- Table View
- List View
Living on a Thin Line
by Dave DaviesThe all new, must-read memoir by legendary Kinks guitarist Dave Davies'BOOK OF THE DAY' - Guardian'This powerful tell-all from the Kinks guitarist puts the spotlight on his own bad behaviour, dalliances with the occult and his recovery from a stroke.' - Observer'Heartfelt, hilarious, revealing, insightful and astonishingly candid. Boy, you really got me Dave. I can't wait to read it again.' - Mark Hamill Dave Davies is the co-founder and lead guitarist of epoch-defining band the Kinks, a group with fifty million record sales to their name. In his autobiography, Davies revisits the glory days of the band that spawned so much extraordinary music, and which had such a profound influence on bands from The Clash and Van Halen to Oasis and Blur. Full of tales of the tumultuous times and the ups-and-downs of his relationship with his brother Ray, along with encounters with the likes of John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix, this will be a glorious read for Kinks fans and anyone who wants to read about the heyday of rock 'n' roll.
In at the Deep End (Quick Reads)
by David DaviesAs he was carried off on a stretcher at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Welsh swimmer David Davies was celebrating his success. His exhausting performance in the first ever 10 km open water race earned him a silver medal and, more importantly, a place in British swimming history. But what was running though his head as he collapsed from the physical exhaustion of completing the Olympics' most gruelling swimming race?This is David's own story. The tale of how an ordinary schoolboy from Barry made the swimming world sit up and take notice. He talks about his determination and drive and his life both in and out of the water.
Wellington's Wars: The Making of a Military Genius
by Dr. Huw J. DaviesArthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, lives on in popular memory as the "Invincible General," loved by his men, admired by his peers, formidable to his opponents. This incisive book revises such a portrait, offering an accurate—and controversial—new analysis of Wellington's remarkable military career. Unlike his nemesis Napoleon, Wellington was by no means a man of innate military talent, Huw J. Davies argues. Instead, the key to Wellington's military success was an exceptionally keen understanding of the relationship between politics and war.Drawing on extensive primary research, Davies discusses Wellington's military apprenticeship in India, where he learned through mistakes as well as successes how to plan campaigns, organize and use intelligence, and negotiate with allies. In India Wellington encountered the constant political machinations of indigenous powers, and it was there that he apprenticed in the crucial skill of balancing conflicting political priorities. In later campaigns and battles, including the Peninsular War and Waterloo, Wellington's genius for strategy, operations, and tactics emerged. For his success in the art of war, he came to rely on his art as a politician and tactician. This strikingly original book shows how Wellington made even unlikely victories possible—with a well-honed political brilliance that underpinned all of his military achievements.
The Beatles: The Authorised Biography
by Hunter DaviesThere's only one book that ever truly got inside the Beatles and this is it. The landmark, worldwide bestseller that has grown with the Beatles ever since. During 1967 and 1968 Hunter Davies spent eighteen months with the Beatles at the peak of their powers as they defined a generation and rewrote popular music. As their only ever authorised biographer he had unparalleled access - not just to John, Paul, George and Ringo but to friends, family and colleagues. There when it mattered, he collected a wealth of intimate and revealing material that still makes this the classic Beatles book - the one all other biographers look to. Hunter Davies remained close with the band and as such has had access to more information over the years. This 40th anniversary edition contains new material which has never been revealed before, from the author's archives and from the Beatles themselves, that will bring new insights to their legend.
The Beatles Book
by Hunter DaviesTHE BEATLES BOOK is the ultimate authority on the fab four.Hunter Davies, the only ever authorised biographer of the group, brings together three eminent Beatles experts to compile an invaluable and essential guide. Divided into four sections – People, Songs, Places and Broadcast & Cinema – The Beatles Book covers every element of the band’s history and brings every influence that shaped the incredible Beatles phenomenon vividly to life. Hunter and his team have also rated entries to show how important, influential or meaningful that characteristic was in the history of their lives and creations.Illustrated with material from Hunter's remarkable private collection of personal artefacts and memorabilia, this compendium is an beautiful, insightful and entertaining treasure for any Beatles fan.
The Biscuit Girls
by Hunter DaviesIvy, Dulcie, Barbara, Ann, Dorothy and Jean all had different reasons for applying to work at Carr’s biscuits, but once they had put on their overalls and walked through the factory gates they discovered a community full of life, laughter and friendship. To those who didn’t know, the biscuit factory that towered over Carlisle might look like just another slice of the industrial North, a noisy and chaotic place with workers trooping in and out at all hours. For the biscuit girls it was a place where they worked hard, but also where they gossiped, got into scrapes and made lifelong friends. Outside the factory walls there might be difficult husbands or demanding kids, and sometimes even heartbreak and tragedy, but they knew there would always be an escape from their troubles at Carr's. Some, like Barbara, only applied because she needed the extra cash, until things got a bit easier at home. Her supervisor cross examined her about who would be looking after the kids while she was at work, but let her have the job. Like many of the women who joined up ‘temporary’ Barbara went on to stay at Carrs for 32 years.Beginning in the 1940s, these heartwarming and vividly-remembered stories have all been told by the women themselves to Hunter Davies.
The Eddie Stobart Story
by Hunter DaviesThe world’s greatest haulier – a rags-to-riches tale of British entrepreneurialsim.
The Heath: My Year on Hampstead Heath
by Hunter DaviesAn engaging portrait of Hampstead Heath – a place rich not just in natural wonders but in history and monuments, emotions and memories, people and places. 'I enjoyed every inch of the way, from Parliament Hill to the Pergola... A late-life little masterpiece' Ferdinand Mount 'A love letter, both to the Heath and to his late wife' Islington Tribune 'An affectionate book which blends personal anecdote, history and interviews' Ham & HighThe eight hundred acres of Hampstead Heath lie just four miles from central London; and yet unlike the manicured inner-city parks, it feels like the countryside: it has hills and lakes, wild spots and tame spots.Hunter Davies has lived within a stone's throw of Hampstead Heath for more than sixty years and has walked on it nearly every day of his London life. For him, it is not just a place of recreation and relaxation but also a treasure-house of memories and emotions. In The Heath, he visits all parts of this, the largest area of common land in Britain's capital city: from Kenwood House to the Vale of Health, from Parliament Hill to Boudicca's Mound, and from the Ladies Bathing Pond to the fabulous pergola. As he walks, Davies talks to the diverse array of individuals who frequent the Heath: regulars; visitors; dog walkers; stall holders at the weekly farmer's market; famous faces having their morning stroll; twenty-first-century hippies spreading peace, love and happiness.
Hunting People: Thirty Years of Interviews with the Famous
by Hunter DaviesHunter Davies's first major interview was with John Masefield for The Sunday Times in 1963. In the years since, he has interviewed many of the most famous people that the late twentieth century has to offer, from James Baldwin and Orson Welles to Jack Nicholson and Salman Rushdie. in an eclectic and highly readable selection, we learn that Noel Coward enjoyed watching operations and considered himself 'about as decadent as a suet pudding', David Hockney dyed his hair because 'blonds have more fun', and Anthony Burgess had yet to touch the body of an Englishwoman. Christy Brown concedes 'I'm just a run-of-the-mill genius', while Alan Sugar admits 'I'm a miserable sod'. The book opens with a specially written introduction in which Hunter Davies explores the art of the Celebrity Interview, and turns the tables to interview fellow practitioners, such as Lynn Barber and Angela Lambert.
Love in Old Age: My Year in the Wight House
by Hunter DaviesA wryly humorous memoir from Hunter Davies, as he falls in love again in his eighties and chronicles the first year of living with his new girlfriend in their cottage on the Isle of Wight. King Charles I was imprisoned here; Queen Victoria so liked its mild climate and coastal scenery that she built an Italianate house here (and later expired in it); hundreds of thousands of people got stoned here at music festivals in the 1960s summers of love. And, in the very un-hippyish summer of 2020, Hunter and Claire escaped locked-down North London for a week's holiday on the Isle of Wight, fell in love with its sleepy charm – and ended up buying a Grade 2-listed love nest in the elegant Victorian seaside resort of Ryde.Love in Old Age tells the story of their first twelve months on the island. It is a journey of discovery to a forgotten corner of England; an exploration of the attraction of meeting new people and new places in old age, and a celebration of flat sandy beaches. It brings together the themes of love in old age; Covid lockdown; rural escape; the anxieties of house-buying; and the history and curiosities of England's largest and second most populous island – all bound together by Hunter Davies's insatiable curiosity about people and places, and his irrepressible and ironic sense of humour.
Wainwright: The Biography
by Hunter DaviesThe classic biography of Alfred Wainwright.Alfred Wainwright's unique hand-drawn and hand-written PICTORIAL GUIDES TO THE LAKELAND FELLS have been an inspiration to walkers for over forty years. Yet despite many bestselling books and three television series, Wainwright remained an intensely private person. With full access to Alfred Wainwright's private letters and unpublished material, Hunter Davies reveals a man more passionate, witty and generous than readers of his guides have come to expect. His biography throws a new and surprising light on a man who has been an enigmatic and misunderstood person.
The John Lennon Letters: Edited and with an Introduction by Hunter Davies
by Hunter Davies John LennonA lifetime of letters, collected for the first time, from the legendary The Beatles musician and songwriter John LennonJohn Lennon is one of the world's greatest-ever song writers, creator of 'Help!', 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds', 'Imagine' and dozens more. Now, his letters have been collected and published, illuminating as never before the intimate side of a private genius.Hunter Davies, author of the only authorised biography of The Beatles, has tracked down almost three hundred of Lennon's letters and postcards - to relations, friends, fans, strangers, lovers and even to the laundry. Some of the letters are tender, informative, funny, angry and abusive, and some are simply heart-breaking - from his earliest surviving thank-you note, written when he was ten, to his last scribbled autograph given on 8 December 1980, the day he was shot, aged forty.
The Archers Year Of Food and Farming: A celebration of Ambridge’s most delicious produce, from the fields to the kitchens, with a side order of gossip
by Keri Davies'What's for tea, Clarrielove?' From the fabled kitchens of Ambridge come the recipes and gossip that fuel the nation's favourite village.Whether it's Susan's spicy chilli con carne on the hob or Helen's dramatic tuna bake in the oven, Jill's flapjacks stacked high or Alastair's Goan fish curry hotting up suppertime, this celebration of Ambridge life will take fans even closer to the heart of every Archers home.But this book isn't just a cook-along with our favourite families. It's full to the brim with tales and memories. The Archers Year of Food and Farming shares the ups and downs of the inhabitants of Ambridge and celebrates our countryside in all of its green and pleasant glory.Month-by-month, we learn more about the farming community and those big events in the Ambridge calendar: Shrove Tuesday and Easter, lambing, Open Farm Sunday, the village fete, Apple Day, the harvest, Stir-up Sunday and Deck the Hall.Rural traditions are alive and well in The Archers, but it's a contemporary world that is full of warmth, wit and the unexpected.
Raw: The Diary Of An Anorexic (HarperTrue Life – A Short Read)
by Lydia DaviesLydia was 19 years old and enjoying university with a loving family and great friends when she became anorexic. The doctors told her that she would die.
Maynard, Adventures of a Bacon Curer: Adventures Of A Bacon Curer
by Maynard DaviesMaynard Davies, the last of the apprentice bacon curers, tells his intriguing story in his own distinctive style. Always one to turn a challenge into an opportunity, Maynard took pleasure in learning the skills of the old master curers of the Black Country and he shares with the reader the secrets of top quality bacon, learnt over a lifetime: the methods, recipes, smoking and curing. His passion for, as he puts it, 'good food for good people', is his motivation - made by experts, using the best ingredients, and cutting no corners. Funny, wise and very human, Maynard's unsentimental tale will remind readers that old fashioned virtues of pride in one's profession, hard work, an open mind and a lot of optimism go along way.
Maynard, Secrets of a Bacon Curer
by Maynard DaviesFans of Maynard will be delighted to read his further adventures in bacon curing. The last of the traditionally-apprenticed bacon curers, the author regales and inspires his readers with tales of visits from the health inspectors his colourful customers and work colleagues his tips on curing, smoking and selling the burglaries, bungled deals and triumphs his growing reputation in the field travels to learn how to make parma ham and much more. This book is the same addictive concoction of humour, tragedy and plain common sense, told in Maynard's disarmingly frank manner.
Never Say Die
by Melanie Davies Lynne Barrett-LeeOn a Saturday morning in May 1980, Melanie Bowen, a pretty fifteen year old, ran down the stairs of her parents’ home in Port Talbot, grabbed her leather jacket and crash helmet, yelled a goodbye, and then walked out of the front door into the sunshine for what was to be the last time in her life. Never Say Die is the true story of what followed…
The Last King of Wales: Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, c. 1013-1063
by Michael Davies Sean DaviesGruffudd ap Llywelyn was Wales’ greatest king. Ambitious and battle-sure, he succeeded in doing what no Welsh king before him was capable of: he ruled all Wales as a united and independent state. He went further by turning the Viking threat to his realm into a powerful weapon and conquering border land that had been in English hands for centuries. Having emerged as a war leader, Gruffudd also proved to be much more: a patron of the arts and church, with the trappings of a king who was respected and feared on the European stage. His eventual murder at the hands of his own men narrowed the country’s political ambitions and left Wales in chaos on the eve of the arrival of the Normans. Those who betrayed Gruffudd were the forebears of the famous princes who would dominate Wales until the Edwardian Conquest, meaning that the former king left no one to tell of his glory. As a result, 1,000 years after his birth, the would-be nation builder is all but forgotten. Here, Sean and Michael Davies reveal the king in all his glory, telling for the first time the story of one of Wales’ greatest figures and exploring the full implications of Gruffudd’s rule. For, without Gruffudd, the fate of King Harold and the outcome of the Battle of Hastings would have been very different…
Elizabeth II: Behind Palace Doors
by Nicholas DaviesA remarkable biography of Queen Elizabeth II, Elizabeth: Behind Palace Doors, contains secrets of the royal family never previously published in this country. The lives of the Queen, Prince Philip and their children are examined and exposed in detail to reveal the Windsor family's disturbing history of adultery, jealousy and mental cruelty. Award-winning journalist Nicholas Davies examines the mood, the ambitions and the forebodings of the Queen at the start of the new millennium. He gives us, too, an insight into the harsh reality of the relationship between the Queen and her husband.Elizabeth: Behind Closed Doors also investigates the early years of Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward, covering their relationships with their parents and their own various love affairs, marriages, separations and divorces. The marriage of Charles and Diana is scrutinised to reveal the principle reason for their marital breakdown.For more than a decade the supporting cast of royals stole the limelight as their marriages fell apart in acrimony; but now, with nearly 50 years on the throne and her children more settled, the Queen is returning to centre stage. This compelling book looks at Elizabeth II's plans for her own future as she wrestles with the uncertainty of what lies ahead for the House of Windsor.
George II: Not Just a British Monarch (Penguin Monarchs)
by Norman DaviesFrom the celebrated historian and author of Europe: A History, a new life of George IIGeorge II, King of Great Britain and Ireland and Elector of Hanover, came to Britain for the first time when he was thirty-one. He had a terrible relationship with his father, George I, which was later paralleled by his relationship to his own son. He was short-tempered and uncultivated, but in his twenty-three-year reign he presided over a great flourishing in his adoptive country - economic, military and cultural - all described with characteristic wit and elegance by Norman Davies. (George II so admired the Hallelujah chorus in Handel's Messiah that he stood while it was being performed - as modern audiences still do.) Much of his attention remained in Hanover and on continental politics, as a result of which he was the last British monarch to lead his troops into battle, at Dettingen in 1744.
Americana: The Kinks, the Road and the Perfect Riff
by Ray DaviesAs a boy in post-War England, legendary Kinks singer/songwriter Ray Davies fell in love with America – its movies and music, its culture of freedom fed his imagination. In Americana, Davies tries to make sense of his long love-hate relationship with the country that both inspires and frustrates him, and where he nearly lost his life in a street shooting. Some of the most fascinating characters in pop culture and the British Invasion make appearances, from the famous to the behind-the-scenes players. The book is interspersed with lyrics and also includes photographs from Davies's own collection and the Kinks’ archive. From his quintessentially English perspective, Davies – with candour, humour, and wit – takes us on a very personal road trip through his life and storied career as a rock star, and reveals what music, fame and America really mean to him.
Towards a New Deal: A Political Economy of the Times of My Life
by Rob Davies‘As the world economic system stumbles, as trade wars intensify and the dangers of a diminishing global multilateralism threaten, Davies’ new book offers a unique blend of astute analysis and personal experience. It is a must-read.’ – Jeremy Cronin, former Deputy Minister of TransportAfrica’s past quarter century has been shaped by the decisions and reach of one of the oldest political alliances in southern Africa, that between the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party.In this memoir, Rob Davies, one of the government’s most articulate former senior ministers, looks back on the politics, policies and inner workings of the South African government in the democratic era. He offers and insider’s account of the evolution of trade and economic policy over the last 25 years, up to the presidency of Cyril Ramaphosa and the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leavened with intriguing anecdotes and informed by the author’s very personal and humanising history of activism and exile, Towards a New Deal makes the case for an economic policy transformation that is focused on creating jobs and reducing poverty, that highlights South Africa’s role in Africa, and that addresses the challenges of economic stagnation, climate change and the fourth industrial revolution. It will be essential reading for economists, businesspeople and ordinary readers keen to grasp the political and economic dynamics of the moment.
We Can All Make It: the star of Dragons' Den shares her secrets of success
by Sara DaviesA SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER! THE #1 BESTSELLING BUSINESS BIOGRAPHY OF 2022.'Determined, focused and full of heart - this book encapsulates all that has made Sara Davies the powerhouse she is.' Giovanna FletcherFrom student halls to Dragons Den (and Strictly Come Dancing!), this is Sara Davies MBE's story of building her multi-million-pound business from scratch and why we can all make it big.------------------------Sara Davies is the queen of crafts. Whilst working as an intern in a small company, Sara noticed a gap in the industry and decided to pursue it. By the time she left university, she was running a business with a half million-pound turnover from her student bedroom. When she became the youngest of BBC 1's iconic Dragons, that turnover was £25 million. Today, she is one of Britain's biggest business names.In her first book - as full of warmth, wit and wisdom as she is - Sara shares what it took to get there: from manning factories overnight with her mam and dad to hitting the trade shows of Las Vegas alone, armed with little more than ambition and passion.We Can All Make It chronicles everything from what she looks for in a business investment to how she manages to find time to enjoy family life while running an empire. From the buzz of witnessing your latest product sell out, dancing the cha cha as you broadcast live to 96 million American homes, thriving after lockdown to being at the head of the biggest tables, Sara's unique storytelling answers all the questions for women in business today.Praise for Sara Davies'A business whizz' - Radio Times'A brilliant read.' Steph McGovern'Page-turning, inspiring' - Gethin Jones'She is amazing!' - Alison Hammond'Energy, focus, commitment: she's relentless!' - Peter Jones
In The Footsteps of Private Lynch: Retracing The Experiences Of A Private Soldier In The Great War
by Will DaviesWhen Will Davies discovered the manuscript for Somme Mud he knew he had found a lost treasure. Private Lynch's powerful, personal story of his time in the trenches of the Somme has become a classic. In this new book, Will Davies meticulously follows in the footsteps of Lynch and his battalion, the 45th - from their long route marches to lice ridden billets, into the frontline and seeing action at such infamous battles as Messines, Dernancourt, Stormy Trench and Villers Bretonneux, and on the last great push to final victory after August 1918. The author assesses the impact Lynch and those like him had both on the battlefield and in the greater context of the war on the Western Front. Written in a lively and accessible style, it sheds light on the campaigns and offensives, the weapons and the equipment, the food, the living conditions and the neglected minutiae of war and in so doing brings to life the young men who sacrificed their youth over 90 years ago.
Mao Zedong: Essential Biographies (Pocket Biographies Ser.)
by Delia DavinMao Zedong, first chairman of the People's Republic of China, one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party, and the architect of the Cultural Revolution, was active in Chinese politics for most of his eighty-two years, and became one of the most important revolutionary figures in the twentieth century. He spent the 1920s and 1930s struggling to build the Chinese Communist Party. After the establishment of the People's Republic, he strove to impose his vision of socialism on his impoverished country, convinced that if the power of the people could be harnessed, China could become an economically successful and egalitarian country. The Great Leap Forward which he initiated was, however, a disaster resulting in millions of deaths. Mao used the Cultural Revolution to re-impose his authority; his critics were persecuted and a personality cult was fostered. His 'Little Red Book' sold over 740 million copies. This book offers the reader a powerful insight into the life and work of this intriguing man.