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The Lone Brit on 13: A Prisoner's Hell in Spain's Toughest Jail
by Christopher ChanceThe Lone Brit on 13 is a gripping true story of violence, degradation and adventure penned in the confines of a grim Malaga prison cell. Imprisoned for drug-smuggling, the lone Brit on Wing 13, Chance, reveals the horrors he experienced among cut-throat villains and screws in the netherworld of the Spanish prison system.Chance takes to writing in his dank prison cell in an attempt to escape his surroundings and recalls various episodes in his life: his time serving as a soldier in Thailand and Malaysia; his involvement with the 3 Para snatch-squad in the 1970s Belfast; and his subsequent descent into drug dealing and trafficking, which culminated in a high-speed boat chase and his imprisonment in a top-security Spanish prison. While inside, Chance fought his way to the surface of a cesspool of iniquitous scumbags using his fists: the only effective means of being understood in an environment of desecrated morality and non-existent integrity. With predators lurking everywhere, Chance had to be constantly on guard and in order to survive he had to be mentally prepared to inflict the necessary violent retribution on any would-be attacker or racist thug. As the sole British inmate, Chance was a prime target for the intimidating Spanish hardmen who thrived on cruelty and treachery. But his martial arts skills and Samurai philosophy proved to be more than a match for the aggressors. Once a respected and successful businessman admired by his peers - he had operated his own martial arts business in Spain before being jailed - Chance took one wrong turn in life and lost everything except the love and support of his loyal wife.
Little Women
by Louisa May AlcottDiscover this beautiful and charming classic book behind the new major film. 'Rich or poor, we will keep together and be happy in one another'Christmas won't be the same this year for Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, as their father is away fighting in the Civil War, and the family has fallen on hard times. But although they may be poor, life for the four March sisters is rich with colour, as they play games, put on wild theatricals, make new friends, argue, grapple with their vices, learn from their mistakes, nurse each other through sickness and disappointments, and get into all sorts of trouble.BACKSTORY: Learn all about the author's life and how it inspired her famous story, and find out which of the March sisters you most resemble!
A Long And Lonely Road
by Katie FlynnLiverpool, Christmas 1938. Rose McAllister is waiting for her husband, Steve, to come home. He is a seaman, often drunk and violent, but Rose does her best to cope and see that her daughters, Daisy and Petal, suffer as little as possible. Steve, however, realises that war is coming and tries to reform, but on his last night home, he pawns the girls' new dolls to go on a drinking binge. When war is declared Rose has a good job but agrees the children must be evacuated. Daisy and Petal are happy at first, but circumstances change and they are put in the care of a woman who hates all scousers and taunts them with the destruction of their city. They run away, arriving home on the worst night of the May Blitz. Rose is attending the birth of her friend's baby and goes back to Bernard Terrace to find her home has received a direct hit, and is told that the children were seen entering the house the previous evening. Devastated, she throws herself into the war effort, risking her life before she considers finding out what really happened that fateful night...A Long and Lonely Road is yet another confirmation of the brilliance and warmth of Katie Flynn's saga novels.
The Long Patrol: The British in Germany Since 1945
by Roy BaintonWhen the Allies occupied Germany at the end of the Second World War, there were two million men present to witness the devastating end of the Third Reich. Few of them could have imagined just how long this occupation was going to last - right up to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and well into its aftermath. Today some 17,000 British troops remain in Germany. But over the past four and a half decades, tens of thousands of British men and women have alived and worked in British Zone as members of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) some for relatively short periods, many for much longer. Long enough, though, for the experience to have a profound effect on their lives and on their attitudes.THE LONG PATROL reveals what life has been like in the British Zone for those men and women and their families. As the post war worlds of Britain and Germany had little in common, they had to find their own identity, often suspended between the two. And what did the Germans make of the British? How did they react when whole streets, sometimes whole districts, were requisitioned and occupied? What were the psychological effects of a foreign army taking over the barracks of what had been, until so recently, the homes of the warriors of the 1,000 Year Reich? Eventually the British became more and more insulated against the culture around them, building their own camps, their own cinemas. In major centres like Berlin they lived a seperate life whilst all around them Germany got on with the massive task of reconstruction. In the background there lurked the ever-present spectre of a possible Third World War. Based largely on interviews and information culled from personal diaries and letters. THE LONG PATROL is primarily an oral history of the British in Germany. It also analyses and interprets experiences in an attempt to begin to make sense of an unusual, and still significant, part of British history in the twentieth century. Funny, tragic, bizarre and poignant in equal parts, THE LONG PATROL is an important contribution to the social history of post-war Britain and Germ
Liverpool Taffy: Family Saga
by Katie FlynnA brilliant romance novel set in 1930s Liverpool, from one of Britain's bestselling saga authors.Life is hard in 1930s Liverpool, and Biddy O'Shaughnessy is left destitute when her widowed mother dies. Forced to work all hours for Ma Kettle, owner of the local sweet shop, she can soon take no more and runs away.At first luck appears to be on her side. Sharing a flat with Ellen, an old school pal who has a special 'friend' paying the rent, keeps the wolf from the door. But fate conspires against them and Biddy finds herself homeless once more, living rough on the mean streets of Liverpool.When she applies for the post of maid with the Gallagher family, Biddy starts to feel she might at last be able to lead a normal life. Especially when she meets Dai, a young Welshman working the trawlers. But Nellie Gallagher has a secret that will change all their lives...Liverpool Taffy is a heartwarming story of love and courage from a wonderful storyteller, and one of the most popular saga writers of our time, Katie Flynn.
The Liverpool Rose: A Liverpool Family Saga
by Katie FlynnLiverpool, 1923Lizzie is an orphan living with her Aunt Annie, Uncle Perce and two boy cousins in Cranberry Court, within a stone's throw of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Lizzie loves her aunt but is hated by her uncle and escapes whenever she can.She makes friends with Geoff Gardiner, another orphan, and is teaching him to swim in the Scaldy when Clem Gilligan rescues the pair of them from drowning. Clem works on the Canal boat, The Liverpool Rose, with Jake Pridmore and his wife, plying between the great cities of Leeds and Liverpool.But Lizzie's situation at home starts to worsen as her uncle grows surlier and more violent. Eventually the worst happens and Lizzie is forced to flee from the Court or risk serious injury, perhaps even death. Her first instinct is to make for the canal, but finding Clem is not so easy . . .
Londoners' Larder: English Cuisine from Chaucer to the Present
by Annette HopeIn a vivid panorama, Londoner's Larder presents the food of a great city. Annette Hope has used biography, literature and social history to explore the city of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Pepys, Johnson, Dickens, Wilde and Virginia Woolf, and to show in lively detail what these writers and their contemporaries might have eaten, where the food came from and how it was cooked. She looks at problems of supply, distribution, nutrition, cooking, and health and hygiene as the city expanded and changed character, and chronicles the effects of social, economic, and ethnic shifts since the end of the Second World War. At the end of each chapter are recipes from the period, written in modern, usable form.From the takeaway pasties baked by the Cook in The Canterbury Pilgrims to dinner at the Café Royal, from John Evelyn's recipes for salads to Mrs Beeton, from the introduction of coffee to the appearance of ration books, this book charts the gastronomic life of London in scholarly and entertaining detail. A discussion of the city as it is at the beginning of the twenty-first century rounds off the picture - a time when Middle Eastern and Oriental food is commonplace, and much of the cuisine available in European restaurants is inspired by that on offer in popular holiday resorts and purely 'British' food is difficult to find. If London beguiles you, literature seduces you, and recipes fascinate you, this pioneering book will intrigue and delight you.
Living the Dream: My Story
by Chantelle HoughtonFrom girl next door to the nation's sweetheart, this is the story of Chantelle's spectacular rise to fame and celebrity. Told in her own words, Chantelle takes us on what has been a sometimes bumpy, but a truly magical journey.As a little girl growing up in Essex, Chantelle Houghton dreamed of becoming famous and living the life of a star. But never could she have imagined just how this dream would eventually come true, transforming her into one of Britain's most loved and talked about celebrities.Here, we learn how her family played a crucial role in helping to shape her dreams and aspirations from an early age. We hear of the difficult times growing up and how Chantelle was able to overcome these obstacles, eventually launching a career in modeling.But it was to be Celebrity Big Brother that would change the course of Chantelle's life forever. She tells of the moment she first discovered she'd been picked, what really went on behind the scenes - the clashes of personalities in the house, the fallings out... and, of course, her falling in love with Preston.Winning Big Brother was a defining moment, and the madness that followed in those first few days outside of the house was to be just the beginning of Chantelle's new dream life. Learning to become accustomed to her new found fame hasn't been straightforward, but Chantelle has always kept her feet firmly on the ground. But it has been her love for Preston that has been the real fairy tale in Chantelle's extraordinary journey. She tells how their love grew away from the glare of paparazzi, and how this whirlwind romance ended up becoming the wedding of the year. In this honest and open autobiography, Chantelle shares her secret hopes and dreams for the future and looks back on the past year and reflects on just what an amazing fairy tale it's been.
A Liverpool Lass
by Katie FlynnLiverpool. December, 1905. In the breaking dawn of a raw windswept morning, a new-born baby girl is left at the door of an orphange. So helpless and appealing is the foundling that young Nellie McDowell, the maid-of-all-work, decides there and then to adopt her as her own sister.In the years that follow, Nellie and Lilac become even closer than sisters in their shared struggle to survive the grinding poverty of their lot. But they cannot lean on each other for ever. Nellie delights in the promise of love - and tastes the bitterness of betrayal - just as the long finger of war stretches out to divide the girls and rob Liverpool of a whole generation of its young men ...Sure to please fans and newcomers alike, this is classic Katie Flynn saga writing at its best.
The Little Hammer
by John Kelly'Would you believe me if I told you that I was only nine years of age when I killed him?' In a paint-splattered room, a young and successful Irish painter confronts his shocking and murderous past- a dark day on the beach at Bundoran, Co. Donegal, when he quietly dispatched a palaeontologist with his own geological hammer. His life is further disrupted by the beautiful Billy Maguire, an Ingrid Bergman lookalike who leads him all the way to Prague and involves him-and his beloved and devoutly paranoid grandmother-in yet another grievous crime. Struggling to keep reality and unreality apart, he wishes only to be taken seriously-as sinner and lover, artist and murderer.Featuring cameos from Elvis Presley, Shirley Temple and the Pope, the Little Hammer is a triumph of linguistic brio, dark imagination and wild wit from one of Ireland's most exciting new talents.
Living With the Gift
by TJ HiggsT J Higgs is one of the most celebrated psychic mediums in the UK, whose work has been featured on TV and in the national press. But she has overcome many obstacles to get where she is. A sensitive child, her unique psychic gift was not encouraged and, as she reveals, her life has not been easy. In fact, she believes that the challenges she has faced have played an essential part in making her the ground-breaking medium she is today.In this compelling book, Tracy Higgs - known affectionately by her fans as TJ - shares her story as well as heart-warming true tales from the afterlife. She also brings a lightness of touch, amazing accuracy and a fantastic sense of humour to her communications with the spirit world. Intuitive, witty and wise, she is a very modern medium. And she invites you now to engage with the Other Side in ways you never dreamed possible - to see the spirit world afresh through her eyes.
The Lodger: A delightful Cockney page-turner you won’t be able to put down
by Mary Jane StaplesA moving family drama set against the backdrop of one of London's poorest areas from multi-million copy seller Mary Jane Staples. Perfect for fans of Maggie Ford, Kitty Neale and Katie Flynn.READERS ARE LOVING THE LODGER!"This was such a great read....... priceless I loved it" - 5 STARS"Leave[s] you with a smile on your face..." - 5 STARS"Once you start, you can't put it down..." - 5 STARS"I absolutely loved this book" - 5 STARS"Great for lifting your spirits" - 5 STARS"A good book, keeps you in suspense until the end" - 5 STARS************************************************IN TIMES OF TROUBLE, CAN SHE KEEP HER FAMILY SAFE FROM HARM?London, 1908: For years now, Maggie Wilson has had to bring up her four daughters alone with barely enough money to get by. Local Constable Harry Bradshaw looks out for them as best he can but there isn't much he can do for Maggie's small family.When the opportunity to take in a lodger arises, Maggie can't resist the extra income. But there's something strange about the man Maggie has let into her home... what if he's more trouble than he's worth?
The Little Ship: A heart-warming, sweeping wartime saga full of heart which will stay with you for ages
by Margaret MayhewFrom bestselling author Margaret Mayhew, an emotional and gripping wartime saga, full of the tension and adventure of World War Two. Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn, Donna Douglas and Rosie Clarke. READERS ARE LOVING THE LITTLE SHIP!"Brilliant. Very moving, funny and sad all at the same time" - 5 STARS"[The] characterisation is wonderful. The reader is able to put themselves right there as the book unfolds." - 5 STARS"Absolutely fantastic" - 5 STARS"A fantastic storyteller" - 5 STARS"I found it fascinating historical fiction at its best" - 5 STARS***************************************************************CAN FRIENDSHIPS FORGED IN CHILDHOOD SURVIVE THE HORRORS OF WAR?In the summers leading up to the war, Matt, Guy, and their young cousin Lizzie meet up on the Essex coast and bum around in an old boat. Guy is the eldest, handsome, skilled at everything, a tad selfish. Matt is quieter and has a crippled right arm. Lizzie adores them both. These are idyllic days of sun, and sea, the golden era of the thirties.As the thirties progress, things take a darker turn. Lizzie's family take the daughter of a Viennese colleague of Lizzie's father into their home, a Jewish girl called Anna, who is miserable and homesick. Soon Otto joins the band of children - the son of a German diplomat, reared in the best traditions of the Hitler doctrine and destined for the army. As they grow up, their relationships become tense and highly involved. Resentment, love, confusion, hate all intermingle... Then the world explodes into war and they go their separate ways until they all meet again at Dunkirk...with very different aims and ambitions....
London In The Nineteenth Century: 'A Human Awful Wonder of God'
by Jerry WhiteJerry White's London in the Nineteenth Century is the richest and most absorbing account of the city's greatest century by its leading expert.London in the nineteenth century was the greatest city mankind had ever seen. Its growth was stupendous. Its wealth was dazzling. Its horrors shocked the world. This was the London of Blake, Thackeray and Mayhew, of Nash, Faraday and Disraeli. Most of all it was the London of Dickens. As William Blake put it, London was 'a Human awful wonder of God'.In Jerry White's dazzling history we witness the city's unparalleled metamorphosis over the course of the century through the daily lives of its inhabitants. We see how Londoners worked, played, and adapted to the demands of the metropolis during this century of dizzying change. The result is a panorama teeming with life.
A Load of Balls: Football's Funny Side
by John ScallyAs former England striker and television pundit Jimmy Greaves famously said, football is 'a funny old game'. In A Load of Balls: Football's Funny Side, John Scally confirms the truth of his statement by providing a potpourri of double entendres, timeless quips and amusing anecdotes from the tongues of football's elite. Hundreds of silly stories and priceless nuggets have been sourced to recreate the unique excitement, drama and unpredictability of football in the words of the sport's practitioners. The result is a wry, quirky and sometimes outlandish catalogue of comic creations. For lovers of the absurd, outrageous and totally bizarre, this selection of stories and quotes will amuse and delight. Packed with priceless gaffes from the likes of David Beckham ('My parents have been there for me since I was about seven'), Bobby Robson ('We didn't underestimate them; they were just a lot better than we thought') and Paul Gascoigne ('I've never made any predictions about anything and I never will'), this hilarious collection is guaranteed to tickle the funny bone of even the most casual sports fan.
London in the Twentieth Century: A City and Its People
by Jerry WhiteJerry White's London in the Twentieth Century, Winner of the Wolfson Prize, is a masterful account of the city’s most tumultuous century by its leading expert.In 1901 no other city matched London in size, wealth and grandeur. Yet it was also a city where poverty and disease were rife. For its inhabitants, such contradictions and diversity were the defining experience of the next century of dazzling change.In the worlds of work and popular culture, politics and crime, through war, immigration and sexual revolution, Jerry White’s richly detailed and captivating history shows how the city shaped their lives and how it in turn was shaped by them.
The Locust Room
by John BurnsideTwenty five years ago, during the spring and summer of 1975, a rapist stalked the streets of Cambridge, attacking young, single women in their bed-sits and flats and subjecting them to horrifying and increasingly violent assaults. For several months the city endured a climate of fear and suspicion, where the old assumptions about sexual relations and civic decency fell into question, and no male could be taken at face value. These events for the background to The Locust Room, John Burnside's extraordinary new novel, in which a young photographer is forced by circumstances to examine his relations with women, with other men and with his family at home. Over one dramatic summer, he becomes involved in a series of sexual intrigues and acts of subtle violence as he journeys towards tentative self-definition and what he comes to see as honourable isolation. What emerges from this atmosphere of tension and terror is Burnside's finest novel so far; an exquisitely written, beautifully observed fiction - and a moving examination of the possibilities of male tenderness, individual autonomy and personal grace.
Living With M.E.
by Dr Charles ShepherdIt is estimated that there are over 100,000 people suffering from M.E. in Britain today. Although not a new disease, M.E. (also known as 'yuppie flu') is at last being recognised and taken seriously. M.E. is short for MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYSELITIS, a term which relates to the parts of the body affected: MYALGIC, the muscles; ENCEPHALO, the brain; and MYSELITIS, the nerves. Until recently, many people suffering from M.E. had great difficulty in finding a diagnosis and a way of dealing effectively with their chronic fatigue. This comprehensive guide provides much-needed information about the disease. It describes the symptoms of M.E., what triggers it and who can get it and also discusses additional problems such as sleep disorders, depression, pain in the joints and difficulties with the eyes, ears and balance. A well-researched, comprehensive guide, LIVING WITH M.E. is THE book to buy for any M.E. sufferer who wants information not speculation.
London: City of Disappearances
by Iain Sinclair‘A book full of richness, unexpected enticements, short sharp shocks and breathtaking writing’ Guardian Welcome to the real, unauthorised London: the disappeared, the unapproved, the unvoiced, the mythical and the all-but forgotten. The perfect companion to the city. ‘Exhilarating, truly wonderful, a cavalcade of eloquent writing. London demands an anthology like this to remind us of the irascible quirkiness of its residents, and we have Sinclair to thank for marshalling such a perverse and ultimately pleasurable exercise’ Independent on Sunday
The Long Knives (The CRIME series #2)
by Irvine WelshThe highly-anticipated second instalment in the CRIME trilogy, now a hit TV SeriesIn Edinburgh, Detective Inspector Ray Lennox is investigating a brutal crime...Ritchie Gulliver MP is dead. Castrated and left to bleed in an empty Leith warehouse. Vicious, racist and corrupt, many thought he had it coming. But nobody could have predicted this.After the life Gulliver has led, the suspects are many - corporate rivals, political opponents, the countless groups he's offended. And the vulnerable and marginalised, who bore the brunt of his cruelty.As Lennox unravels the truth, and the list of shocking attacks grows, he must put his personal feelings aside. But one question refuses to go away: who are the real victims here?'Sharp, fearless, passionate and brilliant' Independent'An ingeniously plotted and propulsive thriller' Literary Review
Lives of the Artists (Lives of the Artists #1)
by Giorgio VasariBeginning with Cimabue and Giotto in the thirteenth century, Vasari traces the development of Italian art across three centuries to the golden epoch of Leonardo and Michelangelo. Great men, and their immortal works, are brought vividly to life, as Vasari depicts the young Giotto scratching his first drawings on stone; Donatello gazing at Brunelleschi's crucifix; and Michelangelo's painstaking work on the Sistine Chapel, harassed by the impatient Pope Julius II. The Lives also convey much about Vasari himself and his outstanding abilities as a critic inspired by his passion for art.
Logic: 15th International Workshop, Wollic 2008 Edinburgh, Uk, July 1-4, 2008, Proceedings (Lecture Notes In Computer Science Ser. #5110)
by Wilfrid HodgesIf a man supports Arsenal one day and Spurs the next then he is fickle but not necessarily illogical. From this starting point, and assuming no previous knowledge of logic, Wilfrid Hodges takes the reader through the whole gamut of logical expressions in a simple and lively way. Readers who are more mathematically adventurous will find optional sections introducing rather more challenging material. 'A lively and stimulating book' Philosophy
London Labour and the London Poor: A Cyclopædia Of The Condition And Earnings Of Those That Will Work, Those That Cannot Work, And Those That Will Not (London Labour And The London Poor - 4-volume Set Ser.)
by Henry MayhewLondon Labour and the London Poor originated in a series of newspaper articles written by the great journalist Henry Mayhew between 1849 and 1850. A dozen years later, it had grown into the fullest picture we have of labouring people in the world's greatest city in the nineteenth century: a four volume account of the hopes, customs, grievances and habits of the working-classes that allows them to tell their own stories. Combining practicality with compassion, Mayhew worked unencumbered by political theory and strove solely to report on the lives of the London poor, their occupations and trades. This selection shows how well he succeeded. From costermongers to ex-convicts, from chimney-sweeps to vagrants, the underprivileged of London are uniquely brought to life - their plight expressed through a startling blend of first person accounts, Mayhew's perceptions, and sharp statistics.
Little Lord Fauntleroy (Puffin Classics)
by Frances Hodgson BurnettThe story of a small, angelic boy from New York who is told he is the heir to an English earldom and is whisked away to the English countryside where he begins to win over his bad-tempered old grandfather. When the boy's identity is challenged, his old friends from New York come to his rescue.
Liverpool Daughter: A heart-warming wartime story from the Sunday times bestselling author (The Liverpool Sisters #1)
by Katie FlynnTHE FIRST NOVEL IN A HEART-WARMING NEW SERIES BY SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, KATIE FLYNN______________________________'Home is where the heart is, and my heart belongs to Liverpool. We would not dream of leavin' our beloved cit . .'August 1940: As the Luftwaffe swarm over Liverpool, Shane Quinn decides to move his family back to the safety of Ireland. But his only child, the beautiful Dana, would rather stay and serve her country than flee to a foreign land.Determined to make it on her own, she joins the WAAF with newfound pals Patty and Lucy. There is plenty of excitement to be had on a RAF station, and even a chance or two at love.But the stark reality of war begins to take its toll and the three girls soon discover they need their friendship more than ever. And when shocking news arrives from Ireland, Dana will realise the true importance of family.______________________________Praise for Katie Flynn:'If you pick up a Katie Flynn book it's going to be a wrench to put it down again' Holyhead and Anglesey Mail'Packed with romance and poignancy' Woman'One of the best Liverpool writers' Liverpool Echo'Heart-warming' Take a Break