In this collection of stories, Bill Naughton portrays a selection of characters, including truck drivers, Irish itinerants and lamp lighters, in his inimitable pithy style. While each tale can be enjoyed on its own, together they provide a wonderful picture of post-war and a bygone era. With descriptions so graphic the characters could be based on real people, the lives, loves, hopes and disappointments of Naughton's characters will keep you gripped till the last.
A journey along one of Britain's oldest roads, from Dover to Anglesey, in search of the hidden history that makes us who we are today. Long ago a path was created by the passage of feet tramping through endless forests. Gradually that path became a track, and the track became a road. It connected the White Cliffs of Dover to the Druid groves of the Welsh island of Anglesey, across a land that was first called Albion then Britain, Mercia and eventually England and Wales. Armies from Rome arrived and straightened this 444 kilometres of meandering track, which in the Dark Ages gained the name Watling Street. Today, this ancient road goes by many different names: the A2, the A5 and the M6 Toll. It is a palimpsest that is always being rewritten. Watling Street is a road of witches and ghosts, of queens and highwaymen, of history and myth, of Chaucer, Dickens and James Bond. Along this route Boudicca met her end, the Battle of Bosworth changed royal history, Bletchley Park code breakers cracked Nazi transmissions and Capability Brown remodelled the English landscape. The myriad people who use this road every day might think it unremarkable, but, as John Higgs shows, it hides its secrets in plain sight. Watling Street is not just the story of a route across our island, but an acutely observed, unexpected exploration of Britain and who we are today, told with wit and flair, and an unerring eye for the curious and surprising.
When Alfie meets a strange girls at a wedding party, they have little in common, yet each feels a need for the other and they embark on a curious love affair.
This second volume of London Walks explores more of the capital with some of London's finest writers. Resident novelists, artists, comedians and historians observe the city around them, tapping into its history, revealing its beauty and exposing its secrets.
Morrissey is one of the most provocative, individual and controversial performers in popular music. From the formation of his Manchester band The Smiths in 1982, through to the imminent release of his 2008 solo album Years Of Refusal, his career has spanned 50 UK Top 40 singles and 20 UK Top 10 albums. Including previously unpublished encounters, Meetings with Morrissey gets behind the public image to tell Morrissey’s story in his own words and explore in fine detail the extraordinary subject matter of his songs. The book offers in-depth insight into the diverse artists Morrissey has celebrated, via lyrics or Smiths’ covers, including Patti Smith, Pat Phoenix, Billy Fury, Marc Bolan, James Dean and The New York Dolls. Above all, it focuses on Morrissey’s lifelong commitment to promoting the genius of Oscar Wilde. Len Brown, a former NME writer and television producer, has interviewed Morrissey more times than any journalist. He first saw The Smiths back in 1983 and became the first writer to interview the artist about the death of his band and the birth of his solo career in 1988.
Short Stories of Our Time is a selection of 13 short stories by contemporary authors, all with 20th Century urban settings. The stories have been chosen to appeal to students who are impatient with the classics but respond to stories which illuminate the reality they know.
For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of “dead white men.” As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo Jima; more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin. A Patriot’s History of the United States corrects those doctrinaire biases. In this groundbreaking book, America’s discovery, founding, and development are reexamined with an appreciation for the elements of public virtue, personal liberty, and private property that make this nation uniquely successful. This book offers a long-overdue acknowledgment of America’s true and proud history.
The Goalkeeper's Revenge is comprised of stories of a Lancashire childhood: of football on the streets, fishing, fighting and school, of growing up and looking for work, and of characters such as Spit Nolan the champion trolley-rider, Sim Dalt the goalkeeper and Maggie Gregory the amazing reader.
