From Fleet Street to Tweet Street – My Life in the News by Steve Levinson

From Fleet Street to Tweet Street – My Life in the News by Steve Levinson

Price: £10.98

ISBN: 978-1-916732-08-7

Award winning journalist and broadcaster Steve Levinson takes you on a forty-five-year journey from the age of the hot metal linotype operator to the era of YouTube, social media and AI.  His fascinating personal adventure from student newspaper to media entrepreneur follows what is regarded as the classic journalist career path – taking in provincial press, national news agency, Fleet Street daily, national TV news and on to the internet and beyond.

It is a journey that offers not only a unique insight but raises important questions about how changing technology has blurred the line between real and fake news.

This is a personal story containing many anecdotes alongside encounters with the likes of Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Mandela, business leaders and Nobel Prize Winners. You will also meet less famous but fascinating characters including militant coal miners, eighty-year-old tea boys, and boozy journalists in backstreet pubs.

So what happened to the era of scrambling to find public phone boxes, of smoke filled newsrooms, clanking typewriters, hot metal presses and cuttings libraries? Has the media world that has replaced it, the new world of mobile phones, bloggers, video journalists, internet searches, social media and AI made things better or as seems more likely, undermined the foundations of good journalism?

In this book, the author shows the extent to which these changes raise the question: ‘Is Good Journalism Dead?’

Steve Levinson has been one of Britain’s leading journalists and broadcasters for almost half a century. He has worked for many of the UK’s top news organisations including the Press Association, the BBC, the Independent and Channel 4 News. He is married with two grown children and now spends his time as a media consultant and a Blue Badge guide. He is a lifelong fan of Tottenham Hotspur, an association which had a big impact on the start of his career.

Fears, Tears, Secrets and Successes by Marilyn Aminuddin

Fears, Tears, Secrets and Successes by Marilyn Aminuddin

Price: £18.95

ISBN: 978-1-916732-13-1

My parents were keeping a secret from me. Although I tried, I was not able to discover the answers to questions about my birth, until one day, some sixty years after that event, an email popped into my inbox which explained a great deal. After reading the email, I decided to conduct genealogical research into my family. This book is the outcome of that research. It describes the geographic origins of family members – mostly from Lithuania, Prussia, and later, Australia, England and, to my surprise, more ‘exotic’ countries such as Jamaica, Italy, Morocco, and Gibraltar. This book is not an autobiography, nor a history describing in linear fashion one generation after another. It is a collage, akin to a series of snapshots taken by a time traveller, of what some of my family members were doing at one time or other.

This book is a saga describing the successes, failures, scandals and occasional disasters of the interwoven family from the late 18th century until the first few decades after World War II. The families that I have written about are mostly Jews who migrated from Eastern Europe to England and Australia.

Did I discover my parents’ secret? I did. Newspapers gave me part of the story; family I had never known but who had contacted me via email told me their version and other relatives told me the rest.

In Search of Ernst by Michael Garton

In Search of Ernst by Michael Garton

Price: £14.98

ISBN: 978-1-916732-09-4

Ernst Königsgarten was born in Brno in 1880. It was then part of the Austrian Empire and Ernst fenced for his country in the 1906 Olympics. His son Henry was also born in Brno, but moved with his mother first to Vienna in 1911 and then to Berlin in 1915. In 1930 he came to England where his mother and brother joined him after the Nazi annexation of Austria, but Ernst returned to Brno. What then happened to Ernst and other members of the family with the rising tide of Nazism, Henry never spoke about.

This book tells the story of how Henry’s son Michael, after discovering some family records in his mother’s attic, unearthed the full story of his family’s past – his father’s battles with the Home Office to obtain British nationality, the complex relationships of his romantic grandmother Lisi, and the ultimate fate of his grandfather Ernst and other family members at the hands of the Nazis. So thorough were the Nazi records and so carefully have they been preserved that the inventories of Ernst’s confiscated possessions, some even with photographs, are still in existence today for all to read.

The Telling – One Family; Two Centuries by Daniel Tabor

The Telling – One Family; Two Centuries by Daniel Tabor

Price: £16.98

ISBN: 978-1-914933-34-9

The Telling is a story of European Jewish identity set against the backdrop of the chronicles of one family, going back through history as far as Napoleonic times.

Author, Daniel Tabor, tracks the experiences and changing perceptions of his family as they find themselves having to move locations, often needing to flee oppression but also, to take up new opportunities.

The approach to the writing is based on the time-honoured Jewish tradition of older family members passing on their life stories and insights to younger ones, as one way of keeping the family culture alive.

The book looks back at those who lived many years ago during the nineteenth century in the days when the family was establishing itself in Europe, particularly in the Russian Pale and in Germany. These stories are combined with those of his more recent relatives who travelled in Europe, but also as far away as Israel and Australia, to find safe havens from oppression, or to make better lives for themselves.

How all these changes affected their perceptions of their identity is a central theme running through the book, as are the influence of the places they lived in, and how they remembered their life stories.

The book focuses heavily on the author’s parents, David and Hanna and their individual families. But Daniel Tabor brings in the life stories of other relatives on both sides of his family, too. Overall, the author has brought together the stories of twenty members of his family.

While there are tales of sadness, there are also many tales of joy as the family members set about making the most of their lives, dealing with numerous challenges thrown in their path, displaying perseverance, resilience, courage and determination along the way.

The book is written in an engaging anecdotal style and includes many evocative family testimonies and photos, providing a vivid picture of life in times gone by.

The Telling will appeal to those interested in Jewish history in general, Jewish family histories, the Holocaust, the formation and development of the modern state of Israel, the topic of people migration and also those interested in how others have overcome significant adversity to make a better life for themselves.

Sid Deeky was My Friend by Ian Hunt

Sid Deeky was My Friend by Ian Hunt

Price: £10.98

ISBN: 978-1-914933-57-8

Over the days and weeks that followed, it was difficult to keep up with changes as new roads and buildings sprouted up at an alarming rate; I have to say that most were positive changes, with oil revenues allocated to the various Five-Year plans. Ports would be expanded, hospitals and schools created, airports completely built from scratch, and then a plethora of new shopping centres to prevent us going short of anything!

Sid Deeky was my Friend is a memoir recalling the days of expat life in Saudi Arabia between 1978-1985. From the daily rigour of port life to the sweeping deserts and hectic roads, Hunt’s convivial recounting of his time at the Port of Jeddah covers a broad range of experiences, landscapes and interactions. Whether caught up in the daily drama of the port or cruising down Jeddah’s Corniche Road in a signature Datsun, Hunt’s account of expat life provides that sense of adventure which enticed so many members of Saudi Arabia’s immigrant communities in the first place.

Bright, poignant and occasionally tragic, this tale offers a window into expat life during an economic boom which utterly transformed the country — a transformation which would never have been possible without the immense effort of thousands of expats who migrated from Europe, Africa, the Americas and elsewhere in Asia in search of greater opportunities.

Justice for Peter, The true, most fascinating story of the orphan boy from Hornchurch, Essex, by Peter L B Ross

Justice for Peter, The true, most fascinating story of the orphan boy from Hornchurch, Essex, by Peter L B Ross

Price: £19.99

ISBN: 978-1-8383868-9-4

Most of us reach our seventies and can look back with some satisfaction on a life well-lived. In the case of the author of this book, Peter Ross, to have not only survived but retained his sanity, is a remarkable achievement in itself. Peter has had more glory days than most of us and attained great financial success beyond the wildest dreams of the majority. Conversely, he has suffered greatly at the hands of others he trusted. This has also affected the lives of those he holds dear, his present wife and children.

The contents of this book will shock and horrify you. His childhood was beset with violence including being beaten and raped by those employed to look after and care for him. Almost any other man, after such a start would have been happy to find a quiet existence and humdrum employment. Not Peter, he was ambitious not only for himself but for others. He was happy to help anyone whose life he touched, but that did not stop the betrayals that pursued him.

This is a book to read and to wonder how Peter had the strength of mind to cope and fight back against not only his enemies but also a legal system that seemed determined to constantly knock him down but somehow after each occasion he retained his sanity and carried on.

His determination to fight for what is right and honest, whatever the cost to himself, shines out like a beacon throughout his remarkable story.

The Road From Kharkiv by Katheryna Fedorova

The Road From Kharkiv by Katheryna Fedorova

Price: £11.98

ISBN: 978-1-914933-58-5

The Road from Kharkiv: A Journey of Pain in Pursuit of Love, God and Sense is a story of the author’s spiritual development as she dealt with a life-threatening situation of extreme adversity.

At first hand, Katheryna Fedorova and her family faced the terrifying experience of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Based in Kharkiv, the family decided to leave their home and flee westwards to find safety from the bombing and the fighting.

Katheryna and her family commenced their long trip, beginning an uncertain, stressful and challenging odyssey. Taking up offers, often from well-meaning strangers and unknown organisations, received from her extensive network of contacts on social media, the family found refuge in various places in Ukraine, Romania and Austria.

Throughout the trip, Katheryna’s faith kept her going and helped her look after her family while still assisting other people along the way. Through it all, Katheryna’s spiritual views and beliefs evolved as her interactions with others presented the opportunities for life lessons to be learned.

The Road from Kharkiv: A Journey of Pain in Pursuit of Love, God and Sense will appeal to those interested in spiritual and personal development; how to deal with adversity; the philosophy of life; and those keen to read a first-hand experience of the Ukraine-Russian war.

 

BIOGRAPHY

From Ukraine, Kathryna Fedorova is an English teacher, life coach, businesswoman, photographer, writer and poet. Before the war, she ran her English school in Kharkiv for twelve years. Now, she runs it online from Austria where she is living with her husband and three children. Through her spiritual and religious beliefs and her views on life philosophy, she is committed to her mission of helping others to make their lives better. She has published three books in Ukraine. This book is her first in English.

Overtaken by a Butterfly by Nick Eades

Overtaken by a Butterfly by Nick Eades

Price: £10.98

ISBN: 978-1-914933-53-0

From the author of best-selling: The Self-Improver and Still Improving.

“I sank to my knees in despair. Incredibly, despite being in a tropical jungle I was cold, really cold. I was shivering from head to foot. The adrenaline that had brought me this far had finally run out and I collapsed to the ground. And that’s when I was attacked.”

Running and flying the world for over 40 years was finally coming to an end. During that time, I had become the World’s most experienced Boeing 747 Captain. I had combined my flying with running the equivalent of a marathon every week for four decades. My flying career was at an end. Running had been a passion that had taken me into places and situations that were both exciting and dangerous. I could no longer fly the 747 but at least I was still young enough to run as fast as I ever could.

And then I was overtaken by a butterfly.

Journeys With Open Eyes – Seeking Empathy with Strangers by Hugh P Roberts

Journeys With Open Eyes – Seeking Empathy with Strangers by Hugh P Roberts

Price: £9.98

ISBN: 978-0-9955729-9-7

Hugh Roberts has spent over forty years in planning, design and development consultancy for new towns and urban, industrial and regional infrastructure. He has lived as well as worked in all six continents, working for a wide range of clients and with project colleagues of every nationality, character and humour. He is a graduate of the Universities of Oxford and Wales and his first book ‘An Urban Profile of the Middle East’ was first published in 1979, then re-published in 2016. He lives in London with his wife Sylvie. They have two adult children Mark and Shan, and one granddaughter to date, Lola.

High Walls and Iron Bars by Les Mason

High Walls and Iron Bars by Les Mason

Price: £11.98

ISBN: 9781914933417

Les Mason approached the huge gates of the prison with apprehension; he rapped on a highly polished brass knocker and a fierce man in uniform appeared and beckoned him in. Nothing could have prepared him for what he would see, what he would witness, what he would become a part of or the dramatic effect it would have on his young life.

Prisons hold a profound fascination for people and the author grips the reader’s attention with a humorous but sometimes harrowing story inviting us into the unseen world of two of the most infamous prisons in Britain.

‘High Walls and Iron Bars’ is a true account of a Prison Officer’s long and dedicated career from the day of his recruitment until his eventual retirement. You will enjoy this book.

Les Mason approached the huge gates of the prison with apprehension; he rapped on a highly polished brass knocker and a fierce man in uniform appeared and beckoned him in. Nothing could have prepared him for what he would see, what he would witness, what he would become a part of or the dramatic effect it would have on his young life.

Prisons hold a profound fascination for people and the author grips the reader’s attention with a humorous but sometimes harrowing story inviting us into the unseen world of two of the most infamous prisons in Britain.

‘High Walls and Iron Bars’ is a true account of a Prison Officer’s long and dedicated career from the day of his recruitment until his eventual retirement. You will enjoy this book.

Blast! I’ve Gone and Done It by Harold Houghton

Blast! I’ve Gone and Done It by Harold Houghton

Price: £16.95

ISBN: 978-1-914933-15-8

Harry Houghton considers himself to be just an ordinary bloke. He was born in 1946 just after WWII in a country that had been devastated by the war. Industries were struggling, money was in short supply and there a lack of social care except from your own family. There was no NHS until 1948 and food rationing continued until 1953. Keeping your sanity and wit was crucial. His mother, like many mothers of the day, including those who had been employed for the war effort, struggled to cope with daily life. Fathers and husbands had also had a big part to play in the war doing necessary work in the Forces, coal mines, steel industry and railways. Harry wanted to write this biography as a personal story that was also a historical account, reflecting some of his memories and experiences and the struggles that made him into the man he is today.

In Pursuit of the Slam : My Year Travelling to Tennis’s Top Four Tournaments by Mark Cripps

In Pursuit of the Slam : My Year Travelling to Tennis’s Top Four Tournaments by Mark Cripps

Price: £14.95

ISBN: 978-1-914933-11-0

In Pursuit of the Slam: My Year Travelling to Tennis’s Top Four Tournaments tells the story of the author’s year out between jobs during which he attended all four of tennis’s Grand Slam tournaments.

Unhappy in his corporate job, tennis fan Mark Cripps decided to pack it all in and start again. But a chance sighting of an old friend in an in-flight magazine led to an idea: Why not take some time out to travel, organising the trip around tennis’s Grand Slam tournaments?

He made a plan to attend the 1992 French Open, Wimbledon, the US Open and then, returning to Australia in early 1993, where he had been based with American Express, the Australian Open. On the way, he would visit places of interest, catch up with old friends and visit other tournaments in the build up to each Slam, including the Italian Open in Rome.

The book describes how the author organised the visits to each Slam, once there, securing tickets and watching the tennis daily. A club tennis player, the book also tells how the author entered a tournament on the new British Tour and the experience of facing opponents of a much higher standard. Following the US Open, a week spent at a tennis fantasy camp helped confirm the next steps he needed to take when his trip was over.

In Pursuit of the Slam: My Year Travelling to Tennis’s Top Four Tournaments is told in an anecdotal style including the story of the author’s childhood introduction to sport, where his mother’s love of Wimbledon was so infectious.

A nostalgic look back at the professional tennis tours through the prism of a round-the-world trip, the book will appeal to those interested in tennis, especially the professional game back in the nineties and the history of British tennis in general; those keen on travel; anyone needing a change of job or career; or those who just want to make the most of their interests.

Mark Cripps was a corporate marketing executive and then, an award-winning tennis coach specialising in junior development. He now lives in Greater Manchester where he is senior editor for the publisher of this memoir, i2i Publishing. This is his first book.

The Heart of an Artichoke by Vanessa Milano

The Heart of an Artichoke by Vanessa Milano

Price: £9.98

ISBN: 978-1-914933-29-5

Vanessa Milano was born in England but now lives in the South of France with her French husband and family.

The Heart of an Artichoke, her first novel, is based on true events: life as the daughter of a military father, living through riots in the Middle East; being pregnant in puritan England in 1967, life in a ‘Mother and Baby home,’ forced adoption; and the experience of being an Au Pair in France. It is also a story with one character always there in the background. That is the son taken from her after birth. Vanessa always longs for a reconciliation with her first-born, but will that ever happen? The reader is taken through the sixties and seventies and contrasts the differences between the stiff upper-lip English, who insist on doing ‘what’s right,’ and the family loving Latinos, who accept reluctantly, but nevertheless, the unacceptable behaviour of their offspring.

Hello Computer by Linda Macaulay

Hello Computer by Linda Macaulay

Price: £9.98

ISBN: 978-1-914933-26-4

‘Hello Computer’ is a story of a working-class girl who begins a life-long love affair with technology after seeing a computer for the first time in 1967. Her journey takes us through exciting times and epic events, from the dawn of the internet to the dotcom boom, from punch cards to the raspberry pi and virtual worlds.

Linda shares her experiences of computing through real life stories where systems are designed to make a difference to people’s lives. Demonstrating that although technology changes constantly, fundamentally, people don’t change that much.

Against a backdrop of unspoken bias the story captures the struggles faced by many young women, then and now. It is positive, heart-warming and full of hope that women will become more influential within tech.

A story of ambition, passion and programming, inspirational for future generations of women and girls in STEM.

Reminiscences of a Nearly Somebody by Peter Morrell

Reminiscences of a Nearly Somebody by Peter Morrell

Price: £14.95

ISBN: 978-1-8380929-5-5

For most of his adult life, Peter Morrell followed a career in the Law. Qualified as a solicitor in 1970, he switched to being a barrister in 1974, enjoyed a busy practice as an advocate, mainly in the East Midlands, and was appointed a Circuit Judge in 1992. After he retired from the Circuit Bench in 2009, he continued to sit as a Mental Health Review Judge until his seventieth birthday in May 2014. However, before he became a lawyer and ever since, he has engaged with areas that have interested him unconnected with the Law.

Reminiscences of a Nearly Somebody comprises five adventures. It opens with Wandervogel, which describes a walk Peter took in 1963, aged 18, alone through the Rhineland and the Black Forest, in what was then West Germany, where memories of World War II were still fresh; and often raw.

In 1970, he embarked upon a political career, which Hustings charts from his role as a Conservative Party constituency treasurer, through his unsuccessful campaign in 1972 for election to the Peterborough City Council, to the Three-Day-Week general election of February 1974, when he stood as the Conservative candidate in the strongly Labour mining constituency of Ilkeston, Derbyshire.

From very early, he aspired to be an author and Scribbling describes his efforts, culminating in the Pepynbridge trilogy of novels, published between 2015 and 2016; and, in 2018, a collection of his sermons, From the Pulpit, Home and Abroad.

In Robed, he records how, following a curious interview and during a bizarre ceremony, he shed his barrister’s gown in favour of a Circuit Judge’s robe.

In July 2008, Peter was ordained to the Anglican diaconate and, in the following year, to the Anglican priesthood. In Collared, he charts why and how that happened and shares some tales from his ministry, both before ordination, when he was a reader, and afterwards, as deacon and priest.

Anecdotal, self-deprecating and sometimes humorous, Reminiscences of a Nearly Somebody tell of polymathic serendipity, all too rare in today’s world of narrow specialism.

Peter is married to Mary. They have two grown-up daughters and a granddaughter and live in isolated rusticity in East Northamptonshire.

Read All About It! The Rick Bowen Story by Rick Bowen

Read All About It! The Rick Bowen Story by Rick Bowen

Price: £9.95

ISBN: 978-1-914933-14-1

In this inspiring autobiography, journalist Rick Bowen accounts his life from a young boy, all the way to his life now. Rick has always been passionate about the world of journalism and knew it was his desired career path as young as 18. Yet even though he was born with cerebral palsy, Rick is a true example of disability not equating to incapability, in fact, much the opposite. Following Rick throughout his life in school, university and onto his career as a journalist, he enlightens us into the many exciting opportunities the world of journalism has offered him and those he has met along the way.

Kino & Kinder – A Family’s Journey in the Shadow of the Holocaust by Vivien Sieber

Kino & Kinder – A Family’s Journey in the Shadow of the Holocaust by Vivien Sieber

Price: £17.98

ISBN: 978-1-914933-17-2

Kino and Kinder tells the fascinating, poignant but inspiring story of one family’s survival as the Nazi party’s anti-Semitic policies unfolded through the 1930s, leading to the Anschluss and then, world war.

Author, Vivien Sieber, describes how her grandmother, Paula, her father, Peter and his stepbrother, Erich, grew up in pre-war Austria before the descent into war forced them to flee for their lives alongside many other members of the Central European Jewish community.

To fulfil her obsession with the cinema, the family had purchased the Palast Kino for Paula to run in the heart of cosmopolitan Vienna. However, the rise of the Nazis forced Peter and Erich, to start new lives in the UK, and Paula to abandon her cinema and join them. She then became involved with a hostel for young girls taken out of Europe by the Kindertransport programme.

Set against the backdrop of the holocaust, Kino and Kinder describes how Paula, Peter, Erich and their extended family faced their wartime challenges. These included Peter’s wartime internment; his and Erich’s subsequent military service for the British armed forces and Paula’s time running the hostel. After the war, the challenges continued as they traced the fate of their family members while Paula attempted to regain the ownership of her cinema; Erich forged a career in entertainment; and Peter built a business.

The book provides many wonderful details about life in Vienna, Austria and Central Europe before the Second World War and in post-war London, where the Paula, Peter and Erich continued to live. It also features interesting and informative first-hand accounts by a number of the women who had lived in the wartime hostel as young girls, in which they talk about their lives in the UK after they had been saved by the Kindertransport.

Kino and Kinder is illustrated throughout with many wonderful, evocative and historic photographs.

Dr Vivien Sieber is a retired scientist and lives in Oxford with her husband, Paul. Amongst her interests, she loves pottery. Kino and Kinder is her first book.

Trials and Tribulations by Patience Moore

Trials and Tribulations by Patience Moore

Price: £9.95

ISBN: 978-1-8384686-8-2

Poignant. Powerful. Hopeful.

This is an authentic account of Patience Moore’s journey. From a vibrantly turbulent upbringing in Ghana, to traversing life in England as an African woman – she lays all bare. Vividly fascinating memoirs lead to hard-hitting diary entries that record her battle with both physical and mental illnesses. Her operations, health complications and experiences with depression are presented without holding back. Moving anecdotes, raw emotions and deep thoughts explore how she felt during the toughest years of her life. Alongside her struggles, issues of race, culture, tradition and expectation are cracked wide open in a truly touching and thought-provoking way.

In the face of fear, there is a display of incredible strength. In the pits of sadness and despair, there is a ladder of hope. In times of isolation and loneliness, there is family. Above all, doubt is vanquished by Faith. Trials and Tribulations is a story that shows from darkness breaks an incredible, shining light.

A tear-jerking, heart-rendering, jaw-dropping tale that many will relate to and learn from. This story is simply real and pure from start to end.

Patience Moore will demonstrate how anyone can find purpose, even when all seems lost.

Three Wise Monkeys by Terry Anton

Three Wise Monkeys by Terry Anton

Price: £9.95

ISBN: 978-1-8380929-9-3

A story of courage, perseverance and a refusal to give in. Three Wise Monkeys is the autobiography of a man who endured a terrible, violent and abusive start in life which led to a string of criminal convictions and misery. His middle years were beset by continuing problems including gang rape and a complete lack of support from his dysfunctional family.

Alcoholism and illness also play their part but you sense through it all the sheer will and determination to fight against the odds. His reckless, compulsive behaviour sees him spending time in young offenders’ institutions and sometimes prison. It is a harsh lesson, but he learns to take the brickbats and the beatings before giving them back in return.

He has a running battle with the media to clear his name of unfounded, personal allegations and almost daily harassment from family, so-called friends and neighbours. Many would have cracked under the pressure but the author persists, come what may.

Sometimes he reaches his lowest ebb when things conspire against him. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it takes him 23 years to shake off the shackles thanks largely to his wife, his ‘diamond’. He emerges a better individual although not fully at peace with his kith and kin.

An Unprecedented Life by Denise Lunt

An Unprecedented Life by Denise Lunt

Price: £12.95

ISBN: 978-1-914933-00-4

This is the story of a man whose working life was way beyond the experience of most men. He faced great danger during his career whether walking, sailing or driving across the Equator.  His journeys did not end there, as he has also flown or sailed across every ocean and sea on this planet.

He has spent over five thousand hours in the air as a pilot or passenger in forty-seven different types of aircraft, from a small Cessna to a Boeing B-747 Jumbo Jet.

Another truly impressive statistic is that he has lived or visited ninety-two countries.

Marriage, divorce, treachery, affairs, killings, corruption, and so much more were part of his extraordinary life.

Thanks to his meticulous and precious logbooks, the unbelievable real-life adventures of this RAF Officer, Diplomat and Gentleman can now be told.

Echo – A New Dimension by Mike Dewar

Echo – A New Dimension by Mike Dewar

Price: £9.95

ISBN: 978-1-8384686-2-0

A touching. heart-warming account of a man and his beloved, heroic Labrador dog. But Echo is something special. With the dedication and persistence of his handler, he is trained to be part of a search and rescue team called upon to travel to disaster areas around the globe to assist in locating survivors trapped among piles of rubble.
The bravery of Echo and his handler is recalled in vivid detail as they cope to deal with tragedy and heartbreak in their own ways. Sometimes it can be hard facing up to the challenges and they come perilously close to death but their determination is there for all to see.
Years later, Echo is rewarded for his sterling work with the Pride of Britain award, one of such accolades he receives.

Bryan Charnley – Art & Adversity (Second Enlarged Edition) by James Charnley

Bryan Charnley – Art & Adversity (Second Enlarged Edition) by James Charnley

Price: £24.95

ISBN: 978-1-8383868-7-0

Bryan Charnley: Art and Adversity combines biography and monograph. The painter’s life defined his art, his art defined his life. James Charnley was witness to the adversities experienced by his twin and the evolution of his art. His book surveys the artist’s childhood, adolescence and the madness that was to afflict his life and found consummate expression in the paintings. Augmented by interviews, journals, medical records, letters and diaries this book provides an informed and fascinating study of a turbulent life and the art this inspired. Bryan Charnley was a gifted artist who applied his painterly skills to describe the invisible: mental anguish is largely internalised. The works he created use metaphorical imagery to describe existential dilemmas. It was by such devices the artist intended to restore painting to its inceptive purpose and conviction. Bryan Charnley: Art and Adversity presents his paintings with all their colour, intensity and eloquence.

The Self-Improver by Nick Eades

The Self-Improver by Nick Eades

Price: £9.98

ISBN: 978-1-8383868-6-3

‘I was on the last leg of my first cross country flight. My next radio call would be to ask permission to land. I began to relax. I was nearly home. That’s when the aircraft’s engine stopped. ’The Self-Improver is an autobiographical account about how a university drop-out took his first steps towards becoming the world’s most experienced Boeing 747 captain. Author Nick Eades was going nowhere fast when it struck him that after all, he was destined to follow in family footsteps and become a pilot. The book takes us into the cockpit to follow his journey to captaining one of the most iconic aircraft ever flown. The Self-Improver relates Nick’s step-by-step path up the aviation ladder. Working his way through a variety of jobs, he enrols and passes the necessary training courses to achieve the licences and ratings that will move him towards ever-improving jobs up the pilot hierarchy. His journey takes him from close to home in the UK over to the US and back again, as he makes his way in the world of aviation. Including many amusing anecdotes and gripping incidents mixed with tragic ones too, The Self-Improver is a personal account of one man’s mission to reach the skies and achieve the ultimate dream.

Village Life 2020 by Anne Vickers

Village Life by Anne Vickers

Price: Paperback £8.95

ISBN: 978-1-8383868-0-1

This true account of one of the most tumultuous years in human history may have been written by Anne Vickers but it is the story of every one of us who lived through the year 2020. Anne gives a personal account of life in the Yorkshire village and surrounding areas where she lives during the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. She details the highs and lows she experienced.  She tells the inspirational tale of a young boy’s magnificent fund-raising achievement, of her anguish at not being able to visit her elderly sick mother living in a care home, and how her friends and the community helped to support each other during this difficult time.

The Adversity Formula: Inspirational Lessons from History by Steven Mason

The Adversity Formula: Inspirational Lessons from History by Steven Mason

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £14.95, Kindle £9.99

ISBN: 978-1-8382223-5-2

Early in the 2020 pandemic, author Steven Mason, seeking inspiration to help cope during the Covid-19 crisis, began to examine the lives of some of the great personalities from history. After considerable research, he discovered that many of these individuals had overcome significant adversity on their path to success. After sharing these stories with others, he was inspired to write this book.

The Adversity Formula: Inspirational Lessons from History reviews the lives of thirty remarkable characters from history to see how they dealt with adversity. The book goes onto provide a formula that readers can themselves apply to their own lives. Selected mainly from the 20th Century, the fifteen men and fifteen women, include scientists, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, politicians, entertainers, sports stars and war heroes.

The list contains well-known names like Stephen Hawking, Steve Jobs and Walt Disney but also features lesser-known profiles of Virginia Hall, Irena Sendler and Victor Frankl, a holocaust survivor who, after his experiences in the concentration camps, developed a therapy to find meaning and purpose in adversity.

The book looks at the adversity these greats faced, what they achieved despite it, but also, how they dealt with adversity, often using it to their advantage. Their coping mechanisms are summarised in five characteristics for each individual and packaged into a general formula for tackling life’s problems. The conclusion found within these pages is that it is often how people respond to adversity, that can determine successful outcomes.

The Adversity Formula: Inspirational Lessons from History will be particularly relevant to those interested in self-development, especially during difficult times, as well as those with a love of history. The book offers hope in the face of life’s major challenges.

Author Steven Mason is a licensed insolvency practitioner by profession, one in which he has seen his fair share of distress during the pandemic. Living in Manchester, England, he is a married father of five. Outside work, he enjoys and values time with his family, his love of sport and especially, his love of history. He has a BA (Hons) degree in International History and Politics from The University of Leeds and a Graduate Diploma in Law from Manchester Metropolitan University.

This book is his first and as well as using the subject to help people cope with challenging situations, he hopes to make history relevant to a broad audience, including those not usually interested in the past and the lessons that can be learned from it.

Beyond Gratitude – A Journey to Positivity by Sarah Duff

Beyond Gratitude – A Journey to Positivity by Sarah Duff

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £9.95, Kindle £4.95

ISBN: 978-1-8383868-4-9

After the passing of her beloved father, Sarah Duff felt something inside that she had not felt before, a desperation for change. She decided to follow this feeling and dive into the world around her until she understood more.

Her adventures took her everywhere, with new climates, cultures and beliefs and these experiences transformed Sarah into the person she is today. With her newfound independence Sarah embraced this growth with open arms and strived to reawaken her mind, body connection.

Beyond Gratitude: A Journey to Positivity, invites you to come along for the ride. It will allow you to understand how your life can be transformed if you begin to investigate the power it holds. This book describes real people and real experiences to help you discover your own level of emotional well-being and support you in its development.

Sarah now understands the importance of building connections rather than building possessions and hopefully this account will open up a new world of opportunity for you too.

Reluctant Rebels by Samantha Wilson

Reluctant Rebels by Samantha Wilson

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £8.95, Kindle £4.95

ISBN: 978-1-8380929-1-7

An inspiring story about the author’s battle with cancer and the significant impacts of that experience on her family.

After a diagnosis of leukaemia at the age of eight, author Samantha Wilson went through a terrible journey of pain and suffering into her teenage years. Told that their child had weeks to live, her parents, Bernard and Kathleen didn’t give up. Turning to herbal medicine, they sought help from a well-known local herbalist, Mr Abbott and gradually, Samantha recovered.

The book tells the story of how Samantha and her family dealt with the shock of the diagnosis and then, through relentless caring and support, helped her to survive. Step by step, Samantha began to live a normal life. Nonetheless, as well as a bout of meningitis, Samantha suffered bullying at the hands of both the children in her community and fierce objections from the authorities who tried to block her parents’ efforts to care for her outside the official system.

After surviving a court case and media scrutiny, somehow, Samantha grew into adulthood and made a life for herself. But there were scars which remained affecting her own wellbeing, her parents’ marriage and her older brother who had been so supportive in helping her to stay alive. Years later, Samantha was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis and experienced a period of time suffering with mental health issues. She also had to help her family through difficult times and traumatic experiences.

Reluctant Rebels: My Family’s Fight for Survival is a story that will give readers hope. At the time of her leukaemia diagnosis, most children suffering with the condition did not survive. With her family’s support and the help of complementary medicine, Samantha pulled through, an example of alternative therapy and what it can achieve. She faced all of these challenges with a firm commitment to stay positive and do what had to be done.

Author Samantha Wilson went on to achieve an BSc in Complementary Medicine at Salford University and a PGDE at the University of Bolton. She is the Joint Owner/Managing Director at the White Opal Beauty and Holistic Training Academy. She lives in Bury, Greater Manchester, with her husband Brian and in her spare time, loves to see her son Ryan and his family and to go for long walks with her dog, Rio.

Samantha hopes that Reluctant Rebels: My Family’s Fight for Survival will raise awareness of complementary medicine and help the sufferers of leukaemia and their families to never give up hope.

Red Star: Yellow Star by Agnes Kaposi

Red Star: Yellow Star by Agnes Kaposi

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £16.95, Kindle £9.99

ISBN: 978-1-9161066-8-0

Agnes Kaposi was born in Hungary the year before Hitler came to power and she started school at the outbreak of World War II.

The Holocaust killed many of her family, together with half a million Hungarian Jews, but a series of miracles and coincidences allowed her to survive.

She worked as child labourer in the agricultural and armament camps of Austria and was liberated by a rampaging Soviet army.

She struggled through post-war hardship to re-enter Hungarian society, only to be caught up for a decade in the vice of Stalinism.

In 1956 a bloody revolution offered the opportunity to escape to Britain, a country of freedom and tolerance, where she started a family and built a career as an engineer.

The story is written with compassion and optimism, without self-pity. The tone is light, and there is plenty of irony, even humour.

The narrative is underscored by the historian László Csősz and illustrated by several maps and more than a hundred archival images and family photographs.

Author Dr Agnes Kaposi is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Churchill Fellow. Dr László Csosz is historian and senior archivist of the National Archives of Hungary, and research fellow of the Wiener Holocaust Library, London.

Life on a Knife Edge by Lawrence Nasralla

Life on a Knife Edge by Lawrence Nasralla

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £9.95, Kindle £4.95

ISBN: 978-1-8380464-6-0

An inspiring book about one man’s quest to fulfil a childhood dream.

After growing up in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, author Lawrence Nasralla moved to the UK where he became accustomed to life in his new country. He worked his way up from the bottom in the airline industry never wavering from his aim to one day, fly as the captain of a big commercial jet.

Meeting and marrying the love of his life, the author continued building his career and aiming for his goal, flying for various airlines in the UK and further afield, including time spent with his growing family in Brunei.

Discovering that their son had autism, the story shifts to the battle the family fought to get their boy cared for against institutional attitudes, policies and practices which were constantly pitted against them, making their son’s lives a misery.

Life on a Knife Edge will inspire anyone with a dream to follow it and to never give up trying to turn that dream into a reality. Also, the book will raise awareness of autism and hopefully, help families with autistic relatives. It sends a message that when things look their bleakest, all is not lost, and much can be achieved, even in the most challenging situations.

My Shadow, My Dream: A True Story Based on the Life of Jean Chadwick

My Shadow, My Dream: A True Story Based on the Life of Jean Chadwick

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £9.95, Kindle £4.95

ISBN: 978-1-8380464-1-5

A charming and inspiring story about one woman’s quest to live her dream.

Jean Chadwick came from humble beginnings in her hometown of Rochdale. After a turbulent childhood, she discovered a love for music, singing and her idol, another Rochdale girl, Gracie Fields. Following her interest and her idol, Jean found herself presented with opportunities which she took with enthusiasm. Before long, as a young woman, she was working in the entertainment industry with an act she created based on the songs and style of Gracie.

Jean was often described as ’The little mill girl from Rochdale’ and she used this title to help shape her act as she travelled around the country and ultimately into Europe earning her living.

Often finding herself in difficult circumstances both in her work and her private life, Jean, nonetheless, as advised by Gracie, never gave up and managed to create a successful career. After her time as an entertainer, she spent happy and remunerative times on the Isle of Skye. Returning to Rochdale, she renewed her friendship with author Anita Lewis who has written a sensitive and interesting portrayal of Jean in a life full of ups and downs as she lived out her dream.

Author Anita Lewis was born in Rochdale and has lived a successful and happy life in her hometown. Educated locally, she was married in 1964 and with her husband Rodney, she brought up her family. Initially, civil servant, she later became a qualified teacher in Primary Education. She was also a tutor at Rochdale College in Health and Social Care.

She and Rodney set up a care home which they still run. Her work on safeguarding led to several awards and the business finally became a teaching care home. In 2019, the home won the North West Family Business of the Year and also the National Dignity Award for Dignity in Care.

Committed to improving the lives of others, especially the vulnerable and especially in Rochdale, Anita was proprietor of the successful Syke Junior Theatre club and a finalist in the Rochdale Woman of the Year competition. In 2020, she was invited to become a Parliamentary Review representative communicating the needs of the care industry to MP’s. A charity fundraiser on several community groups, she is an ex-board member of Age UK.

A former magistrate, Anita is now semi-retired, still enjoying time with her family and busy organising social events for the elderly and following her interests (arts, music and theatre). Writing and literature have always been of interest to her and Anita has now found time to complete her first book.

Andy and Me: A Life for My Disabled Son by Barbara O’Donnell

Andy and Me: A Life for My Disabled Son by Barbara O’Donnell

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £9.95, Kindle £4.95

ISBN: 978-1-8380464-2-2

After inappropriate treatment of author Barbara O’Donnell’s baby boy, Andy, he suffered a series of debilitating conditions leaving him seriously disabled for life. Barbara didn’t give up. What began was a commitment to ensure, come what may, that Andy would be given the best chance to live as normal a life as possible.

The book tells the story of how Barbara and her other children at first lived with Andy in seriously challenging circumstances. As he grew, Andy was placed in various special schools while Barbara ensured that these organisations and their staff understood the unique features of Andy’s condition and how these might erupt into all sorts of extreme behaviours at any time, putting everyone involved at risk.

After a significant financial settlement, the family developed a life for Andy built around an organisation they created to care for him as an adult and then others with serious special disability needs. All the while, the family dealt with the cost-driven culture of the Social Services bureaucracy winning important disputes as Barbara O’Donnell’s dogged attitude ensured the protection of what she, her family and their support team had created.

Andy and Me: A Life for My Disabled Son will inspire families with disabled people and those carers who provide valuable support and care in the disabled community, sending out a message that all is not lost and that much can be achieved successfully even in the most challenging situations.

With the experiences of her son Andy, Barbara teaches work-based qualifications to staff members at Scenario Management which she formed in 1997 to support people with profound learning disabilities, challenging behaviour and autism. She also lectures at Lancaster University on the Positive Stories days.

Apart from Andy, Barbara has three other children.

Alzheimer’s by Barbara O’Donnell

Alzheimer’s by Barbara O’Donnell

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £7.99, Kindle £3.99

ISBN: 978-1-8380464-3-9

Author Barbara O’Donnell has created a series of charming poems that tell the story of her late mother’s descent into the almost non-existent life of someone cursed by the Alzheimer’s Disease. There is humour and anguish here in equal portion and there can be no doubt that to read these verses will help to increase the readers knowledge of the terrible progression of this disease.

After her mother’s Alzheimer’s was diagnosed, she decided to move to a house with a granny flat. This she recreated to look like her mother’s bungalow; of some comfort to her, until the disease reached its ultimate conclusion.

With the experiences of her son Andy, Barbara teaches work-based qualifications to staff members at Scenario Management which she formed in 1997 to support people with profound learning disabilities, challenging behaviour and autism. She also lectures at Lancaster University on the Positive Stories days.

Apart from Andy, Barbara has three other children.

Barbara O’Donnell has also written Andy and Me, the story of her son, published by i2i Publishing.

Who Said Life Should Be Easy? By Linda Durman

Who Said Life Should Be Easy? By Linda Durman

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £8.95, Kindle £4.99

ISBN: 978-1-9163097-6-0

An inspiring story about a fascinating life.

Born in South East England, author Linda Durman discovered that she was adopted. Growing up in a strained family environment at a time when tomboys were frowned upon, her determination to flourish owed much to the love and guidance of her grandparents.

Moving into adult life, the author trained, qualified and worked as a GP and then in Public Health. Along the way, she dealt with a range of serious challenges in a turbulent life: misogyny in the medical profession, broken marriages, living abroad in a dangerous environment, domestic abuse, the challenges of retraining for a new career, family bereavement, the stresses of reconnecting with her original family and the inevitable effects on her mental health, including depression and alcoholism. In this book, she collects together the stories of how she found the strength to face each challenge and move forward, a stronger and wiser woman.

In retirement, Linda Durman continues to keep learning and to take on new challenges and skills while enjoying time with her large family.

Who Said Life Should Be Easy? tells all these amazing stories of challenge, crisis and opportunity and how she dealt with them showing resilience, perseverance and fortitude, all written in a no-nonsense approach which reflects the women she is.

This Old Heart of Mine: My Inspirational Cardiac Journey by Chris Hillman

This Old Heart of Mine: My Inspirational Cardiac Journey by Chris Hillman

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £9.99

ISBN: 978-1-9163789-4-0

An informative, thought-provoking and uplifting book, for those people suffering from heart conditions, but also for anyone who has ever questioned what life is really about.

After experiencing open heart surgery, author Chris Hillman became obsessed with a need to know what had happened to him in the lost six hours that he had spent in the operating theatre.

Helped by his Consultant, Mr Amal Bose, the author then went on a journey of discovery to explore the amazing inspirational real-life stories patients and world-class health professionals at the Lancashire Cardiac Centre had been on.

Using intimate personal interviews with Consultants, staff and patients, the author seeks to demonstrate that serious heart surgery can be a positive life-changing experience, giving patients a ‘Second Life’, providing a fresh appreciation of life and the new opportunities that come with it.

This Old Heart of Mine will make readers think about their health and about life and through a series of Reader Questions, the author is keen to receive feedback about reader views and experiences on their own life journeys.

Chris Hillman is a former management training consultant who now lives in Cumbria.

Voodoo Nation by Martyn Jones

Voodoo Nation by Martyn Jones

Non-Fiction

Price:  Paperback £7.99

ISBN- 978-1-9163097-1-5

After years of successful but hard work within the UK security industry, Martyn Jones had run out of steam. Then a phone call came that changed everything. Head-hunted by a former Company Sergeant Major from the Royal Marines, Jones made the decision to become part of the personal security detail of the ruler of Haiti.

President Aristide, his First Lady Mildred and their two daughters, code named Dancer and Prancer were all under constant, deadly threat from the dark and elusive forces of Papa Doc Duvalier’s former establishment and remnants of the disbanded Haitian Defence Force. Jones was one of eleven determined men who stood between those that could launch deadly attacks on Aristide and his family at any time.

There was always something disturbing about the Voodoo nights in Haiti, best described as ‘gunshots, screams and drums in the night.’ Martyn Jones communicates this fascinating but frightening world, sharing his personal thoughts through a number of highly dangerous and frightening adventures.

Voodoo Nation is also the story of one man’s life reflections through various ups and downs while always dealing with the urge he felt throughout, to follow his spirit and go out into the world in search of adventure.

Born in East London to a single mother in the middle of World War Two, author Martyn Jones, was sent as an eleven-year-old, to Kennylands Park boarding school. He spent four very happy and fruitful years there and later, as a young man, became immersed in a very different world.

Following some false starts, he gained unlimited experience over decades in every aspect of private security. This gave him the capacity to deal with extremely violent situations but also, to manage delicate and emotional events with sensitivity and empathy.

Martyn was a former bodyguard to a third world nation’s president, his wife and their children; close protection officer in a Middle East war zone protecting senior NGO’s, engineers and senior corporate management in remote and high-threat regions. Currently, he is an ambulance driver with a dedicated team of clinicians, stabilising and transporting dangerously ill children to regional Centres of Excellence.

He is now looking forward to becoming a full-time writer.

Half a Lifetime by Peter J. Barker

Half a Lifetime by Peter J. Barker

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £8.95

ISBN: 978-1-9162285-1-1

Author Peter Barker spent his early years in Kent where his childhood memories included watching ‘dog-fights’ between the RAF and Hitler’s Luftwaffe. It was not surprising, therefore, that in 1948, he joined the RAF and in 1951, became a Junior Technician.

In the following years, he distinguished himself in most of the major conflagrations of the time including Malaysia and Suez. In 1955 he was awarded the British Empire Medal.

After leaving the service he joined the British Aircraft Company in Preston and for the rest of his working life was involved in conversion and refurbishment of various marks of Canberra aircraft.

Peter’s story is the history of the aeronautical industry throughout the second half of the twentieth century as seen through the eyes of someone intimately involved.

It is a fascinating read on every level.

Call Yourself a Father? by Alexander MacNeil

Call Yourself a Father? by Alexander MacNeil

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £8.95, Kindle £3.99

ISBN: 978-1-9163097-0-8

A brave and courageous portrayal of how one family suffered but ultimately, survived the abusive behaviours of a psychopathic father.

Starting with a definition of a psychopath, the author then relates the details of how his father unleashed a constant barrage of confusing, frustrating, painful abusive treatment on the family. The author, his mother and siblings endured this suffering on a daily basis, over many years.

The way that the author’s mother fought to deal with this ongoing, cruel and spiteful behaviour while protecting herself and her children is a central theme of the book.

This is a deeply troubling story of abuse but ultimately, the way the author, his siblings and his mother coped and survived the torments of their father, moving on to live normal and fruitful lives is an inspiration for anyone who has experienced abuse in the past or in their current circumstances.

Call Yourself a Father? can provide a beacon of light for the sufferers of abuse and hopefully, a way forward to deal with the destructive effects of psychopathic behaviour.

Lost and Found in London and Liverpool by Philip Stevens

Lost and Found in London and Liverpool by Philip Stevens

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £8.95

ISBN: 978-1-9162285-3-5

A memoir about the life of the late Philip Stevens, fireman turned educationalist and academic.

After seven years as a London firefighter, the author qualified to teach after studying for a BA (Hons) at Liverpool University as a mature student. Later, Philip Stevens gained a PhD at UCL/IOE and enjoyed a long and successful career in education at senior levels in both schools and in adult education.

In retirement, Stevens published his first book in 2010, Sporting Heroes of Essex and East London 1960-2000: Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch (Apex) which sold in hardback and was reprinted in paperback. In 2014, he followed this with an acclaimed biography, John Lyall: A Life in Football (Apex) in hardback, paperback and kindle, about the legendary West Ham United manager.

In 2015, Stevens wrote an academic book, Rita and Gerald: Adult learning in Britain today (UCL/IOE) in paperback and kindle which received excellent reviews and made an impact on the sector.

Back to sport, in 2017, Stevens published Budge Rogers: A Rugby Life (Pitch) in hardback. This book was an authorised biography of a true legend of the sport and raised £3,500 for the RFU’s Injured Player Fund.

The author was a very good footballer, a lifelong fan of West Ham United and Essex C.C.C., loved music and enjoyed playing golf and walking his black Labrador.

Sadly, Philip Stevens died in 2019 at the age of seventy-two.

Wooden Overcoat by Brian Woodworth

Wooden Overcoat by Brian Woodworth

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £8.95, Kindle £3.99

ISBN: 978-1-9165001-4-3

Working within the funeral business is not what most people would expect. ‘Tradition,’ ‘Care,’ ‘Respect,’ are words that we would normally associate with funeral companies.

One man who knows, better than most, what really goes on, is author Brian Woodworth. He started his career in Salford back in 1985 and has now penned this account of his working life.

He goes into great detail to describe his journey through the last thirty odd years. From humorous stories to tragic deaths, the book encompasses his dealings with clergy, morticians, other funeral staff, gangsters, murderers and people bereft of common sense. It’s all here.

Wooden Overcoat throws a bright light on the shadowy world of those whose business is death. Some of the stories will make you laugh; some will make you cry, and some will certainly shock you.

The final message from the author is: ‘Do today what you were planning to do tomorrow – as tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. Health is wealth.’

Born in 1968, Brian Woodworth began his career in funerals in 1985. In 1987 he married Pauline. They have four children and today live on the outskirts of Leigh, in Greater Manchester. Brian dedicates this book to all those who never got to live their dreams and to all those who never got to say goodbye.

Thy Will be Done by Peter Conway

Thy Will be Done by Peter Conway

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £11.95, Kindle £4.99

ISBN: 978-1-9997646-9-2

This is the story of a Yorkshire lad, who, aged three, was taken to live in South Africa. A rapscallion, or worse, Peter Conway came to the attention of the Johannesburg police and then, the South African Defence Force. As Peter’s scrapes escalated, he was shrewdly manipulated into serving, first the Apartheid South African Government and then, following Nelson Mandela’s assumption of the Presidency, the new masters of this achingly beautiful land. Intelligence officer, infantryman in the Bush War in Angola, Hells Angel, brothel keeper, drug smuggler and mercenary, Peter was all these and more.

In 2004, together with Simon Mann, Mark Thatcher and others, Peter participated in the Wonga Coup, the failed attempt to overthrow the Government of Equatorial Guinea.

Finally, the venality and cynicism of modern South African governance became too much and in 2012, aged forty-six, Peter abandoned the land of his dreams to live in England and write this memoir.

Thy Will be Done discloses a frighteningly violent dysfunctionality, bordering upon anarchy, both in present-day South Africa and elsewhere in that continent. It is no read for the faint-hearted, but for those interested in one of the fastest growing and yet most dangerous parts of our world, it’s a must.

Sadly, author Peter Conway died recently at the age of 52.

Behind and Beyond the Letters by Cliff Slade

Behind and Beyond the Letters by Cliff Slade

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £9.95

ISBN: 978-1-9164271-6-7

The name Cliff Slade will be instantly recognised as a frequent and indefatigable correspondent to the Letters to the Editor columns. This book is written in the first person, as being most appropriate for someone who is speaking directly to his audience. This is a very personal journey in letters.

It is touching and different insofar as it provides detailed insight into the life and mind of a man, the author, his relationships with his family and his take on local society, business, and politics. This is accomplished through the sharing of letters, only some of which have previously been published. However, this is not just a book of letters, along the lines of ‘The Times Great Letters’ as there is depth, emotion, pain, laughter, joy, sadness, and a progressive personal and emotional journey of accomplishment and enlightenment.

Each correspondence is introduced, and most have accompanying explanations and information about the background and reason for each of the letters that have been included. Beginning with what motivated his writing, he reflects on his upbringing by delving into his childhood and the reasons that explain why he finds it easier to communicate through the written word, rather than verbally.

An excellent sense of humour is clearly evident in the self-depreciatory letters written to the paper under a pseudonym and in his letters to himself. The account of when the author met his wife and their marriage, ups and downs and all, along with his thoughts about life as a parent and his children, is very touching in its openness and honesty. He doesn’t claim celebrity status and claims to be from an ordinary walk of life.

In this remarkable book, Cliff shares his life and part of himself with the audience with a great deal of emotion. With an auto-biographical narrative, we are regularly moved from tears to amusement and back again.

Legends in My Lunchtimes by Mike Newlin

Legends in My Lunchtimes by Mike Newlin

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £12.95

ISBN: 978-1-9997646-1-6

The story of how Mike Newlin and his team brought laughter and pleasure to business guests all over the country by providing them with the best of sporting personalities as speakers at these eagerly awaited events.

Mike estimates that his company must have provided a welcome break from the pressures of corporate life to over a million hungry executives.

The chapters of this book read like the Who’s Who of British sporting and entertainment life over the last three decades and the stories he relates will have you smiling and chuckling as you enjoy them.

Author and entrepreneur, Mike Newlin’s story began in Manchester in the early 1980’s. The City was alive with a vibrant business community and that mixed with a sporting heritage that is second to none. It provided the inspiration for what became MBN Promotions who entertained over a million guests, until Mike sold the organisation in 2006.

The baby boomer generation and many others will enjoy cherished memories of such heroes as, Sir Stanley Matthews, George Best, Sir Henry Cooper and Freddie Trueman OBE. Add great speakers like Gordon ‘Broon from Troon’ Brown, Wilf McGuinness, Jack Blanchflower, Jack Charlton, Willie John McBride, Geoff Miller, David Lloyd and many more.

The Boy in the Statue by Sir Erich Reich

The Boy in the Statue by Sir Erich Reich

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £9.98, Kindle £3.99

ISBN: 978-1-9997646-2-3

The true story of a Jewish refugee boy, Erich, who arrived in this country from Nazi-occupied Europe three days before the start of the war. He was just four years-old and would never see his parents again.

His earliest memories are of the tiny room he slept in off the bedroom of the couple he called ‘mutti’ and ‘fater’. But who were the Kreibichs, his foster parents? Traumatised by the separation from his birth family he blocks out, from then to now, all memory of his life before, even failing to recognise his eldest brother when he turns up years later.

Erich must come to terms with the realisation that the Kreibichs are not his real parents, to learn of his past, his family and how he came on the Kindertransport.

The book follows his unusual journey from orphan refugee boy to man, and from Vienna to Buckingham Palace!

Author Sir Erich Reich was a victim of Nazi persecution. Arriving in the UK as a four-year-old boy, he grew up in Surrey. He has spent many years in the travel industry and in 2008, Reich was recognised with an outstanding contribution award at the Professional Fundraising Awards.

He was knighted for his charitable contributions in the 2010 New Year Honours.

Reich is currently married to Linda Haase and has five grown children from previous marriages.

The House on the Hill by Ian P. Lomax

The House on the Hill by Ian P. Lomax

Non-fiction

Price: Paperback £9.95, Kindle £4.99

ISBN: 978-0- 9955729-3-5

Author Ian Paul Lomax regards himself as an ordinary man but in truth, he is an extraordinary man.

His first book, For the Love of Christopher: A Father’s Tale, required him to bare his soul to write about the heart-breaking consequences of having his child kidnapped while on holiday in Greece.

This book, The House on the Hill, requires an even greater degree of bravery. He tells of a childhood in 20th century England where poverty and deprivation were the norm and far worse, he tells us of the violence he experienced from a drunken, gambler father, from being a toddler right up to his mid-teens.

This upbringing made him, against his own nature, into a violent troubled youth and but for the one shining star in his life, his mother, there can be no doubt that his adult life would have been a series of catastrophes, culminating in a life of crime.

This book does not make comfortable reading but the amazing strength of his mother and her love for him made Ian’s story into one of which he can be justifiably proud.

A Teetotal Virgin by Clara Zfin

A Teetotal Virgin by Clara Zfin

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £8.95

ISBN: 978-0-9935575-8-3

For most twenty-one-year-olds, being sent to work as a rep in Ibiza for the summer would be a dream job. I, however, was devastated by the news.

I was a teetotal virgin recovering from an eating disorder, with an active dislike for socialising. I didn’t want to go, but I needed to go to Ibiza. I needed to escape the monotony of life back home: my recent illness, my tedious job, the mundane routine. I took the plunge, accepted my new role, embraced the challenge and moved there.

Living in a quiet village away from the notorious bright lights of San Antonio, I saw a different side to the island and I fell in love with its serenity and air of acceptance almost immediately. In return, it loved me back and from day one, the beautiful island cast its spell on me, helping me to rediscover the confident, happy girl I used to be.

My four months spent living in Ibiza were the best, the worst, the most testing, rewarding, heart-warming, eye opening and liberating of my life. The only way I could fathom the craziness going on around me on a daily basis was to keep a journal.

I never imagined I would be sharing it with the world, but here it is; an insight into my thoughts, feelings and all of the weird and wonderful occurrences that went on during a season on the party island. It is all here, from the time I went on a date and was given a watermelon as a ‘present,’ to the day a guest ‘broke wind’ in the face of our receptionist…

Lucy on Leave by Lucy Verinder

Lucy on Leave by Lucy Verinder

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £8.95

ISBN: 978-0-9935575-5-2

Beautifully honest and wickedly funny, Lucy on Leave is not your typical journal about illness and recovery. It is certainly not for the faint-hearted either, but not for the reasons that the reader might expect.

For those who are going through, or have been through, similar experiences with cancer, this book might be cathartic and even helpful, but mostly delightfully funny.

For those who are not, this book, which can be read as a whole or enjoyed as a series of short essays, goes far beyond the subject of Lucy’s illness to muse on the ups and downs of motherhood, marriage, childhood and Yorkshire life.

If you want to know what the game ‘butt waves’ entails or how to play ‘I demand the Diamond!’ Or why Wakefield, West Yorkshire, beats Paris for culture, hands down, or even what happened when Lucy forgot to wear any underwear to school, you will have to buy this book to find out.

For the Love of Christopher by Ian Paul Lomax

For the Love of Christopher by Ian Paul Lomax

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £9.98, Kindle £4.99

ISBN: 978-0-9926563-3-1

Most holiday romances have no conclusion good or bad. Just a few lead to fairy-tale weddings and ‘happy ever after.’

Author Ian Paul Lomax went to Corfu and fell in love with a Greek girl called Helen. They married in England and had a lovely little boy called Christopher. Blissfully unaware that his mother-in-law had plotted with his wife to abduct his son while on a trip to Greece, Ian found himself alone and broken-hearted in a strange country.

This book tells the true story of Ian’s struggle through the Greek courts to recover his father’s rights to be part of the life of his son.

Ian Lomax has shared the story of his personal struggle discussing the pains of parental alienation and international child abduction.

For the Love of Christopher shows the depth of a father’s love and his uphill fight to simply be in his son’s life where international borders add to the complexity of family court litigation.

Return from the Abyss by Ian Paul Lomax

Return from the Abyss by Ian Paul Lomax

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £9.98, Kindle £4.99

ISBN: 978-0-9929955-8-4

Were you an abused child?

Did you ever think of running away and joining the French Foreign legion?

Were you ever a gang member and a football hooligan?

Did you ever have your child abducted and your marriage in ruins?

Did you ever contemplate suicide?

All of these things happened to author Ian Paul Lomax and they are related in painful detail within this, his autobiography Return from the Abyss (sequel to his first book, For the Love of Christopher).

His story is also the story of a tortured child and young man growing up in a large industrial town in Greater Manchester in the second half of the twentieth century. This is a story not to be missed.