Biography

Jonny Texas came from an unconventional but close-knit Midlands family and developed a fascination with all forms of gambling from a young age. He grew up learning how to be a wheeler dealer and in his twenties, with a young family to support, the challenge of beating the odds to make large sums of money became even greater. As he grew older, his life was to become a rollercoaster of highs and lows as he moved from one wild money spinning venture to another, making huge amounts and then losing them, unable to resist any gambling opportunity. The two constants in his life have been his family and poker and, at times, they have made uneasy bedfellows. But somehow, Jonny has managed to pull off the unimaginable, repeatedly pulling himself back from the brink of disaster and turning himself into a winner, appearing on TV and in the public eye. From Sixpences to Dollars documents the extraordinary story of one man's obsession with gambling and how he has ultimately turned it to his advantage.

Ashley & Cheryl Cole - Where Did It All Go Wrong? is a quick-read biography, focusing on Cheryl and Ashley's relationship, marriage and divorce. It looks at the parallels in their careers, the ups and downs, and investigates Ashley's alleged cheating with numerous women. Ultimately it asks the question 'Where Did It All Go Wrong' - could anything have been done to prevent the break-up, or was the marriage doomed from the beginning.

Penzance sits in the heart of beautiful Mount's Bay – the centre of Cornwall's most westerly region. Penzance: The Biography tells the story of the town, from its earliest times to the 400th anniversary in 2014 of its borough status. It tells of its growth from two small neighbouring villages to its thriving industrial Victorian heyday and beyond, a tale of disaster and success, drama and survival. Penzance has survived attacks from Celts, Vikings, Saxons, Normans, African corsairs, Spanish galleys, English Parliamentary troops and Second World War bombing. Its fortunes have rested upon tin mining, shipping and tourism among a wealth of other industries, including, of course, smuggling.Famous characters' stories are revealed: its first 'founder', Alice de Lisle; the Pretender, Perkin Warbeck; the pioneer of modern chemistry, Humphry Davy; the father of Methodism, John Wesley; and others from all strands of society who have trodden Penzance's streets. Herein lies a rich pageant of history that created the town and its ongoing story.

The story of the city of Newcastle, from its earliest origins in Roman Britain to the present day. Newcastle's history begins with Pons Aelius, a Roman bridge and fort to the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. The town took its name from the 'new castle' built after the Norman conquest around which a settlement nestled for protection. Its position, as the guardian of the main eastern route between England and Scotland, gave it considerable military significance. The town's great moments, when it was besieged and taken by the Scots in 1642 under General Leslie and when Charles l was imprisoned there, are all recounted in full evocative detail. A central theme is Newcastle's vibrant social and cultural history for this was both an innovative and pleasure-loving society, known its inventiveness and its promotion of the arts and sciences, but also for its robust and occasionally riotous popular culture. A bye-law regulating the dress of apprentices of 1554 inveighed against the gambling and 'typling, danncing and brasenge of harlots' that was said to be characterise the life-style of the apprentices. A puritanical observer of the town's twenty-first century night life might feel that little had changed -

Founded in 1810 by Lewis Tregonwell, Bournemouth was originally a deserted heathland, home to fishermen and smugglers. Initially marketed as a health resort, Bournemouth's growth really accelerated with the arrival of the railway and it became a town in 1870. The arrival of the railways precipitated a massive growth in seaside and summer visitors to the town, especially from the Midlands and London. In 1880, the town had a population of 17,000 but, by 1900, when railway connections to Bournemouth were at their most developed, the town's population had risen to 60,000 and it had become a favourite location for visiting artists and writers. Today, Bournemouth has a population of almost 190,000 people, and is a tourist centre of leisure, entertainment, culture and recreation. It has come a long way from its roots in the nineteenth century. Those roots, the formative years of the town, are the focus of Bournemouth: The Biography, which charts the evolution of Bournemouth from a smuggler's haven to the coastal resort we know today.

Cardiff has an incredibly rich history, from its foundation as a Roman fort through its Norman occupation to its establishment as a county town following the Act of Union with England. Owing to its strategic position on the River Taff, Cardiff became the world's greatest coal port in the nineteenth century, and in the post-industrial era, the city has found a new identity as the capital of Wales. Join author Dic Mortimer as he explores the history of one of Britain's most fascinating and vibrant cities, exploring the people and events that made the Welsh capital what it is today.

"A perfected modern battle plan is like nothing so much as a score for an orchestral composition, where the various arms and units are the instruments, and the tasks they perform are their respective musical phrases. Every individual unit must make its entry precisely at the proper moment and play its phrase in the general harmony." -- John Monash *** Who was the most innovative general of World War I? For author (and former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia) Tim Fischer*, the answer has to be Australia's John Monash, a man who, for all the recognition he received in his lifetime and after, has arguably not been given his proper due within the major military histories of the Great War. In this book, Fischer asks why John Monash was never promoted to Field Marshal, as international precedent suggested was most appropriate, pointing the finger primarily at Billy Hughes, the Australian prime minister from 1915 to 1923, within a wider context of establishment suspicion towards this son of a German Jewish migrant. The book demonstrates how a posthumous granting of the Field Marshal rank for John Monash now constitutes a due reward for this great servant of the Australian nation - a salutary reminder of his legacy. * [In 1971, at the age of 24, the Honorable Tim Fischer was elected to the New South Wales State Parliament, switching to the Federal Parliament in 1984 and was for 10 years Federal Leader of the Nationals, including serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister. Upon retirement from the Australian Parliament, he took up various philanthropic and corporate roles. From 2008 to 2012, Fischer was the Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, based in Rome.] *** "Tim Fischer brings his army and political experience to the General Monash story with a flowing and digestible style." -- Professor Roland Perry *** "In his account of Monash's life and military career, Fischer details the many obstacles faced and surmounted by 'the most innovative general' of the war....Monash made concerted use of infantry, artillery, tanks, aircraft and radio in (to quote him) 'comprehensive holistic battle plan[s].' His strategy's success became evident in thwarting Germany's final westward push..." -- The NYMAS Review, StrategyPage, April 2015 (Series: Biography) [Subject: Biography, Military History, World War I, Australian Studies, Politics]

The Welsh: The Biography tells the story of the remarkable survival of the oldest nation and oldest language in Europe. We see how the four original major Celtic tribes are still reflected in the location of Britain's four oldest cathedrals, and how after one and a half millennia of constant invasions and eventual conquest, the Welsh retained their sense of nationality. The story of the Welsh is one of defending the nation against overwhelming odds, and of a major contribution to European literature. Its tenth century laws are acknowledged as the most progressive in the world until the later twentieth century. Almost uniquely in the world, Wales has had heroines as well as heroes, princesses as well as princes who contributed to its progress. Wales has given heroes such as Owain Glyndwr who are recognised across the globe, and men such as David Lloyd George, to whom Hitler attributed the winning of First World War. The character of the Welsh – their pacifism, literary abilities and influence – is splendidly described in this unique history of the Welsh as a people.

'If only stones could speak.' Often, when we visit historic towns, churches, castles, or old family mansions, we wish that the people who were once connected with those places could step out of the shadowy walls and tell us stories about their distant past. This book aims to do just that, combining the history of the great city of Norwich with revelations concerning the lives and labours, the lamentations and loves, of rich and poor, the great and the ungodly, throughout the last 1,000 years. Drawing on information derived from historic documents, tomb inscriptions, parish records, diaries and newspapers, Norwich: The Biography conjures up a vivid panorama of life in one of Britain's most warm-hearted and fascinating cities.