Motortown

Danny returns from Basra to a foreign England and a different kind of battle. He visits an old flame, buys a gun and goes on a blistering road trip through the new home front. 'I don't blame the war. The war was alright. I miss it. It's just you come back to this.' Written during the London bombings of 2005, Motortown is a fierce, violent and controversial response to the anti-war movement - and to the war itself. Chaotic and complex, powerful and provocative, Simon Stephen's new play portrays a volatile and morally insecure world. Motortown premieres at the Royal Court Theatre on 21 April 2006. It follows the critically acclaimed On the Shore of the Wide World (Manchester Royal Exchange/National Theatre), winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Play (2005).

Author Steve Magnante is well known for his encyclopedia-like knowledge of automotive facts. The details he regularly shares, both in the pages of national magazines and as a contributing host and tech expert at the popular Barrett-Jackson Auctions on television, are the kinds of details that car fanatics love to hear. Many feel that these facts are among the highlights of television auction coverage, much more interesting than the final hammer price. Steve turns his attention to the most popular car in history, the Ford Mustang. In more than 50 years, the Mustang has taken many turns, from the original pony car, to variants that are best described as pure muscle cars, to the misunderstood Mustang II, to the Fox-Body platform that revived the brand, all the way to the modern Coyote- and Voodoo-powered supercars. Magnante covers them all here, generation by generation, so that Mustang fans of any generation are sure to love this collection. Whether you're an avid fan of all Mustangs, a trivia buff who wants to stump your friends, or have a particular affinity for a particular era of Mustangs, this book is an informative and entertaining collection of facts from one of the industry's most beloved and respected sources. Add this copy to your collection today.

Essential for students of theatre studies, Methuen Drama's Decades of Modern British Playwriting series provides a comprehensive survey and study of the theatre produced in each decade from the 1950s to 2009 in six volumes. Each volume features a critical analysis and reevaluation of the work of four/five key playwrights from that decade authored by a team of experts, together with an extensive commentary on the period . Edited by Dan Rebellato, Modern British Playwriting: 2000-2009 provides an authoritative and stimulating reassessment of the theatre of the decade, together with a detailed study of the work of David Greig (Nadine Holdsworth), Simon Stephens (Jacqueline Bolton), Tim Crouch (Dan Rebellato), Roy Williams (Michael Pearce) and Debbie Tucker Green (Lynette Goddard). The volume sets the context by providing a chronological survey of the decade, one marked by the War on Terror, the excesses of economic globalization and the digital revolution. In surveying the theatrical activity and climate, Andrew Haydon explores the response to the political events, the rise of verbatim theatre, the increasing experimentation and the effect of both the Boyden Report and changes in the Arts Council's priorities. Five scholars provide detailed examinations of the playwrights' work during the decade, combining an analysis of their plays with a study of other material such as early play drafts and the critical receptions of the time. Interviews with each playwright further illuminate this stimulating final volume in the Decades of Modern British Playwriting series.

"As David Maraniss captures it with power and affection, Detroit summed up America's path to music and prosperity that was already past history. It's 1963 and Detroit is on top of the world. The city's leaders are among the most visionary in America. It was the American auto makers' best year; the revolution in music and politics was underway. Reuther's UAW had helped lift the middle class. The time was full of promise. Once in a Great City shows that the shadows of collapse were evident even then. Detroit at its peak was threatened by its own design. It was being abandoned by the new world. Yet so much of what Detroit gave America lasts."--

The New York Times bestselling biographer provides “the dish on Motown’s most famous songstress” in this newly updated edition (The Dallas Morning News). Drawn from hundreds of interviews conducted over four decades, Diana Ross paints an unforgettable picture of an extraordinary and often controversial legend—a pop music goddess, acclaimed actress, loving mother, Civil Rights trailblazer, and consummate entertainer. Beautiful and fascinating, she is her own invention—the definition of a superstar. First-time revelations abound, from the tough decisions she made while having Berry Gordy’s baby and the real reasons behind the break-up of the Supremes to her triumphant recovery after a surprising DUI arrest and her gala appearance at the Kennedy Center Honors. Bestselling biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli boldly explores Diana Ross’s troubled relationships and the heartbreak she feels compelled to hide, bringing into focus a complex personality too often obscured by the bright lights of fame. Rich with detail and personal anecdotes, and fully up-to-date, Diana Ross is both definitive and delightful—the ultimate biography that Miss Ross so richly deserves. “A complete, up-to-date history of the star.” —Associated Press “Truly a definitive biography . . . boasts epic research, including extensive interviews with Ross and virtually all the major people in her life.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Riveting.” —The Washington Post

In recent years, the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have had an impact on the UK rivalled only by Brexit and the global financial crisis. For people at home, the wars were ever-present in the media yet remained distant and difficult to apprehend. Janina Wierzoch offers an analytical survey of British contemporary war narratives in novels, drama, film, and television that seek to make sense of the experience. The study shows how the narratives, instead of reflecting on the UK`s role as invader, portray war as invading the British home. Home loses its post-Cold War sense of »permanent peace« and is recast as a home/front where war once again becomes part of what it means to be »us«.

In the months before she died, Florence Ballard, the spunky teenager who founded the most successful female vocal group in history--the Supremes--told her own side of the story. Recorded on tape, Flo shed light on all areas of her life, including the surprising identity of the man by whom she was raped prior to her entering the music business, the details of her love-hate relationship with Motown Records czar Berry Gordy, her drinking problem and pleas for help, a never-ending desire to be the Supremes' lead singer, and her attempts to get her life back on track after being brutally expelled from the group. This is a tumultuous and heartbreaking story of a world-famous performer whose life ended at the age of 32 as a lonely mother of three who had only recently recovered from years of poverty and despair.