Denis Compton
Denis Compton

Author: Tim Heald

Publisher: Dean Street Press

Published: 2015-05-04

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 1910570257

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Description Denis Compton was one of England's -indeed cricket's -greatest batsmen. In the summer of 1947 alone he scored 18 hundreds. A flashing strokeplayer who could take any bowling attack apart, he also played football at the highest level, winning an FA Cup-winners medal with Arsenal. The original 'Brylcreem Boy', perhaps British sport's first true media personality, Compton cut a dashing figure, and when he died was mourned as the kind of cricketer whose like we shall never see again. 'Never have I been so deeply touched on a cricket ground as I was in this heavenly summer when I went to Lord's to see a pale-faced crowd existing on rations, the rocket bomb still in the ears of most folk -see this worn, dowdy crowd watching Compton. The strain of long years of anxiety and affliction passed from all hearts at the sight of Compton in full sail... There were no rations in an innings by Compton' Neville Cardus 'Compton was not the last of the double internationals, but he was the greatest' Michael Parkinson

Now the War Is Over
Now the War Is Over

Author: Paul Addison

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2012-11-29

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 0571296300

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'An excellent book.' Angus Calder, London Review of Books First published in 1985, based on an acclaimed BBC TV series, Paul Addison's Now The War is Over examines the great changes in British society that followed hard upon what had been the most destructive war ever known: years of recovery and reform, as Britain was reshaped by high ideals and a collective desire to enjoy the fruits and opportunities of peacetime.Labour was elected in 1945 on a wave of what Addison calls 'Forties collectivism.' Soon Britons would have the benefits of Beveridge's Welfare State, new housing, secondary education for all and, in July 1948, the dawning of the National Health Service. But new interests in consumerism and the pursuit of affluence were also emerging and, as Addison shows in this rich and fascinating study, would prove just as influential as the efforts of government.

A Son of War
A Son of War

Author: Melvyn Bragg

Publisher: Arcade Publishing

Published: 2004-07-07

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 9781559707206

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This novel takes up where Bragg's The Soldier's Return left off, following the lives of the Richardson family from 1947 to the mid-1950s. The family is forever altered by the father's return from WWII.

Starkeye & Co.
Starkeye & Co.

Author: Berwick Coates

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2011-02-01

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 0752496867

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Blitz survivor, ex-evacuee, veteran of five primary schools and product of a typical London suburb, Berwick Coates won a scholarship to a grammar school in 1944. All he knew about was German aircraft recognition, cricket and Hollywood films. During the following years, he had to deal with new surroundings, new subjects, new friends, V-2 rockets, his parents’ broken marriage, adolescence and a post-war culture of shortage. Fortunately, he was taught by some memorable teachers, some of whom helped to shape his later life and teaching career. His account of life at a grammar school in the 1940s is interwoven with the historical context of this turbulent decade, which saw not only the devastation and deprivation of the Second World War, but also the hardships faced by a country rebuilding itself afterwards. The author’s experiences will resonate with anyone who has followed a similar path.

Bent Arms & Dodgy Wickets
Bent Arms & Dodgy Wickets

Author: Tim Quelch

Publisher: eBook Partnership

Published: 2012-12-20

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 190917839X

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When Andrew Strauss's team seized the world title in the summer of 2011 they finally recovered what had been lost at the Adelaide Oval in 1959. In 1953 England became the 'unofficial world champions'. Len Hutton's victory at the Oval in that coronation year heralded an apparently golden age in England's Test match history. There were many heroic performances not only from the immaculate Len Hutton and the dashing Denis Compton but there were controversies, too. The title, 'Bent Arms' refers also to the petty constraints that its Test players endured while 'Dodgy Wickets' reflects the political sensitivities associated with being Imperial ambassadors.Key features- Book tells the story of the triumph and loss of the England cricket team in the 1950s through the memoirs of those who took part, for and against- The tale is set against a backdrop of a declining British Empire, the institution that had helped spread the game, fostering also a complacent attitude about enduring British supremacy- Written by critically-acclaimed author Tim Quelch, whose previous books on football - Never Had It So Good and Underdog! - have received high praise for capturing the social aspects of the eras each covered

The Senecans
The Senecans

Author: Peter Stothard

Publisher: Abrams

Published: 2016-09-27

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 1468313436

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A year after the death of Margaret Thatcher, a young historian arrives to ask Peter Stothard, Editor of the Time Literary Supplement and former editor of The Time, some sharp questions about his memories of the Thatcher era. During the interview the offices from where he long observed British politics are being systematically flattened by wrecking balls. From the dust and destruction of a collapsing newspaper plant emerge portraits of the Senecans, four of the men who made the Thatcher court so different from that of her successors. As well as love of Britain's first female Prime Minister they shared strange Latin lessons in a crumbling riverside bar. They took their name from their taste for the work of Lucius Annaeus Seneca, a pioneer writer from Cordoba in Roman Spain, a philosopher, courtier and acquirer of massive wealth from the age of the Emperor Nero.Blending memoir with ancient and modern politics in the manner of his acclaimed diaries, Spartacus Road and Alexandria, Peter Stothard sheds a sideways light on Margaret Thatcher's "believing age", a personal picture of our recent history. In finally identifying his interviewer he also answers questions about his own literary and political journey.