The Boy From Treacle Bumstead
The Boy From Treacle Bumstead

Author: Ken Sears

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-07-18

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 1471113582

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This brilliantly written memoir takes the reader on a journey into the past, to a rural England long gone, when horses worked the fields and small boys spent most of their time outdoors. Ken Sears was born in 1934 to a poor farming family in Hertfordshire - the fifth child of what would be eleven. He learns how to fend for himself at an early age. His boyhood life coincides with wartime, evacuees and American GIs arriving in his home town of Hemel Hempstead (the 'Treacle Bumpstead' of the title). At the age of nine he is caught stealing eggs and accused of killing a chicken (which he denies to this day) and is sent to reform school for five years. So begins a punishing existence, but it breeds a tough teenager, and after learning the trade of bricklaying he is called up to do his National Service in 1952. So begins his adventures in the Army, in Europe and Korea, where the ever-plucky Ken - who has an eye for the ladies and is always landing himself in trouble - finds not-always legal ways to make life that bit easier. After the Army he comes back to England and sets up a building business. From there he sees his home town change out of all recognition. The story is a characterful testament to the resourceful generation of the men who did National Service, fought wars, built towns and stood up to everything in their way. Ken's story reads like 'Commando Comics meets Fred Dibnah'.

History of the Forty-Fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia
History of the Forty-Fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia

Author: Albert William Mann

Publisher: Arkose Press

Published: 2015-10-16

Total Pages: 702

ISBN-13: 9781344714266

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Borstal Girl
Borstal Girl

Author: Eileen MacKenney

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2011-07-07

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1849834768

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Born into a fog-ridden south London slum in 1931, Eileen Killick quickly learned to look after herself. Her brothers were wayward, her mum had TB and her dad was working all hours on the railways. By the time she was fourteen she had survived the Blitz, a spell in a care home and her mother's death, but she craved excitement, embarking on shoplifting sprees, liberating fur coats and rolling toffs up west with notorious 'queen of thieves' Shirley Pitts. Eileen soon found herself in borstal, put to work building roads like a navvy. Known as 'Kill', she had a reputation as one of the hardest woman behind bars. Then, in the 1950s she met and married career criminal Harry 'Big H' MacKenney, and she was soon fraternising with the toughest, most colourful characters in the London underworld. She went on to have four children, whom she loved and protected, but life was extremely tough and Eileen fell back into her old ways, thieving and fighting to make ends meet. The 1970s brought police corruption and brutality to Eileen's doorstep. When Harry was banged up, Eileen carried on the 'family business' alone and found herself on the wrong side of the law - again. Yet throughout a catalogue of trouble this defiant London bad girl of the old school always kept her defiant sense of humour. Borstal Girlis a true story of shocking violence and survival that pulls no punches, but it is also a secret criminal history of a London long past. There is no other female memoir like it.

Letting Blake Go
Letting Blake Go

Author: Georgette Civil

Publisher: Apex Publishing Limited

Published: 2014-03

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 9781910295007

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The destructive relationship between Blake Fielder-Civil and Amy Winehouse consistently made headlines around the world but no one knows the truth of what really happened between the couple better than Blake's mother, Georgette. In this powerful new book, she reveals the truth of the events leading up to the award-winning, soul singer's untimely death and the impact it had on her son and family. The drug and drink fuelled lifestyle of Amy and Blake was well documented by the world's media and it seemed that their volatile and precarious relationship could only ever end in tragedy. When the unthinkable happened and his ex-wife died from alcohol poisoning in July 2011 Blake was publically vilified and held accountable by the press, even though the couple had by then been living separate lives for some time. He has continued to battle his personal demons ever since. Letting Blake Go is a moving account of a mother's desperation as her son journeys towards self-destruction and she has to face the day when she must finally let him go for good.