Autobiography/Bio/Non-Fiction

//Autobiography/Bio/Non-Fiction
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  • The author was once Lady Yasmin, seventeen year old wife of Prince Bahrin, firstborn son to the Sultan of Terengganu.  She was brought to live in the royal palace compound in the oil-rich Malaysian state.  Her only duty was to please her husband in all ways possible.  A fairy tale romance to begin with, her life became a nightmare of Islamic superstition, isolation, rejection, betrayal and abuse.  She escaped at the age of twenty two and the Prince exacted the ultimate revenge: the kidnapping of her children.
  • In 1962, Epstein was the restless manager of the record department of his father's Liverpool store. By 1967, the architect of the biggest music phenomenon in history was dead at the age of 32. This is an in-depth look at the private man and the public legend - the suave, well-spoken pop tycoon who lived through his role as an impresario but whose flamboyant lifestyle marked a clandestine life of homosexuality. Ejected from the Army during national service, Epstein was a frustrated actor and bookshop salesman before finally returning to his father's furniture shop. At lunchtime, on November 9 1961, he drifted into a rock 'n' roll cellar, the Cavern, saw the Beatles and was transfixed.  He quickly became their manager and was determined to make them world stars. To millions, it seemed the Beatles were an overnight sensation but behind the scenes was constant frustration and endless rejections from record companies. Once he secured their recognition, he went on to build a show business empire, managing Cilla Black, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and many others. But Epstein's relationships with his acts was never smooth; as the Beatles ran into problems during their 1966 US tour, Epstein was under siege - millions of pounds were lost through poor exploitation of their merchandising interests and Epstein was pilloried for his business ineptitude. At the same time his homosexuality added to the pressure, causing him to resort to a cocktail of pills - uppers and downers, causing his mood to swing from elation to despair, affecting his work. Yet he never lost the respect and affection  of the entertainment world. He died on August 27 1967 from 'an incautious overdose' of drugs. The verdict was accidental death - yet the circumstances still remain mysterious. Without Epstein, the Beatles would never have succeeded as they did. Their story and music is immortal - yet the life and death of their mentor is at once a celebration of his conviction and a story of sad isolation. A must for any Beatle fan. Illustrated with black and white photographs.
  • At the time of publication, Black Saturday was Australia's worst national disaster with 210 dead and others perhaps still missing. Over 1800 homes were destroyed along with hopes and dreams of a peaceful community living in the leafy hills on Melbourne's fringes. Black Saturday is a tale of everyday people who, when fate demanded, became heroes. In Kinglake, Peter Thorneycroft stood defiantly in shorts and thongs hosing down the roof of the local pub where 20 women and children sheltered inside. This book is the personal story of Black Saturday told by those that survived the flames and those who came to their help. It also contains accounts from journalists who covered the fires as well as first-hand tales from those who helped co-ordinate the emergency response. Black and white photographs.
  • The cops of Hollywood Station are still overworked, understaffed, bound in red tape and always amazed by what the boulevards can throw at them. Nate Weiss has transferred from the mid-watch to become a Crow - a Community Relations Officer.  The Crows deal with domestic disputes, noise complaints, abandoned shopping trolleys and chronic complainers.  It's regarded as a sissie beat - and the pay is better. But when Nate and fellow Crow Bix get mixed up with Margot, a seemingly harmless Hollywood hill-bunny in the middle of an ugly divorce, things aren't quite so uncomplicated.  The author was an LAPD detective, so this is Ground Zero writing, wherein he knows of what he speaks.  There are quirky characters that couldn't be invented - such as the Indian man who thieved a couple of frocks from a posh boutique then popped one on before heading for Paramount Studios...Flotsam and Jetsam, two surf-frenzied detectives...and Sergeant Treakle, non-affectionately known as Chicken-Lips.
  • Chips Rafferty became a legendary figure with an indefinable star quality and a presence that seemed, to the world at large, to be every Anzac rolled into one.  He was always passionately committed to the Australian film industry. Yet for a long time he was either knocked, ognored or taken for granted in his own country. Born John William Pilbeam Goffage, the sone of a miner near Broken Hill, he became Chips Rafferty much later . Diverted from is first ambition - commercial art - Chips wandered through the back blocks from Queenland to Victoria for ten years, working as a drover, a shearer, a miner, a 'roo shooter, a fisherman and opal fossicker. The progression from extra to star to character actor began slowly, and his success in such classic films as The Overlanders, Forty Thousand Horsemen, Rats Of Tobruk and Bush Christmas made his name world-wide. Illustrated with black and white photographs.
  • Since white men landed and changed the name of Warungarea to Hunter's Hill, North Sydney has been in a constant state of flux. Smuggling, farming and business-building occupied the 19th century and then East St. Leonard's came into being. By the 1860s, it was divided into three boroughs: East St. Leonard's, St. Leonard's and Victoria. In amongst the current modern sophistication of skyscrapers, restaurants and a top yachting club, nooks and crannies of the past still exist. Don Bank, an early farmhouse, stands between two multi-storey buildings; St. Thomas's sits on a bustling business street and Graythwaite,  now a school administration building, yet retains the peace of the past.
  • Who'd have thought a Dublin mammy with a cream cardigan and elasticated tan tights could storm British TV screens and leave a nation helpless with laughter? Brendan O'Carroll saw his TV show Mrs. Brown's Boys become a number 1 ratings success. But he had to battle hard for success. The youngest of eleven children, his mother was Maureen O'Carroll, a former nun who went on to become the first woman to be elected to the Irish parliament. Brendan adored his strong, widowed mother - and she later became the inspiration for his indomitable character Agnes Brown. The family endured poverty reminiscent of Angela's Ashes and Brendan saw no option but to leave school at 12 to work. He married young and for decades struggled to make ends meet. Eventually, bankrupt and desperate, Brendan went to see a fortune teller who told him she could see his future achieving worldwide success as a comedian and actor. At first Brendan laughed at the notion, but then he thought of how much his friends loved his gags, and decided to give it a go...A magical story of how a lovable Irishman with a wig and with a wit as caustic as battery acid surprised everyone - most of all himself - by becoming one of the best-loved comedians in the world. It is also a story of hardship, heartbreak and talent - a reminder that sometimes facts can be even more extraordinary than fiction.
  • When the first 'Superman' movie came out I was frequently asked 'What is a hero?'  I remember the glib response I repeated so many times.  My answer was that a hero is someone who commits a courageous action without considering the consequences - a soldier who crawls out of a foxhole to drag an injured buddy to safety.  And I also meant individuals who are slightly larger than life: Houdini and Lindbergh, John Wayne, JFK, and Joe DiMaggio.  Now my definition is completely different.  I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles: a fifteen-year-old boy who landed on his head while wrestling with his brother, leaving him barely able to swallow or speak; Travis Roy, paralysed in the first thirty seconds of a hockey game in his freshman year at college.  These are real heroes, and so are the families and friends who have stood by them. The whole world waited for news as Christopher Reeve struggled for life on Memorial Day, 1995.  On the third jump of a riding competition, Reeve was thrown headfirst from his horse in an accident that broke his neck and left him unable to move or breathe. From then until his death in  2004 he not only survived but fought for himself, for his family, and for the hundreds of thousands of people with spinal cord injuries in the United States and around the world.  And he wrote Still Me, the heartbreaking, funny, courageous, and hopeful story of his life. Chris described his early success on Broadway opposite the legendary Katherine Hepburn, the adventure of filming Superman on the streets of New York, and how the movie made him a star. With dignity and sensitivity, he described the journey he has made - physically, emotionally, spiritually - as well as exploring his complex relationship with his parents, his efforts to remain a devoted husband and father, and his continuing and heroic battle to rebuild his life.  The Man who could not move never stopped moving.
  • Published by the Newcastle and Hunter District Historical Society in 1985, this is a comprehensive look at the growth of the ' Steel City' from 1829 until approximately the 1850s, covering  banking and postal services; landmarks such as the Old Gaol, the Barracks and the Obelisk; the growth of the Port; religion, education, leisure and social life as well as the institutions of hospitals, cemeteries and industrial growth.
  • At one time Corrie ten Boom (1892 - 1983) would have laughed at the idea that there would ever be a story to tell. For the first fifty years of her life nothing at all out of the ordinary had ever happened to her. She was an old-maid watchmaker living contentedly with her spinster sister and their elderly father in the tiny Dutch house over their shop. Their uneventful days, as regulated as their own watches, revolved around their abiding love for one another. However, with the Nazi invasion and occupation of Holland, a story did ensue. As they watched the lights of freedom go out all over Europe, they were motivated by love to become leaders in the Dutch Underground, hiding Jewish people in their home in a specially built room and aiding their escape from the Nazis. They were caught - and Corrie was the only one who survived the horrors of Ravensbrück. Illustrated with black and white photographs.
  • Pepys (1633 – 1703) was Chief  Secretary for the Admiralty under both King Charles II and King James II through patronage, hard work, and his talent for administration. He was later a Member of Parliament but he is more well-known for his diary. The 1660s represent a turning point in English history, and for the main events - the Restoration, the Dutch War, the Great Plague and the Fire of London - Pepys provides a definitive eyewitness account. As well as recording public and historical events, Pepys paints a vivid picture of his personal life, from his socialising and amorous entanglements, to the theatre of the day and his work at the Navy Board.  Told with high spirits, keen observation and humor, this enduring memoir serves as a window on the world of a significant decade in history. This edition edited by Ernest Rhys.
  • During World War II, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer directed the building of the atom bomb; soon afterwards he became the U.S. government's top adviser on nuclear policy. Yet in December 1953 he was suspended as a security risk by President Eisenhower. The charges: close association with Communists and obstructing development on the hydrogen bomb. Was Oppenheimer unfit to be trusted by the country he had served with such distinction? Or was he a victim of Senator Joe McCarthy's infamous anti-communist witch-hunt and of the many enemies he had made in political, scientific and military circles? After a lengthy and detailed enquiry into Oppenheimer's past, the charges against him were upheld by the Atomic Energy Commission. But the verdict only intensified public misgivings about the secret hearing. The author, former Prime Minster of England John Major, made an exhaustive examination of all the sources and has produced a penetrating analysis of one of the most disturbing events in recent American history.
  • Frank Clune, Australia's answer to H.V. Morton, makes a flying trip from Australia to Europe with some 'Quixotical' peregrinations in the Iberian Peninsula in quest of facts. And so he does - accompanied by his wife now that the boys are more than old enbough to be left on their own. No trip to Spain in 1952 would have been complete without a bull fight, but the Clunes also look into many out-of- way and off-the-tourist-track places. With black and white photographs.
  • Out of the thousands of girls who journeyed westward during the late 30s to find fame and fortune in Hollywood, few were touched even briefly by the golden spotlight. But an 18 year old from Georgia, Evelyn Keyes (1916 – 2008), was to be singled out. A combination of beauty, personality and circumstance opened the gates for her. Cecil B. DeMille offered her a screen contract and her career was under way. When casting for Gone With The Wind began, she was the natural choiuce for Scarlett's younger sister, Suellen. Evelyn reached for the Hollywood high life of the late 30s and 40s; she was married to directors Charles Vidor and John Huston; patronised by Columbia mogul Harry Cohn; had a whirlwind around-the-world three year romance with Mike Todd. There were more films and romances before she married Artie Shaw. But her life was also rough and sometimes without compassion. She had intimate contact with the greats and near greats of Tinseltown and the jet set, and they all come to vivid life in this wityy, warm and unvarnished memoir - warts and all! Illustrated with black and white photographs.
  • As the dark storm clouds of World War II gathered over Europe, some 10,000 young German, Austrian and Czech Jews fled Nazi oppression in their homeland to seek refuge in Britain, America and Australia. Leaving behind their parents, families and everything familiar they fled to an unknown country and future in their fight for survival. Theses is the wartime stories of the Kindertransports and other child and teen refugees; as well as the trials and eventual triumphs of young people who survived the Nazi camps, or were in hiding - and who migrated to the same destinations, sponsored by private and government agencies, in the post-war era. Both groups have added richly to the life of their host countries. Some of the accounts are very strange indeed. Like that of the Dunera Boys - low category enemy aliens shipped from Britain to Australia, where they were interned for nearly two years 'by mistake.' Even stranger is the saga of the renowned (non-Jewish) Vienna Mozart Boys Choir, who had the misfortune to be touring Australia when war began. The stories have a common thread of resilience and courage in adversity; as do that of the parents whose courage and sacrifice sent their children away in the hope of a better future. With black and white photographs.
  • Kenneth Williams, star of stage, radio, screen and Carry On put together a collection  of witty, wicked put-downs, retorts, comebacks - and all those great responses we never think of at the time! These have been collected from far and wide across the world of film, literature, politics and celebrity. From Dorothy Parker, observing a notorious society flirt: That woman can speak eighteen languages and can;t say 'No' in any of them. Or Groucho Marx, to a delighted author: From the moment I picked up your book until I put it down, I was convulsed with laughter...some day I intend to read it... After W.C. Fields made his feelings about children widely known, he was asked how he really liked children:  His response?  "Boiled or fried..." Illustrated by ffolkes.
  • Few women in China were to prove so important to the rise of Chinese nationalism and liberation from tradition as the extraordinary Soong Sisters:  Soong Ching-ling (wife of Sun Yat-sen,    statesman, physician, and political philosopher who served as the first provisional president of the Republic of China and the first leader of the Kuomintang); Soong Ai-ling (wife of H. H. Kung, who was the richest man in the early 20th century Republic of China); and Soong Mei-ling (Madame Chiang Kai-shek, wife of President Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China). This biography is also China's story through both world wars and the chronicle of the changes to Shanghai as they relate to a family that had the courage to speak out against the ruling regime. Greatly influencing the history of modern China, they interacted with their government and military to protect the lives of those who could not be heard. First published in 1942.
  • Robert Ingpen's sixty paintings cover domestic, public, agricultural and industrial buildings in a way which gives a remarkable cross-section of our heritage and an insight into the trends which formed an Australian lifestyle. His text for each section of the book, and captions to illustrations,  are anecdotes of his experiences as he travelled Australia, as well as brief but entertaining accounts of the history of these long-lost remnants and why they had been built, only to be abandoned.
  • The incredible tale of Samuel Goldwyn, who emigrated alone to America as a teenager, became a glove salesmen and then made his way to the top of the fledgling film industry by some very questionable ways and means.  Did he really ask David O. Selznick, "So, who've you got to play Scarface O'Hara?"  And did he really believe that 'a verbal contract wasn't worth the paper it's printed on'?  Arthur Marx shows us a Goldwyn who was a highly complex and puzzling individual. He supplies in abundance more  famous Goldwynisms - and a good many stories printed here for the first time. Rich in anecdotal detail about both Goldwyn’s personal and professional life, this biography is a testament to his role as both a perfectionist in art and a founder of one of America’s great industries. The author is the son of Groucho Marx and thus  had access to many of those mentioned in this biography.
  • Including works from Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Breton and Manx, this Miscellany offers a rich blend of poetry and prose from the eighth to the nineteenth century and provides a unique insight into the minds and literature of the Celtic people. It is a literature dominated by a deep sense of wonder, wild inventiveness and a profound sense of the uncanny, in which the natural world and the power of the individual spirit are celebrated with astonishing imaginative force.  Arranged by theme: from the hero-tales of Cú Chulainn, Bardic poetry and elegies to the sensitive and intimate writings of early Celtic Christianity. 
  • This is the high-octane, no-holds-barred, true story of a bad guy turned good who busted open one of the most violent outlaw motorcycle gangs in history. George Rowe’s gritty and harrowing story offers not only a glimpse into the violent world of the motorcycle outlaw, but a gripping tale of self-sacrifice and human redemption. Rowe had been a drug dealer, crystal meth addict, barroom brawler, and convicted felon, but when he witnessed the Vagos brutally and senselessly beat his friend over a pool game, everything changed. Rowe decided to pay back his Southern California hometown for the sins of his past by taking down the gang that was terrorizing it. He volunteered himself as an undercover informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and vowed to dismantle the brotherhood from the inside out, becoming history’s first private citizen to voluntarily infiltrate an outlaw motorcycle gang for the U.S. government. As “Big George,” a full-patched member of the Vagos, Rowe spent three brutal years juggling a double life - riding, fighting, and nearly dying alongside the brothers who he secretly hoped to put away for good. During this time, Rowe also became entwined in a tumultuous relationship with a struggling addict named Jenna, never once revealing that he was actually working for the Feds. The road to redemption was not an easy ride. Rowe lost everything: his family, his business, his home - even his identity. To this day, under protection by the U.S. government, Rowe still looks over his shoulder, keeping watch for the brothers he put behind bars. They’ve vowed to search for him until the day they die.
  • The story of the greatest exploratory expedition ever performed in Man's history. It started in Melbourne; a convoy of sixteen men, twenty-four camels, innumerable pack-horses and a number of wagons carrying 20 tons of supplies. It ended with two exhausted, near-starving men, the leader and his second in command, deep in an impenetrable mangrove swamp on the edge of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Then began the long return trek, through swamp and desert, tormented by thirst and near starvation that reduced them to eating snakes and rats.   Illustrated with sketches and photographs..
  • In the past the Northern frontiers of India were not only dangerous to mountaineers, but because of the suspicion and hosility of the people of Tibet, Nepal and Afghanistan.  The survey of India - twenty seven times larger than England and Wales - was a vast undertaking of two hundred years and an adventurous odyssey.  The author, who has climbed in the Himalayas, tells the story of India's survey and of the men who completed it against appalling handicaps and dangers.
  • Whether you're an up-and-coming manager full of ambition and ideas, or an independent entrepreneur with big dreams of your own, you need to master the art of the perfect pitch. Why? It's your one opportunity to present yourself to potential clients or employers- your one chance to make a positive first impression, sell your personal vision, and, ultimately, close the deal. And sometimes, you only have three minutes to do it. Ricardo Bellino is the young Brazilian entrepreneur who - in just three minutes - convinced Donald Trump to back his luxury golf resort, initiating a multi-million-dollar business deal that would eventually become Trump Realty Brazil, the organization's first international enterprise. Bellino shares everything you need to know to pitch your ideas and get real results-even with the toughest audience. He offers tried-and-true tips on the impact of the first impression, the power of intuition, and the importance of image and nonverbal behaviors. He shows you how to get your foot in the door and your deal on the table. In no time at all, you'll master the essential people skills that will turn ideas into offers and dreams into reality. As an aside...this is a book that may not have aged particularly well. However, Bellino reportedly sold his shares in Trump Realty Brazil in 2021 and moved to Miami, to pursue his next project: Chief Entrepreneur and Dealmaker at Bellino’s Unlimited and Founder of School of Life Academy. He appears to have no Trumpian connections these days.  
  • There's scandals and snippets galore in this coverage of the lives and carryings-on of famous, near famous and infamous over fifty years. There's actors and royals, writers and singers and lords and ladies.  The Cliveden set (the Profumo scandal...) get a mention, as do Barbara Cartland, Cilla Black, the Astors, Cecil Beaton, Agatha Christie, Richard Attenborough, Mick Jagger, Sir Edmund Hillary... as well as shocking news events such as the sinking of the Titanic. Illustrated with black and white photographs.
  • When Sir Robert Menzies retired in 1966, the future of Australia looked certain - it would continue to be an Anglo-Saxon, primarily Protestant, male-dominated, politically apathetic country committed to progress through economic development. By 1972 and the beginning of the Whitlam Labour government, Australia had seen an Aboriginal embassy at Parliament House; the emergence of a multicultural vision for Australia; the Pope holding Mass at Randwick; Germaine Greer; 'sit-ins' and 'freedom rides'; gay liberation; student power; school power; flower power and the rise of political and social rallies.
  • A child who grew up during the Depression in Australia does not remember the unemployment statistics or the details of government welfare programmes.  They remember going to the fruit shop and asking for 'specks' or spoiled fruit that was given away for nothing; they remember hiding their shoes in a culvert on the way to school because the poor kids beat up the 'richer' kids who had them.  This is an absorbing collection of reminiscences of people who grew up in Australia between 1900 and 1970, giving the reader a whole new perspective on events and making those events more than just a flat sentence in a history book.  This is the closest a reader will get to experiencing the hard times of the different generations of those decades.