Search results for ""Author Harry Shapiro""
Amberley Publishing Fierce Chemistry: A History of UK Drug Wars
In July 1920, when the first Dangerous Drugs Act was passed, the UK drug scene was limited to small groups of Soho night people smoking opium and sniffing coke, and some middle- and upper-class people (mainly women) around the country quietly getting private morphine prescriptions from their GP. Now, exactly 100 years on, we have hundreds of thousands of people using a whole smorgasbord of different drugs. How did that happen? The nineteenth century saw scientific developments whose unintended consequences laid the foundations for the modern explosion of recreational and chronic drug use, which has in turn sparked a worldwide effort to stop it. At first encouraged by the commercial opportunities afforded by widespread ‘cures’ – many consisting of little more than heroin or cocaine – by the twentieth century a moral crusade had gathered force to curb this new social ill. In truth, although the dangers of drug use were very real, the origins of the war against drugs stemmed from wider fears in society. In this new book, the culmination of a lifetime of research and writing on the topic, Harry Shapiro isolates the different elements behind the war on drugs to present an issue reaching boiling point. Using a range of interviews, documentation, private papers, government archives and studies from the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence, Shapiro synthesises a tale of crime, money, politics and exploitation bigger than any country.
£20.00
Outline Press Ltd Gary Moore
Gary Moore delighted entire generations with his passionate guitar playing, from the driving rock of Thin Lizzy in the 1970s to his explorations in subsequent decades of jazz fusion, heavy metal, hard rock, blues rock, and more. Throughout that time, he could be seen on the world s biggest stages, yet the real Gary Moore was always hidden in plain sight, giving little away. Now, however, through extensive and revealing interviews with family members, friends, and fellow musicians, acclaimed rock biographer Harry Shapiro is able to take readers right to the heart of Gary s life and career. Despite his early death in 2011, Moore still has legions of devoted fans across the world who will be enthralled by this unique insight into the life of a guitar genius who did it his way and whose music lives on. Beginning with Gary as a teenage guitar prodigy in war-torn Ireland and continuing through the many highs and lows of more than forty years in rock, Shapiro paints an intimate portrait of a musician widely hailed as one of the greatest Irish bluesmen of all time.
£20.02
Outline Press Ltd Jack Bruce Composing Himself: The authorised biography
When Cream broke up in 1968 it was by no means a foregone conclusion that it would be Eric Clapton who would enjoy continued commercial success. After all, it was Jack Bruce who had the looks, and who co-wrote and sang all the band's major hits, including "Sunshine of Your Love", "I Feel Free" and "White Room". But he was a singular talent who wanted to be a pioneer, not just a pop star, and he was never happy resting on his reputation. Cream split in their prime but their influence endured, and when they reformed in 2005 tickets were selling for nearly GBP 2000 on e-bay. In the 40 years since Cream split Bruce has continued his musical adventures with the likes of John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Carla Bley and Mick Taylor, never quite achieving the success and recognition he deserves. It has been an often troubled life - heroin addiction, management rip-offs, family tragedy, and a failed liver transplant, all of which he speaks about frankly in this book, telling a story that is sometimes funny, sometimes bleak, and always honest.
£14.95
