Ben Thompson went to China at the age of 50 to study Mandarin. He soon found himself drawn into the world of TV and film acting. He stayed for over 10 years and took part in more than 70 television series and films. This book is intended for anyone going to China who might want to try some screen acting, including actors and drama school graduates considering making a career move in that direction.

The badasses populating the pages of Badass are the most savagely awesome historical figures to ever strap on a pair of chain mail gauntlets and run screaming into battle. Author Ben Thompson—considered by many to be the Internet's foremost expert on badassitude—has gathered together a rogues' gallery of butt-stomping rogues, from Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan to Blackbeard, George S. Patton, and Bruce Lee. Their bone-breaking exploits are illustrated by top artist from the field...

We all want to be accepted, but instead of a book about how to get more "Likes" from others, this groundbreaking book is about how to do something even better-accept and like yourself. In Liked, Ben Thompson guides you on a journey to discover how you can become the primary source of your acceptance. Inside these pages you will learn:• How to be more tolerant and less hateful toward yourself• How to value and appreciate yourself more than ever• How to reconnect to p...

From the Ben Thompson, author of Badass: The Birth of a Legend, comes a collection of history's most awe-inspiring duels and showdowns, brutal crusades and epic brawls, and profiles of the fascinating people who fought in them.From Caliphs to Green Berets, some of civilization's toughest warriors are profiled in Badass: Ultimate Deathmatch, including Cyrus the Great, St. Moses the Black, and The Rani of Jhansi, as well as in-depth analyses of how they battled thei...

Ben Thompson—author of Badass, creator of the epic website badassoftheweek.com, and the Internet's foremost expert on badassitude—is back to enthrall lovers of skull-smashing, bone-crushing bad behavior with his latest compendium, Badass: The Birth of a Legend. Like its macho predecessor, Badass: The Birth of a Legend celebrates fearless berserkers of every stripe, male and female, but this time pulls them from the hoary pages of mythology, fantasy fiction, and ...

Everything you needed to know about the war between Russia and Ukraine as told by children's nonfiction author Ben Thompson (Guts & Glory series). Conversational and straightforward, this is a must-read for any reader looking to have a better understanding of the current global events.It is late on the evening of Monday, February 25th, 2022, and Kyiv is burning. The unthinkable has happened. The Russians have invaded Ukraine. Land war has come to Europe, on a scale...

Without the Sex Pistols there would be no punk. And without Steve Jones there would be no Sex Pistols. It was Steve who, with his schoolmate Paul Cook, formed the band that eventually went on to become the Sex Pistols and who was its original leader. As the world celebrates the 40th anniversary of punk -- the influence and cultural significance of which is felt in music, fashion, and the visual arts to this day--Steve tells his story for the very first time.Steve J...

A hilarious nonfiction look at two of history's most epic "failures": the Wright brothers, whose countless crashes ultimately led to groundbreaking success.Although Orville and Wilbur Wright are celebrated today as heroes for their revolutionary contributions to science and engineering—they are acknowledged as the first men to successfully achieve powered, piloted flight—their success was hard-earned. (Spoiler alert: there were a lot of nosedives involved.) In fact,...

For any kid who dreams of going to the White House—an entertaining reminder that even presidents aren't perfect!From heroic George Washington to the dastardly Richard Nixon, the Oval Office has been occupied by larger-than-life personalities since 1789. The position comes with enormous power and responsibility, and our leaders have managed to achieve a lot of great things. However, the President of the United States is only human—and oftentimes far from perfect. Whi...

In this second installment of the Epic Fails series, explore the many failures that made up the Race to Space, paving the way for humanity's eventual success at reaching the stars.Today, everyone is familiar with Neil Armstrong's famous words as he first set foot on the moon: "one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind." He made it look easy, but America's journey to the moon was anything but simple. In 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world...

The definitive history of a golden age in British show-business, Sunshine On Putty is based on hundreds of interviews with the leading comedians of the era, as well as managers, agents, producers, directors, executives and TV personalities.In the 1990s, British comedy underwent a renaissance – shows like The Fast Show, The Day Today, Shooting Stars, The League of Gentlemen, The Royle Family and The Office were hugely popular with critics and audiences alike. Just as politics, sport...

In 1964, Mary Whitehouse launched a campaign to fight what she called the 'propaganda of disbelief, doubt and dirt' being poured into homes through the nation's radio and television sets. Whitehouse, senior mistress at a Shropshire secondary school, became the unlikely figurehead of a mass movement for censorship: the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, now Mediawatch-uk.For almost forty years, she kept up the fight against the programme makers, politicians, pop stars and...