When I Was A Nipper

In When I Was a Nipper Alan Titchmarsh goes on a personal and nostalgic journey through post-War Britain in search of treasured values and traditions that were once the soul of society. With characteristic wit, warmth and humour he draws on the experience of his own childhood, and also takes a broader perspective, creating a wonderfully detailed and evocative portrait of a way of life that is fast disappearing, and asks what can we learn from this era of austerity to make our lives better today? Born in Yorkshire in 1949 and brought up in a Britain still recovering from World War 2, Alan remembers a time of relative calm, when it was enough to return home at night knowing that the house would still be standing. We were known throughout the world for our patience, resourcefulness and resilience. 'Mustn't grumble' was almost a national catchphrase, and queuing was second nature. Peppered with wonderful archive photographs and advertisements, When I Was a Nipper takes us back to those days, down high streets and through farmyards, on to trolley buses and into local pubs. As we move towards a global economy, as communities fragment and customs are lost, When I Was a Nipper captures a world that is fast receding into history. It's powerfully nostalgic for those who remember those days, but it's also Alan's timely call to all recession-hit Brits to heed the lessons of austerity Britain: 'make do and mend'; 'look on the bright side' and 'take the knocks on the chin'.

A Catherine Cookson story of loyalty and determination set against the harsh background of life in a north-eastern mining area in the early 1800s. 15-year-old Sandy loses his job and his home when the small farm he lives on is sold, and then is horrified when The Nipper is sold as a pit-pony.

Charlie lives with Jock, his violent, disturbed, alcoholic father in a Dundee tenement. Money is scarce, and Jock′s love of vodka means that Charlie bears the brunt of his abuse. Often too bruised to go to school, Charlie lives in constant fear of Jock′s next outburst... Somehow Charlie escaped from the everyday struggle for survival. His dog Bonnie wasn′t so lucky. Charlie′s way out came in the form of a beautiful young woman who became the love of his life and his saviour.

Few athletes hold a record comparable to that of Oscar Chalupsky. He made history at the age of fifteen as the first person to win both the Junior and Senior Ironman titles on the same day at the South African National Lifesaving Championships, he was the country’s spokesman at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and he is a multiple-times global surfski champion, having won the internationally famous Molokai to Oahu World Surfski Marathon championships in Hawaii a record twelve times – his most recent victory being at the age of forty-nine. Then, in 2019, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable bone marrow cancer and told he had six months to live. But as with everything else Oscar does, he is determined to emerge victorious. He continues to paddle kayaks, play golf, and with a combination of medical treatment, exercise, iron determination and unconquerable optimism, he has defied every doctor’s prediction to date. How does he do it? In this book, Oscar relives some of his most exhilarating and nail-biting races, and shares the lessons he has learnt from winning on the international surf lifesaving, kayak and surfski circuits as well as running several successful businesses. The final chapters recount his courageous battle against cancer, the vital support of his family and friends, and his refusal to let the deadly disease dictate his life. No Retreat, No Surrender is an uplifting account of grit, perseverance, talent and attitude, vividly capturing the determined mindset of an inspirational sporting legend.

After watching It’s a Wonderful Life for the first time, thirty-one-year-old Julie Shelly’s predictable small-town life turns anything but as she begins experiencing uncanny parallels between her life and the fictional George Bailey’s. Initially intrigued by the way her life seems to imitate the classic movie, Julie secretly hopes the strange similarities bear some kind of deeper existential significance. But real life soon brings her back down to earth and she dismisses the episodes as mere coincidence and the wishful thinking of her restless spirit. Julie decides to put the Wonderful Life foolishness behind her…until a tragedy puts her faith to the test and forces her to view the odd movie coincidences in a completely different light. Her epiphany ultimately spurs her toward an extraordinary, life-changing encounter with a vulnerable stranger on Christmas Eve.

Just after 7pm on the evening of Tuesday 4 March 1969, at the Old Bailey, the jurors filed back into Court 1 to give their verdict on Ronald Kray. The word 'guilty' brought to a triumphant conclusion the months of painstaking work put in by Read and his team in their efforts to bring the infamous Kray brothers to justice. Leonard Read tells his own story, that of the small Nottingham lad, nicknamed Nipper, who went to join the Metropolitan Police because of their less stringent height requirements - and who rose through the ranks to become part of the team solving the Great Train Robbery. In 1964 Read was invited to put together a team to 'have a go' at the Kray gang - the seemingly untouchable East End criminals whose reign of terror involved blackmail, protection rackets and finally murder. In an enthralling recreation of the operation, Read and Morton cover the case from the first time Nipper saw Ronald Kray in a pub in the Whitechapel Road - where he turned up flanked by minders - to the brothers' eventual arrest in May 1968 and the nailbiting suspense of their sensational trial.

A story about running away, crashing through and hitting my stride When the whole world seems set against you, how you keep the negative voice out of your head? Candice Warner knows all about the damaging consequences of living life in front of the cameras and has learned a lot about how to insulate from the worst of public life - for herself, as a wife and partner, and as a mother. Growing up with, competing in and living among some of the most abrasive environments, Candice has had her integrity attacked, her worth questioned, and her decisions, body and mind judged. But she has never been stronger or more determined to forge the space she and her family need to be safe, and to live a life filled with love, purpose, ambition and optimism. Candid, raw and uplifting, Candice tells it straight - about the ugly, bruising pivotal moments that almost broke her, to the extraordinary turning points that buoyed her ... and the saving grace of the transformative, regenerative power of running. From her beginnings as Australia's youngest Ironwoman and the joys and heartbreak of elite sport, to being publicly shamed as a woman, and her crucial role in Australia's most successful and highest profile partnership, Running Strong is Candice's story - about climbing back from rock bottom, the power of creating precious sanctuary for yourself and protecting the people closest to you.