Teenage Tommy

Benjamin Clouting was just sixteen years old when he embarked with the British Expeditionary Force for France in August 1914. The youngest man in the 4th Dragoon Guards, he took part in the BEF's celebrated first action at Casteau on August 22nd, and, two days later, had his horse shot from under him during the famous cavalry charge of the 4th Dragoon Guards and the 9th Lancers at Audregnies. Ben served on the Western front during every major engagement of the war except Loos, was wounded twice, and in 1919 went with the Army of Occupation to Cologne. The son of a stable groom, Ben was brought up in the beautiful Sussex countryside near Lewes and from his earliest years was, as he often said himself, "crazy to be a soldier". He worked briefly as a stable boy before joining up in 1913; his training was barely completed when war broke out. The Regiment, knowing Ben to be under age, tried to stop him embarking for France, but he flatly refused to be left behind. During the next four years, he served under officers immortalized in Great War history, including Major Tom Bridges, Captain Hornby, and Lieutenant-Colonel Adrien Carton de Wiart VC.Teenage Tommy is a detailed account of a trooper's life at the front, vividly recalling, for example, the privations suffered during the retreat from Mons. and later, the desperate fighting to hold back the German onslaught at 2nd Ypres. But this is more than just a memoir about trench warfare. Ben's lively sense of humor and healthy disrespect for petty restrictions make this an entertaining as well as a moving story of life at the front.

It's the f**ked up feel-good book you never knew you needed... The story begins in 2020, when middle-aged Sarah learns of Tommy's untimely passing and is overwhelmed by forgotten memories of the summer they spent together three decades earlier. Consumed with regret that they never had closure, Sarah decides to write departed Tommy a letter she can never send. Sarah relives their hilarious summer as teens in the Ozarks, shares intimate details of her f**ked up life and inspiring comeback story, then has a remarkable mental breakthrough! It's a tragic account of living with mental illness, addiction and repressed trauma. But also a beautiful tale of the transcendent power of enduring friendship. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you may laugh and cry! You might even pee a little. But you won't be able to stop reading until you reach the heartwarming conclusion. Inspired by real events.

• The first ever complete and authorised biography of Britain's first rock 'n' roller and all-round entertainment legend • Fully approved and endorsed by Sir Tommy Steele himself (the first time he has given approval for such a work to be completed) • A completely comprehensive and detailed study of Tommy's incomparable 65-year career • Handsomely illustrated with rare and archival photographs from Tommy Steele's archive • Foreword by Sir Tim Rice with direct contributions from Dame Judi Dench, Petula Clark, Elaine Paige, Paul Nicholas, Lesley Ann Warren and also from many of Tommy's theatrical co-stars In the summer of 1956, while on shore leave from the Merchant Navy, Thomas Hicks was spotted playing a new type of music in a coffee bar in London. Having never heard anything like this 'rock' performed in Britain, he became an overnight sensation―never returning to his ship. He changed his name to Tommy Steele and for 65 years he has been Britain's greatest showman. In a remarkable career spanning radio, records, Broadway and Hollywood, Tommy Steele started the rock revolution in the UK before moving to lighter, family entertainment and becoming a well-loved household name. He received an OBE for Services to Entertainment in 1979 and a knighthood for Services to Entertainment and Charity in 2020. He has conquered the West End, Hollywood and Broadway; holds records for the longest-running one-man-show in the London's West End and also the record for most appearances at the hallowed London Palladium. However, his remarkable career has never been detailed accurately and comprehensively―until now. Authorised by Sir Tommy Steele himself, A Life in the Spotlight offers readers a detailed insight into the career of an unrivalled entertainment legend, with countless facts, stories, details and anecdotes never before committed to print.

Without Judgment, the first book of the groundbreaking Parent/Teen Stories series, is a collection of short stories written by teens and parents that have experienced or are experiencing difficult teen years. Here there is no judgment placed on the stories: no suggestions, no finger pointing, no what-ifs. It is an outlet for both the reader and the writer. The reader will benefit from finding a story they can relate to their own life and the writer will benefit by sharing a painful experience in order to start or continue the healing process. When she was raising her own troubled teens, Susan Clawson, the coordinator of the Parent/Teen Stories series, struggled with the judgment she perceived that came from high school guidance counselors, therapists and the police. It left her feeling alone, frustrated and embarrassed. It wasn't until Susan attended a seminar as part of a program her oldest daughter was enrolled in, that she realized how many people were going through similar experiences. As stories were shared, Susan took comfort in the fact that she was not alone and she found a clearer perspective on her own situation. It is her hope that both the writers and readers of the stories in Without Judgment will find similar connections and be reassured that they are not alone in what they are experiencing. Author Bio: ABOUT THE AUTHOR-Susan presently resides in Massachusetts with her husband and fifteen year old daughter. Both her older children live out of state. For more information, please visit www.parentteenstories.com

This publication, SOMME THE BATTLE 100 YEARS ON, has been published by Pen & Sword Books Ltd, with the purpose of creating an awareness and an interest in theSomme battles of 1916. For nearly thirty years, Pen & Sword Books Ltd has published numerous titles covering various Pals battalions formed for the Big Push. They have also been fore-runners in setting up the Battleground Series guides, which are packed with then and now illustrations, using battle maps from the time and road maps of the sites today. They are all specifically designed to take the tourer safely through these now historic sites. Many more books have been written and published by Pen & Sword on the other battles of the First World War. Only a small portion relating to 1 July 1916 has been taken from each book appearing in this publication. Much more information can been gleaned from reading about the events of the Somme battles and the awful aftermath of the day through reading the books mentioned at the end of each extract.These publications would not have been possible without the skill and dedication of our authors who have painstakingly researched and written about the subjects that bring to light these historic events.

Teenage talk is fascinating, though so far teenage language has not been given the attention in linguistic research that it merits. The dearth of investigations into teenage language is due in part to under representation in language corpora. With the Bergen Corpus of London Teenage Language (COLT) a large corpus of teenage language has become available for research. The first part of Trends in Teenage Talk gives a description how the COLT corpus was collected and processed; the speakers are presented with special emphasis on the recruits and their various backgrounds; ending with a description what the COLT teenagers talk about and how they do it. The second part of the book is devoted to the most prominent features of the teenagers' talk: 'slanguage'; how reported speech is manifested; a survey of non-standard grammatical features; the use of intensifiers; tags; and interactional behaviour in terms of conflict talk.

The classic book on teenagers and their films, thoroughly revised and expanded.

Tommy's story begins in an impoverished Salford of a bygone time. It follows Tommy through his childhood and youth. This leads into the main part of the story about Tommy's experiences as a British soldier seeing combat in the Libyan Desert with the British 7th Armoured Division, which leads to capture and life as a prisoner of war and eventual escape and spectacular journey to reach freedom. The story has twists and turns that will keep the reader not knowing how it will finish until the end. It contains shocking first-hand accounts of war and the harshness of living in a war environment, but also moments of hope and endeavour, and the laughter of life and romance in the most bizarre of situations. The story travels between continents and countries, highlighting the importance of how a grasp of different languages can remove cultural barriers and, in Tommy's story, probably saved his life.