Wigston, in the heart of tranquil Leicestershire, was transformed from a peaceful existence in August 1914 as war clouds swept across the skies of Europe. This village, the home of farming folk and framework knitters, suddenly witnessed its young men leaving, in vast numbers, to answer the call of King and Country. Greater demands were placed upon those who remained as the factories and farms responded to the needs of a wartime nation. A unique presence was the Glen Parva ...

Three semi-autobiographical plays by Victor Pemberton telling the story of one family across the 20th centuryNovelist and playwright Victor Pemberton was best known for scripting Doctor Who and working on Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock. His many plays for BBC Radio included The Slide, Kill the Pharaoh. and this three-part family saga, a love story inspired by the lives of his own parents and starring Nerys Hughes, Nigel Anthony, Sheila...

A collection of full-cast sci-fi dramas from the late, great James Follett, introduced by Follett himself and featuring his bestselling series EarthsearchNovelist, playwright and screenwriter James Follett wrote over 25 novels, more than 50 radio dramas and numerous TV scripts, including several episodes of Blake’s 7. He was one of the most borrowed authors in UK libraries, and his works have been translated into over a dozen languages.Thi...

A diverse selection of dramas by award-winning writer RC SherriffPlaywright and screenwriter RC Sherriff was best known for his anti-war classic Journey’s End, based on his own experiences of serving on the Western Front. He was a co-writer on several successful screenplays, including The Invisible Man and The Dam Busters, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Goodbye, Mr Chips. Beginning with Journey’s End

David Valla stars in a gripping story of drugs, deception and betrayal set in 1960s LondonTransport yourself to London’s swinging sixties and the dark underbelly of the capital city in this immersive thriller that will have you hooked from the start. Find yourself trapped in the brutal world of drug dealers, vice and deception. This is an evocative and gripping listen with a full cast and stunning score.It’s the late 1960s and Nico Gachet is a young French s...

A first-hand account of World War I by a nineteen-year-old Englishman who led a platoon into the carnage of the Battle of the Somme.While researching his excellent earlier book: Veterans of World War I, author Richard Van Emden encountered a fascinating personality of that long-ago conflict. After witnessing German naval attacks on British civilians, Norman Collins enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders of the 51st Highland Division, even though he was under ...

Many heroes emerged during the First World War, but only one man was twice awarded the Victoria Cross during that conflict. This was Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps as Medical Officer to the 10th Battalion, the Kings (Liverpool Regiment)—the Liverpool Scottish. The author has unearthed a forgotten archive of his letters from the Front and been allowed access to the Chavasse family correspondence, photographs and other documents. The result is a fascin...

Australians have celebrated the Anzacs for nearly a century--but what do we really know of what war did to them? Charles Bean, historian of the citizen soldiers of the Australian Imperial Force, wrote that its history spanned 'the good and the bad'--but so far Australians have only looked at the good.Leading war historian Peter Stanley reveals the citizen soldiers the army regarded as its 'bad characters'. These were men who went absent and deserted, caught or concealed VD, got dru...

In the early 1870s, the boomtown of Birmingham erupted in a series of vicious gang wars. Mobs of youths armed with stones, knives and belt buckles fought pitched battles in a struggle for territorial supremacy. Known as "sloggers", they drew their numbers from the workshops and factories that made guns, nails and jewellery, and lived cheek-by-jowl in overcrowded, insanitary slums.Author Philip Gooderson traces the history of these warring factions from their first appeara...

WINNER OF THE BRITISH SPORT BOOK AWARDS - RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEARThis is the story of 15 men killed in the Great War. All played rugby for one London club; none lived to hear the final whistle. Rugby brought them together; rugby led the rush to war. They came from Britain and the Empire to fight in every theatre and service, among them a poet, playwright and perfumer. Some were decorated and died heroically; others fought and fell quietly. Together their sto...

This is a scrupulously researched and superbly written account of the events of that fateful week. The narrative proceeds almost on an hour-by-hour basis building up a picture which, while immensely detailed, is none the less presented with the greatest clarity. First published in 1964, The Easter Rebellion quickly established itself as the outstanding narrative history of the 1916 Rising in Ireland. It provides an objective and exciting appraisal of what was perhaps the most decisive week...

Australians remember the dead of 25 April 1915 on Anzac Day every year. But do we know the name of a single soldier who died that day? What do we really know about the men supposedly most cherished in the national memory of war?Peter Stanley goes looking for the Lost Boys of Anzac: the men of the very first wave to land at dawn on 25 April 1915 and who died on that day. There were exactly 101 of them. They were the first to volunteer, the first to go into action, and the first of t...