Where roofer meets refugee; hedonism meets idealism and the distinction between madness and sanity blurs. As a quietener roofer Billy French is awarded a prestigious and big-money contract by the corrupt bursar of Archer College, Cambridge.  Billy’s gypsy wife and business partner, the hard-nosed, finely curved Franka has secret plans for the pot of gold.  They’re on their way … until a posse of middle class duckers and divers intervene. Dani Nkpagayee, Ogoni acti...

Arthur Wharton was the world's first black professional footballer, and the first African to play professional cricket in Yorkshire and Lancashire leagues. Those promoting Empire as an expression of white supremacy found him a supreme irritation, and he eventually died in poverty.

The intimate biography of High Court justice Michael Kirby.For most of his life, Michael Kirby has been a man on a tightrope. A person of strong views working in a world governed by objectivity, he has had to balance the potent, sometimes contradictory impulses of passion and duty, honesty and discretion, advocacy and neutrality.He had to hide his real self from the world for decades, while being the public voice of countless human-rights and legal issues. ...

The Game of Our Lives is a masterly portrait of soccer and contemporary Britain. Soccer in the United Kingdom has evolved from a jaded, working-class tradition to a sport at the heart of popular culture, from an economic mess to a booming entertainment industry that has conquered the world. The changes in the game, David Goldblatt shows, uncannily mirror the evolution of British society.In the 1980s, soccer was described as a slum game played by slum people in slum stadium...

The dazzlingly funny second volume of Danny Baker's memoirs: the television years.Since my first book was published I have had countless friends and family members get in touch to say how come I hadn't included this story or that tale. Was I ashamed of being shot twice, once up the arse, in Jamaica Road? How long should a man live with such a secret? If by retrospectively dropping my trousers every few pages I can reveal a fuller picture of myself during these year...

The former Prime Minister examines the early history of one of the great loves of his life in a book that sheds new light on the summer game’s social origins.All his life John Major has loved cricket. In ‘More Than a Game’ he examines it from its origins up to the coming of the First World War. Along the way he considers the crucial role of the wealthy patrons who gambled huge sums on early matches; the truth behind the legends that have grown up around the famous Hambledon Club; c...

The third book in the Jack Parlabane series, from author Christopher Brookmyre.Jack Parlabane, the investigative journalist who is not averse to breaking the law for the sake of a good story, has finally been caught on the petard of his own self-confidence and is experiencing accommodation courtesy of Her Majesty. The fledgling Scottish parliament is in catatonic shock after experiencing its first dose of Westminster sleaze. The Catholic Church of Scotland is takin...

"A gem. . . . Shaw's writing is true British procedural; lean and spectacle-free, it nevertheless grabs and doesn't let go." — Shelf Awareness, starred reviewPolice Sergeant William South has a good reason to shy away from murder investigations: he is a murderer himself.A methodical, diligent, and exceptionally bright detective, South is an avid birdwatcher and trusted figure in his small town on the rugged Kentish coast. He also lives with the deepl...

Manchester United and Liverpool were born to be enemies.Both emerged in the cultural battlefield of the north-west of England in the late nineteenth century. One a team of railway workers, the other the plaything of a wealthy freemason, the two clubs emerged blinking into a period where the two great civic centres of the north-west were at each others throats over the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal, and whatever else they could find.When, in the late 1970s, the c...

'An active pleasure to read' Mail on SundayHarold Wilson's famous reference to 'white heat' captured the optimistic spirit of a society in the midst of breathtaking change. From the gaudy pleasures of Swinging London to the tragic bloodshed in Northern Ireland, from the intrigues of Westminster to the drama of the World Cup, British life seemed to have taken on a dramatic new momentum.The memories, images and colourful personalities of those heady ...

Craig Campbell's quiet life as an insurance investigator is suddenly disrupted when Ann Kilpatrick asks him to find her son's killer. At first he doesn't believe he can help but reluctantly agrees.Before long he is plunged into a world of corruption, deceit and greed. His journey takes him from the underbelly of Glaswegian society to the rural idyll of a millionaire's mansion.Along the way, a death close to home ensures that he has a personal reason to face the dangers and ...

The dark streets of Manchester's underworld play host to a vigilante of the worst kind. Wanting to rid the city of evil, the assassin constructs a poisoned dart and scours the newspaper headlines for the next victim...Meanwhile, a young prostitute is viciously attacked and Doctor Clare Burtonall is placed in the unenviable position of deciding whether or not to terminate her life support. And as Clare contemplates the girl's future, her boyfriend, Bonn, does what he can to protect the othe...