This is the true story of a little child called Patrick, who was one of five little brothers that came through, what seemed like a strange world full of bombs dropping, causing big fires and total destruction on a massive scale, every morning I would wake up to see new Wendy houses to play in not realizing someone lived there the day before, and the houses were still burning it was nice and warm, food was so scarce it was rationed so much so we had a plot of land where the family tried to ...

'At sixteen I was very interested in palmistry. The fate line on my right palm had a distinct break at the age of thirty. It broke into two parts that ran for a quarter of an inch on parallel tracks. I used to look at it and wonder, 'What will happen to me when I am thirty that will change my life?'Of course, it was Johnny's death. But, in fact, my life was changed twice by death.'June Brown, who died in April 2022 aged 95, was an institution - a classically trained actress...

For Gervase Phinn growing old is not about a leisurely walk to the pub for a game of dominoes or snoozing in his favourite armchair. As this sparkling collection of his very best humorous writing shows, he may be ‘out of the woods’ but he is certainly not ‘over the hill’. Looking back over more than sixty years of family life, teaching, inspecting schools, writing and public speaking, Gervase never fails to unearth humour, character, warmth and wisdom from the most diverse of experiences, ...

A hilarious compendium of all that's weird and wonderful about life in the British Isles - the eccentric, bizarre bureaucracy and outright oddity reported over the last year by the nation's newspapers, including: Guardian headline, 'Man with false leg hit with toilet lid.'; The Astrological Magazine, 'announces that it is to cease due to unforeseen circumstances.' Jack Crossley spent some 40 years in Fleet Street and has compiled this laugh-out-loud collection of anecdotes and strange goin...

The Blitz had made many families in the East End of London homeless. One solution was to erect prefabs on fields and open spaces to give temporary accommodation to those who had been bombed out. It was in one of these 'modern' boxes that young Norman Jacobs grew up through the 1950s and 1960s. In a lively, detailed and humorous picture of a postwar Hackney childhood, Norman takes us back to an age of rationing, bomb sites, street markets, colourful characters and camaraderie. And in remini...

A no-holds-barred story of what it takes to reach the top, and stay there, in the world's most dangerous sport - three day eventing.At the age of forty-seven Mary King won a Team Bronze at the Beijing Olympics. In the two 'Cavaliers' - 'Call Again Cavalier' and 'Imperial Cavalier' - she has two of the very best event horses in the world.Mary King's success in the world of eventing (now officially classed as the most dangerous sport in the world) has been ha...

After the runaway success of You Couldn't Make It Up, Jack Crossley returns with his latest cornucopia of wonderful anecdotes and strange goings-on from around the British Isles. In his many years as a newspaper journalist, Jack Crossley has collected literally thousands of these strange but true newspaper items. They are stories that you wouldn't believe if they weren't written down in black and white. You Really Couldn't Make It Up is a wonderful collection of irresistible whimsy, a test...

When Lions and Wales rugby star Richard Hibbard crashed into George Smith under a clear night sky in Australia, it felt as though the tremors might have rocked Sydney Harbour Bridge.Smith was the ‘Mr Indestructible’ of Australian rugby, yet he was helped off the pitch. Hooker Hibbard simply shook his trademark blond locks and carried on helping the Lions earn their 2013 series victory. Soon, pictures of "Hibbz" celebrating in the dressing room with James Bond actor Daniel Craig wer...

A BIRMINGHAM BACKSTREET BOYHOOD is a fascinating, funny and poignant recollection of the experience of growing up in the slums of Nechells and Aston. All the harshness of daily life is remembered here by local author Graham Twist. Despite hard living condition and a distinct lack of money, a strong community spirit prevailed and families and neighbourhoods were close-knit. The womenfolk on particular took great pride in their homes, however humble, and scrubbed their front steps and swept ...

‘Littlejohn’s large-hearted nostalgia and aggression tempered with humour, remain a necessary tonic.’ The TimesBorn when wartime rationing was still in force and children ran free and wild, the world in which Richard Littlejohn grew up feels like it could be another country, let alone another century.In Littlejohn’s Lost World, he goes in search of his old childhood haunts - and instead finds an England changed beyond recognition. From the...

From the internationally acclaimed, bestselling novelist—his first ever non-fiction book: a poignant, illuminating journey through a century of modern Ireland as told through the eyes of his parents.Ita Doyle: “In all my life I have lived in two houses, had two jobs, and one husband. I’m a very interesting person.”Rory and Ita tells—largely in their own words—the story of Roddy Doyle’s parents’ lives from their first memories to the present. Born i...

'Mattress Falls Off Truck Into Kidderminster Road'... 'Man Stole Tortoise To Pay For Booze'... 'Aquatic Centre Roof Sag Explained'...Every week Britain's local newspapers bring their investigative skills to stories of vital historical importance. While global conflicts rage, the local paper looks closer to home to the events that really matter.These can be as diverse as animal news ('Smug Swans Attack Dalmatian'), human peril ('Man Found Nailed To Bench'), domestic crisis ('O...