Biography & True Accounts
-
In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile
A major source for the BBC drama The Reckoning
Winner of the 2015 Gordon Burn Prize and the 2015 CWA Non-Fiction Dagger
Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and the James Tait Black Prize
Dan Davies has spent more than a decade on a quest to find the real Jimmy Savile, and interviewed him extensively over a period of seven years before his death. In the course of his quest, he spent days and nights at a time quizzing Savile at his homes in Leeds and Scarborough, lunched with him at venues ranging from humble transport cafes to the Athenaeum club in London and, most memorably, joined him for a short cruise aboard the QE2. Dan thought his quest had come to an end in October 2011 when Savile’s golden coffin was lowered into a grave dug at a 45-degree angle in a Scarborough cemetery. He was wrong. In the last two and a half years, Dan has been interviewing scores of people, many of them unobtainable while Jimmy was alive. What he has discovered was that his instincts were right all along and behind the mask lay a hideous truth. Jimmy Savile was not only complex, damaged and controlling, but cynical, calculating and predatory. He revelled in his status as a Pied Piper of youth and used his power to abuse the vulnerable and underage, all the while covering his tracks by moving into the innermost circles of the establishment.
Read more
£5.70 -
Agatha Christie: The Sunday Times Bestseller
‘A smart and highly entertaining portrait of a literary powerhouse’
– THE TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR‘A riveting portrait’
– GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR***
‘Worsley’s sparkling biography brings a fresh eye to Christie’s life and work, firmly busting the myth that she, or her novels, were cosy.’ Daily Mail‘Every Christie fan should read this’ – The Times
‘Shows the Queen of Crime in a new light.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘Worsley’s book excels in bringing a broader historical perspective to Christie’s life and work, and her enthusiasm is infectious.’ – Observer
‘Nobody in the world was more inadequate to act the heroine than I was.’
Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was ‘just’ an ordinary housewife, when clearly she wasn’t? As Lucy Worsley says, ‘She was thrillingly, scintillatingly modern’. She went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast cars, and she was intrigued by the new science of psychology, which helped her through devastating mental illness.
So why – despite all the evidence to the contrary – did Agatha present herself as a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure?
She was born in 1890 into a world which had its own rules about what women could and couldn’t do. Lucy Worsley’s biography is not just of an internationally renowned bestselling writer. It’s also the story of a person who, despite the obstacles of class and gender, became an astonishingly successful working woman.With access to personal letters and papers that have rarely been seen, Lucy Worsley’s biography is both authoritative and entertaining and makes us realise what an extraordinary pioneer Agatha Christie was – truly a woman who wrote the twentieth century.
Read more
£0.90 -
My Effin’ Life
“As someone who has spent his life telling made-up stories that are obliged to sound somewhat plausible, I am deeply envious of Geddy Lee. And it’s not only the improbable, absurd, wondrous and at times heartbreaking true story that life has gifted him that envy, but also the warmth, care, artfulness, hard-earned wisdom and—always—the gently skewed humor with which he tells it. He’s one of my musical heroes, for reasons that are there on record, but with this book everyone can see why for so long he has also been one of my heroes as a man.”—Michael Chabon
The long-awaited memoir, generously illustrated with never-before-seen photos, from the iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Rush bassist, and bestselling author of Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book of Bass.
Geddy Lee is one of rock and roll’s most respected bassists. For nearly five decades, his playing and work as co-writer, vocalist and keyboardist has been an essential part of the success story of Canadian progressive rock trio Rush. Here for the first time is his account of life inside and outside the band.
Long before Rush accumulated more consecutive gold and platinum records than any rock band after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, before the seven Grammy nominations or the countless electrifying live performances across the globe, Geddy Lee was Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, after his grandfather was murdered in the Holocaust.
As he recounts the transformation, Lee looks back on his family, in particular his loving parents and their horrific experiences as teenagers during World War II.
He talks candidly about his childhood and the pursuit of music that led him to drop out of high school.
He tracks the history of Rush which, after early struggles, exploded into one of the most beloved bands of all time.
He shares intimate stories of his lifelong friendships with bandmates Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart—deeply mourning Peart’s recent passing—and reveals his obsessions in music and beyond.
This rich brew of honesty, humor, and loss makes for a uniquely poignant memoir.
Read more
£17.10My Effin’ Life
£17.10 -
Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II
A classic of World War II literature, an incredibly revealing work that provides a near comprehensive account of the war and brings to life the legendary general and eventual president of the United States. • “Gives the reader true insight into the most difficult part of a commander’s life.” —The New York TimesFive-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower was arguably the single most important military figure of World War II. Crusade in Europe tells the complete story of the war as he planned and executed it. Through Eisenhower’s eyes the enormous scope and drama of the war–strategy, battles, moments of great decision–become fully illuminated in all their fateful glory. Penned before his Presidency, this account is deeply human and helped propel him to the highest office. His personal record of the tense first hours after he had issued the order to attack leaves no doubt of his travails and reveals how this great leader handled the ultimate pressure. For historians, his memoir of this world historic period has become an indispensable record of the war and timeless classic.
Read more
£9.00 -
At My Mother’s Knee…And Other Low Joints: Tales from Paul’s mischievous young years
THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER
‘Warmly funny, dry and mischievous . . . Genuine and brilliant.’ Daily Mail
Paul O’Grady is one of Britain’s very best loved entertainers. He is known and adored by millions, whether as the creator of the acid-tongued Blonde Bombsite, Lily Savage, the presenter of the fantastically successful, award-winning Paul O’Grady Show on Channel 4 or the massive hit ITV show, For the Love of Dogs.
Now, in his own unique voice, Paul O’Grady tells story of his early life in Irish Catholic Birkenhead that started him on the long and winding road from mischievous altar boy to national treasure. It is a brilliantly evoked, hilarious and often moving tale of gossip in the back yard, bragging in the corner shop and slanging matches on the front doorstep, populated by larger-than-life characters with hearts of gold and tongues as sharp as razors.
At My Mother’s Knee features an unforgettable cast of rogues, rascals, lovers, fighters, saints and sinners – and one iconic bus conductress. It’s a book which really does have something for everyone and which reminds us that, when all’s said and done, there’s a bit of savage in all of us…
Readers love At My Mother’s Knee:
‘I laughed, I cried, I couldn’t put it down and the characters really just jumped out of the page.’ *****
‘Candid, heart warming and also hilarious.’ *****
‘Wonderfully written, laugh out loud funny and poignant by turns.’ *****Read more
£2.80 -
One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up: A Memoir of Growing Up and Getting On
The Sunday Times bestseller
***
‘[A] compelling story of overcoming adversity… Unexpectedly fascinating… amazingly inspiriting…’ — The Observer
‘…the vitality of the book lies in its directness and conversational candour… An engaging memoir’ — The Sunday Times
‘Extraordinary’ — Evening Standard
‘Funny, honest and at times heart-breaking – a terrific read.’ — Lorraine Kelly
‘For a politician to have such an extraordinary story to tell is rare. For that politician to be able to tell it with such eloquence and benevolence is rarer still. This book is a triumph.’ — Alan Johnson
‘This riveting tale of social aspiration leads us from the East End to Westminster in detailed honesty.’ — Ian McKellen
‘A moving and inspiring hymn to the ups and downs of life – to love, to adversity and above all courage.’ —Michael Cashman
‘Compulsive reading: Wes’s story is inspiring, surprising and full of compassion.’ — Jess Phillips
‘A remarkable and enchanting book.’ — The House
‘One of the most extraordinary memoirs that I have read.’ — Lewis Goodall, The News Agents
‘Searingly honest… a really inspirational book.’ — Iain Dale
Wes Streeting might have ended up in prison rather than in parliament. His maternal grandfather Bill, an unsuccessful armed robber, spent time behind bars, as did his grandmother, who was also a political campaigner.
Brought up on a Stepney council estate, the young Streeting saw his teenage parents struggle to provide for him. In One Boy, Two Bills & A Fry Up he brings to life the poverty, humiliation and incredible struggle for them choosing whether to feed the meter and heat the flat, put carpet on the floor, or food on the table.
Wes Streeting knows it was the help and inspiration he received from the great characters that surrounded him, especially his paternal grandfather (also called Bill), that ultimately set him on the way to Cambridge and then Parliament. He knew he could draw on the strengths in childhood to eventually come out, and to go on and face his now successful struggle with kidney cancer.
This honest, uplifting, affectionate memoir is a tribute to the love and support which set him on his way out of poverty, and informs everything about Wes Streeting’s mission now in politics.
Read more
£10.40 -
Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief
The No. 1 Bestseller
‘One of the best [books] I have read about the complexities of poverty . . . one of the most remarkable people you will ever meet’ Guardian
As the middle of five kids growing up in dire poverty, the odds were low on Katriona O’Sullivan making anything of her life. When she became a mother at 15 and ended up homeless, what followed were five years of barely coping.
This is the extraordinary story – moving, funny, brave, and sometimes startling – of how Katriona turned her life around. How the seeds of self-belief planted by teachers in childhood stayed with her. How she found mentors whose encouragement revitalised those seeds in adulthood, leading her to become an award-winning academic whose work challenges barriers to education.
Poor is not only Katriona’s story, but is also her impassioned argument for the importance of looking out for our kids’ futures. Of giving them hope, practical support and meaningful opportunities.
* * *
‘Full of insight into a live lived right up against the boundaries placed on it by poverty … so important … we’d highly recommend’ – Fi Glover, Times Radio
‘I read poor in one sitting … I found it so complelling. An amazing story … moving, uplifting, brave, heroic’ – Nuala McGovern, Woman’s Hour, BBC
‘Moving, funny, brave and original – just like the author … absolutely incredible’ – Roísín Ingle, Irish Times Women’s Podcast
‘One of the most important books I have ever read … a beautiful telling of determination despite the odds’ – Lynn Ruane, Irish Times
‘Fearless, funny and searingly honest’ – Adil Ray OBE
‘Raw and remarkable’ – Irish Independent
‘A book of empowerment and hope’ – Patricia Scanlan
‘An important contribution to our understanding of poverty and its impact’ – Sinéad Gibney, Business Post
‘An incredible read’ – Business Post
‘Phenomenal’ – Louise O’Neill
Read more
£7.60 -
Wicked Beyond Belief: The True Crime Story Behind the Hit New TV Show
Now a major TV series
‘A masterpiece that reads like a thriller’ Time Out
A gripping and probing account of the biggest criminal manhunt in British history.
It is over 40 years since Peter Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking 7 more. Still, he remains a killer of almost mythical proportions; his surviving victims, and their families, forever attached to his infamy.
Michael Bilton’s acclaimed account is a powerful indictment of the calamitous investigation that logged over 2 million man-hours of police work – the biggest criminal manhunt in British history. With exclusive access to the detectives involved, the pathologist’s archives and declassified documents, this account reads like the most gripping of thrillers.
Note that it has not been possible to include the same picture content that appeared in the original print version.
Read more
£2.99 -
Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
From the legendary vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, lessons in investment strategy, philanthropy, and living a rational and ethical life.“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up,” Charles T. Munger advises in Poor Charlie’s Almanack. Originally published in 2005, this compendium of eleven talks delivered by the legendary Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman between 1986 and 2007 has become a touchstone for a generation of investors and entrepreneurs seeking to absorb the enduring wit and wisdom of one of the great minds of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Edited by Peter D. Kaufman, chairman and CEO of Glenair and longtime friend of Charlie Munger—whom he calls “this generation’s answer to Benjamin Franklin”—this abridged Stripe Press edition of Poor Charlie’s Almanack features a brand-new foreword by Stripe cofounder John Collison.
Poor Charlie’s Almanack draws on Munger’s encyclopedic knowledge of business, finance, history, philosophy, physics, and ethics—and more besides—to introduce the latticework of mental models that underpin his rational and rigorous approach to life, learning, and decision-making. Delivered with Munger’s characteristic sharp wit and rhetorical flair, it is an essential volume for any reader seeking to go to bed a little wiser than when they woke up.
Read more
£0.99 -
Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton and Me
‘This is the most glorious of books. I am besotted by the life I never knew he had.’ -Elton John
‘Orgasmic. Every page of Scattershot is a delight, a joy, a name-dropper fan’s delight. Divine. I couldn’t put it down.’ -Pete Townshend
‘In Bernie Taupin’s miraculous memoir Scattershot you’ll meet legends, cowboys, geniuses, unforgettable faces in the night, shady purveyors of outrageous fortune, warriors of the heart, and most of all, Taupin himself. Hilarious and so emotionally true, Scattershot is like a letter from a cherished friend. You’ll want to keep it close, so you can read it again and again.’ -Cameron Crowe
‘Touching. Charming. Humble. Witty. And exquisitely written. Taupin’s words need no musical accompaniment. They sing with a poets voice.’ -Gary Oldman
‘Eloquent and inspiring, Scattershot is a freewheeling memoir that is as warm and evocative as Bernie Taupin’s most memorable lyrics. A born storyteller, Taupin gives us the life of an artist whose outlook was shaped by a rare but fascinating blend of lifelong innocence and endless intellectual curiosity.’ -Robert Hilburn, author of Johnny Cash: The Life
This is the memoir music fans have been waiting for. Half of one of the greatest creative partnerships in popular music, Bernie Taupin is the man who wrote the lyrics for Elton John, who conceived the ideas that spawned countless hits, and sold millions and millions of records. Together, they were a duo, a unit, an immovable object. Their extraordinary, half-century-and-counting creative relationship has been chronicled in biopics (like 2019’s Rocketman) and even John’s own autobiography, Me. But Taupin, a famously private person, has kept his own account of their adventures close to his chest, until now.
Written with honesty and candour, Scatterhot allows the reader to witness events unfolding from Taupin’s singular perspective, sometimes front and center, sometimes from the edge, yet always described vibrantly, with an infectious energy that only a vivid songwriter’s prose could offer. From his childhood in the East Midlands of England whose imagination was sparked and forever informed by the distinctly American mythopoetics of country music and cowboys, to the glittering, star-studded fishbowl of ’70s and ’80s Beverly Hills, Scattershot is simultaneously a Tom Jones-like picaresque journey across a landscape of unforgettable characters, as well as a striking, first-hand account of a creative era like no other and one man’s experience at the core of it.
An exciting, multi-decade whirlwind, Scattershot whizzes around the world as we ride shotgun with Bernie on his extraordinary life. We visit New York with him and Elton on the cusp of global fame. We spend time with him in Australia almost in residency at an infamous rock ‘n’ roll hotel in an endless blizzard of drugs. And we spend late, late night hours with John Lennon, with Bob Marley, and hanging with Frank Sinatra. And beyond the world of popular music, we witness memorable encounters with writers like Graham Greene, painters like Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali, and scores of notable misfits, miscreants, eccentrics, and geniuses, known and unknown. Even if they’re not famous in their own right, they are stars on the page, and we discover how they inspired the indelible lyrics to songs such as “Tiny Dancer,” “Candle in the Wind,” “Bennie and The Jets,” and so many more.
Unique and utterly compelling, Scattershot will transport the reader across the decades and around the globe, along the way meeting some of the greatest creative minds of the 20th century, and into the vivid imaginings of one of music’s most legendary lyricists.
Read more
£12.99 -
Band-Aid for a Broken Leg: Being a doctor with no borders (and other ways to stay single)
Damien Brown thinks he’s ready when he arrives for his first posting with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Africa. But the town he’s sent to is an isolated outpost of mud huts, surrounded by landmines; the hospital, for which he’s to be the only doctor, is filled with malnourished children and conditions he’s never seen; and the health workers – Angolan war veterans twice his age who speak no English – walk out on him following an altercation on his first shift.
In the months that follow, Damien confronts these challenges all the while dealing with the social absurdities of living with only three other volunteers for company. The medical calamities pile up – leopard attacks, landmine explosions, performing surgery using tools cleaned on the fire – but as Damien’s friendships with the local people evolve, his passion for the work grows.
Written with great warmth and empathy, Band-Aid for a Broken Leg is a compassionate, deeply honest and often humorous account of life on the medical frontline in Angola, Mozambique and South Sudan. It is also a moving testimony to the work done by medical humanitarian groups and the remarkable, often eccentric people who work for them.Read more
£4.79 -
The Chateau – Forever Home: The instant Sunday Times Bestseller, as seen on the hit Channel 4 TV Series Escape to the Chateau
Take a journey to Château-de-la-Motte Husson in the spellbinding memoir from Sunday Times bestselling authors, Dick and Angel Strawbridge.
Dick and Angel recount the newest and biggest challenges they faced on the journey to transforming their once derelict and abandoned château in France’s Pays de la Loire into a thriving family home and sustainable business.
When the Covid-19 pandemic engulfs the world, the château faces a new challenge and the Strawbridges must find ways to adapt in order to keep their dream life in France alive. From the cancellation of the wedding season to finding new ways to complete renovations, living in an isolated bubble whilst continuing to film their TV series through to life after the pandemic, this is Dick and Angel at their most honest and heartfelt, revealing many details never seen on TV.
As entertaining, warm and irresistible as ever, Join Dick and Angel on their remarkable journey to find their family’s forever home.
Read more
£12.99 -
Finucane & Me: My Life with Marian
Marian Finucane was a trailblazing broadcaster, the first to champion women’s issues on air, and respected for her fairness, empathy and doggedness. One of a small group of Irish people known simply by their first name, the nation mourned when she died suddenly, aged 69, in January 2020.
But John Clarke, Marian’s widower, doesn’t use her moniker – instead, he calls her ‘Finucane’. It highlights the gap between the woman so many felt they knew and the woman he loved – the real Marian – who was by turns curious, fiery, emotional, stubborn, charming and endlessly excited by life.
When John and Marian first got together, they promised each other that they’d never be boring. What ensued was forty years of conversation and thousands of miles travelled. Finucane & Me is an unexpected love story: the story of two people who ‘made a pact for madness’; the story of a never-ending search for meaning; the story of two people who lived life to its fullest.
Read more
£13.99 -
The Tourist: What happens on tour stays on tour … until now!
What Goes on Tour, Stays on Tour…Until Now!
As a cricketer, broadcaster and celebrity jungle-dweller, Phil Tufnell has travelled the world far and wide. From the great cricket tours of Australia and South Africa to his equally memorable jaunts to Benidorm and Blackpool, Phil has spent much of his life living out of a suitcase, meeting a host of colourful and memorable characters along the way.
The Tourist takes you out on the road, into the dressing room and behind the scenes of the commentary box to reveal just what really happens on Tour. Did Phil once push a baby grand piano down the stairs of a plush hotel? Did he accidentally eat a rat? Was he blamed for England being bowled out for 46 against the West Indies without even being in the team?
There’s only one way to find out…
It’s time to take a hilarious trip across the world with one of our most treasured sports personalities.
Read more
£10.99 -
I’m no Shakespeare: Walking the South West Coast Path
The unlikely but perfectly true story of how a nosey menopausal linguist threw away her pills, pulled on a backpack, and accidentally wrote a best seller.“It’s beautiful. Touching, honest, heartfelt and zigzags effortlessly from poignancy, reflection to humour in a sentence.”
“Really lively writing … brilliant stuff … love the characters coming to life and your wry sense of humour!”
For 630 miles she walked, with her life on her back, her heart on her sleeve, and a wickedly sharpened pencil behind her ear.
Read more
£1.99 -
Kammy: The Funny and Moving Autobiography by the Broadcasting Legend
Foreword by Ben Shephard
‘Everyone loves Kammy . . . Full of humour and endless blunders’ – The Times
‘What a man, what a life, what a story, and what a great read’ – Paddy McGuinnessPresenter, commentator, (sometimes masked) singer, footballer, manager and campaigner, Kammy has done it all. His irrepressible enthusiasm – and a couple of legendary gaffes on Sky Sports – have seen him become broadcasting royalty.
Now Kammy reveals all in this funny and moving autobiography. What happens when you double cross José Mourinho? What it’s like to play with Vinnie Jones? Who comes off better: Kammy or a rampaging gorilla? How did Kammy end up releasing his own top-ten record? What’s the real story behind his infamous line, ‘I don’t know, Jeff!’?
But despite the crazy tales, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Kammy had a tough upbringing, faced racism during his playing career and has, in recent years, dealt with a rare brain condition – apraxia – that has affected his speech and seen him say goodbye to Sky Sports. Relating his battle against the condition, Kammy shows how he’s met every challenge with courage, determination and his infectious smile.
Packed with hilarious stories and featuring a cast of famous names, from Elton John to Channing Tatum, this is a book about friendship, courage and why it’s always important to have a good laugh.
‘A talented (and daft) lad from the Boro who has entertained the nation for decades, on and off the pitch. So get the tissues ready – this book will make you laugh and cry in equal measure’ – Steph McGovern
Read more
£11.99 -
Watford Forever: How Graham Taylor and Elton John Saved a Football Club, a Town and Each Other
‘The heartwarming story of the collaboration and friendship between English football’s oddest couple, Elton John and Graham Taylor’ The Times
‘An ever-entertaining telling of a remarkable sporting fairy-tale’ Daily Telegraph
_____________________An unforgettable British underdog story from one of our greatest narrative nonfiction writers, John Preston, and the international musical icon and bestselling author, Sir Elton John.
Britain in the 1970s was beset by unrest and unemployment, as inflation soared, fuel was scarce, and hooliganism was on the rise. And for Watford FC, the outlook was even gloomier. Rundown and rat-infested, Watford were an ailing side with holes in their kit and barely enough fans to fill a stand. Of the 92 clubs in the Football League, spread across four divisions, Watford were in 92nd place.
Meanwhile, Elton John was the most successful rockstar in the world. With six-inch platforms, spangled jumpsuits, and peroxide hair, he was glamorous, gay, and seemingly a world away from the semi-detached house in Pinner where he had supported Watford FC as a child. Many assumed he would move to America. Instead, he bought the football club.
Watford Forever is the remarkable story of Elton John’s ownership of Watford FC and its transformational journey to the top of the First Division under iconic manager Graham Taylor. Perhaps most remarkably, four of the same players who had been written off as has-beens went with them all the way from the bottom to the top. Inspiring and infectiously funny, this is a tribute to football’s unlikeliest friendship as Elton John and Taylor, a straight-talking former fullback with a love of Vera Lynn, beat the odds and their personal demons to save a club and a community.
Immersed in the grime and glamour of ’70s Britain, Watford Forever is one of sport’s great underdog stories and a love letter to the beautiful game.
Read more
£9.50 -
My Account: The official autobiography
GIVE THE STORY ON EVERYONE’S LIPS THIS CHRISTMAS: COLEEN ROONEY’S OFFICIAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
A candid, intimate, behind the scenes look at the reality of a life lived on social media and under the scrutiny of the public eye.
‘It was the biggest thing that had ever happened to me, and like nothing I’d ever experienced…
Looking back on it now, it still amazes me how inflated it all got, how ridiculous, how serious.
That’s why I need to tell what happened in full…’
——————————————————————————-
Coleen Rooney has always been true to herself.
In My Account, she tells us how her upbringing prepared her for a life in the full glare of public and media scrutiny. In fact, from an early age, she was no stranger to responsibility, having two younger brothers as well as welcoming disabled foster sister Rosie into the family.
At just seventeen, she and boyfriend Wayne left their childhood homes to live together and
in time they had their own young family to care for. But being married to one of the world’s most successful sportsmen has also meant that any private difficulties they faced were inevitably exposed very publicly.And that is no more true than in the now infamous tale of how a casual acquaintance of
Coleen’s ended in an extraordinary deception.Here, she recounts how she first suspected someone was betraying her trust (and how devastated it left her), and then the meticulous steps she took to identify, trap and finally reveal to the world her suspect.
With the consequences playing out around the world and Coleen dragged unwillingly into a devastating court case whose outcome was far from certain, only now can she candidly give us her side of the story.
This, then, is My Account, Coleen Rooney’s tale of what it means to stand up for yourself and your family.
———————————————————————————
Read more
£5.70 -
Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy
A masterful, revelatory work of literary non-fiction about a teenage girl’s shocking crime — and its extraordinary aftermath.
‘An absorbing work of social history and a story about the mystery and miracle of forgiveness…it deserves to be read with attention.’ Hilary Mantel,Booker Prize–winning author of the Wolf Hall trilogy
On a spring afternoon in 1985 in Gary, Indiana, a fifteen-year-old black girl kills a white elderly bible teacher in a violent home invasion. In a city with a history of racial tension the press swoops in.
When Paula is sentenced to death, no one decries the impending execution of a tenth grader. But the tide begins to shift when the victim’s grandson Bill forgives the girl, against the wishes of his family, and campaigns to spare her life. This tragedy in a midwestern steel town soon reverberates across the United States and around the world — reaching as far away as the Vatican — as newspapers cover the story on their front pages and millions sign petitions in support of Paula.
As Paula waits on death row, her fate sparks a debate that not only animates legal circles but raises vital questions about the value of human life. This story asks us to consider the nature of justice, and what radical acts of empathy we might be capable of.
Read more
£7.60 -
Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly
Get ready for another trip back to Clarkson’s Farm this Christmas with the brand new bestseller from our favourite wellie-wearing wannabe farmer, Jeremy Clarkson
Welcome back to Clarkson’s Farm. Since taking the wheel three years ago Jeremy’s had his work cut out. And it’s now clear from hard-won experience that, when it comes to farming, there’s only one golden rule:
Whatever you hope will happen, won’t.
Enthusiastic schemes to diversify have met with stubborn opposition from the red trouser brigade, defeat at the hands of Council Planning department, and predictable derision from Kaleb – although, to be fair, even Lisa had doubts about Jeremy’s brilliant plan to build a business empire founded on rewilding and nettle soup. And only Cheerful Charlie is still smiling about the stifling amount of red tape that’s incoming . . . But he charges by the hour.
Then there are the animals: the sheep are gone; the cows have been joined by a rented bull called Break-Heart Maestro;. the pigs are making piglets; and the goats have turned out to be psychopaths.
But despite the naysayers and (sometimes self-inflicted) setbacks, Jeremy remains irrepressibly optimistic about life at Diddly Squat. Because It’s hard not to be when you get to harvest blackberries with a vacuum cleaner.
And, after all, it shouldn’t just be Break-heart Maestro who gets to enjoy a happy ending . . .
Read more
£10.40Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly
£10.40 -
Pretty Boys Are Poisonous: Poems: A Collection of F**ked Up Fairy Tales
‘A glimpse to the person behind the glamour and drama . . . you get a real sense of the beating soul of Megan Fox’ – Glamour
Megan Fox showcases her wicked humor throughout a heartbreaking and dark collection of poetry. Over the course of more than 80 poems, Fox chronicles all the ways in which we fit ourselves into the shape of the ones we love, even if it means losing ourselves in the process.
“These poems were written in an attempt to excise the illness that had taken root in me because of my silence. I’ve spent my entire life keeping the secrets of men, my body aches from carrying the weight of their sins. My freedom lives in these pages, and I hope that my words can inspire others to take back their happiness and their identity by using their voice to illuminate what’s been buried, but not forgotten, in the darkness,” says Fox.
Pretty Boys Are Poisonous marks the powerful debut from one of the most well-known women of our time. Turn the page, bite the apple, and sink your teeth into the most deliciously compelling and addictive book you’ll read all year.
Read more
£9.50 -
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER
This Christmas let Dame Judi Dench take you behind the scenes as she shares her life with, and love of Shakespeare.
‘A MAGICAL LOVE LETTER TO SHAKESPEARE’ Sir Kenneth Branagh
‘Companionable and compelling – it genuinely feels like you’re sitting at her kitchen table with her. If you love Judi Dench or Shakespeare (and most of us do), look no further’ Guardian
‘It swirls and dances with brilliance and mischief’ Daily Mail
‘Gloriously entertaining’ ObserverTaking a curtain call with a live snake in her wig…
Cavorting naked through the countryside painted green…
Acting opposite a child with a pumpkin on his head…
These are just a few of the things Dame Judi Dench has done in the name of Shakespeare.
For the very first time, Judi opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played throughout her seven-decade career, from Lady Macbeth and Titania to Ophelia and Cleopatra.
Here she reveals her behind the scenes secrets; inviting us to share in her triumphs, disasters, and backstage shenanigans, all brightened by her mischievous sense of humour and striking honesty.
Witty, provocative and inspiring, this is ultimately Judi’s love letter to Shakespeare, or rather, The Man Who Pays The Rent.‘An utterly delightful book… Shakespeare from a great actor’s perspective – that repeatedly strikes to the heart of the matter with a sharp instinctive intelligence that puts fancy-pants literary critics to shame’ Telegraph
‘A wonderful ode to the bard’ I
‘The book is pure enchantment. It swirls and dances with brilliance and mischief, so forget traditional Shakespearean criticism and analysis. Sack the Eng. Lit. professors. As never before, this book brings the subject to wild, authentic life.’ Daily Mail‘Riveting, revealing and witty’ Gazette and Herald
Read more
£10.40 -
The War Twins of London: A WWII Historical Fiction Novel (World War II Brave Women Fiction Book 2)
When the war hits London, all they have is each other.Identical twins Maggie and Tillie are thriving in 1940s London. Waitresses in one of the city’s finest institutions and both with budding romances, the war could not feel farther away.
But, slowly, the tides begin to change. The war in Europe is creeping toward the UK, and the men are being called to aid in military efforts. Tillie’s fiancé Colin joins the RAF, flying dangerous missions over Germany, and Maggie’s childhood love Micah finds himself far away in France, with no way to return. Devastated but determined, the twins resolve to do their part for their country – Maggie in the Women’s Voluntary Service and Tillie for the British Red Cross.
Then, the Blitz begins. And everything changes.
Nightly airstrikes wreak havoc on the city, leaving ruin in their wake. Ambulance shifts for Tillie become desperate missions to pull injured women and children from the rubble, while the constant fear for the fates of their beloveds, far from home, is almost too much for the girls to bear.
And when tragedy strikes for both sisters, they know nothing will ever be the same again.
Will the twins be strong enough to protect themselves and the ones they love? And can true love really prevail when the skies are darkened by war?
Read more
£5.30 -
Ewen and Cat’s Wee Book of Aye or Naw?: 500 quiz questions to test your knowledge on EVERYTHING!
500 quiz questions to test your knowledge on EVERYTHING! Packed full of hilarious behind-the-scenes moments and puzzling brain busters from their award-winning radio show Ewen and Cat at Breakfast. It’s bound to bemuse and amuse in equal measure!Are these statements true? Aye or Naw?
Usain Bolt would beat a cat over 100m.
A jiffy is a real unit of time.
Volkswagen sell more sausages than cars.
All will be revealed.Will Ewen and Cat’s Wee Book of Aye or Naw? change your life? NAW.
But will it make you instantly more interesting to other humans? OH AYE!!Read more
£3.80 -
Walsall Borough Police – 101 Historical Cases from 1832 to 1898
Walsall Borough Police – 101 Historical Cases from 1832 to 1898
Not for the fainthearted, this fascinating collection of 101 policing snapshots taken between 1832 and 1898, gives an intriguing yet brutal insight into the murder, mystery and mayhem of the nineteenth century.
In 1832, Walsall Borough Police became the first force in the area and we focus on the trials and tribulations of the pioneering men, who in the face of adversity made the new system work.
True and hard hitting historical facts are graphically laid bare in these accounts of crime and punishment during the early years of policing. At a time when the hanging of felons was a spectator sport and trips to Australia were free, it was a lucky escape to get an hour in the stocks or a few strokes of the whip.
Step into this long gone world and try to guess the conclusions of these gripping tales, then ask yourself the question are things better or worse now, you decide?
Read more
£7.10