This classic account of the birth of a legendary group is the truly authentic version of Queen's rise to stardom. Author Mark Hodkinson interviewed over 60 friends and colleagues of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon to piece together a fascinating jigsaw of anecdotes from the days when the future superstars were playing with bands like The Reaction, The Opposition, 1984 and Sour Milk. Intimate, suprising and meticulously researched, Queen: The Early Years is a riveti...

Herbert Kenny, an army dispatch rider, was the first ally to push open the gates at Belsen Concentration Camp, in April 1945.He kept his story from the world until a chance correspondence with a trainee journalist brought it to light. Now, forty years on, that reporter is ready to share Herbert's incredible tale with the world.With unprecedented access to Herbert's diaries, letters and interviews, Mark Hodkinson brings to life the harrowing conditions of Bergen-Belsen and i...

In 1973-74, Britain was in meltdown. The Arab-Israeli War had sent energy prices soaring. Petrol was scarce. Offices were limited to a temperature of 17C and power cuts were frequent. A three-day working week came in as inflation took hold and miners and other workers went on strike. The northern mill town of Rochdale suffered more than most. Its cotton industry was on shut-down in the face of cheap imports, and the football team was a mirror image of the town - tired, defeated, clinging t...

The story of two men who almost single-handedly saved their football club from extinction. In the 80s David Kilpatrick and Graham Morris spied architects' plans to turn Spotland, the home of their beloved, beleaguered Rochdale AFC, into a housing estate. They set about saving the club but first had to take on the 'enemy within' - fellow directors.

Mark Hodkinson grew up among the terrace houses of Rochdale in a house with just one book. Today, Mark is an author, journalist and publisher. He still lives in Rochdale but is now surrounded by 3,500 titles, at the last count.No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy is his story of growing up a working-class lad during the 1970s and 1980s. It’s about the schools, the music, the people – but pre-eminently and profoundly the books and authors that led the way and shaped his life. It...

As Years Go By is a richly detailed portrait of a woman who has lived an incredible life, one that far transcends her best known role as courtesan to the chief Rolling Stone.From aristocratic lineage to convent school, stardom to attempted suicide, junkie to punk, folk singer to torch chanteuse, Marianne has seen her life flash by in banner headlines.Researched through over 50 interviews with her family, former lovers and friends, As Years Go B...

This classic account of the birth of a legendary group is the truly authentic version of Queen's rise to stardom. Author Mark Hodkinson interviewed over 60 friends and colleagues of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon to piece together a fascinating jigsaw of anecdotes from the days when the future superstars were playing with bands like The Reaction, The Opposition, 1984 and Sour Milk. Intimate, suprising and meticulously researched, Queen: The Early Years is a riveti...

Blue Moon traces a season in the life of Manchester City. Not just any season, but 1998-99, when the once-proud club, with two League Championships and four FA Cup wins to its name - not to mention a phenomenal fan base - was forced to battle the likes of Macclesfield Town, Colchester United and Wigan Athletic in English football's third flight.Mark Hodkinson was involved in every aspect of the club through a long, stirring season, one which culminated in the euphoria of p...

The incredible true story of the first Allied soldier to open the gates of Belsen.Herbert Kenny, an army dispatch rider, was the first Allied soldier to push open the gates at Belsen Concentration Camp, in April 1945. He kept his story from the world until an encounter with a trainee journalist brought it to light. Now, forty years on, that reporter is ready to share Herbert's incredible tale with the world.With unprecedented access to Herbert's diaries, le...

Mark Hodkinson grew up among the terrace houses of Rochdale in a house with just one book. His dad kept it on top of a wardrobe with other items of great worth – wedding photographs and Mark’s National Cycling Proficiency certificate. If Mark wanted to read it, he was warned not to crease the pages or slam shut the covers.Today, Mark is an author, journalist and publisher. He still lives in Rochdale, but is now snugly ensconced (or is that buried?) in a ‘book cave’ surrounded by 3,...

Suddenly there is a blow to my face, I am hurled to one side. 'My child, I have to go with her!' I scream. But Dr Mengel is standing before me, whip raised. 'Maul halten, shut up!' His eyes gleam. Filled with fear I cower down.In 1943, as the Nazi power swept across central Europe, Rosa, her husband Emanuel and their daughter, Judy, were forced into hiding. But after a year and a half of living a terrifying, day-by-day existence, they were betrayed. As the...

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the wickedest of them all? Snow White’s dark queen tells her side of the story in the first book of a queer, witchy duology that reimagines the classic fairy tale—from the author of Malice.“An alluring, vengeful origin story that brings tremendous dimension to a classic fairytale.”—Chloe Gong, New York Times bestselling author of Immortal LongingsLegends tell of a witch who becam...