Biography

Lewis 'Mad Dog' Moody has been a familiar face in English rugby for fifteen successful and, at times, painful years. The former Leicester (read more)

Lewis 'Mad Dog' Moody has been a familiar face in English rugby for fifteen successful and, at times, painful years. The former Leicester and now Bath flanker has seen and done it all in a sport that has changed beyond recognition from his first forays into the sport to the huge spectacle that rugby, and especially test match rugby, has become. Known for his near-suicidal fashion of playing the game, Moody has achieved as much as anyone in the history of the sport, from league, cup and European honours with an iconic Leicester Tigers team alongside the likes of Martin Johnson and Neil Back, to a 2003 World Cup winners medal and an MBE when still a young man.

A great deal of heartbreak would follow - pain, illness, self-doubt and dark days in the four years before the next World Cup campaign that saw Moody and England fall in the 2007 final but he re-emerged to finally captain his country to a third World Cup campaign in 2011. Mad Dog - An Englishman is the story, warts and all, of one of the most-loved and respected British sporting figures; a story that allows the reader into the inner sanctum of a top rugby star's life, from the early days of student and rugby dressing room mayhem, to the latter years of dedication to the cause, and utter professionalism against all odds. You may think some of Lewis Moody's adventures are well-known.****Arrives 29 March 2012**** (hide)

Sir David Attenborough is Britain's best-known natural history film-maker. His career as a naturalist and broadcaster has spanned (read more)

Sir David Attenborough is Britain's best-known natural history film-maker. His career as a naturalist and broadcaster has spanned nearly six decades, and in this volume of memoirs Sir David tells stories of the people and animals he has met and the places he has visited. His first job - after Cambridge University and two years in the Royal Navy - was at a London publishing house.

Then in 1952 he joined the BBC as a trainee producer, and it was while working on the Zoo Quest series (1954-64) that he had his first opportunity to undertake expeditions to remote parts of the globe, to capture intimate footage of rare wildlife in its natural habitat. He was Controller of BBC2 (1965-68), during which time he introduced colour television to Britain, then Director of Programmes for the BBC (1969-1972). However, in 1973 he abandoned administration altogether to return to documentary-making and writing, and has established himself as the world's leading Natural History programme maker with several landmark BBC series, including Life on Earth (1979), The Living Planet (1984), The Trials of Life (1990), The Private Life of Plants (1995), Life of Birds (1998), The Blue Planet (2001), Life of Mammals (2002), Planet Earth (2006) and Life in Cold Blood (2008). (hide)

"When David sat down later, he tucked one leg up under him and I noticed that the sole of his shoe was as clean as the day he'd bought (read more)

"When David sat down later, he tucked one leg up under him and I noticed that the sole of his shoe was as clean as the day he'd bought it. OK, maybe the shoes were new, but it struck me that he hardly ever sets foot in the street. It's all hotel, limousines, sterilized airports - the life I was about to lead.

I shivered, feeling poised at the top of a rollercoaster about to sweep across the world." On 11 January 2016, the world was stunned to wake up to the news that David Bowie had died the day before. A genuine icon, he left behind a body of work among the most important in music history. But only a lucky few were privileged to know the man behind that mystique, and know him well. (hide)

The fourth and final part of Helen Forrester's bestselling autobiography continues the moving story of her early poverty-stricken (read more)

The fourth and final part of Helen Forrester's bestselling autobiography continues the moving story of her early poverty-stricken life with an account of the war years in Blitz-torn Liverpool In 1940 Helen, now twenty, is working long hours at a welfare centre in Bootle, five miles from home. Her wages are pitifully low and her mother claims the whole of them for housekeeping but she is still thrilled to be working and gaining some independence. The Second World War is affecting every part of the country and Hitler's Luftwaffe nightly seek to wreck havoc on her home city of Liverpool.

Then, tragedy is brought shockingly close to home and Helen is left reeling when she receives some terrible news. But there is no let-up in the bombing and the Germans seem determined to bring the country to its knees. When a move brings more trouble for Helen, she is determined that she will face it, as ever, with courage and determination. (hide)

In 1982, aged twenty-three, Simon Parkes paid GBP1 for a virtually derelict building in Brixton. Over the next fifteen years he turned (read more)

In 1982, aged twenty-three, Simon Parkes paid GBP1 for a virtually derelict building in Brixton. Over the next fifteen years he turned it into Britain's most iconic music venue. And now he's telling his story: full of fond - and wild - reminiscences of the famous musicians who played at the venue, including Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Lou Reed, The Ramones, New Order, the Beastie Boys and The Smiths.

This is about one man's burning desire for success against the odds, his passion for live music and the excitement of those wilderness years, a far cry from the corporate world that controls the scene today. From rock-star debauchery and mixing it up with Brixton gangsters to putting on the first legal raves in the UK and countless backroom business deals, this is the story of how to succeed in business with no experience and fulfil your teenage fantasies. (hide)

The second volume of Helen Forrester's powerful, painful and ultimately uplifting four-volume autobiography of her poverty-stricken (read more)

The second volume of Helen Forrester's powerful, painful and ultimately uplifting four-volume autobiography of her poverty-stricken childhood in Liverpool during the Depression. The Forrester family are slowly winning their fight for survival. But life remains extremely tough for fourteen-year-old Helen.

Along with caring for her younger siblings and suffering terrible hardships she is also battling with her parents to persuade them to allow her to earn her own living. Helen is desperate to lead her own life after the years of neglect and inadequate schooling. Written with an unflinching eye, Helen's account of her continuing struggles against severe malnutrition and dirt (she has her first bath in four years) and, above all, the selfish demands of her parents, is deeply shocking.
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'Looking back, perhaps the single biggest problem was fear. Fear of failure, fear of other people - but mostly fear of myself. It (read more)

'Looking back, perhaps the single biggest problem was fear. Fear of failure, fear of other people - but mostly fear of myself. It has taken many years to discover who I really am.

It's never too late to find yourself, however lost you may be'. In Lynda Bellingham's blisteringly honest autobiography, the much-loved actress and Loose Women panellist reveals the truth about her life, including her search for her birth mother, only to lose her again to Alzheimer's, and her many years married to an abusive man while playing the 'nation's mum' in the Oxo ads. (hide)

Katie Price, former glamour model Jordan, is back with the most sensational installment of her life story. The last three years of (read more)

Katie Price, former glamour model Jordan, is back with the most sensational installment of her life story. The last three years of Katie Price's life have been as dramatic as ever. From the highly publicised divorce from Alex Reid to the romance and split from Leandro Penna, and a whirlwind marriage and surprise pregnancy with Kieran Hayler, Katie has been through a lot of changes.

And that's just her love life. Katie has also dealt with increasingly bitter disputes with first husband Peter Andre and her former manager, as well as her public spats with comedian Frankie Boyle, who made offensive comments about her son Harvey, and Kelly Brook, over her dalliance with Danny Cipriani. Despite her personal life being played out in the public arena, Katie remains true to her heart by always speaking her mind and living life to the full. (hide)

The true story of one little dog who helped bring an end to puppy farming in the UK. Lucy, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was born (read more)

The true story of one little dog who helped bring an end to puppy farming in the UK. Lucy, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was born into a Welsh puppy farm in 2008. She was repeatedly bred to produce litters of cute puppies, who were taken from her shortly after birth to be sold online and transported many miles across the UK.

Life on a puppy farm is grim, and the dogs aren't vaccinated, loved or looked after. Lucy was rescued in 2013 and was in a terrible way - her spine was fused, she was covered in scalds and burns, blind in one eye, had crippling arthritis, separation anxiety, and was badly underweight. Her life turned around when she was chosen for adoption and rehabilitated by Lisa Garner, dog-lover extraordinaire. (hide)

She made John Lennon blush and Marlon Brando clam up. She cold-shouldered Princess Diana and humiliated Elizabeth Taylor. Jack Nicholson (read more)

She made John Lennon blush and Marlon Brando clam up. She cold-shouldered Princess Diana and humiliated Elizabeth Taylor. Jack Nicholson offered her cocaine and Pablo Picasso lusted over her.

To her friends Princess Margaret was witty and regal, to her enemies, she was rude and demanding. Ma'am Darling looks at her from many angles, creating a kaleidoscopic biography, and a witty meditation on fame and art, snobbery and deference, bohemia and high society. (hide)