirty years in the Met and the appalling treatment she endured. Now lecturing young recruits in criminology and mentoring BAME officers, Nusrit is confident that we can mould the next generation to create a more inclusive police force, safer for both the officers and the public.Full of deeply shocking stories from the heart of the organization, Off the Beat shines a light on an institution that has lost sight of its mission to protect us and pleads the case for a brighter and safer future.

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Book SynopsisAn urgent and impassioned memoir by the winner of the Spectrum Art Prize 2018, presenting the rarely shown point of view of someone living with autism.

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Book SynopsisOnly two species of mammal have a post-reproductive life that lasts longer than their reproductive life: the killer whale, whose elders are able to sniff out food supplies over vast oceanic distances to keep their pods fed, and the Homo sapien. While the evolutionary purpose of the killer whale’s extensive life seems clear, what is the point of ours? This was a question that intrigued psychoanalyst Carl Jung, who observed that if a culture is to maintain its deepest, profoundest roots while moving forward to embrace the challenges of historical and technological change, it needs to find an equilibrium between the energy, vigour and creativity of those in the ego-driven first half of life and the experience, dignity and wisdom of those in the second. But to make it to that second half of life, we need to traverse the dreaded ‘middle years’, when so many of us find ourselves discontent with our jobs, unhappy in our relationships and lamenting our fetishized youths. Drawing on history, psychology, science and literature, Jamieson shows just how ubiquitous, and crucial, the ‘midlife crisis’ is, and the devastating consequences for society at large if we continue to regard it as something we can, and should, avoid.

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Book SynopsisPointless, risky, absurd. Yes, that is the beauty of it – absurdly determined to metamorphose themselves into a glossy photograph seen in a glossy magazine that caused a spark of desire within the tinder-dry kindling of their imagination. They were consumed with all that the photograph promised until that reality could be made theirs: to achieve all of the experience, the life's journey implied within it, to redefine their already long lives, to change themselves, to fast-track to the achievement of the decades of experience exemplified by those young adventurers in that glossy photograph in that glossy magazine. What an absurd notion. For no other reason, it had to be: three quickly became five guys on heritage motorcycles, hooking up with an ex-Special Forces operative and a combat zone photographer to make it seven for a safari across the top of Africa. From Spain to Tangier, they traversed the Riff, navigated the Atlas Mountains, circled Cirque du Jaffar, and rode through the Gorges du Ziz. Rough-riding across Morocco has never been so much fun. Wild camping on the way under star-spattered sky, across unforgiving terrain where luxury is a warm sleeping bag. In places where if you don't guard it you lose it, and where changing co-ordinates on a fast and furious basis makes good sense. Through oft sudden lows where the warmth of a Moroccan welcome exceeds the heat from black coffee, honeyed mint teas, or a meal from a hot tajine. Until dusty boots touch down on the sands of the Sahara at Erg Chebbi to witness a new dawn rise.Trade ReviewPress – Octane magazine, Bike magazine. Author interviews: Talk Radio Europe, Adventure Rider Radio. Podcasts/video on https://www.gbpublishing.co.uk/absurd

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Book SynopsisA heartwarming love letter to the places, people and creatures of Yorkshire by the county's beloved vet, Channel 5's Peter Wright.The Yorkshire Vet takes us on an enchanting journey through the hidden gems of the most beautiful county in the world, sharing charming tales of his life in Thirsk as well as fascinating nuggets of local history.Packed with engaging tales of the animals, people and places around him, Peter Wright looks back on the bygone ways of his childhood, while also exploring the fusion of tradition and modernity that characterises the Yorkshire countryside today.Peter's passion for nature shines through on every page, as he explains why our environment is so important - and what we can do to protect it for future generations.

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Book SynopsisOne summer, Alice Maddicott was adopted by a beautiful tabby called Dylan, and together they shared six years of loving friendship. Alice collected second-hand photos - orphan images - and in her sadness after Dylan's death, she pored over the old photographs of women and their cats. Cats in gardens, cats on laps, cats in alleys and on steps, accompanied by women who were diffident and affectionate, fierce and whimsical, young and old. What did these cats mean to the women who cared for them? Why have cat-owning women always been viewed with suspicion? And where did the Crazy Cat Lady stereotype emerge from, when other cultures revere rather than fear this relationship? Examining these questions and many more, Cat Women is a moving exploration of wild natures and domestic affections.

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Book SynopsisIn 1995 Alice’s mother collapsed with pneumonia. She never fully recovered and was eventually diagnosed with ME, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Then Alice got ill. Their symptoms mirrored their mother’s and appeared to have no physical cause; they received the same diagnosis a few years later. Ill Feelings blends memoir, medical history, biography and literary non-fiction to uncover both of their case histories, and branches out into the records of ill health that women have written about in diaries and letters. Their cast of characters includes Virginia Woolf and Alice James, the poets Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Emily Dickinson, John Ruskin’s lost love Rose la Touche, the artist Louise Bourgeois and the nurse Florence Nightingale. Suffused with a generative, transcendent rage, Alice Hattrick’s genre-bending debut is a moving and defiant exploration of life with a medically unexplained illness.Trade Review‘Ill Feelings is a deeply personal and deeply political reckoning with the nature of illness, inheritance, time, silence, bodies and invisibility. Alice Hattrick offers both a radical redefinition of the dominant narratives surrounding health and pain, and the knowledge we need in order to name, understand and resist them. Hattrick has found a voice and form which open up new and exciting possibilities for writing the self and making sense of the collective past: I read this remarkable book with outrage, fascination and immense admiration.’ — Francesca Wade, author of Square Haunting‘I love the quality of attentiveness that Alice Hattrick brings to their poised and pointillistic exploration of the mysterious aetiologies and affects of chronic fatigue. They excel in listening out for echoes and whispers, their narrative of illness wriggling into uncomfortable places that medicine dismisses or ignores. Their book makes you pause to think – and rethink – page by page.’ — Marina Benjamin, author of Insomnia‘Ill Feelings defies neat conclusions as well as easy categorization of the book itself, so that attempting to describe it here seems like misdiagnosis, and to try and name the paradox at its heart seems like a betrayal of its rewards. But the thrill of Alice Hattrick’s writing stems from its struggle to be free of its constraints, communicating with unspooling fury the mutability of lived experience rather than presuming to define it. In doing so, they remind us that the undefined – our own ill feelings – reveals not weakness so much as our inherent capacity for resistance.’ —Olivia Sudjic, author of Exposure‘I read Ill Feelings with a sense of wonder at the courage required not just to live with a medically unexplained illness, but to write about it with such descriptive clarity and probing intelligence. Alice Hattrick’s book is a powerful cure for ignorance or indifference about a complex form of suffering.’ — Edmund Gordon, author of The Invention of Angela Carter‘Ill Feelings is a necessary, urgent book that I feel I have been waiting my whole life to read. A beautiful combination of memoir, reportage and razor-sharp analysis, it made me think very deeply and critically and feel powerfully understood all at once – a testament to what truly accomplished non-fiction writers can achieve. This book makes me excited for the future of literary non-fiction writing and it’s power to change the world and how we see it.’ — Lucia Osborne-Crowley, author of My Body Keeps Your Secret‘“Poetry is not the same to the ill, the clouds look different, and so too does the rest of nature.” Alice Hattrick brilliantly geographies sick time and ill feelings. They chronicle not just how pain is located in the body but how it stretches outside of itself, across time and generations, through society and literature. The weight or unweight that is given to it; how disabled voices are heard (or not heard); the toxic way society views unrecovery. This book, and others like it, are always needed, but this feels especially needed right now, when 60 per cent of those who have died of Covid-19 in England have been disabled, and online disability hate crime has risen 46 per cent.’ —Jen Campbell, author of The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night

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Book SynopsisAn intimate, coming-of-age memoir by legendary guitarist Kid Congo Powers, detailing his experiences as a young, queer Mexican-American in 1970s Los Angeles through his rise in the glam rock and punk rock scenes. Kid Congo Powers has been described as a "legendary guitarist and paragon of cool" with "the greatest resume ever of anyone in rock music." That unique imprint on rock history stems from being a member of not one but three beloved, groundbreaking, and influential groups--Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the Cramps, and last but not least, The Gun Club, the wildly inventive punk-blues band he co-founded. Some New Kind of Kick begins as an intimate coming of age tale, of a young, queer, Chicano kid, growing up in a suburb east of East LA, in the mid-'70s, exploring his sexual identity through glam rock. When a devastating personal tragedy crushes his teenage dreams, he finds solace and community through fandom, as founder ('The Prez') of the Ramones West Coast fan club, and immerses himself in the delinquent chaos of the early LA punk scene. A chance encounter with another superfan, in the line outside the Whiskey-A-Go-Go to get into a Pere Ubu concert, changes the course of his life entirely. Jeffrey Lee Pierce, a misfit Chicano punk who runs the Blondie fan club, proposes they form a band. The Gun Club is born. So begins an unlikely transition from adoring fan to lauded performer. In Pierce, he finds brotherhood, a creative voice, and a common cause, but also a shared appetite for self-destruction that threatens to overwhelm them both. Quirky, droll, and heartfelt, with a pitch-perfect evocation of time and place, and a wealth of richly-drawn supporting characters, Some New Kind of Kick is a memoir of personal transformation, addiction and recovery, friendship and belonging, set against the relentless creativity and excess of the '70s and '80s underground music scenes.Trade Review'An instant classic of sex, drugs, and punk rock by one of underground music's most legendary kings of cool' Mark Lanegan 'This book is dripping with all the sadness and beauty in the world. A crucial document.' Flea 'Like the man himself, bursting with humour, heart, and good grace. A gem.' Nick Cave 'Kid Congo writes from the heart in a pure and unadorned way. This is a beautiful book about rock and roll and friendship. Read and be blessed.' Bobby Gillespie, Primal Scream

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Book SynopsisONE OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE'S BEST SUMMER READS 20225* 'A jaw-dropping memoir' - THE TELEGRAPH'One of the maddest memoirs you'll read this year... a beautiful, warm, funny book.' -The Times'A wholly absorbing page-turner that everyone will want to read. You should probably buy two.' -Kirkus Starred Review'A riveting debut.' -People Magazine'By turns hilarious, wrenching, and achingly tender.' -Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author'A remarkable and wise book, two memoirs braided together with such tendresse that readers will come to believe the ironic title in earnest' -LA TIMES'Riveting and hilariously funny' - The TimesFor most of her life, Chrysta Bilton was one member of a small, if dysfunctional, family of four. There was her sister, Kaitlyn, her hedonistic, glamorous, gay mum Debra, and Jeffrey, who Debra hand-picked, in an LA hairdressers, to be the father of her children. During Chrysta's unstable childhood, Debra struggled to keep the family afloat and Jeffrey wandered in and out of their lives.Then, in her twenties, Chrysta discovered that her father had secretly donated his sperm over 500 times - and that she had at least 35 other siblings.A Normal Family is a captivating coming-of-age memoir about Chrysta's reckoning with the secrets both parents had carefully kept from her. Heartfelt, warm and funny, it's a story of embracing the family we have, in all the forms we find it.Trade ReviewBilton's twisty life story is fascinating, and her eye for detail and ability to plumb her painful past for meaning make this a riveting debut. * PEOPLE magazine *This beautiful, warm, funny book is a testament to human resilience, forgiveness and humour. It is also a love letter to an extraordinary mother. * The Times *Is there anything original left to say about surviving a dysfunctional upbringing? A Normal Family by Chrysta Bilton takes this question almost as a dare. * BOOKPAGE *Vulnerable and omniscient * USA TODAY *Extraordinary * The Guardian *5* - A jaw-dropping memoir * The Telegraph *One of the maddest memoirs you'll read this year... a beautiful, warm, funny book. * The Times *

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Book Synopsis*** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER"I loved it. An amazing book." - Louis Theroux"A rip-roaring read. It left me breathless." - Chris Evans, Virgin Radio"Raw, savagely honest, as dramatic as any of his movies." - Mail on Sunday"A tremendous book - readable, funny and harrowing." - The Sunday Times"Riveting." - The New York Times "A fascinating exposure of Stone's inner life and his powerful, all devouring energy and genius that drove him to become one of the world's greatest filmmakers." - Sir Anthony Hopkins"... a Hollywood movie in itself." - Spike LeeChasing the Light is Oliver Stone's intimate and ground-breaking filmmaker's memoir - and a razor-sharp insider's tour of Hollywood during its 70s and 80s upheaval.With disarming honesty, he takes us from a childhood on New York's Upper East Side through the combat zones of Vietnam, inside the clandestine worlds of Chinatown's gang lords and Miami's cocaine trade - and behind the glittering and often drug-addled Los Angeles movie society scene.And from Midnight Express through Scarface, and Salvador he discovers his own dogged determination, a marked rebellious streak and a drive to make controversial films that matter. How he strung together the realistic, radical and ultimately box office smash Platoon is in itself a 10-year adventure of financial intrigue, perseverance and near-death experiences that culminates in the depths of the Philippine jungle with Stone pushing himself, the crew and young cast almost beyond breaking point.Written fearlessly with intense detail and colour, this is what it's like to make films on the edge.

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Book Synopsis***SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH'S 2021 SPORTS BOOK AWARDS - INTERNATIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR'One of the best football books I've read for a very long time.' - Sam Pilger, FourFourTwo Magazine'An extraordinary, granular depiction of a young football star's life.' - The Daily Mail'An excellent read with some incredible stories.' - TalkSPORT Breakfast ShowKnown as 'Lord Bendtner' to his fans and haters alike, Nicklas Bendtner has been lauded for his football skills at super clubs like Arsenal and Juventus. But his career has been haunted by his rocky behaviour and tendency to self-sabotage.In this disarmingly honest memoir, Bendtner talks about the darker side of football and his own difficult fall from grace; about what it's like to have so much promise that you lose touch with reality altogether.It's is about growing up in a working-class neighbourhood and fighting to reach the top in the worlds' toughest league. It's about friendship, rivalry, and the constant quest for an adrenaline kick. It's about money and what happens when you give a troubled, overconfident teen millions to spend. It's about an industry that has lost sight of what really matters.A modern footballing fable, it's a story of decline, temper, talent, great football and ultimately the tragedy of unfulfilled potential.Not since the days of Paul McGrath's Back From The Brink have we seen such honesty on the page of a footballer's memoir. Fans of Paul Merson, George Best and Tony Adam's autobiographies will also find pure fascination here in a story that has gripped international readers...Trade ReviewBendtner's [autobiography] exposes all others as mere child's play... I don't think any other football book I've read, at least not in a long while, comes anywhere near close to Bendtner's scrutiny... If it's an unflinchingly honest behind-the-scenes insight into football and all of its trappings you want, this is the book for you. * Jade Craddock *

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Book SynopsisA multi-award-winning Italian debut, from a bold and original new voice in contemporary queer literature. Jonathan is 31 years old, living in Milan with his boyfriend of three years and their two Devon Rex cats when, on a day like any other, he gets a fever. But unlike most, this fever doesn’t go away; it’s constant, low-level, and exhausting. After spending weeks Googling his symptoms and documenting his illness, he finally sees a doctor. A series of blood tests, anxious visits to hospitals, and repeated misdiagnoses ensue, until the truth is finally revealed: Jonathan is HIV-positive. As Jonathan comes to terms with what this diagnosis will mean for him, his future, and his relationships, he also takes the reader back in time, in search of his history, to the suburbs where he grew up, and from which he feels he has escaped: Rozzano, the ghetto of Milan, and of Italy’s north. In the vein of Édouard Louis and Virginie Despentes, Fever is at once a deeply personal story and a searing examination of class, poverty, prejudice, and opportunity in modern Europe.Trade Review‘Jagged and tender, forthright and sly, this book felt so committed to its fierce, wise vision of the joys and terrors of having a body and living a life. It tells us real things, in a rich voice, with force and passion and insight. I couldn’t put it down.’ -- Ronnie Scott, author of The Adversary‘I couldn’t put it down. Jonathan Bazzi’s writing is immensely powerful.’ -- Tomasz Jedrowski, author of Swimming in the Dark‘Jonathan Bazzi’s Fever promises to shed light on something quite specific, but ends up illuminating infinitely more. Here, in direct and unapologetic prose, brilliantly translated by Alice Whitmore, we are immersed in one man’s inner battle to assimilate an HIV diagnosis, yet we are never allowed to lose sight of the wider circumstances that give this battle its distinct emotional configuration: a deprived upbringing, an ill-equipped mother, a neo-fascist father, a suburban wasteland filled with wounded personalities, a precarious livelihood in a modern city, a treacherous online environment, a traumatised queer community, a politically dysfunctional nation. Shifting between anger and rebellion, on the one hand, and tenderness and forgiveness, on the other, Fever grips us first, then terrifies us, then moves us, then urges us, finally, to consider the question, ‘Who gets to be well, and why, and how?’ -- Gavin McCrea, author of Cells‘Every generation, we need new voices to tell us our story. In this harsh, lyrical, and supremely confident memoir, Jonathan Bazzi takes us on a personal journey from violence and disadvantage to the sweet power of queer self-discovery. The writing is terrific — and this is a journey we can all learn from.’ -- Neil Bartlett, author of Ready To Catch Him Should He Fall and Address Book‘Alternating between powerful recollections of Bazzi’s early life in suburban Milan and meditations on their HIV diagnosis, Fever is a stark and searing account of class, crisis, and contemporary queer life; a portrait of what the body weathers and what it remembers.’ -- Jack Parlett, author of Fire Island‘Bazzi captures the longing, the wounds, and the joys of growing up queer and working class in 1980s Milan — and what it means to recalibrate your world amid the aftershocks of a life-changing diagnosis. I read it in a single sitting.’ -- Jennifer Down, author of Bodies of Light

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Book SynopsisRenowned historian Peter Hennessy illustrious career spans post-war to post-Brexit Britain, and here he gives a wealth of anecdote and reflection from this most astute observer of Westminster and the establishment.

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE 2021 NORTHBOUND BOOK AWARD 'Adam Farrer is a bold new voice in nonfiction writing. His keen observations are as gentle as they are wry, as attentive to the bleak truths of loss and deprivation as they are to the eccentric humour of humans being entirely themselves ... Witty, charming, moving and real.' Jenn Ashworth Before Adam Farrer’s family relocated to Withernsea in 1992, he’d never heard of the Holderness coast. The move represented one thing to Adam: a chance to leave the insecurities of early adolescence behind. And he could do that anywhere. What he didn’t know was how much he’d grow to love the quirks and people of this faded Yorkshire resort, in spite of its dilapidated attractions and retreating clifftops. While Adam documents the minutiae of small-town life, he lays bare experiences that are universal. His insights on family, friendship, male mental health and suicide are revealed in stories of reinvention, rapacious seagulls, interdimensional werewolves, burlesque dancing pensioners, and his compulsion towards the sea. Cold Fish Soup is an affectionate look at a place and its inhabitants, and the ways in which they can shape and influence someone, especially of an impressionable age. Adam’s account explores what it means to love and be shaped by a place that is under threat, and the hope – and hilarity – that can be found in community.Trade Review'Vividly documents the minutiae of small-town life on the margins … captures it beautifully.' * The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice *‘In a book as laced with humanity as it is with the presence of the North Sea, Adam Farrer asks that you fall in love with the overlooked, with that which is crumbling and destined to be lost to the sea. I fell for it hard.’ * Wyl Menmuir, Booker-listed author of The Draw of the Sea *'Cold Fish Soup is such a wide-ranging and thought-provoking essay collection, covering masculinity, mental health, werewolves and alien sightings, sense of belonging, the difficulties of carving out a creative life in a geographically marginalised place, coastal erosion and burlesque, amongst other things. It drew me in, and kept me hooked, through all diversions and detours in time and narrative, and made me both cry and laugh heartily and fully. It is a love letter to Withernsea and all the people in it, its crumbling cliffs, its strange beauties and its losses, that made me love Withernsea too.' * Polly Atkin *'Cold Fish Soup understands the oddity, tenderness and brutal ordinariness of small town life. Adam Farrer is a bold new voice in nonfiction writing. His keen observations are as gentle as they are wry, as attentive to the bleak truths of loss and deprivation as they are to the eccentric humour of humans being entirely themselves ... Witty, charming, moving and real.' * Jenn Ashworth *'What a glorious book! Just beautiful. Adam dances down that line between happy and sad with such sure-footed grace. It underlines that there is no such thing as 'an ordinary life' or indeed an 'ordinary place'.' * Catherine Simpson *'Witty, moving, wry, insightful and caring in how it deals with its subject matter.' * The Bookseller, Category Highlight, annual preview *'Witty and introspective … moving … elegiac … vivid evocations of the landscape … Echoing the canny writing of David Sedaris, Farrer has a knack for wringing hilarity from life’s grim moments … this meditation on the beauty of impermanence charms.' * Publishers Weekly *'[Farrer] documents his own personal history with guile and candour, but it is the tenderness with which he introduces his family that enriches the reading experience … Farrer has an uncanny grasp of his chosen form’s mechanics … he writes with a suppleness that gifts his stories a winning momentum … [The book] emerges as a gnarly companion piece to Amy Liptrot’s delicate ode to Orkney The Outrun … and Adam Buxton’s Ramble Book … Cold Fish Soup is like nothing else you will read this year: a lyrical and courageous exercise in uncovering one’s own personal history.' -- Gary Kaill * Lunate magazine *

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Book Synopsis THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Two sisters, one war and an extraordinary family secret1939. In the nation's hour of need, brave sisters Patricia and Jean Owtram answered the call of duty.With their fierce intelligence and steely determination, these remarkable young women would stop at nothing to help crack the Enigma code, support Allied troops, and defeat the Nazis.Their top-secret mission would finally see the tide of war turn in Britain's favour...This is their incredible true story.

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Book SynopsisBlue Light of the Screen is about what it means to be afraid - about immersion, superstition, delusion, and the things that keep us up at night. A creative-critical memoir of the author's obsession with the horror genre, Blue Light of the Screen embeds its criticism of horror within a larger personal story of growing up in a devoutly Catholic family, overcoming suicidal depression, uncovering intergenerational trauma, and encountering real and imagined ghosts.As Cronin writes, she positions herself as a protagonist who is haunted by what she watches and reads, like an antiquarian in an M.R. James ghost story whose sense of reality unravels through her study of arcane texts and cursed archives. In this way, Blue Light of the Screen tells the story of the author's conversion from skepticism to faith in the supernatural.Part memoir, part ghost story, and part critical theory, Blue Light of the Screen is not just a book about horror, but a work of horror itself.Trade Review"Part memoir, part philosophical rumination, Blue Light of the Screen is a love letter to the darkness inside and out...and the flicking light of the screens around which we cluster, seeking not warmth but truth." "Blue Light of the Screen is an original, compelling and genuinely unclassifiable book that is by turns insightful, moving and disturbing - as well as an informative introduction to cinematic horror." "A book written from deep within the horror genre, Cronin's Blue Light of the Screen annuls the distinction between confession and possession." "A poetic and highly personal account of the ghosts that chase us." "A striking memoir of a demon-haunted life. Cronin elegantly articulates the way horror (from the art house to the grind house) is often the most personal genre, leaving its viewers with powerful metaphors to decode the sometimes even more terrifying world on the other side of the screen." "A dreamlike, at times hallucinatory journey through memory and nightmare. Cronin's fragmentary approach takes a litany of horror movies as grist to explore deeper questions of uncanny belief. A strange and thoroughly enjoyable read."

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Book SynopsisThe Silver Invicta is a stream of impressions from a fishing life, in its varying moods, coloured with plenty of whisky and eccentric company. Join Tom Harland on his light-hearted journeys with his fly rod; take part in his triumphs and disasters on rough, wild camping trips and share his encounters with the wildlife of Scotland’s rivers and lochs. The ‘Silver Invicta’ was the traditional fly which was taken by Tom’s first salmon and is also a nod to the spirit of Scotland’s embattled migratory fish. Tom has fished throughout his local Scottish Borders, England, the Western Isles and New Zealand (a country he lived and worked in for two years), but his real passion is for the brown trout of the hill lochs of Assynt in the North-west Highlands. Open this treasure trove of a book to share the pleasure the author finds through fishing respectfully in magical, wild, and seldom-visited places.Trade Review'A beautifully written paean to Scottish fishing' -- Richard Bath * Scottish Field *'gentle stories, well told, carefully and articulately written . . . A book to savour by a warm fire with an open bottle' -- Magnus Angus * Fly Fishing & Fly Tying Magazine *'Tom Harland’s new book The Silver Invicta is a stream of impressions from a fishing life, in its varying moods, coloured with plenty of whisky and eccentric company' * Fieldsports Journal *'Delightful . . . relaxed and light-hearted, a great read for anglers and others who just love wild places' -- Fred Carrie * Fish Wild *'A beautiful journal/reflection on fly fishing. Full of lovely writing, funny bits, advice and makes you want to get straight out on to the river' -- Sam Carlisle * FishPal Journal *

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Book SynopsisIn It's Not a Proper Job, TV legend Chris Tarrant regales the reader with hilarious and heart-warming stories from his stellar 50-year career in television and radio. With trademark wit and self-mockery, Chris not only recalls his behind-the-scenes capers with fellow celebrities, but also shows us how, as a man of the people, he has relished rubbing shoulders with ordinary folk on his way to becoming one of the nation's favourite TV faces. A former teacher and ATV newsreader, Chris soon established himself at the forefront of trailblazing telly as the host of Tiswas, and here recounts this 1970s, anarchic, flan-flinging children's show that spearheaded a fresh format and a new era for Saturday morning TV, packed with pranks, full of fun, and which remains a benchmark to this day. For later audiences, Chris will be more familiar as the face of yet another groundbreaking show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? which he presented for sixteen gripping years, and which grew into a global phenomenon exported to over one hundred countries. Here Chris remembers the joyous highs of contestants' life-changing winnings, the frustrating lows of loss, the cringing embarrassment of ignorance, and the infamous cheating of the 'Coughing Major'. Spanning five decades, Chris's television credits are the envy of aspirational TV stars, but reading his laugh-out-loud anecdotes - akin to having a chat with the man himself over a pint, or listening to one of his entertaining, after-dinner speeches - reveals a man still amused by life, by the people he meets, and by his own humble assertion that none of his glittering career can, in any way, be called 'a proper job'.

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Book SynopsisCooper Wilson is a man who knows horses. He's also a man who has an incredible, amazing gift of being able to help many horses through psychic powers. In this his first book he tells of how the apparition of a stag started what has now brought him the honorary title of The Yorkshire Horseman. From humble beginnings, the son of a hunt servant and a boy who went to school in his wellies, Cooper began realising that his extraordinary powers of being able to work with ailing horses was truly unique. Cooper is now the most in-demand horse psychic internationally and travels regularly on tour throughout England, Ireland, Scotland and around the world where huge numbers of horse owners bring their animals almost like a pilgrimage to have Cooper tell them more about what is wrong, what should be done and to put them back in good health and fitness.

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Book Synopsis''Fascinating'' Telegraph''Thorough and engaging'' Washington Post''Lively, opinionated, and ultra-timely'' New Yorker''[A] robust and readable polemic history'' Financial Times''A fascinating new look at the patchwork chaos called copyright ... Not just authors, but artists in many media, scientists, mathematicians and every one of us with our own unique individual faces ... should read this book'' SpectatorThis is the story of a relatively simple idea - that authors have rights in the works they create - which through many strange and startling twists and turns has come to frame and to constrain a wide range of things we do, for the benefit not of the many, but of the few.Copyright is everywhere. Your smartphone incorporates thousands of items of intellectual property. Someone owns the reproduction rights to photographs of your dining table. At this very moment, battles are

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Book SynopsisEver wondered what it's like living with a brain that's trying to kill you? If you've struggled with an eating disorder, you'll know exactly how that feels. This book follows an ordinary girl on one of the most extraordinary and difficult journeys of her life: going into inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa. More than just a memoir, The Weapon of Choice is about what it's like to have an eating disorder, and more importantly, what happens when you try to live without it. The time spent in an eating disorder ward can be dull, painful, surreal, and even sometimes, downright hilarious. Sophia offers a candid, honest insight into the daily struggles of life in an eating disorder unit, telling the story of how it's possible to go from rock bottom to a much brighter place. This book is for anyone interested in eating disorders, whether you're suffering with one yourself, caring for a loved one, or working with patients in a clinical setting.

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Book SynopsisSo, you think you know Donald Trump? The outrageous showman, vainglorious TV media host and first President to be appointed without any political or military experience. Yes, that Donald Trump. Jim G. Sitch’s diaries, compiled over four long years of the Donald Trump presidency, are hypnotic and scary throughout and a timely reminder of ‘what has been’ and what could well be again. President Trump was a self-taught ruler who, during his time in power, demonstrated his leadership capabilities by trying to tarnish the reputation of a dying American war hero, throwing paper towels at hurricane survivors and provoking Denmark to make Greenland a National Security Priority due to the President trying to buy it. Once you’ve read these diaries, which detail just what it was like to live under Donald Trump’s rule, you’ll seriously question whether there can ever again be another President like Donald Trump.Table of ContentsThe Trump Diaries – Any more years? 13 Section Intro: 2017 – Year 1 17 JANUARY 2017 19 Section Intro: 2018 – Year 2 109 JANUARY 2018 111 Section Intro: 2019 – Year 3 209 JANUARY 2019 211 Section Intro: 2020 – Year 4 303 JANUARY 2020 305 Trump Diary Epilogue – 2021 413 JANUARY 2021 415 Donald Trump – President of the United States of America 2017 to 2021; his legacy… 423 Acknowledgments 424

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Book SynopsisBob Saunders was called up for National Service on VJ (Victory in Japan) Day, 1945, at the age of 18. Early the following year, he was posted to India, where he stayed during the momentous era of Partition, before returning to England in October 1947. A few years after returning from India, Bob opened his own travel agency in Batley, a town eight miles south of Leeds, having been greatly impressed by his experiences of India and travel during his National Service. Bob decided to call his travel agency PhotoTravel, as the business sold not only holidays and luggage, but also photographic services. A neighbour suggested he used a European spelling, ‘Foto’ instead, and so FotoTravel was born. The agency was approved by ABTA and Bob ran it for over 25 years. Lotus of Kashmir has taken Bob 75 years to complete! The book is based on Bob’s diaries of his time in India from 1946-47, and two or three years ago, around 2019-20, he began to add the romantic fiction element. Bob finally completed this task in 2022.

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Book Synopsis"The garden that once was still haunts my dreams and no season will ever be the same again ... " When Ceri and her brothers move to Fern Cottage in the small North Wiltshire village of Little Somerford, they discover a place unchanged by modern life. The kitchen garden is a riot of fruit trees and vegetables, and the old farming family next door still works the land with horses. This is a community full of character, and slowly the life and beauty of Little Somerford steals into Ceri's heart ... A beautiful memoir full of the people and magic of Little Somerford in the 1950s and 60s

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Book Synopsis'As a child I think we lived on rabbit - boiled, roasted or stewed, it was a staple diet for many families ...' Birdlip, Cold Slad, Crickey Hill and the Air Balloon Inn: growing up in a hamlet of only six houses, John Townsend's humble childhood is full of hardships and adventures in the rough Cotswold hills. His youthful talent for uncovering scrap metal is the beginning of a career in antiques - one which will bring its own surprises, including an encounter with a ghost ... Warm and full of character, this is an invaluable picture of life in rural Gloucestershire in the 1940s, 1950s and beyond

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Book SynopsisThe redoubtable Owtram sisters, best-selling authors of Codebreaking Sisters, take us back in time once again with recently rediscovered diaries and letters from the '20s and 30s that paint a vivid picture of their childhood at Newland Hall in Lancashire's Lune Valley. Here they lived with their parents Bunty and Cary Owtram and younger brother Bob, supported by a fascinating cast of cooks, maids and groundsmen, all presided over by 'Grandboffin', the sisters' indomitable grandfather. The Owtram sisters' childhood was one of nannies and governesses, balls and tennis parties, theatricals and ponies. But their hilarious stories of British eccentricity and etiquette and the trials and tribulations of boarding school, are set against the backdrop of a world in the throes of great change; the Spanish Civil War, the Great Depression, hunger marches, the abdication of Edward VIII and his wedding to "that American", Mrs Simpson... Closer to home, the sisters witnessed a shocking murder- suicide, in a scenario straight out of Romeo and Juliet. In 1938, the arrival at Newland Hall of the first Austrian Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis, became the catalyst for the Owtram sisters' decision to join the women's forces, where they serve with such distinction in World War Two. The war changed their lives forever. The work of post war recovery opened to the sisters a world that hitherto inconceivable. Jean immersed herself in travel, working with refugees. Later, she became a social worker and one of the founding members of the team that set up Lancaster University. Pat became one of the first female journalists on the Daily Mail before pursuing a career in television at Granada and the BBC, producing such great family favourites as University Challenge and the Sky At Night. With Jean soon to turn 98 and Pat approaching her 100th birthday in June 2023, this is a unique opportunity to hear more first-hand stories from a soon-to-be-forgotten world. Using the sisters' contemporaneous correspondence, diary entries (including Pat's 1940/41 Blitz diary) and their 21st century reflection, Century Sisters will tell those stories with the inimitable Owtram style and flair.

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Book SynopsisAction-packed memoir featuring real life experiences from the most dangerous places on earth, including a literal minefield. First Into Action Again is a sequel to Duncan Falconer's best-selling first autobiography, First Into Action.

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Book SynopsisA woman who was sexually abused by her own father and later gave birth to his daughter is now running a support group which spans 30 countries and has tens of thousands of supporters. This is her story of family secrets and lies, and the struggle to overcome the very worst forms of childhood abuse.

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Book SynopsisNapoleon Bonaparte’s defeat in 1815 came at an inconvenient time for John Monk, an ambitious young naval officer. Forced to rethink his plans, John turned to the merchant service, where he encountered storms, shipwreck and even piracy as he traded between Liverpool and the Mediterranean through the 1830s and 1840s. ‘Bonaparte and Brimstone’ is the fascinating and engaging biography of a little-known Georgian naval lieutenant and mariner from Parkgate on the Wirral and brings him unforgettably to life. Vibrantly written, it is the beguiling story of one man’s hopes and fortunes, and is ultimately an emotional tale of family and belonging, enriched with abundant personal documents, among them the remarkable diary of a stormy voyage to Italy in 1824. John Monk saw ten years’ service across the seas of Europe and survived the horrific bloodshed on HMS Impregnable during the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816, but he grew dismayed at his lack of progress and battled the Admiralty just as he had once battled the French. ‘Bonaparte and Brimstone’ paints a portrait in miniature of British society in the nineteenth century and of the country’s seafarers who attempted to navigate a path through it.Table of ContentsIntroduction 5 Prologue. The Irish Sea, October 1889 9 1. A childhood in Parkgate 11 2. Volunteer, first-class 20 3. Baltic ice 42 4. South to warmer seas 67 5. Algiers and the Impregnable 98 6. A voyage on the William Black 134 7. The Monk 169 8. The comforts of home 191 Epilogue. The Irish Sea, October 7th, 1889 218 Acknowledgements 223 Appendix: Untellable tales 225 Endnotes 227

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Book SynopsisAs he moseys from east to west, driving slowly, stopping frequently he meets a huge variety of Americans - white, black, Hispanic, Asian, native American; Christian, Muslim, atheist, Mormon, Mennonite; rich, middling, poor. They talk about everything from slavery, Indian reservations, fracking and forest fires to baseball, beer, the blues, Butch Cassidy, and Marilyn Monroe. Everyone has something to say about Donald Trump, from those who `love him' to those who `hate him. 'Reynolds follows the direction of history, the direction taken by explorers and pioneer settlers. As he travels he conjures a vivid picture of the US then and now; its landscape and its people in all their diversity

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Book SynopsisAn autobiography

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisA mix of deceitfully plain reportage; fictive history and fictional forays into the past. As he reaches eighty Dai Smith comes out swinging with Measuring the Distance.

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