My Gentleman Jim

My Gentleman Jim is the biography of football's legendary player and commentator, Jimmy Hill.

It is written by his wife, Bryony Hill. And after all, who but a wife can really know their husband, inside out?

He began his football playing career with Brentford and then moved over to Fulham.

His career in football spanned all levels. From a professional footballer he became one of only a few players who went on to become a manager of a football club, then progressing to being a member of the board of directors, a managing director and then, ultimately, chairman.

Bryony reveals how he removed the maximum wage for footballers and was actually the man who brought in the three points for a win rule. He was a highly effective and innovative chairman of the PFA.

Jimmy was also a keen huntsman, a very useful golfer, an amazing and highly dedicated charitable fundraiser and all this is besides his TV football punditry!

He was also wrote footballing songs used by Coventry and Arsenal!

He was also a skilled MC, qualified as a referee, an accomplished musician who performed with Johnny Dankworth as a  favour when the trumpet player fell ill at a gig by the RAF South Cerney Band, of which Johnny Dankworth was the band leader.

The book is an emotion tour through the relationship of a man who lives for football and his devoted wife who pretty much hates football and, by her own admission, probably only spends ten quid a year on her hair.

It looks back through Jimmy's life story, revealing how and where he first learned the craft of being a footballer (88 Boys Brigade, Balham) the first clubs he was associated with (Dulwich Police Team, where he assisted, plus Sutton Home Guard and the Balham League) until he was called up for his National Service with the RASC, after finding himself a job at the London Stock Exchange for a short time before his conscription.The book is profusely illustrated with many photographs from throughout his life from the earliest days right throughout his life.

After he finished his National Service he returned to the London Stock Exchange for a time, signed amateur forms with Reading FC before moving on to Brentford, but this time as a professional.

The book is well-written and it is clear that Bryony has a deep and abiding love for her husband, Jimmy.

Sadly, Jimmy has developed Alzheimer's and unfortunately it was eventually realised that he needed the specialist help that is only available within a care facility, a subject that Bryony carefully and lovingly writes about.

It is published by the Book guild in hardback at £15.99 and is an ideal Christmas present for lovers of biographical books, football fans and those who followed Jimmy's career as a footballer and as an erudite and knowledgeable Television pundit.

It is available through the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which you will find to the right of this site.

Treasure Trove

Treasure Trove is as new novel by Alistair Lavers.

Treasure Trove is dedicated to Barry Sheene and is proclaimed to be a part of the Whitborough novels. (It is actually the first book in the series.)

It starts at Whitborough Castle in July 1645, as the armourer for the Royalist garrison at the castle, Christopher Miller, is seeking out a key to the magazine and powder room.

But a young man bursts into the room and tells him that his attendance at a meeting is urgently required. The news is grim, Parliamentary forces will soon take the castle. They must attempt to flee the castle using secret tunnels to take them to boats for their escape.

But there is the matter of a strongbox liberated from a Spanish galleon, which had been part of the ill-fated Spanish Armada, 75 years before. It must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the rebel forces of Cromwell, so it will be hidden from their covetous grasp!

Time marches on and it is eventually the Easter weekend of 1983 in the now upmarket Yorkshire coastal resort of Whitborough on Sea.

It should be an idyllic time for the townsfolk and their tourist visitors. Bit something has gone wrong. Something has gone very badly wrong, indeed.

The Spanish Armada treasure is found and is quickly lost, again.

Has an ancient curse been re-awakened?

How is the Royal Navy ship adopted by the town sunk by a genuine Civil War cannonball?

Are these events really as unconnected as it appears? Or is there a thread that, somehow, connects, them all together?

But they are only the harbinger of much worse troubles for the town, as catastrophe afflicts the authorities and puts the forces of law and order under a very real threat for their existence.

But who is behind these events? Some say Russian saboteurs, others blame Irish terrorists, still others blame local criminals who have startec events that they are no longer in control of, having got completely out of their depth?

However, all is not quite what it seems. What are the staff of the record shop exactly up to? Do they know what is happening? If so, what are their intentions?

This is a truly interesting novel. It is published by Matador at £7.99 in paperback and will be available via the that's Books and Entertainment bookshop. It is on the right hand side of this site.

Whitborough on Sea. It's good to be able to read about, but I certainly wouldn't want to visit that town!

Just buy the book, read it and you'll concur with me, I am certain!

A Nasty Business

A Nasty Business is a book by S. M. Barron that describes the difference between justice, the law and legal process.

Indeed S. M. Barron begins his 400 page book with a rather telling quotation by Oliver Wendell Holmes, poet and attorney who, as a US Supreme Court Judge was quoted as saying: "This is a court of Law, young man, not a court of justice."

So, asks S. M. Barron, where do we go for justice?

The author describes the attempts of people to obtain justice through the courts and, unfortunately, of the attempts of the other side to thwart their attempt to obtain justice often by gaming the legal system. Especially if the other side also happen to be lawyers.

However, S. M. Barron (a pseudonym for a consumer activists, representative, trainer and teacher) points out that it does always have to be like this and that there are already other options for people to seek legal redress that do not include going to court.

It also points out some practical changes that could be implemented to improve access to justice.

It also offers advice that can be used currently to speed up access to justice, how to save money and how to get the help and assistance that you require should you find yourself taking someone to court.

The book is filled with references and costs £19.99. It is published by Jarndyce & Jarndyce, a legal joke which will be appreciated by all fans of Charles Dickens.

It is distributed by Gardners Books and the ISBN is 978-0-9575745-0-2 and is available through the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, to be found on the righthand side of this site.

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.