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Oliver Twist & Me: The True Story of my Family and Charles Dickens's best-loved novel
by Nicholas Blincoe"A fascinating family and social history and a savage indictment of the role of child slavery in the growth of the Industrial Revolution," Catherine Taylor, author of The Stirrings: A Memoir in Northern TimeWe all think we know the tale. As a child, Charles Dickens was forced to work in a mouldering Thames-side blacking factory, an event that scarred him for life and inspired Oliver Twist. Except that's only part of the story. In reality, Dickens appropriated the stories of foundlings and orphans - including Robert Blincoe, whose memoir supplied the source material for his great novel of childhood. In Oliver Twist & Me, novelist Nicholas Blincoe presents a dual biography of Dickens and his great-great-great-grandfather Robert, showing how the story of an orphan took off in different directions, helping Dickens project himself as an inimitable literary one-off, just as Robert's memoir of a workhouse boy gave a voice to the masses.From London and Kent to the factories of Manchester, Blincoe retraces the steps of both men, along the way discovering the Camden workhouse that inspired Dickens and revisiting the great stage musical. His journeys with his family and his dog Fredo lead him to an affectionate reassessment of a beloved classic, while also revealing how Dickens shaped the story of his lonely childhood to suppress his debt to his family, hide his affairs and, as his career ignited, abandon the people who had helped him. By playing off the lives of a working-class hero and a classic author, Oliver Twist & Me reveals Dickens - and his world - as they have never been seen before.
Oliver Twist & Me: The True Story of my Family and Charles Dickens's best-loved novel
by Nicholas Blincoe"A fascinating family and social history and a savage indictment of the role of child slavery in the growth of the Industrial Revolution," Catherine Taylor, author of The Stirrings: A Memoir in Northern TimeWe all think we know the tale. As a child, Charles Dickens was forced to work in a mouldering Thames-side blacking factory, an event that scarred him for life and inspired Oliver Twist. Except that's only part of the story. In reality, Dickens appropriated the stories of foundlings and orphans - including Robert Blincoe, whose memoir supplied the source material for his great novel of childhood. In Oliver Twist & Me, novelist Nicholas Blincoe presents a dual biography of Dickens and his great-great-great-grandfather Robert, showing how the story of an orphan took off in different directions, helping Dickens project himself as an inimitable literary one-off, just as Robert's memoir of a workhouse boy gave a voice to the masses.From London and Kent to the factories of Manchester, Blincoe retraces the steps of both men, along the way discovering the Camden workhouse that inspired Dickens and revisiting the great stage musical. His journeys with his family and his dog Fredo lead him to an affectionate reassessment of a beloved classic, while also revealing how Dickens shaped the story of his lonely childhood to suppress his debt to his family, hide his affairs and, as his career ignited, abandon the people who had helped him. By playing off the lives of a working-class hero and a classic author, Oliver Twist & Me reveals Dickens - and his world - as they have never been seen before.
Muslims Don't Matter
by Sayeeda Warsi'Burns with righteous anger. An urgent read for our times' Riz Ahmed'There is no more powerful fighter for the cause that Muslims do, should and must matter than Sayeeda Warsi' David Baddiel'A vitally important book from a vitally important voice'David OlusogaA DAILY TELEGRAPH MUST-READ FOR AUTUMN 2024Three grandfathers killed on the streets of England in three separate incidents by three different men. Each targeted simply for being Muslim - each attack a consequence of the insidious rise in Islamophobia in Britain.From the far-right violence that broke out in the summer of 2024 to the hatred directed at Muslims in public life during the Gaza conflict, anti-Muslim racism is dangerously out-of-control. Fed by a network of media outlets, think tanks, commentators, and even the entertainment industry, Islamophobia not only passes the dinner table test but is also Britain's bigotry blind spot. For too many, Muslims Don't Matter.In this incisive polemic, Britain's first Muslim Cabinet minister, Conservative peer, campaigner and podcaster Sayeeda Warsi uses her dual experience at the centre of British power and in the heart of our Muslim communities to unapologetically challenge the corrosive consensus. As Muslims terrified by the riots seriously consider whether Britain should still be their home, Warsi urges us to change course, to unite and dismantle this toxic bigotry.
Racing Pigs And Giant Marrows: Travels around the North Country Fairs
by Harry PearsonFollowing his acclaimed book about football in the north-east,THE FAR CORNER, Harry Pearson vowed that his next project would not involve hanging around outdoors on days so cold that itinerant dogs had to be detached from lamp-posts by firemen. It would be about the summer: specifically, about a summer of shows and fairs in the north of England.Encompassing such diverse talents as fell-running, tupperware-boxing and rabbit fancying (literally), and containing many more jokes about goats than is legal in the Isle of Man, Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows is without doubt the only book in existence to explain the design faults of earwigs and expose English farmers' fondness for transvestism. Warm, wise and very funny, it confirms increasing suspicions that Harry Pearson is really quite good.
Racing Pigs And Giant Marrows: Travels around the North Country Fairs
by Harry PearsonFollowing his acclaimed book about football in the north-east,THE FAR CORNER, Harry Pearson vowed that his next project would not involve hanging around outdoors on days so cold that itinerant dogs had to be detached from lamp-posts by firemen. It would be about the summer: specifically, about a summer of shows and fairs in the north of England.Encompassing such diverse talents as fell-running, tupperware-boxing and rabbit fancying (literally), and containing many more jokes about goats than is legal in the Isle of Man, Racing Pigs and Giant Marrows is without doubt the only book in existence to explain the design faults of earwigs and expose English farmers' fondness for transvestism. Warm, wise and very funny, it confirms increasing suspicions that Harry Pearson is really quite good.
Dribble!: The Unbelievable Encyclopaedia of Football
by Harry PearsonTen years in the making, Dribble! is an A-Z of credulity-twanging facts and stories about what Pele once memorably dubbed 'my bloody job'. It includes definitive explanations of everyday phrases such as 'the magic of the cup' and 'low centre of gravity'; a complete guide to becoming a terrace character and an in-depth account of how Roy Keane's pyjamas got him a smack on the nose . . . It also addresses hitherto ignored aspects of the beautiful game, including its longstanding relationship with Country and Western. Johnny Cash dubbed himself 'The Man in Black' in homage to his idol, referee Arthur Ellis and wrote what is arguably the greatest song ever written about the life of an assistant referee - 'I Walk the Line'.
Dribble!: The Unbelievable Encyclopaedia of Football
by Harry PearsonTen years in the making, Dribble! is an A-Z of credulity-twanging facts and stories about what Pele once memorably dubbed 'my bloody job'. It includes definitive explanations of everyday phrases such as 'the magic of the cup' and 'low centre of gravity'; a complete guide to becoming a terrace character and an in-depth account of how Roy Keane's pyjamas got him a smack on the nose . . . It also addresses hitherto ignored aspects of the beautiful game, including its longstanding relationship with Country and Western. Johnny Cash dubbed himself 'The Man in Black' in homage to his idol, referee Arthur Ellis and wrote what is arguably the greatest song ever written about the life of an assistant referee - 'I Walk the Line'.
A Tall Man In A Low Land: Some Time Among the Belgians
by Harry PearsonMost British travel writers head south for a destination that is hot, exotic, dangerous or all three. Harry Pearson chose to head in the opposite direction for a country which is damp, safe and of legendary banality: Belgium. But can any nation whose most famous monument is a statue of a small boy urinating really be that dull? Pearson lived there for several months, burying himself in the local culture. He drank many of the 800 different beers the Belgians produce; ate local delicacies such as kip kap (jellied pig cheeks) and a mighty tonnage of chicory and chips. In one restaurant the house speciality was 'Hare in the style of grandmother'. 'I didn't order it. I quite like hare, but had no wish to see one wearing zip-up boots and a blue beret.' A TALL MAN IN A LOW LAND commemorates strange events such as The Festival of Shrimps at Oostduinkerke and laments the passing of the Underpant Museum in Brussels. No reader will go away from A TALL MAN IN A LOW LAND without being able to name at least ten famous Belgians. Mixing evocative description and low-grade buffoonery Harry Pearson paints a portrait of Belgium that is more rounded than a Smurf after a night on the mussels.
A Tall Man In A Low Land: Some Time Among the Belgians
by Harry PearsonMost British travel writers head south for a destination that is hot, exotic, dangerous or all three. Harry Pearson chose to head in the opposite direction for a country which is damp, safe and of legendary banality: Belgium. But can any nation whose most famous monument is a statue of a small boy urinating really be that dull? Pearson lived there for several months, burying himself in the local culture. He drank many of the 800 different beers the Belgians produce; ate local delicacies such as kip kap (jellied pig cheeks) and a mighty tonnage of chicory and chips. In one restaurant the house speciality was 'Hare in the style of grandmother'. 'I didn't order it. I quite like hare, but had no wish to see one wearing zip-up boots and a blue beret.' A TALL MAN IN A LOW LAND commemorates strange events such as The Festival of Shrimps at Oostduinkerke and laments the passing of the Underpant Museum in Brussels. No reader will go away from A TALL MAN IN A LOW LAND without being able to name at least ten famous Belgians. Mixing evocative description and low-grade buffoonery Harry Pearson paints a portrait of Belgium that is more rounded than a Smurf after a night on the mussels.
Achtung Schweinehund!: A Boy's Own Story of Imaginary Combat
by Harry PearsonThis is a book about men and war. Not real conflict but war as it has filtered down to generations of boys and men through toys, comics, games and movies. Harry Pearson belongs to the great battalion of British men who grew up playing with toy soldiers - refighting World War II - and then stopped growing up. Inspired by the photos of the gallant pilot uncles that decorated the wall above his father's model-making table, by Sergeant Hurricane, Action Man and Escape from Colditz, dressed in Clarks' commando shoes and with the Airfix Army in support, he battled in the fields and on the beaches, in his head and on the sitting-room floor and across his bedroom ceiling. And thirty years later he still is.ACHTUNG SCHWEINEHUND! is a celebration of those glory days, a boy's own story of the urge to play, to conquer - and to adopt very bad German accents, shouting 'Donner und Blitzen' at every opportunity. This is a tale of obsession, glue and plastic kits. It is the story of one boy's imaginary war and where it led him.
Achtung Schweinehund!: A Boy's Own Story of Imaginary Combat
by Harry PearsonThis is a book about men and war. Not real conflict but war as it has filtered down to generations of boys and men through toys, comics, games and movies. Harry Pearson belongs to the great battalion of British men who grew up playing with toy soldiers - refighting World War II - and then stopped growing up. Inspired by the photos of the gallant pilot uncles that decorated the wall above his father's model-making table, by Sergeant Hurricane, Action Man and Escape from Colditz, dressed in Clarks' commando shoes and with the Airfix Army in support, he battled in the fields and on the beaches, in his head and on the sitting-room floor and across his bedroom ceiling. And thirty years later he still is.ACHTUNG SCHWEINEHUND! is a celebration of those glory days, a boy's own story of the urge to play, to conquer - and to adopt very bad German accents, shouting 'Donner und Blitzen' at every opportunity. This is a tale of obsession, glue and plastic kits. It is the story of one boy's imaginary war and where it led him.
Hound Dog Days: One Dog and his Man: a Story of North Country Life and Canine Contentment
by Harry PearsonA decade and one dog after penning the bestselling Racing Pigs And Giant Marrows, and inspired by the purchase of his new hound, a petit basset-griffon Vendeen called Little Man, Harry Pearson returns to the world of stalking, ferreting and beating with this ramble through the countryside.Harry Pearson was born into a dog-loving family and grew up with a variety of spaniels, terriers, collies and mongrels. He currently spends several hours every day running along behind a bassett-griffon pretending he really intended to go that way himself. Within these pages will be found anecdotes culled from forty-five years of living with dogs, wise observations on canine and human behaviour, historical tales of famous dogs, learned speculations on nature and descriptions of life in the real English countryside - a place where there are otters in the river, glue-sniffers in the woods and fisticuffs over fishing rights.
Hound Dog Days: a Story of North Country Life and Canine Contentment
by Harry PearsonA decade and one dog after penning the bestselling Racing Pigs And Giant Marrows, and inspired by the purchase of his new hound, a petit basset-griffon Vendeen called Little Man, Harry Pearson returns to the world of stalking, ferreting and beating with this ramble through the countryside.Harry Pearson was born into a dog-loving family and grew up with a variety of spaniels, terriers, collies and mongrels. He currently spends several hours every day running along behind a bassett-griffon pretending he really intended to go that way himself. Within these pages will be found anecdotes culled from forty-five years of living with dogs, wise observations on canine and human behaviour, historical tales of famous dogs, learned speculations on nature and descriptions of life in the real English countryside - a place where there are otters in the river, glue-sniffers in the woods and fisticuffs over fishing rights.
The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble Through North-East Football
by Harry PearsonA book in which Wilf Mannion rubs shoulders with The Sunderland Skinhead: recollections of Len Shakleton blight the lives of village shoppers: and the appointment of Kevin Keegan as manager of Newcastle is celebrated by a man in a leather stetson, crooning 'For The Good Times' to the accompaniment of a midi organ, THE FAR CORNER is a tale of heroism and human frailty, passion and the perils of eating an egg mayonnaise stottie without staining your trousers.
The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble Through North-East Football
by Harry PearsonA book in which Wilf Mannion rubs shoulders with The Sunderland Skinhead: recollections of Len Shakleton blight the lives of village shoppers: and the appointment of Kevin Keegan as manager of Newcastle is celebrated by a man in a leather stetson, crooning 'For The Good Times' to the accompaniment of a midi organ, THE FAR CORNER is a tale of heroism and human frailty, passion and the perils of eating an egg mayonnaise stottie without staining your trousers.
Full Whack
by Charlie HigsonDennis 'The Menace' Pike, former wild man of Tottenham, is going grey and going straight. Anyway, it was hard work being a yob- the birds, the brawls, the endless beers- and he hasn't really got the energy any more for life on the edge. Then two old faces turn up from the past- the Bishop brothers, Chas and Noel. Famously inept, they were bad news then, and they haven't aged well. What's worse, they need Pike's expertise on a scheme wealth distribution really- offloading one of the old gang's ill-gotten millions. Robbing the robbers- now what's criminal about that?Pike, still haunted by what happened one wreckless night all those years ago, refuses to get involved. But old habits die hard, and when he suddenly finds his bank account tampered with, Pike is drawn back into a world he spent ten years escaping. Thug or mug, he is nevertheless forced to confront a man so psychotically unhinged that his own youth seems like mere kids' stuff...A slick, razor-sharp novel, FULL WHACK is packed full of searing wit, scurrilous characters and nefarious knock-about.
Full Whack
by Charlie HigsonDennis 'The Menace' Pike, former wild man of Tottenham, is going grey and going straight. Anyway, it was hard work being a yob- the birds, the brawls, the endless beers- and he hasn't really got the energy any more for life on the edge. Then two old faces turn up from the past- the Bishop brothers, Chas and Noel. Famously inept, they were bad news then, and they haven't aged well. What's worse, they need Pike's expertise on a scheme wealth distribution really- offloading one of the old gang's ill-gotten millions. Robbing the robbers- now what's criminal about that?Pike, still haunted by what happened one wreckless night all those years ago, refuses to get involved. But old habits die hard, and when he suddenly finds his bank account tampered with, Pike is drawn back into a world he spent ten years escaping. Thug or mug, he is nevertheless forced to confront a man so psychotically unhinged that his own youth seems like mere kids' stuff...A slick, razor-sharp novel, FULL WHACK is packed full of searing wit, scurrilous characters and nefarious knock-about.
Getting Rid Of Mister Kitchen
by Charlie HigsonA man kills a prospective buyer for his car. On the verge of becoming a name in the interior design world, he can't afford a scandal and must discreetly dispose of the body-- not an easy job when the whole of London seems to be conspiring against him.
Getting Rid Of Mister Kitchen
by Charlie HigsonA man kills a prospective buyer for his car. On the verge of becoming a name in the interior design world, he can't afford a scandal and must discreetly dispose of the body-- not an easy job when the whole of London seems to be conspiring against him.
Happy Now
by Charlie HigsonI do not believe that a man can be truly happy unless he fully understands what he is and can act accordingly ... how can it be wrong to be happy?' These lines are taken from Will's diary, a seemingly innocuous exercise book which details his house-breaking activities. Will carefully selects houses - forty-seven so far - ensuring their owners will be in. As they cook their supper or watch television, Will (wearing surgical gloves and leaving no trace behind) enters not only their houses, but their secret lives. A secret museum, housed in his loft, is 'held together by sex'. All his trophies are carefully catalogued and he keeps a very precise diary of his activities and his thoughts.All his life Tom Kendall had lived as quietly and normally as possible ... but he gave people the creeps ... 'kids didn't like him, or the cat'. When Tom discovers Will's diary he decides to adopt the same quest for happiness. Tom has problems of his own - a difficult temper, problems with his girlfriend, Maddie, and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. Perhaps Will's diary holds the key?
Happy Now
by Charlie Higson'Charlie Higson's thrillers are major events' Mark Billingham'An off-beat, atmospheric novel' Mirror'Written with chilling perception' Time Out'I do not believe that a man can be truly happy unless he fully understands what he is and can act accordingly... how can it be wrong to be happy?' These lines are taken from Will's diary, a seemingly innocuous exercise book which details his house-breaking activities. Will carefully selects houses - forty-seven so far - ensuring their owners will be in. As they cook their supper or watch television, Will (wearing surgical gloves and leaving no trace behind) enters not only their houses, but their secret lives. A secret museum, housed in his loft, is 'held together by sex'. All his trophies are carefully catalogued and he keeps a very precise diary of his activities and his thoughts.All his life Tom Kendall had lived as quietly and normally as possible ... but he gave people the creeps ... 'kids didn't like him, or the cat'. When Tom discovers Will's diary he decides to adopt the same quest for happiness. Tom has problems of his own - a difficult temper, problems with his girlfriend, Maddie, and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. Perhaps Will's diary holds the key?
King Of The Ants
by Charlie HigsonIt seemed straightforward enough. Sean had now consumed so much alcohol that everything seemed perfectly reasonable. He'd started planning the job already. The first problem was how to do it. Thirteen thousand pounds in an envelope seems a fair price for a man's life. Particularly if you don't know the man, he seems a nonentity, and you quite fancy his wife. And there's no chance of being caught. Sean is a drifter, working as a building labourer and waiting for something to happen. When Sean is offered easy money to tail someone and even more easy money to dispose of him, it's all more tempting than you might think. Except when you realize that you've been led up the garden path the whole way... KING OF THE ANTS is dark, disturbing and violently comic. In the tradition of both Joe Orton and Iain Banks, Charlie Higson pinpoints the casual vagaries of evil and its attendant powers. Unnerving, horribly accurate and wickedly enjoyable, it remains Higson's finest book.
King Of The Ants
by Charlie HigsonIt seemed straightforward enough. Sean had now consumed so much alcohol that everything seemed perfectly reasonable. He'd started planning the job already. The first problem was how to do it. Thirteen thousand pounds in an envelope seems a fair price for a man's life. Particularly if you don't know the man, he seems a nonentity, and you quite fancy his wife. And there's no chance of being caught. Sean is a drifter, working as a building labourer and waiting for something to happen. When Sean is offered easy money to tail someone and even more easy money to dispose of him, it's all more tempting than you might think. Except when you realize that you've been led up the garden path the whole way... KING OF THE ANTS is dark, disturbing and violently comic. In the tradition of both Joe Orton and Iain Banks, Charlie Higson pinpoints the casual vagaries of evil and its attendant powers. Unnerving, horribly accurate and wickedly enjoyable, it remains Higson's finest book.
White Rajah: A Biography of Sir James Brooke
by Nigel BarleySir James Brooke was an extraordinary 'eminent' Victorian, whose life was the stuff of legend.His curious career began in 1841 when he was caught up in a war in Brunei which had started because a party of local Dayaks had refused to furl their umbrellas in the presence of the Sultan. Brooke was an opportunist who, with the Sultan's backing, made war on the Dayaks tribespeople and eventually found himself ruling over Sarawak - a kingdom the size of England - as a result. How he achieved it is a romantic, sometimes horrifying story. Brooke is someone that George Macdonald Fraser would scarcely dare to invent. Errol Flynn wanted to play him in a movie, seventy years after his death and his dynasty is remembered throughout South-East Asia.
White Rajah: A Biography of Sir James Brooke
by Dr Nigel BarleySir James Brooke was an extraordinary 'eminent' Victorian, whose life was the stuff of legend.His curious career began in 1841 when he was caught up in a war in Brunei which had started because a party of local Dayaks had refused to furl their umbrellas in the presence of the Sultan. Brooke was an opportunist who, with the Sultan's backing, made war on the Dayaks tribespeople and eventually found himself ruling over Sarawak - a kingdom the size of England - as a result. How he achieved it is a romantic, sometimes horrifying story. Brooke is someone that George Macdonald Fraser would scarcely dare to invent. Errol Flynn wanted to play him in a movie, seventy years after his death and his dynasty is remembered throughout South-East Asia.