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Unthinkable: The Shocking Scandal of Britain's Trafficked Children
by Kris HollingtonThe UK was shocked to its core in May 2012 when a gang of nine men was convicted of the systematic sexual abuse of disadvantaged teenage girls in the Rochdale area - the crimes including counts of rape, aiding and abetting rape, sexual assault and trafficking girls within the UK for sexual exploitation. Yet many childcare experts reckon these crimes are just the tip of an iceberg of wide scale exploitation occurring across the country. The Deputy Children's Commissioner Sue Berelowitz said in June 2012 that there 'isn't a town, village or hamlet in which children are not being sexually exploited'. As this book goes to press, a gang of men similar to those convicted in Rochdale stands trial for similar crimes in Oxford. What is happening in Britain that means young vulnerable girls can be exploited in this way? Award-winning journalist Kris Hollington tells the inside story of some of the most shocking and heartbreaking crimes of recent years, focusing on the Rochdale case but also analysing recent cases in the London area that have echoes of the brutality of organised slavery. His findings expose how the British justice system is failing to protect children in the 21stcentury. It is a scandal that cannot be ignored.
Unthinkable: The Shocking Scandal of Britain's Trafficked Children
by Kris HollingtonAward-winning journalist Kris Hollington investigates sex trafficking in the UK, in the light of the Rochdale scandal.
Out of the Darkness
by Tina NashIt was the case that shocked the nation. On the evening of 20 April 2011, Tina Nash's life changed forever. After suffering months of beatings and domestic abuse at the hands of boyfriend Shane Jenkin, she was subjected to a barbaric and prolonged attack during which Jenkin beat her unconscious and gouged out both her eyes. When he was jailed in May 2012, people struggled to comprehend the scale of the violence endured by this attractive mother of two at her home in Cornwall. In Out of the Darkness, Tina tells her full story - of what life with a violent partner is really like and how she survived 12 hours of sustained and unimaginable violence in her own home. Learning to adjust to life without her sight, Tina speaks bravely about how her children have given her the courage to keep going, and how - step by careful step - she is learning to live again. With statistics on domestic violence rising, Tina's incredible memoir of survival makes for essential reading.
Totally Wired
by Andrew SmithThe story of the dotcom bubble, its tumultuous crash, and the visionary pioneer at its centre. One morning in February 2000, Josh Harris woke to the certain knowledge that he was about to lose everything. The man Time magazine called 'The Warhol of the Web' was now reduced to the role of helpless spectator as his personal fortune dwindled from 85 million dollars. . . to 50 million. . . to nothing. In the space of a week. During the mid-1990s a group of young people found themselves lords of a new realm called cyberspace. Money was showered upon them to start businesses and instruct elders in the ways of an 'online' world they saw coming, and many became rich beyond their wildest dreams. Between 1995 and March 2000, all rules of sound finance were abandoned and the unthinkable appeared to be happening: twenty-somethings were taking over. And unlike the imagined youth revolutions of the 1950s, Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, this one was remaking society for real. But no. Three months into the new millennium investors, as if waking together from a trance, looked down and panicked and in one of the most spectacular financial crashes ever seen, fled the dotcoms until the entire sector had simply. . . vanished. Three trillion dollars was lost to the economy in what became the signature event of the 1990s, while the dotcommers melted away to nowhere, apparent victims of their own hubris and greed. The internet was a joke. Was over. Those five weird years might never have happened. If the mania attending those events is hard to recall, it's because over a decade later they seem shrouded in a kind of pre-Millennial mist; might never have happened. How easy to forget that at the end of 1999, the world seemed to be spinning off its axis as a new one evolved before our eyes, with anything imaginable seeming to be possible. . . In his bestselling book Moondust Andrew Smith looked at the lives of the nine remaining Moonwalkers, how their exploits helped shape an era and how that era left its mark on them. In Totally Wired, he goes in search of the truth about one of the most extraordinary and mysterious events of the 20th century, the dotcom bubble of the 1990s, and draws a direct line from there to where we are now. ndrew Smith is the author of the international bestseller Moondust. As a journalist he has written for Melody Maker, The Face, The Sunday Times, Guardian and Observer. He has also written and presented two documentaries for BBC4, Being Neil Armstrong and To Kill a Mockingbird at 50, and the three-part series People of the Abyss for Radio 4.
War Stories
by Jeremy BowenHaving joined the BBC as a trainee in 1984, Jeremy Bowen first became a foreign correspondent four years later. He had witnessed violence already, both at home and abroad, but it wasn't until he covered his first war -- in El Salvador -- that he felt he had arrived. Armed with the fearlessness of youth he lived for the job, was in love with it, aware of the dangers but assuming the bullets and bombs were meant for others. In 2000, however, after eleven years in some of the world's most dangerous places, the bullets came too close for comfort, and a close friend was killed in Lebanon. This, and then the birth of his first child, began a process of reassessment that culminated in the end of the affair. Now, in his extraordinarily gripping and thought-provoking new book, he charts his progress from keen young novice whose first reaction to the sound of gunfire was to run towards it to the more circumspect veteran he is today. It will also discuss the changes that have taken place in the ways in which wars are reported over the course of his career, from the Gulf War to Bosnia, Afghanistan to Rwanda.
Runaway: Wild Child, Working Girl, Survivor
by Emily MackenzieBeaten by her mother and whipped by her stepfather, Emily eventually finds her way into the care system at the age of twelve, and has an abortion after being gang-raped at thirteen. Continuously abused in a sequence of homes, she runs away at sixteen, becomes a prostitute in Soho, and convinces herself she is being punished for killing her baby. But it was never meant to be like that. Adopted at birth in 1956 by a middle-class family, Emily shared a golden childhood with her adopted sister Amy, attending private schools, and enjoying singing and dancing lessons. Things soon changed when Emily's jealous mother came to regard her as a rival. A bored and restless woman, she beat Emily for the first time when she was seven years old and from then on seemed to become addicted to inflicting pain on her daughter. Despite Emily's father's attempts to protect her, the parental rows grew more malicious, until the mother moved out and remarried a narcissistic widower with alcohol problems and a vicious, bullying temper. The abuse intensified until Emily was placed into voluntary care. And so began a toxic spiral of remand homes, psychiatric hospitals, and sleeping rough. It wasn't long before Emily became a teenage 'working girl', where she was paid to engage in bizarre sadomasochistic acts for perverted clients, including a senior judge and a policeman. It was only when she was almost murdered that she turned her life around. Set principally between 1966 and 1972, Runawaycaptures the sleazy Soho of the period, and the frightening conditions in which many children were kept in care.
Runaway
by Emily MackenzieBeaten by her mother and whipped by her stepfather, Emily eventually finds her way into the care system at the age of twelve, and has an abortion after being gang-raped at thirteen. Continuously abused in a sequence of homes, she runs away at sixteen, becomes a prostitute in Soho, and convinces herself she is being punished for killing her baby. But it was never meant to be like that. Adopted at birth in 1956 by a middle-class family, Emily shares a golden childhood with her adopted sister, attends private schools, and shows a flair for singing and dancing. Things soon change when Emily's jealous mother comes to regard her as her rival. A bored and restless woman, she beats Emily for the first time at age seven and becomes addicted to inflicting pain. Despite Emily's father's attempts to protect her, the parental rows grow more malicious, until her mother finally moves out and, shockingly, wins custody of the children. She remarries a narcissistic widower with alcohol problems and a desire to relive the youth he lost suffering injuries in World War Two. The abuse from her sadistic mother and stepfather intensifies until, against her father's will, Emily's mother puts her into voluntary care. Here Emily enters the toxic spiral of remand homes, psychiatric hospitals, sleeping rough and further sadomasochistic abuse. Set principally between 1966 and 1972, I Just Want To Go Home captures the changing attitudes of the period, socially, morally, politically, but also in regard to the approach of adults and institutions towards the care of children.
Tulisa
by Sean SmithBest known for being a member of the Camden-based hip hop group N-Dubz, Tulisa is currently winning hearts and fans as a down-to-earth judge on the X Factor. But away from the present glamour, the path to fame for her has been far from easy. For the first time, using extensive research and interviews with those closest to the superstar, the UK's leading celebrity biographer Sean Smith tells the story of the real Tulisa. Tulisa's story was tough from the start: when she was just five, her mother was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and her father left home when she was nine years old. Tulisa was brought up on a council estate and endured tough and gritty teenage years: violence, depression, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, anorexia nervosa, mental health issues, financial difficulties and bullying. At thirteen she was suicidal and has revealed that she twice tried to kill herself as well as regularly self-harming. She left school without sitting any GCSE's.
Mrs Miles's Diary: The Wartime Journal of a Housewife on the Home Front
by Constance Miles S. V. PartingtonAt the outbreak of the Second World War Constance Miles was living with her husband in the pretty Surrey village of Shere. A prolific correspondent with a keen interest in current affairs, Constance kept a war journal from 1939 to 1943, recording in vivid detail what life was like for women on the Home Front. She writes of the impact of evacuees, of food shortages and the creative uses of what food there was, and the fears of the local populace, who wonder how they will cope. She tells of refugees from central Europe billeted in village houses and, later in the war, of the influx of American servicemen. She travels frequently to London, mourning the destruction of familiar landmarks and recording the devastation of the Blitz, but still finds time for tea in the Strand. A woman of strong convictions, Mrs Miles is not afraid to voice her opinion on public figures and her worries about the social upheavals she feels certain to follow the war. But most of all her journals record an overlooked aspect of the conflict: the impact on communities outside of major cities, who endured hardships we find hard to imagine today. It is a fascinating document that makes for compulsive reading.
Mrs Miles's Diary
by S. V. PartingtonAt the outbreak of the Second World War Constance Miles was living with her husband in the pretty Surrey village of Shere. A prolific correspondent with a keen interest in current affairs, Constance kept a war journal from 1939 to 1943, recording in vivid detail what life was like for women on the Home Front.She writes of the impact of evacuees, of food shortages and the creative uses of what food there was, and the fears of the local populace, who wonder how they will cope. She tells of refugees from central Europe billeted in village houses and, later in the war, of the influx of American servicemen. She travels frequently to London, mourning the destruction of familiar landmarks and recording the devastation of the Blitz, but still finds time for tea in the Strand. A woman of strong convictions, Mrs Miles is not afraid to voice her opinion on public figures and her worries about the social upheavals she feels certain to follow the war. But most of all her journals record an overlooked aspect of the conflict: the impact on communities outside of major cities, who endured hardships we find hard to imagine today. It is a fascinating document that makes for compulsive reading.
No Holding Back
by Amanda HoldenActress, presenter, talent show judge. Daughter, wife, mother, survivor. There's so much more to Amanda Holden than fame.A natural-born performer, Amanda's journey to becoming one of the most recognisable faces on our screens today has been one full of love, laughter and tears. A British star and nationally treasured actress, she has appeared on our screens and stages for over 20 years. In the notoriously tricky world of show business, Amanda has carved out her own identity and enjoyed impressive longevity, not least as the longest running judge on hit ITV show Britain's Got Talent. She never fails to keep her audience engaged and entertained. Charming, funny and incredibly honest, her story is remarkable. For the first time, No HoldingBacktells it in her own words, in her own way, and shows her fans the real woman behind the headlines.
No Holding Back
by Amanda HoldenActress, presenter, talent show judge. Daughter, wife, mother, survivor. There's so much more to Amanda Holden than fame.A natural-born performer, Amanda's journey to becoming one of the most recognisable faces on our screens today has been one full of love, laughter and tears. A British star and nationally treasured actress, she has appeared on our screens and stages for over 20 years. In the notoriously tricky world of show business, Amanda has carved out her own identity and enjoyed impressive longevity, not least as the longest running judge on hit ITV show Britain's Got Talent. She never fails to keep her audience engaged and entertained. Charming, funny and incredibly honest, her story is remarkable. For the first time, No HoldingBacktells it in her own words, in her own way, and shows her fans the real woman behind the headlines.
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by Amanda HoldenActress, presenter, talent show judge. Daughter, wife, mother, survivor. There's so much more to Amanda Holden than fame. A natural-born performer, Amanda's journey to becoming one of the most recognisable faces on our screens today has been one full of love, laughter and tears. A British star and nationally treasured actress, she has appeared on our screens and stages for over 20 years. In the notoriously tricky world of show business, Amanda has carved out her own identity and enjoyed impressive longevity, not least as the longest running judge on hit ITV show Britain's Got Talent. She never fails to keep her audience engaged and entertained. Charming, funny and incredibly honest, her story is remarkable. For the first time, No Holding Back tells it in her own words, in her own way, and shows her fans the real woman behind the headlines.
Strings Attached
by Joanne LipmanStrings Attached is the story of a brilliant, but ferocious music teacher who came to be known as Mr K. A Ukrainian immigrant who survived an abusive childhood to become a noted resident and teacher, Mr K used music as a means of escape. The authors, who spent their childhoods in the late 60s and 70s, rehearsing and playing together as young musicians, bring the extraordinary character of Mr K to life - from his days as a forced Nazi labourer; to his home life as a husband to an invalid wife; to his heart-breaking search to find his missing daughter; to the terrifying challenges he hurtled from behind the music stand.
Nice To Meet You
by Jessie JOne of the most inspiring talents to emerge from British pop culture, Jessie J's message is loud and clear: be strong, be determined and never shy away from Who You Are. An international sensation and a multi-award-winning superstar, she took the music industry by storm, selling 11 million singles and 2.5 million albums worldwide. In this fully illustrated and highly personal book, Jessie J tells her own story in her own words with all the strength, honesty and passion you would expect. This is Jessie J's real story, opening the doors on the individuality and unique voice that have made her an inspiration to young women around the world. She talks openly about her health issues and a heart condition, her thoughts on body images and how she discovered her own identity whilst breaking into one of the world's most competitive industries. The bold and intimate tale of this young woman will shock and enthral as she delivers her personal message with an unshakable confidence and modesty that will cement her place in pop culture as a much-loved star.
Mum's Way
by Ian Millthorpe Lynne Barrett-LeeAngie and Ian were childhood sweethearts,Angie adored kids and, as one of eight children himself, Ian was only too happy to have as many as they could. After their marriagethey had three sons in quick succession. But then, aged just thirty one, Angie was diagnosed with breast cancer and the couple had to accept they might not be able to have any more. Five years on,though, with Angie well again they went on to have five more. But in 2007, Angie had a shadow on her lung and it was the return of the original breast cancer she thought she had beaten. It seemed the disease had returned to tear their world apart again. Though Ian searched tirelessly for cures, Angie practised acceptance. She wouldn't live to see her children grow up. Raising eight children would be a big job for any couple; to raise them alone, without their mother, an almost Herculean feat. But this was exactly what Angie wanted Ian to be able to do. So in the last months of her life, Angie compiled a list of 'rules' to guide Ian in the future, and put him on an intensive training course,so he could learn all the skills he would need. She taught him howto makeher special chicken curry, how to soothe away their hurts, pack their lunchboxes with all their favouritesand do all the little things she'd done for them so unthinkingly.And Ian knew he wasn't just doing this for the children. He was doing it so his beloved wife could be comforted by knowing that he had the tools to bring their children up her way. Finally, inevitably, came the hardest task of all. Angie, the job done, hadto find the courage to let them go, and Ian and the children the courage to carry on without her.
Mum's Way
by Ian Millthorpe Lynne Barrett-LeeAngie and Ian were childhood sweethearts,Angie adored kids and, as one of eight children himself, Ian was only too happy to have as many as they could. After their marriagethey had three sons in quick succession. But then, aged just thirty one, Angie was diagnosed with breast cancer and the couple had to accept they might not be able to have any more. Five years on,though, with Angie well again they went on to have five more. But in 2007, Angie had a shadow on her lung and it was the return of the original breast cancer she thought she had beaten. It seemed the disease had returned to tear their world apart again. Though Ian searched tirelessly for cures, Angie practised acceptance. She wouldn't live to see her children grow up. Raising eight children would be a big job for any couple; to raise them alone, without their mother, an almost Herculean feat. But this was exactly what Angie wanted Ian to be able to do. So in the last months of her life, Angie compiled a list of 'rules' to guide Ian in the future, and put him on an intensive training course,so he could learn all the skills he would need. She taught him howto makeher special chicken curry, how to soothe away their hurts, pack their lunchboxes with all their favouritesand do all the little things she'd done for them so unthinkingly.And Ian knew he wasn't just doing this for the children. He was doing it so his beloved wife could be comforted by knowing that he had the tools to bring their children up her way. Finally, inevitably, came the hardest task of all. Angie, the job done, hadto find the courage to let them go, and Ian and the children the courage to carry on without her.
Mum's Way
by Ian Millthorpe Lynne Barrett-LeeAngie and Ian were childhood sweethearts, Angie adored kids and, as one of eight children himself, Ian was only too happy to have as many as they could. After their marriage they had three sons in quick succession. But then, aged just thirty one, Angie was diagnosed with breast cancer and the couple had to accept they might not be able to have any more. Five years on, though, with Angie well again they went on to have five more. But in 2007, Angie had a shadow on her lung and it was the return of the original breast cancer she thought she had beaten. It seemed the disease had returned to tear their world apart again. Though Ian searched tirelessly for cures, Angie practised acceptance. She wouldn't live to see her children grow up. Raising eight children would be a big job for any couple; to raise them alone, without their mother, an almost Herculean feat. But this was exactly what Angie wanted Ian to be able to do. So in the last months of her life, Angie compiled a list of 'rules' to guide Ian in the future, and put him on an intensive training course, so he could learn all the skills he would need. She taught him how to make her special chicken curry, how to soothe away their hurts, pack their lunchboxes with all their favourites and do all the little things she'd done for them so unthinkingly. And Ian knew he wasn't just doing this for the children. He was doing it so his beloved wife could be comforted by knowing that he had the tools to bring their children up her way. Finally, inevitably, came the hardest task of all. Angie, the job done, had to find the courage to let them go, and Ian and the children the courage to carry on without her.
It's Been Emotional
by Vinnie JonesBritish actor and professional footballer, Vinnie Jones is the original bad boy made good and will tell the full extraordinary rags to riches story for the first time - the brilliance on the pitch, the brawls and drinking off the pitch, the arrests, the affairs, his wife's dramatic health scare and his latest headline scandal with a Russian prostitute. Bold and frank, this is Vinnie laid bare. Born and bred in Watford, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team after qualifying through a Welsh grandparent. He won the 1988 FA Cup final against Liverpool before moving to Wimbledon and then Leeds United. He has also played for Chelsea. His celebrity status has grown over the years after appearing in the 2010 series of Big Brotherand coming third, as well as the hugely successful British Heart Foundation CPR campaign. Vinnie's bad boy tag has followed him into the world of film where he has used his hard man status to secure roles in hugely successful Brit Flicks, such as Snatchand Lock, Stock and Two SmokingBarrels.
It's Been Emotional
by Vinnie JonesBritish actor and professional footballer, Vinnie Jones is the original bad boy made good and will tell the full extraordinary rags to riches story for the first time - the brilliance on the pitch, the brawls and drinking off the pitch, the arrests, the affairs, his wife's dramatic health scare and his latest headline scandal with a Russian prostitute. Bold and frank, this is Vinnie laid bare. Born and bred in Watford, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team after qualifying through a Welsh grandparent. He won the 1988 FA Cup final against Liverpool before moving to Wimbledon and then Leeds United. He has also played for Chelsea. His celebrity status has grown over the years after appearing in the 2010 series of Big Brother and coming third, as well as the hugely successful British Heart Foundation CPR campaign. Vinnie's bad boy tag has followed him into the world of film where he has used his hard man status to secure roles in hugely successful Brit Flicks, such as Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Cold: Extreme Adventures at the Lowest Temperatures on Earth
by Ranulph FiennesThere are only few human beings who can adapt, survive and thrive in the coldest regions on earth. And below a certain temperature, death is inevitable. Sir Ranulph Fiennes has spent much of his life exploring and working in conditions of extreme cold. The loss of many of his fingers to frostbite is a testament to the horrors man is exposed to at such perilous temperatures. With the many adventures he has led over the past 40 years, testing his limits of endurance to the maximum, he deservedly holds the title of 'the world's greatest explorer'. Despite our technological advances, the Arctic, the Antarctic and the highest mountains on earth, remain some of the most dangerous and unexplored areas of the world. This remarkable book reveals the chequered history of man's attempts to discover and understand these remote areas of the planet, from the early voyages of discovery of Cook, Ross, Weddell, Amundsen, Shackleton and Franklin to Sir Ranulph's own extraordinary feats; from his adventuring apprenticeship on the Greenland Ice Cap, to masterminding over the past five years the first crossing of the Antarctic during winter, where temperatures regularly plummeted to minus 92ºC. Both historically questioning and intensely personal, Cold is a celebration of a life dedicated to researching and exploring some of the most hostile and brutally cold places on earth.
Cold: Extreme Adventures at the Lowest Temperatures on Earth
by Ranulph FiennesThere are only few human beings who can adapt, survive and thrive in the coldest regions on earth. And below a certain temperature, death is inevitable. Sir Ranulph Fiennes has spent much of his life exploring and working in conditions of extreme cold. The loss of many of his fingers to frostbite is a testament to the horrors man is exposed to at such perilous temperatures. With the many adventures he has led over the past 40 years, testing his limits of endurance to the maximum, he deservedly holds the title of 'the world's greatest explorer'. Despite our technological advances, the Arctic, the Antarctic and the highest mountains on earth, remain some of the most dangerous and unexplored areas of the world. This remarkable book reveals the chequered history of man's attempts to discover and understand these remote areas of the planet, from the early voyages of discovery of Cook, Ross, Weddell, Amundsen, Shackleton and Franklin to Sir Ranulph's own extraordinary feats; from his adventuring apprenticeship on the Greenland Ice Cap, to masterminding over the past five years the first crossing of the Antarctic during winter, where temperatures regularly plummeted to minus 92ºC. Both historically questioning and intensely personal, Cold is a celebration of a life dedicated to researching and exploring some of the most hostile and brutally cold places on earth.
Cold
by Ranulph FiennesFew humans have evolved who can survive and thrive in the bitter cold. Below a certain temperature, death is inevitable. This book is about this aspect of our environment and about Sir Ranulph Fiennes' own life experiencing the extreme cold, from his adventuring apprenticeship 40 years ago on the Greenland Ice Cap to masterminding over the past 5 years the crossing of the Antarctic during winter; the 'coldest journey on Earth', where temperatures will regularly plummet to minus 92ºC. Cold has altered history on many great occasions. Hannibal crossed the high Alps under conditions of extreme cold; soldiers of the mighty armies of Hitler and Napoleon died in their thousands on the frozen Russian steppes from frostbite gangrene. In the past 150 years men and women have also seen the cold as a natural challenge as adventurers and explorers from all over the world have attempted to conquer the coldest regions of the globe. Today, parts of the world subject to extreme cold are the focus of intense geopolitical pressure, as President Putin claims Arctic coastal waters to be Russian, in readiness for the predicted melting of sea-ice, sending submarines to plant Russian flags on the seabed as a warning to would-be non-Russian mineral prospectors, and similar claims are made on the Antarctic. And yet a few degrees of climate change in Antarctica could easily trigger the detachment of huge ice sheets which would slide into the Southern Ocean. As sea levels rise some of the biggest coastal cities in the world would be submerged - a catastrophe that would render insignificant the most devastating of past tsunamis. Sir Ranulph Fiennes has spent a lifetime working in conditions of extreme cold - his frostbitten fingers are a testament to the horrors that man can experience in such temperatures, but he also knows that the life he has led owes a great deal to the cold. Both scientifically rigorous, historically questioning and intensely personal, this book is both a warning of the dangers we face with our relat