Variety theatre’s greatest days are brought vividly to life in Heyday of the Hippodrome by Mark Jones (Bright Pen, £8.99).
At the beginning of the twentieth century Hippodromes, Coliseums, Palaces and Empires opened all over Britain, and Eastbourne’s Hippodrome immediately became the most popular theatre in town, running twice-nightly, 52 weeks a year for half a century. Its management fought off predatory syndicates and steered independently through both World Wars, the rise of cinema, radio, talkies and, finally, the advent of television.
Meticulously researched, the true and unique story of this remarkable theatre is revealed for the first time. Its cast ranges from Houdini to Harry Secombe, Marie Lloyd to Max Bygraves, General William Booth to Gracie Fields. Many legendary acts are described and local press reviews quoted.
But this is not simply a book about the Royal Hippodrome. The narrative is set in the context of Eastbourne’s growth as a resort and the wider history of variety theatre
“Absolutely superb … a huge amount of excellent material. It will be a rich treasure trove for lovers of variety,” writes Emeritus Professor John Pick. “The book is beautifully produced and is in every way a triumph.”
FACTFILE:Heydey Of The Hippodrome
Theatre History
ISBN: 978-0-7552-1384-9
RRP: £8.99
Published by Bright Pen
Available from authorsonline.co.uk, Amazon (also in e-book form)
Paperback, 228 pp, 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
Book review blog site, with some entertainment material from time-to-time.
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Waterstone's Book Signing For Please, Sir! Actor
David Barry, Frankie Abbott in Please, Sir! will be signing copies of his latest book, Mr Micawber Down Under, in the Earl Street branch of Waterstone's in Maidstone, Kent, between 11.30 and 3.30 on Saturday 10th December.
Mr Micawber Down Under is the tale of the Micawber family who, having bid a fond farewell to David Copperfield, emigrate from England to Australia in the 1850s.
The publication of the book coincides with the Charles Dickens bicentenary in 2012, and David Barry, during the book signing is happy to talk to customers on how he came to write the book, a history which goes back to the mid-eighties when he was commissioned by Working Title Films to write Mr Micawber as a film script.
Mr Micawber Down Under is the tale of the Micawber family who, having bid a fond farewell to David Copperfield, emigrate from England to Australia in the 1850s.
The publication of the book coincides with the Charles Dickens bicentenary in 2012, and David Barry, during the book signing is happy to talk to customers on how he came to write the book, a history which goes back to the mid-eighties when he was commissioned by Working Title Films to write Mr Micawber as a film script.
The Archers an Unofficial Companion
The Archers an Unofficial Companion is by Rosie Dillon and it is a must have Christmas present for anyone who is even vaguely interested in The Archers!
The book is exceptionally well-researched and equally well-written.
It will remind the reader of stuff they knew (an example is when Pat and Tony Archer took the then brave decision to go organic) and stuff they either did not know, or had forgotten. Or had happened before they started to listen.
There are regular quiz night at the Bull sections which ask the reader questions about all sorts of facts, some of them very quirky indeed!
My grandfather -who used to help run the family farm in Warwickshire, before ill-health brought about by a particularly bad case of shellshock and a post World War 1 agricultural recession forced him from the land- always insisted on everyone listening to The Archers and as the author Rosie Dillon lives in rural Warwickshire, I feel there is a kindred spirit there!
The book contains biographies of key characters, famous people who played themselves, potted histories of some of the key locations in The Archers and the love lives of some of the faithful and feckless people who have inhabited Ambridge and surrounding locations since it all began in 1950.
It touches on their triumphs and their tragedies and the ordinary, day-to-day lives of Midland countryfolks.
It is available in hardback at £9.99, and can be bought through the That's Books Amazon book shop on this site.
The ISBN is 978-1-84953-178-8.
www.summersdale.com
The book is exceptionally well-researched and equally well-written.
It will remind the reader of stuff they knew (an example is when Pat and Tony Archer took the then brave decision to go organic) and stuff they either did not know, or had forgotten. Or had happened before they started to listen.
There are regular quiz night at the Bull sections which ask the reader questions about all sorts of facts, some of them very quirky indeed!
My grandfather -who used to help run the family farm in Warwickshire, before ill-health brought about by a particularly bad case of shellshock and a post World War 1 agricultural recession forced him from the land- always insisted on everyone listening to The Archers and as the author Rosie Dillon lives in rural Warwickshire, I feel there is a kindred spirit there!
The book contains biographies of key characters, famous people who played themselves, potted histories of some of the key locations in The Archers and the love lives of some of the faithful and feckless people who have inhabited Ambridge and surrounding locations since it all began in 1950.
It touches on their triumphs and their tragedies and the ordinary, day-to-day lives of Midland countryfolks.
It is available in hardback at £9.99, and can be bought through the That's Books Amazon book shop on this site.
The ISBN is 978-1-84953-178-8.
www.summersdale.com
Britain's 110 Year Old Teenager Launches Her Autobiography
On December 3 2011 teenager Hayley Okines was 14.
Nothing unusual about that, you might say?
But Hayley is unlike no other teenager. She is one of only 80 children in the world suffering from the rare genetic condition progeria, which means she ages eight times faster than the average person. It's a condition which affects one in eight million children and in medical terms she has the body of a 110-year-old woman.
The average life expectancy of progeria children is 13. Her best friend with progeria died at the age of 11. So Hayley never expected to see her 14th birthday. But thanks to her part in pioneering drug trials in America over the last four years, Hayley is now looking forward to her life as a young woman. In the new year she returns to Boston to take part in trials for a drug which has been dubbed 'the elixir of life' and which scientists hope could extend life for all humans.
To mark her special birthday, Hayley has launched her memoir Old Before My Time: Hayley Okines' Life With Progeria with Accent Press Ltd. In it Hayley and her mum Kerry, 37, describe the highs and lows of Hayley's full life, which has taken her to many places beyond the reach of a normal teenager. She has travelled the world and fulfilled many of her dreams which include meeting her pop idols Kylie Minogue and Justin Bieber, crocodile hunting with the late Steve Irwin and being a mascot for Chelsea Football Club. She even persuaded HRH Prince Charles to sign an autograph for her.
Now Hayley's dream is to become a best-selling author in time for her birthday and a Twitter campaign has been set up by her friends and supporters to get her into the book charts alongside her writing heroes. Hayley's book charted at number 11 on the Amazon best-sellers list last month on pre-order sales alone and is currently number one in its category on Amazon and No 1 in pre-orders on Play.com
Hayley says: 'I have always loved reading, so having a book about me is really cool. Writing my book has helped me to remember all the happy and sad times in my life.'
Here's what the celebs say:
'Hayley's an extraordinary girl' Kylie Minogue
'Hayley just lights up a room. She's so full of happiness she lights up a room'. Lorraine Kelly
'Hayley possesses one of the strongest life-forces we have ever encountered.' Richard & Judy
FACTFILE:
Hayley and her mum Kerry live in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, with her younger brother and sister, Louis and Ruby. Since the age of four Hayley has been the face of Channel 5's critically acclaimed Extraordinary People. Her films have aired to audiences of 1.7 million and by raising awareness of this cruel and incredibly rare condition she is now recognised wherever she goes. Her fifth documentary Hayley Okines: World's Oldest Teenager was broadcast on C5 last month.
Follow Hayley's blog hayleyokines.wordpress.com
Old Before My Time: My Life With Progeria by Hayley and Kerry Okines Published by Accent Press Ltd, 2011, price £9.99. ISBN: 978 1 9081 9255 4
Nothing unusual about that, you might say?
But Hayley is unlike no other teenager. She is one of only 80 children in the world suffering from the rare genetic condition progeria, which means she ages eight times faster than the average person. It's a condition which affects one in eight million children and in medical terms she has the body of a 110-year-old woman.
The average life expectancy of progeria children is 13. Her best friend with progeria died at the age of 11. So Hayley never expected to see her 14th birthday. But thanks to her part in pioneering drug trials in America over the last four years, Hayley is now looking forward to her life as a young woman. In the new year she returns to Boston to take part in trials for a drug which has been dubbed 'the elixir of life' and which scientists hope could extend life for all humans.
To mark her special birthday, Hayley has launched her memoir Old Before My Time: Hayley Okines' Life With Progeria with Accent Press Ltd. In it Hayley and her mum Kerry, 37, describe the highs and lows of Hayley's full life, which has taken her to many places beyond the reach of a normal teenager. She has travelled the world and fulfilled many of her dreams which include meeting her pop idols Kylie Minogue and Justin Bieber, crocodile hunting with the late Steve Irwin and being a mascot for Chelsea Football Club. She even persuaded HRH Prince Charles to sign an autograph for her.
Now Hayley's dream is to become a best-selling author in time for her birthday and a Twitter campaign has been set up by her friends and supporters to get her into the book charts alongside her writing heroes. Hayley's book charted at number 11 on the Amazon best-sellers list last month on pre-order sales alone and is currently number one in its category on Amazon and No 1 in pre-orders on Play.com
Hayley says: 'I have always loved reading, so having a book about me is really cool. Writing my book has helped me to remember all the happy and sad times in my life.'
Here's what the celebs say:
'Hayley's an extraordinary girl' Kylie Minogue
'Hayley just lights up a room. She's so full of happiness she lights up a room'. Lorraine Kelly
'Hayley possesses one of the strongest life-forces we have ever encountered.' Richard & Judy
FACTFILE:
Hayley and her mum Kerry live in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, with her younger brother and sister, Louis and Ruby. Since the age of four Hayley has been the face of Channel 5's critically acclaimed Extraordinary People. Her films have aired to audiences of 1.7 million and by raising awareness of this cruel and incredibly rare condition she is now recognised wherever she goes. Her fifth documentary Hayley Okines: World's Oldest Teenager was broadcast on C5 last month.
Follow Hayley's blog hayleyokines.wordpress.com
Old Before My Time: My Life With Progeria by Hayley and Kerry Okines Published by Accent Press Ltd, 2011, price £9.99. ISBN: 978 1 9081 9255 4
Political Wit Quips and Quotes from the Back Benches and Beyond
Political Wit Quips and Quotes from the Back Benches and Beyond is a new collection of witty remarks, devastating come-backs and quick retorts from politicians and others from the distant past to last year's news.
Steven Gauge has brought together a wide and eclectic selection of witty remarks from all sides of the political divide and some from no side of the political divide at all.
The quotations are helpfully divided into 25 different chapters that cover everything from the art of politics to civil servants, the USA, the economy, spin, conference classics, the media and much more besides.
From those you might expect (Churchill, Livingstone, Thatcher, Disraeli ) to some you might be pleasantly surprised to see quoted within this interesting and stimulating book (Leo Amey, Arnold Toynbee, Eleanor Roosevelt, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Adlai Steventon, J. K. Galbraith, Eric Idle, Ernest Benn, G. K. Chesteron, Robert Louis Stevenson, W. C. Fields, Konrad Adenauer, Boy George and Aristophanes.
Some of the remarks made really tell us more about the person uttering them, rather than their intended target. And some of the remarks show that even the great and the good amongst us can say some remarkably daft things, from time-to-time!
The book is published by Summersdale (www.summersdale.com) in hardback at £9.99 and it will make the perfect stocking filler for this Christmas.
The ISBN is 978-1-84953-188-7.
This book is available through the That's Books Amazon book store on this site.
Steven Gauge has brought together a wide and eclectic selection of witty remarks from all sides of the political divide and some from no side of the political divide at all.
The quotations are helpfully divided into 25 different chapters that cover everything from the art of politics to civil servants, the USA, the economy, spin, conference classics, the media and much more besides.
From those you might expect (Churchill, Livingstone, Thatcher, Disraeli ) to some you might be pleasantly surprised to see quoted within this interesting and stimulating book (Leo Amey, Arnold Toynbee, Eleanor Roosevelt, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Adlai Steventon, J. K. Galbraith, Eric Idle, Ernest Benn, G. K. Chesteron, Robert Louis Stevenson, W. C. Fields, Konrad Adenauer, Boy George and Aristophanes.
Some of the remarks made really tell us more about the person uttering them, rather than their intended target. And some of the remarks show that even the great and the good amongst us can say some remarkably daft things, from time-to-time!
The book is published by Summersdale (www.summersdale.com) in hardback at £9.99 and it will make the perfect stocking filler for this Christmas.
The ISBN is 978-1-84953-188-7.
This book is available through the That's Books Amazon book store on this site.
Badger the Mystical Mutt
Badger the Mystical Mutt is a special dog. A very special dog indeed. He is magical, though his magic doesn't always work out in quite the way Badger intends.
Badger is aided in his magical shenanigans by his red and white spotted neckerchief which is very magical indeed. And is known as chief.
Badger has a thing about towers of freshly buttered toasted bread (EDITOR: I am warming to Badger already, I have a thing about towers of freshly buttered toasted bread, too!) and helping other people with his magic.
The book begins with some prose that is rather magical in itself: "It was a quarter past midsummer."
Pet Idol has come to the town in which Badger lives. And the favourite to be the winner is Hamish, who is a floppy-eared spaniel. But this brings attention to the lane and this is attention that is most unwelcome to Top Dog, who is the leader of a gang of stray dogs. They blame Hamish for the fact that the Dog Catcher is hunting them down.
And then, Badger the Mystical Mutt steps in to save the day. Can Badger and his uncertain magic save Hamish from Top Dog and his gang? Can he help ensure that Hamish becomes Pet Idol?
But what is the significance of the crystal cave and what they see inside it? What is the meaning of the scruffy toy unicorn? Can the dogs be saved from the Dog Catcher?
This book is very well written and it is filled with magical, wild events and will be ideal for parents to read with their children. It is MUST HAVE Christmas present. It is a moving and joyful story and did warm the heart of this cynical old journalist. Was there a slight tear of joy towards the end of the book? Maybe this old, cynical journalist is younger at heart than he realised and not nearly as cynical as he thought!
This book is written by Lyn McNichol and Laura Cameron Jackson and is published by the Lunicorn Press in paperback at £5.99. (An extremely low price for such a fantastic book to my mind, but then, what do I know?!) The ISBN is 978-0-9569640-0-7. This book can be ordered through the That's Books Amazon Shop.
You can find out more at www.badgerthemysticalmutt.com
And please check out these videos!
You can find out more at www.badgerthemysticalmutt.com
Badger is aided in his magical shenanigans by his red and white spotted neckerchief which is very magical indeed. And is known as chief.
Badger has a thing about towers of freshly buttered toasted bread (EDITOR: I am warming to Badger already, I have a thing about towers of freshly buttered toasted bread, too!) and helping other people with his magic.
The book begins with some prose that is rather magical in itself: "It was a quarter past midsummer."
Pet Idol has come to the town in which Badger lives. And the favourite to be the winner is Hamish, who is a floppy-eared spaniel. But this brings attention to the lane and this is attention that is most unwelcome to Top Dog, who is the leader of a gang of stray dogs. They blame Hamish for the fact that the Dog Catcher is hunting them down.
And then, Badger the Mystical Mutt steps in to save the day. Can Badger and his uncertain magic save Hamish from Top Dog and his gang? Can he help ensure that Hamish becomes Pet Idol?
But what is the significance of the crystal cave and what they see inside it? What is the meaning of the scruffy toy unicorn? Can the dogs be saved from the Dog Catcher?
This book is very well written and it is filled with magical, wild events and will be ideal for parents to read with their children. It is MUST HAVE Christmas present. It is a moving and joyful story and did warm the heart of this cynical old journalist. Was there a slight tear of joy towards the end of the book? Maybe this old, cynical journalist is younger at heart than he realised and not nearly as cynical as he thought!
This book is written by Lyn McNichol and Laura Cameron Jackson and is published by the Lunicorn Press in paperback at £5.99. (An extremely low price for such a fantastic book to my mind, but then, what do I know?!) The ISBN is 978-0-9569640-0-7. This book can be ordered through the That's Books Amazon Shop.
You can find out more at www.badgerthemysticalmutt.com
And please check out these videos!
Historical Tweets
What if Tweets had been available to our ancestors? What if famous people of long ago had been able to send messages of no more than 140 characters?
Alan Beard and Alec McNayr took this wild and somewhat wacky proposition and have turned it into a hilarious and sometimes eye-opening book which will make a fantastic Chirstmas stocking filler!
What would Plato have had to say in 140 characters or less? Merlin? Henry VIII? Gandhi? Shakespeare? Billy the Kid? Oscar Wilde? Albert Einstein? Marie Curie? Marilyn Monroe?
Sometimes funny, sometimes insightful, sometimes both, this will keep the recipient chuckling or LOLing for many happy hours!
It is published by Summersdale at £9.99 in hardback and the ISBN is 978 1 84953 232 7.
Available from the That's Books Amazon Store at a discounted price.
Alan Beard and Alec McNayr took this wild and somewhat wacky proposition and have turned it into a hilarious and sometimes eye-opening book which will make a fantastic Chirstmas stocking filler!
What would Plato have had to say in 140 characters or less? Merlin? Henry VIII? Gandhi? Shakespeare? Billy the Kid? Oscar Wilde? Albert Einstein? Marie Curie? Marilyn Monroe?
Sometimes funny, sometimes insightful, sometimes both, this will keep the recipient chuckling or LOLing for many happy hours!
It is published by Summersdale at £9.99 in hardback and the ISBN is 978 1 84953 232 7.
Available from the That's Books Amazon Store at a discounted price.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)