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The life and times of Billy Connolly. Billy was a battered and neglected child and he turned himself into the classroom clown as a way of survival. As an adult he built on that early experience, his provocative and outrageous brand of humour making him one of the best loved comedians of his generation. On the way up, Connolly has collided with trendies, booze, women, the press, the Royals and even Fyffes bananas. Although he now enjoys that status of a comic institution, Glasgow pundits accused him of 'selling out' and forgetting his roots amid the big houses, smart cars, friendships with royalty and Hollywood. Illustrated with black and white photographs. -
Strange disappearances...suspicious deaths...unanswered questions...enigmatic characters...all of these and more are presented here by experts who unravel the fact and fallacy behind the headlines of history, covering a time span from the Middle Ages to the present day. In this volume: They Vanished Without A Trace; Deaths Under Dubious Circumstances; Strange And Enigmatic Characters; Guilty? Or Not Guilty? Half Truth, Half Legend; Unanswered Questions; Fateful Blunders. Lavishly illustrated in colour and black and white. -
An intense and meticulous biography of the man who created Tarzan and wonderful science fiction worlds on Mars and Venus. The author, having read some of the Tarzan and science fiction stories in his youth, felt there was more to the man behind the creation of Tarzan and was the first researcher to have unlimited access to all of the Burrough's family personal files as well as those of Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. The life and times of Edgar Rice Burroughs are covered in depth and Burroughs is presented with all his faults and ambitions. The detail of his life's events include the inspiration, concept, writing and publishing of his many novels and other works. Many rare photographs. This two volume bio is the result of over three years of work and research. Two volumes. -
Selected from Dyson's three best works, some of the stories herein are mining yarns from 1870s and 1880s, from the author's personal experience of the Victorian diggings, ranging in mood from nervous suspense to humour as patrons fight for the favour of the local barmaid.. Other stories are from Fact'ry 'Ands - about city life in the 1890s and 1900s. In this volume: A Golden Shanty; A Visit to Scrubby Gully; An Incident of the Old Pioneer; At the Yards; A Sabbath Morn at Waddy; The Trucker's Dream; Hebe of Grasstree; The Conquering Bush; A Zealot in Labour; The Elopement of Mrs. Peters; Deadman's Lode; A Vain Sacrifice; Spicer's Courtship; After the Accident; Benno's Little Boshter; a Hot Day at Spats'; The Wooing of Minnie; The Packer's 'Little Silly'; A Saturday at Spats'; The Fickle Dolly Hopgood; At a Boxing Bout; Susie Gannon's Young Man; The Rivals; The Man-Eater; A Question of Propriety; The Haunted Corner; A Little Love Affair; The Morbid Boy; The Toucher. Selection and introduction by Norman Lindsay.
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In this sequel to To School Through The Fields, Alice continues her story of a country childhood and of the many memorable characters who were her neighbours. Old Nell and Bill and Dan appear again, together with many more characters, from Bridgie who plies her washboard every Monday to Peter who was born with a romantic heart. All takes place against the backdrop of great changes in country life, while Alice herself makes the transition from the old school across the fields to the secondary school in town. This is the story of a changing time, a time when rural Ireland quenched the oil lamp, removed the po from under the bed and threw the black pots and iron kettles under the hedge. -
Red In The Centre III. Are they really turning the old atomic testing site at Maralinga into a tourist park? Why did Gulflanders know 2011 was going to be a monster wet season? And what exactly is the H Chord anyway? Freelance multimedia journo and storyteller Monte Dwyer is in search of the answers to these questions as he travels through the Queensland floods of 2010, through the Great Victoria Desert and the Kimberley, across the Top End into Arnhem Land and then back into Queensland just in time for the 2011 wet season. An exploration of the 'cobwebby corners' of this great land. Illustrated with colour photographs. -
Between August and November 1888, at least seven women were murdered in Whitechapel. Their gruesome deaths caused panic and fear in the East End and gave rise to shorthand for a serial killer - Jack the Ripper. The Ripper murders have been among the world's greatest unsolved crimes and a wealth of theories have been posited which have encompassed royalty, a barber, a doctor, a woman and an artist. Here, the author applies modern police investigation methods using the extant evidence and makes a case for the identity of the Ripper. Who is it? You'll have to read it...Illustrated with black and white photographs.
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Mrs. Ritter left a very comfortable home to keep house for her husband and a Norwegian trapper in a hut that measured 12ft x 6 ft on Spitzbergebn, some 60 miles from the only neighbour. She was there for a year, often alone for long periods of time while the men were about their affairs - she was alone during her first Arctic blizzard; at other times she went with them on their journeys across snow and ice. Although she came to the experience reluctantly, she fell in love with the lonely island wilderness and all its marvels - from its dark and violent winter to the rose and violet hues of the Arctic summer. Here are stories of bear hunts, blizzards, hazard trekking, making friends with a white polar fox which she named Mikkl as well as the domestic scenes of life within four narrow walls. At this time, the Arctic was regarded as for men only - but Christiane proved this to be all wrong.
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Founded circa 800 B.C. - or possibly earlier - the city of Pompeii has a rich, vital history beginning with a small permanent settlement and ending as a bustling, thriving port town/holiday centre that was destroyed by the epic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Thanks to ever-improving and evolving excavation techniques, we can 'see' what it had been and get an all-round picture of its politics, people and everyday life - even down to the graffiti-artists of the day. This books gives as much of the history that is so far known; its discovery in 1594, dismissed as of no importance and its rediscovery in 1748...and incorrectly identified at Stabiae. But it wasn't long before there was undisputed evidence that the site was Pompeii. The excavation of this long-lost town, together with its sister town of Herculaneum continues to this day and we know now a great deal about the life of Pompeii - its graffiti bandits, trade, produce, household religions, water supply, cuisine, womens' roles in Pompeiian society, art, gardens and so much more. With contributions by: Jean-Paul Descœudres; Penelope Allison; Robert Carson; Peter Connor; Kay Francis; J. Richard Green; B. Dexter Hoyos; Estelle Lazer; Beryl Rawson; Edward Robinson; Frank Sear; F. Lin Sutherland and Louise Zarmati. Illustrated with colour and black and white photographs, maps and sketches. -
Tanya grew up in the eighties - while other teenagers were partying and rocking, doing their best to lose their virginity, she was told she could be anything she wanted to be, armed with the power of God and dangerous in the eyes of Satan and praying for revival in the church that would become Hillsong - Australia's most ambitious, entrepreneurial and influential religious corporation. A multi-million dollar, tax-free enterprise. Tanya's story opens up the world of Christian fundamentalism in this powerful, personal and by turns humorous and tragic exploration of an all-singing, all-swaying and allegedly 'open' mega-church. Tanya is no longer a member of Hillsong. -
From Barnardo boy to original virgin soldier; from apprentice journalist in London's Fleet Street to famous novelist...At times funny, at times sad, but always honest and utterly compulsive, Leslie Thomas's story is straight out of fiction. As an orphan, he picked his way through the rubble of post-war Britain and was sent on national service to the Far East. Later he became a Fleet Street reporter, with hilarious experiences to relate, and then became the bestselling author of The Virgin Soldiers - the novel that, although scandalous in its day, is now recognised as a classic of its kind. He is also the creator of Dangerous The Last Detective, which has been adapted into a popular television series. In 2005, Leslie Thomas was awarded an OBE for services to literature. -
Cleo: Helen Brown
$9.00Helen Brown wasn't a cat person, but her nine-year-old son Sam was. So when Sam heard a woman telling his mum that her cat had just had kittens, Sam pleaded to go and see them. Helen's heart melted as Sam held one of the kittens in his hands with a look of total adoration. In a trice the deal was done - the kitten would be delivered when she was big enough to leave her mother. A week later, Sam was run over and killed. Not long after, a little black kitten was delivered to the grieving family. Totally traumatised by Sam's death, Helen had forgotten all about the new arrival. After all, that was back in another universe when Sam was alive. Helen was ready to send the kitten back, but Sam's younger brother wanted to keep her, identifying with the tiny black kitten who'd also lost her brothers. When Rob stroked her fur, it was the first time Helen had seen him smile since Sam's death. There was no choice: the kitten - dubbed Cleo - had to stay. Kitten or not, there seemed no hope of becoming a normal family. But Cleo's zest for life slowly taught the traumatised family to laugh. She went on to become the uppity high priestess of Helen's household, vetoing her new men, terrifying visiting dogs and building a special bond with Rob, his sister Lydia, Helen - and later a baby daughter. -
Plenty of commonsense information on all things gardening: tips and tricks, lawns, trees, pruning, grafting and budding, shrubs, rock gardens and Alpine plants, azaleas and rhododendrons, camellias, fuchsias, roses, vegetables and Australian natives. With illustrations, colour and black and white photos. -
The first - at time of publication, 1977 - Marxist analysis of the history and situation of the Australian Aborigines and presents the balanced and co-operative nature of traditional Aboriginal society, the brutal and tragic story of white colonisation and the growth of indigenous resistance to discrimination and exploitation. Also demonstrated is the minimalising of the Aboriginal in the Australian nation and the role of the capitalist establishment, the media and the racial ideology that destroyed the crucial land rights campaign. The author concludes with an assessment of the future for the indigenous people and an appeal for unity in the struggle for their rights. -
The first authoritative biography of Babaji, the immortal master made famous by Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. Babaji lives today near Badrinath, in the upper Himalayan mountains. His body has not aged since the age of sixteen, when centuries ago he attained the supreme state of enlightenment and divine transformation. This followed his initiation into scientific art of Kriya Yoga by two deathless masters, the siddhas Agastyar and Boganathar, who belonged to the "18 Siddha Tradition", famous among the Tamil speaking people of southern India. This rare account, by a long time disciple, reveals their little known stories, ancient culture and present mission, as well as how their Kriya Yoga can be used to bring about the integration of the material and spiritual dimensions of life. Clear explanations of the psychophysiological effects of Kriya Yoga and guidelines for its practice are given. It includes verses from the Siddhas' writings with commentary. -
An A - Z guide to 700 of the most interesting and attractive villages in Britain. In Abbots Bromley, the annual Horn Dance covers a circuit of 8 miles; East Hendred has a church that houses the oldest timepiece (that still chimes the hours) and which is invisible; the village of Mells may be the home of 'Jack Horner' of the nursery rhyme; and Hertingfordbury boasts a churchyard so steep that some of the inhabitants must have been buried vertically! There's plenty of interest in this volume; facts, history, traditions and ancient myths and legends. Illustrated with beautiful photographs and paintings.
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When 65-year-old Francis Chichester set sail on his solitary,eastward journey around the world in 1966,many believed he wouldn't return alive. But when the old man returned in his 53-foot ketch Gypsy Moth IV nine months later, he had made history's fastest circumnavigation. Gipsy Moth Circles The World was an international best-seller when it appeared in 1967. It inspired the first solo around-the-world race and remains a timeless testament to the spirit of adventure. With black and white photos. -
On the Hebridean island of Bruach, life among the crofters is as happy and full of humour as ever. Beckwith tells enchanting tales about the islanders' wit, their canny resourcefulness and their gossipy interest in outsiders. There is Flora and the fancy dress dance, beachcombing, whelk gathering, Highland cattle and a stag - among many other characters and animals. Based on Beckwith's own experiences.
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