Ane Compact of Villany

Ane Compact of Villany is a short and utterly fascinating book by Lindsay Campbell.

It is a thorough and compelling and extremely well-researched and well-written book that relates the story of a criminal gang that plagued Argyll during the 17 century.

It looks very carefully at a gang who operated between the 1680s right through to the 1700s who stole from their own neighbours and kin and who are described as: "early Jacobites, thieves housebreakers and highwaymen."

They brought misery and fear to the populace of the area, and, despite the fact that the Argyll hill country was already ravaged by a famine, they ran protection rackets, rustled cattle, stole horses, kidnapped members of rival clans and so-forth.

They were the scourge of the authorities and they seemed to be able to operate with impunity.

But the plight of a poor widow woman enraged one working man who became so enraged by the gang's wickedness that he determined that he would take down this band of 'stouthrieves' and bring them to justice.

Eventually the gang begins to make mistakes and they were almost all captured and subjected to a trial and the ignominy of a mass execution in full view of many of their fellow countrymen and countrywomen who they had so grievously hurt for some two decades.

This book is short, under 100 pages, but it is filled with references as a good history book should be, but it is not a dry and dusty narrative, for in her book, Lindsay Campbell bring this tumultuous and troubled time back to life.

It is an excellent book for those who love tales of days gone by, for those who want to discover the true facts of their Socttish family tree -warts and all!- or for students of history, especially of the early Jacobite times.

It is published by Matador at £9.99 and will make an excellent stocking filler. It is available from the that's Books and Entertainment book shop. You will find it on the right hand side of this website.

The Naughty Greedy Pandamoth

The Naughty Greedy Pandamoth is a large format book by accomplished artist Sara Leighton and, if there is any justice in this world, it is destined to become one of those classic books which every child should own and which will be enjoyed for decades to come.

Sara has a wild and wicked imagination which allows her to imagine a wild and wide variety of creatures.

Fortunately her natural talent as an artist were been honed by her training at St Martin's School of Art and she has provided absolutely perfect illustrations for all of the creatures she describes.

Some of them you and your children will be delighted to meet - The Fuzzy Bunny Frog, for example- but who would want to meet the Naughty Greedy Pandamoth who would be liable to eat all of your clothes, should he feel a bit peckish?

It is a book that children can enjoy by themselves or they will enjoy sharing them with mothers, fathers, grandparents or older siblings.

Enjoy the Orangotango, the dancing ape from Argentina, The Winged Rainbow Piggycorn, The Pompom-Legged Craboodle, The Guppypuppy and many, many more.

Each of the 30 "amazing animorphs" also has its own lengthy and extremely charming poem which you can read aloud to your children. So long as you do not laugh too much whilst attempting to do so!

At £10.99 this book is a true must have Christmas present. If you buy your child one book this Christmas, please make certain that this book is it.

It is available through the That's Books and Entertainment book shop which you will find at the right hand side of the website.

I Gave Him My Best Shot

I Gave Him My Best Shot is a novel by June Felton.

It tells the story of how a family begins to become pulled apart  because their son has Asperger's Syndrome.

Anna and Max have a younger son called Barney who is diagnosed with the Autistic Spectrum Disorder condition called Asperger's Syndrome.

Barney takes everything that is said to him quite literally.

Amidst the problems caused by his condition Anna and Max are also working hard to build up their business and to survive in the troubled and troubling worlds of the fashion industry.

Anna finds herself battling to cope with the competing demands of her family life and that of her business life.

Max, however, can't quite get his head around the needs and demands of Barney's condition. This puts further strain on their marriage.

Matters are further complicated by the machinations of Dinah Deedes, the Personal Assistant to Max who seems to be working against their marriage for her own devious ends.

The action flits between various exotic locales In India, the USA and their ordinary life in the UK.

But in truth the problems arising from Barney's condition are only a minor part of the problems that beset their family.

For there are concerns over betrayals in both the personal and business realms that put strains on their marriage and on old, long-established friendships. After all, it is a saying that one should not mix business and pleasure.

The author June Felton has a long professional history of working with autistic children so her portrayal of Barney's condition and the strain that this places on the family is extremely realistic.

It is a beautifully written and well-plotted romantic novel and costs a reasonable £17.99 for the hardback version, which is published by The Bookguild.

It is available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, to the right hand side of the site.

It is available for pre-order and will be published on 26 November.

Shadows of Yesterday

Shadows of Yesterday is a powerful novel by Ann Wardlaw.

It tells the dramatic story of Marc Chevaud.

Marc was captured and subject to dreadful torture by the Nazis during the Second World War.

After the war he found himself in Britain and he created a highly successful business in the country that he now called home.

But did he really, truly call Britain his home? For he still yearned for the ageless beauty of his native Provence.

Suddenly he knew that he would have to return to France to go back to what had been his ancestral home, redolent with memories of what the chateau and vineyards had been like before Germany had decided to eat its neighbours and itself in a bout of mindless destruction.

He leaves the day-to-day running of his business to his brother Leo and he makes the decision to return to Provence.

Of course, Marc realises that when he returns to his ancestral home that things will not be the same, but nothing could have prepared him for the dreadful state of decay of the family chateau and the ruinous condition of the lands surrounding it and of the vineyards. Partly caused by its occupation by unsympathetic enemy forces during the war years.

He is saddened by what he finds but, perhaps as impulsively as his decision to return there, he decides that he will restore both the chateau and the vineyards to their former, pre-war glories.

Yet Marc cannot fathom out the hostility of the local people to his return and for his plans for his family estates. What do they know that he doesn't?

However, he begins to discover dark secrets from the past that he would find to be beyond what he could ever have imagined possible.

What will this mean for Marc and his family? Dare he dig deeper? And if he does, what else will he uncover?

Set in the 1960s and with flashbacks to the war years, this novel readily evokes the reality of life in post-occupation rural France.

Ann Wardlaw relates a tale of complex but utterly believable personal histories with many twists and turns that help to bring this story to life.

It is published by The Book Guild and costs a very reasonable £9.99. It is available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which is to the right hand side of this site.

It will make an excellent Christmas present.

That's Education: Dyslexia Rules? No! Multiplication Rules!

That's Education: Dyslexia Rules? No! Multiplication Rules!: Just ask Penny Topsom and she will tell you that Multiplication Rules! Penny Topsom is a mother on a mission. Penny suffered throughout ...

Charlie's World of Glittering Powers by Tracy Rawles

Charlie's World of Glittering Powers by Tracy Rawles is a fantastic must have stocking filler of a book that is going to go down a real treat with young children of eight and over, their parents and their grandparents, too!

It tells the story of Charlie was is a cigale, a type of flying insect. /charlie is a rare type of cigale, he is also known as a Snuffle-Buzzer.

But Charlie is no ordinary cigale, he is a cigale with a fairly serious problem. How would you like to be a cigale, like Charlie, who had a serious allergy disorder?

Charlie likes to know things, he is very inquisitive, very talkative and has daydreams of travel that will be filled with various adventures.

Sevi is a young girl from Cornwall. Whilst on holiday with her parents in Provence in France, she explores the local forest and discovers that the forest may be much more than she3 could ever have thought possible.

Eventually one single, solitary golden sparkle brings about a series of mystical happenings that propel Charlie and Sevi on the path toward a remarkable adventure that is more stunning and more thrilling than either of them could ever have thought possible!

There are powers to be discovered, mysteries to be solved and joys to be had for both Sevi and Charlie in this charming and exciting book. It's published by Matador at an eminently reasonable £7.99, and it is available via the Amazon-powered That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which you will find to the righthand side of this site.

Dark Nights: Whitewater by Norman A. Viles

Dark Nights: Whitewater by Norman A. Viles is described as a detailed memoir about the sport of sea fishing.

The memoir by Norman A. Viles is filled with the excitement, suspense, thrills, spills, danger and pure joy of sea fishing, but it is added to by the Yorkshire humour of the author that illuminates the book like a lighthouse of glee on a rocky promontory on the Yorkshire coast, jutting out into the icy waters of the North Sea.

Norman is a gifted raconteur and a skilled storyteller and his joy for the life of a sea fisherman shines through this engaging book.

There are tales of fishing from sunny beaches, of fishing from rocky cliffs on a dark, cold winter night, of fishing from boats (including one bought and lovingly and carefully rebuilt by Norman and others.

Learn of sea angling competitions of catches lost and of catches made, of trips around the bay, of trips made to bays in foreign seas, including a number of memorable trips to the waters off the coast of Ireland.

I am not an angler by any stretch of the imagination, but by the power of the story telling abilities of Norman A. Viles, I could almost feel the weight of the rod as the fishes took the bait, almost feel the wind and taste the tang of the salty sea air. Will I take up sea fishing? Probably not. But having read this book, it's almost as if I did...

If you have any kind of angler in your life, it will be the "must have" book for their Christmas stocking this year.

And if you are that angler in your life,  at only £9.99, this book will make the ideal self-given early Christmas present. Or give family members some very heavy hints about this book. Such as emailing them the url to this article!

You can buy this book through the That's Books and Entertainment Amazon-powered bookshop which you will find to the righthand side of this website.