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Talking BooksBooklist: Autobiographies and biographies 5The titles in this booklist are just a selection of the titles available for loan from the RNIB National Library Talking Book Service.Don’t forget you are allowed to have up to 6 books on loan. When you return a title, you will then receive another one.If you would like to read any of these titles then please contact the Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or email helpline@.uk.You can search our online catalogue and add titles directly to your wish list by visiting . You can log onto your account in the My Library section with your customer number and pin number. These can be obtained from Helpline. For any further help in selecting books please contact the Reader Services Team on 01733 37 5333 or email libraryinfo@.uk ContentsEntertainment page 2Authors and journalistspage 5Artists and musicianspage 8Sciencepage 10Politicalpage 11Royaltypage 12Religionpage 13Sportpage 14Warpage 15Courage and inspirationpage 18Miscellaneouspage 20EntertainmentBalding, Clare. My animals and other family. 2012. TB 20438.Clare Balding's father was a champion trainer and so she grew up with more than 100 thoroughbred racehorses, mares, foals and ponies, as well as an ever-present pack of boxers and lurchers. She describes how she learned some of life's toughest lessons through the animals. Read by Clare Balding. 9 hours 6 minutes. TB 20438.Beacom, Brian. The real Mrs Brown: the Brendan O'Carroll story. 2014. TB21499.Brendan O’Carroll has had to battle hard for success and surprised everyone - most of all himself - by becoming one of the best -loved comedians in the world as the Mammy of the much-loved TV family, the Browns. Read by John Cormack. 9 hours 1 minute. TB21499.Berry, Mary. Recipe for life. 2013. TB 21374.Mary Berry has shared her skills, experience and tips through a varied and fascinating career, yet few people know the professional and personal story behind her success. Here Mary tells us about her life - a life in some ways reassuringly ordinary, yet at the same time completely extraordinary.Read by Patricia Hodge. 10 hours 9 minutes. TB 21374.Bishop, John. How did all this happen: my story. 2013. TB 21408. How John went from a good job in sales and marketing and a nice house to a midlife crisis and becoming one of Britain's top TV funny men. Read by John Bishop. 9 hours 24 minutes. TB 21408.Bower, Tom. Sweet revenge. 2012. TB 20545.A detailed insider's account of entertainment mogul Simon Cowell's rise to meteoric fame and all of the controversial highs and lows along the way as he settles scores with rivals. Read by Matt Addis. 18 hours 7 minutes. TB 20545.Cole, Cheryl. Cheryl: my story. 2012. TB 20553.Cheryl Cole has achieved massive success as a singer, style icon and TV star, and has been involved in some of the most gripping headlines of recent years. Read by Gloria Sanders. 10 hours 38 minutes. TB 20553.Everett, Rupert. Red carpets and other banana skins. 2007. TB 21203.Rupert Everett was in Moscow during the fall of communism, in Berlin the night the wall came down, and in downtown Manhattan on 9/11. His memoir swoops from the lifestyle of the British upper classes to the madness of Hollywood.Read by Greg Wagland. 18 hours 32 minutes. TB 21203.Fishgall, Gary. Gregory Peck: a biography. 2002. TB 20315.This biography traces the career of Gregory Peck, who starred in film classics such as 'Roman Holiday', 'Horatio Hornblower' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. It reveals the personal roles he has played in his life, from husband and friend to dedicated activist. Read by Ian Knauer. 17 hours 13 minutes. TB 20315.Horwood, Craig Revel. All balls and glitter: my life. 2008. TB 20941.Craig's autobiography spills the beans on his personal life and his journey to the top, as well as offering an exclusive insight into the behind-the-scenes action in 'Strictly Come Dancing'.Read by Greg Wagland. 11 hours 48 minutes. TB 20941.Humble, Kate. Humble by nature: life, lambs and a dog called Badger. 2013. TB 21152.In 2010, Television presenter Kate Humble persuaded the Wye Valley council to let her and her husband take on a nearby farm as a working farm rather than be broken up into lots. Even though they hadn't the first clue of how to run a farm. Read by Kate Humble. 8 hours 9 minutes. TB 21152.Jason, David. David Jason: my life. 2013. TB 20961.The touching, funny and warm-hearted story of David Jason’s life from humble beginnings through his incredible six decades at the top of the entertainment business.Read by Michael Fenton Stevens. 12 hours 19 minutes. TB 20961.Law, Phyllida. How many camels are there in Holland? Dementia, ma and me. 2013. TB 20370.In this Sequel to Notes to my mother-in-law Phyllida Law returns to the tiny Scottish village of Ardentinny to look after her ma, Mego who is becoming ever more muddled. Phyllida's account captures the warmth and tenderness of two generations of daughters brought together to care for their much-loved mother and grandmother. Read by Phyllida Law. 3 hours 23 minutes. TB 20370.Leith, Prue. Relish. 2012. TB21600. Born in South Africa, the daughter of a well-known actress, Prue Leith came to London in the early 1960s and became a very successful restaurateur, writer and columnist. She also had a secret affair with the married man who was to be her husband for another twenty-five years. She writes movingly of her longing for children; the birth of her son and adoption of her daughter, Li-Da. Read by Helen Bourne. 16 hours. TB21600.Palin, Michael. Halfway to Hollywood: diaries 1980-1988. 2010. TB 20571.This second volume of Michael Palin's diaries covers the 1980s, a decade in which the ties that bound the Pythons loosened as they forged their separate careers. Read by Robin Houston. 32 hours 38 minutes. TB 20571.Suchet, David. Poirot and me. 2013. TB 21431.Hercule Poirot, is one of Agatha Christie's finest creations and through his television performance in Agatha Christie's Poirot, David Suchet has become inextricably linked with the “little Belgian”, a man whom he has grown to love dearly through an intimate relationship lasting more than twenty years. Read by David Suchet. 9 hours 8 minutes. TB 21431.Taraborrelli, J. Randy. Elizabeth. 2007. TB 20396.Elizabeth Taylor's journey through the dark and often lonely world of a fame unparalleled in the 1960s and 1970s, a time during which alcohol and drugs played a major part in her life. Read by Craig Pinder. 20 hours. TB 20396.Vine, Jeremy. It's all news to me. 2012. TB 20581.Vine looks at our obsession with news, just exactly how and why it happens, and the power of real life stories versus the media's desire to shape them.Read by John Sackville. 11 hours 4 minutes. TB 20581.Walliams, David. Camp David: the autobiography. 2013. TB 20584.A roller-coaster ride of emotions that will surprise and entertain, and give insight into Walliams’ uniquely brilliant mind.Read by David Thorpe and David Walliams. 9 hours 53 minutes. TB 20584.Authors and journalistsAhlberg, Allan. The bucket: memories of an inattentive childhood. 2013. TB 21322. Allan Ahlberg was adopted as a baby. In 1938 he was picked up in London by his new mother and taken back to Oldbury in the Black Country. Now one of the most successful children's book writers in the world he describes an oddly enchanted childhood lived out in an industrial town during the 1940s, in conditions which today we might describe as 'deprived'. Read by Richard Derrington. 2 hours 28 minutes. TB 21322.Dunn, Jane. Daphne Du Maurier and her sisters: the hidden lives of Piffy, Bird and Bing. 2013. TB 20358.The Du Mauriers - three beautiful, successful and rebellious sisters, whose lives were bound in a family drama that inspired Angela and Daphne's best novels. Much has been written about Daphne but here the hidden lives of the sisters .Read by Sally Meen, 16 hours 26 minutes. TB 20358.Hemingway, Ernest. A moveable feast. 1994. TB 20729.Hemingway's memories of his life as an unknown writer living in Paris in the 1920s are deeply personal, warmly affectionate and full of wit. He recalls the time when, poor, happy and writing in cafes, he discovered his vocation.Read by William Roberts. 4 hours 53 minutes. TB 20729.Hollis, Matthew. Now all roads lead to France: the last years of Edward Thomas. 2011. TB 20363.An account of the final five years of the beguiling and influential poet, centred upon his extraordinary friendship with Robert Frost and his fatal decision to fight in the First World War. Read by Andrew Williams. 12 hours 41 minutes. TB 20363.Kersten, Jason. Did I mention the free wine? Madness, mayhem and the muse: on tour with Felix Dennis. 2013. TB 20532.In 2010, journalist Jason Kersten accompanied Dennis on a poetry-reading tour taking in 21 cities over three months. He describes being on the road with Dennis and his entourage, complete with a double-decker bus and a helicopter. Contains strong language. Read by Ian Knauer. 8 hours 6 minutes. TB 20532.Fraser, Christine Marion. Green are my mountains. 1991. TB 21328.With warmth and good humour, Fraser relates the problems encountered in her house in Argyllshire, her work as a successful author, and her responsibilities as a wife and mother. She also looks back to her time in the Govan tenements in Glasgow, where as a child in the 1950s she contracted a rare muscular disease which confined her permanently to a wheelchair but never diminished her spirit.Read by Caroline Guthrie. 5 hours 13 minutes. TB 21328.O'Brien, Edna. Country girl. 2012. TB 20238.Edna O’Brien remembers, often painfully, her literary life of high drama and contemplation, her encounters with Hollywood giants, pop stars and literary titans, all of whom lend this life a terrible poignancy.Read by Edna O'Brien. 13 hours 33 minutes. TB 20238.Steel, Danielle. Pure joy. 2013. TB21358.In this funny, moving memoir, Danielle Steel tells the story of how she met a dog the size of a mouse, with a personality that could light up an entire room. From Minnie's arrival at home in San Francisco to clothes shopping jaunts in Paris, her adventures provide the perfect backdrop for a heartfelt look at the magic that dogs bring to our lives, and how they become part of the family.Read by Regina Reagan. 3 hours 3 minutes. TB21358.Thoreau, Henry David. Walden, or, Life in the woods. 1854. TB 20398.In 1845 Henry David Thoreau, one of the principal New England Transcendentalists, left the town for the country. Beside the lake of Walden, he built himself a log cabin and returned to nature, to observe and reflect - while surviving on eight dollars a year. From this experience emerged one of the great classics of American literature, a deeply personal reaction against the commercialism and materialism of mid-19th century America. Read by Matthew Hendrickson. 10 hours 58 minutes. TB 20398.Walls, Jeannette. The glass castle. 2006. TB 20768.Journalist, Jeannette Walls, narrates her nomadic and adventurous childhood with her dreaming, 'brilliant' but alcoholic parents.Read by Laurel Lefkow. 10 hours 10 minutes. TB 20768.Wight, Jim. The real James Herriot: the authorized biography. 2000. TB21610.Written by his son, this new biography draws on family archives and previously unpublished material of the life of the vet-author who died in 1995. Read by Steve Hodson.16 hours 33 minutes. TB21610.Artists and musiciansGrima, Charlie, Aren't you glad that it's not Christmas every day? Memoirs of a Wizzard drummer. 2015. TB21990.30 years ago Charlie Grima was the drummer with Wizzard – the band behind festive anthem I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day. He later returned to acting and then to working with blind children at Dorton House, something he considers to be a privilege. Read by David John. 5 hours 18 minutes. TB21990.Houston, Cissy. Remembering Whitney: a mother's story of life, loss and the night the music stopped. 2013. TB 20320.Offering an insider's perspective on Whitney's remarkable career, her highs and lows, her drug problems, her marriage to Bobby Brown and her tragic last days. Read by Lachele Carl. 8 hours 13 minutes. TB 20320.Essex, David. Over the moon: the autobiography. 2012.TB 20056.Pop star and national treasure David Essex started life as David Cook in a work house in the East End. Read by David Essex. 9 hours 54 minutes. TB 20056.Johnson, Paul. Mozart: a life. 2014. TB21637. Liszt once said that Mozart composed more bars than a trained copyist could write in a lifetime. His output of composition and his gift and skill with instruments was wondrous - no sooner had the clarinet been invented and introduced than Mozart began playing and composing for it.Read by Benedick Blythe. 5 hours 40 minutes. TB21637.MacCarthy, Fiona. Eric Gill. 2003. TB21864. Eric Gill who died in 1940, was among the greatest English artist-craftsmen of the 20th century: a typographer and lettercutter and a master in the art of sculpture and wood -engraving. This complex man had spiritual longings, and this took him into the Catholic Church in 1913 (without it having any effect on his eroticism). He habitually wore a cassock, which was both convenient for his work and also recalled a monk’s habit. In 1921 he founded a crafts guild called the Guild of SS Joseph and Dominic.Read by Di Langford. 13 hours 45 minutes. TB21864.Moore, Lucy. Nijinsky. 2014. TB21923.Nijinsky's story has lost none of its power to shock, fascinate and move. Adored and reviled in his lifetime, his phenomenal talent was shadowed by schizophrenia and an intense but destructive relationship with his lover, Diaghilev. 'I am alive' he wrote in his diary, 'and so I suffer'. Read by Jane McDowell. 11 hours 24 minutes. TB21923.Rodgers, Nile. Le freak: an upside down story of family, disco and destiny. 2012. TB21529.Nile Rodgers is a founding member of the band Chic and one of the world's most successful music producers. He wrote 'We are Family' for Sister Sledge and 'I'm Coming Out' for Diana Ross, and produced two of the most popular albums of all time - Madonna's 'Like a Virgin' and David Bowie's 'Let's Dance'. Here he tells his story.Read by Ian Knauer. 10 hours 27 minutes. TB21529.Sewell, Brian. Outsider: always almost, never quite: an autobiography. 2012.TB 21213.Outspoken art critic Brian Sewell opens up about his ramshackle childhood, his time at Christie's and his late-50s sex spree. Contains strong language. Read by Christopher Oxford. 14 hours 43 minutes. TB 21213. Sewell, Brian. Outsider II: always almost, never quite: an autobiography. 2013.TB 21214.With the first instalment ending tantalisingly in 1967 this next chapter charts Sewell’s path to becoming, as the Spectator noted, 'Surely the funniest art critic of our time.'Read by Christopher Oxford. 12 hours 17 minutes. TB 21214.Slash. Slash. 2008. TB 20245.The never-before-told, no-holds-barred memoir from the legendary Guns N' Roses guitarist. Contains strong language. Read by Robert G Slade, 18 hours 38 minutes. TB 20245.Stewart, Rod. Rod: the autobiography. 2012. TB 20685.After more than 50 years in the music business, Rod Stewart takes a candid and romping look back at his life both on and off the stage. Contains strong language. Read by Moray Treadwell. 13 hours 48 minutes. TB 20685.Suchet, John. Beethoven: the man revealed. 2012. TB 20585.Beethoven may have been one of the greatest artists who ever lived, but he was still a man who had to live among fellow mortals. Read by Robin Houston. 12 hours 25 minutes. TB 20585.ScienceAldrin, Buzz. Magnificent desolation: the long journey home from the moon. 2010.TB 21240.Aldrin gives a harrowing first-person account of the Apollo 11 lunar landing that came within seconds of failure. He also opens up with remarkable candour about his more personal trials - and eventual triumphs - back on Earth.Read by John Chancer. 12 hours 35 minutes. TB 21240.Barbree, Jay. Neil Armstrong: a life of flight. 2014. TB21827.Barbree is the only person whom Armstrong trusted to share close personal details about his inspiring life story. Working from his years of notes, Barbree has written the definitive biography of America's most famous astronaut and one of our greatest modern heroes.Read by William Roberts. 10 hours 51 minutes. TB21827.Sacks, Oliver W. Uncle Tungsten: memories of a chemical boyhood. 2012. TB21609.Oliver Sacks turns his trained analytical eye on a startling new subject - himself. The world authority in his field, this book is an insight into the mind and background of one of the finest and most accessible scientists today. Read by Steve Hodson. 13 hours 41 minutes. TB21609.PoliticalJohnson, Alan. This boy. 2013. TB 20727.The story of two incredible women: Alan Johnson's mother, Lily, who battled against poor health, poverty, domestic violence and loneliness to try to ensure a better future for her children; and his sister, Linda, who had to assume an enormous amount of responsibility to protect her family.Read by Alan Johnson. 7 hours 55 minutes. TB 20727.Moore, Charles. Margaret Thatcher: the authorized biography. 2013. TB 20573.The first volume of a meticulously researched biography of the longest serving Prime Minister of the 20th century and one of the most influential figures of the postwar era. This volume ends with the Falklands Dinner in Downing Street in November 1982. Read by Keith Hill. 36 hours 34 minutes. TB 20573.Short, Philip. Mitterrand: a study in ambiguity. 2013.TB 21056.Francois Mitterrand was, as a statesman and as a human being, the incarnation of the mercurial, contrarian France which Britain and America find so perennially frustrating. This is a human as much as a political biography, and a captivating portrait of a life that mirrored the times.Read by Robin Houston. 29 hours 17 minutes. TB 21056.Widdecombe, Ann. Strictly Ann: the autobiography. 2013. TB 21406.Ann Widdecombe offers a unique insight into her time as a minister in three government departments and the Shadow Cabinet in the 1990s, as well as taking us back to her wandering childhood and explaining the roots of her deeply held views. Read by Jilly Bond. 16 hours 18 minutes.RoyaltyCastor, Helen. She-wolves: the women who ruled England before Elizabeth. 2011. TB 20309.Matilda, lady of the English, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of Valois and Margaret of Anjou, found that it was entirely acceptable to exercise power as the delegate or adjunct of a ruling male. Castor looks at how these women ruled and how it changed over more than 400 years of history.Read by Jill Lamede. 20 hours 33 minutes. TB 20309.Devonshire, Deborah Cavendish. All in one basket: nest eggs. 2012. TB 21122.Containing both 'Home to Roost' and 'Counting My Chickens', this collection gives a glimpse into the life of a fascinating woman through real-life anecdotes that involve a cast of characters from JFK to the Queen Mother via the fearsome head agent at Chatsworth. All of whom Deborah Devonshire treats with equal respect regardless of title or status.Read by Frances Jeater, Robin Houston and Alan Bennett. 10 hours 54 minutes. TB 21122.Hoey, Brian. Not in front of the corgis: secrets of life behind the royal curtains. 2012. TB21809.The Windsors are England’s most famous family, but what are they really like when they re out of the public gaze? Nobody knows a Royal quite like a Royal servant, intimately acquainted as they are with every quirk, foible and eccentricity. A unique and fascinating collection of all the secrets you ever wanted to know about the Royal Family.Read by Geoffrey Drew. 5 hours 53 minutes. TB21809.Lacey, Robert. Grace: Her lives - her loves: The startling royal exposé. 1995. TB21917.Movie legend, princess, tragic heroine. The moment Grace Kelly stepped into the spotlight in 1950, the world was entranced. Robert Lacey looks behind the fairytale facade to reveal the real story of Princess Grace of Monaco, as she became. With access to her family and friends, he tells the story of a complex and conflicted woman determined to live her dream. He reveals new details about Grace’s tragic early death in a car accident and lifts the lid on the affairs that rocked her marriage to Prince Rainier III.Read by Christopher Oxford. 16 hours 26 minutes. TB21917.Morton, Andrew. William and Catherine: their lives, their wedding. 2011. TB 19332.All aspects of the royal couple are examined including their intriguing romance, their engagement and the build-up to the big day itself, as well as the wedding in detail.Read by Phyllida Nash. 3 hours 52 minutes. TB 19332.Spencer, Charles. Prince Rupert: the last cavalier. 2008. TB22012.To his fellow Royalists, fighting for King Charles I, Prince Rupert of the Rhine was the archetypal 'cavalier' and one of those Royalists who fought on even after Charles was executed in 1649, commanding the Royalist forces in exile before the triumphant restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Prince Rupert is revealed as more than just a great general and dashing cavalier. He was a scientist and classical scholar too: a true renaissance prince.Read by Steve Hodson. 19 hours 24 minutes. TB22012.ReligionMatusiak, John. Wolsey: the life of King Henry VIII's cardinal. 2014. TB21911.This explores the many contrasting layers of Thomas Wolsey's life and career, and represents the first genuinely popular biography of the much-maligned cardinal to appear in over 30 years. Making no assumptions, it looks at the real person in the cold light of his actions, and uncovers a man of contradictions and extremes whose meteoric rise was marked by an equally inexorable descent into desperation, as he attempted in vain to satisfy the tempestuous master whose ambition ultimately broke him.Read by Greg Wagland. 17 hours 10 minutes. TB21911.SportConnors, Jimmy. The outsider: my autobiography. 2013. TB 20700.Jimmy Connors took the tennis world by storm. A shaggy-haired working-class kid from the wrong side of the tracks, he was prepared to battle for every point, to shout and scream until he was heard, and he didn't care whom he upset in doing so. Read by Michael Fitzpatrick. 12 hours 49 minutes. TB 20700.Crace, John. Harry's games. 2013. TB 20587.Who is Harry Redknapp? Football genius or football chancer? Master tactician or practical joker? Even when he was facing court proceedings for tax evasion many people were still seriously tipping him to be the next England manager. Read by Rupert Bush. 8 hours 31 minutes. TB 20587.Ferguson, Alex. Alex Ferguson: my autobiography. 2013.TB 21241.Sir Alex Ferguson's compelling story starts in Govan, a shipbuilding district of Glasgow: always honest and revealing, he reflects on his epic journey, and a managerial career that embraced unprecedented European success for Aberdeen and 27 triumphant years with Manchester United.Read by James Mcpherson. 9 hours 19 minutes. TB 21241.Donaldson, Gerald. Fangio: the life behind the legend. 2009. TB 21124.Gerald Donaldson provides a fitting tribute to this iconic figure who many consider to be the greatest racing driver in history. His record of five World Championships stood for 45 years and he won nearly half the Grand Prix he entered.Read by Matt Addis. 11 hours 42 minutes. TB 21124.Murray, Andy. Seventy-seven: my road to Wimbledon glory. 2013. TB 21091.On the 7th July 2013 Murray became the first British man to lift the Wimbledon trophy for 77 years. Focusing on the last two dramatic years, he allows us a glimpse into his world - his intense training regime, his close-knit team and his mental and physical battle to get to the very top.Read by Ewan Donald. 3 hours 51 minutes. TB 21091.Redknapp, Harry. Always managing: my autobiography. 2013. TB 21475.Harry Redknapp is without doubt one of the most charismatic, well-respected football managers in the Premiership and here he tells of his rollercoaster career full of colour, incident and controversy. Read by David John. 13 hours 27 minutes. TB 21475.Vaughan, Michael. Time to declare: my autobiography. 2009. TB 20964.Michael Vaughan tells the story of a remarkable career in cricket from his early days at Yorkshire, to his emergence as a world-class batsman and on to the recurring injuries that ultimately forced his retirement.Read by David Thorpe. 16 hours 42 minutes. TB 20964.Yates, Chris. The lost diary: April - September 1981. 2013. TB21870.Chris Yates is one of the most celebrated anglers in the world today. He broke the carp record held by Dick Walker at Redmire in 1980, starred in the BBC series A Passion For Angling and has written ten books, including a series of diaries published between 1977 and 1980. The final volume of the 'River Diaries' never made it into print, however, because Chris lost it somewhere in his house. 30 years later Chris discovered an old battered photograph album in the bottom of a box 'The Lost Diary' had been found.Read by Richard Derrington. 3 hours 34 minutes. TB21870.WarBrown, Eric. Wings on my sleeve. 2007. TB 20352.Eric Brown joined the Fleet Air Arm and went on to be the greatest test pilot in history, flying more aircraft types than anyone else. Read by Crawford Logan. 9 hours 55 minutes. TB 20352.Coogan, Andy. Tomorrow you die: the astonishing survival story of a Second World War prisoner of the Japanese. 2013. TB 21302.Andy Coogan was captured during the fall of Singapore and endured a three-and-a -half-year nightmare of starvation, torture and disease, imprisoned in the notorious Changi camp before being transported to Taiwan, where he worked as a slave in a copper mine and was twice ordered to dig his own grave.Read by Nick McArdle. 10 hours 15 minutes. TB 21302.Cooper, Artemis. Patrick Leigh Fermor: an adventure. 2012. TB 20312.Patrick Leigh Fermor was a war hero whose exploits in Crete are legendary, and was widely acclaimed as the greatest travel writer of our times, notably for his books about his walk across pre-war Europe. Read by Sherry Baines. 19 hours 21 minutes. TB 20312.Cooper, Stephen. The final whistle: the Great War in fifteen players. 2012. TB 20555.A tribute to the role rugby played during the First World War by following the poignant stories of 15 men who played for Rosslyn Park. Their story is told through personal diaries and letters. Read by Peter Wickham. 14 hours 51 minutes. TB 20555.Gregg, Victor. Rifleman: a front-line life from Alamein and Dresden to the fall of the Berlin Wall. 2011. TB21920.Born into a working-class family in London in 1919, Victor Gregg enlisted in the Rifle Brigade at nineteen and was sent to the Middle East. He joined the Parachute Regiment and in September 1944 found himself at the battle of Arnhem. When the paratroopers were forced to withdraw, Gregg was captured. He attempted to escape, but was caught and sentenced to death in Dresden for attempting to escape and burning down a factory, only the allies' infamous raid on the city the night before his execution saved his life. Read by John Clegg. 11 hours 23 minutes. TB21920.Holman, Robert. Woodbine Willie: an unsung hero of World War One. 2013. TB 21205.Woodbine Willie was the affectionate nickname of the Reverend Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, an Anglican priest who volunteered as a chaplain on the Western Front during the First World War. This biography is based on original interviews with those who knew and loved him. A deep and real concern for his fellow men drove him relentlessly and it shows how vital was the role he played, first in the battlefields of the trenches and later in the slums.Read by Bob Rollett. 7 hours 41 minutes. TB 21205.Miller, Russell. Uncle Bill: the authorised biography of Field Marshal Viscount Slim. 2013. TB 20930.Slim was the most modest of men - a rare quality among generals. Of all the plaudits heaped on him during his life, the one he valued most was the epithet by which he was affectionately known to the troops: 'Uncle Bill'. Read by Mark Elstob.17 hours 58 minutes. TB 20930.Weintraub, Robert. No better friend: one man, one dog, and their incredible story of courage and survival in WWII. 2015. TB22188.Flight technician Frank Williams and Judy, a purebred pointer, met in a World War II internment camp. Judy was a fiercely loyal dog and the pair's relationship deepened throughout their captivity. When the prisoners suffered beatings, Judy would repeatedly risk her life to intervene. She survived bombings and other near-death experiences and became a beacon for all the prisoners. At one point, deep in despair and starvation, Frank contemplated killing himself and the dog to prevent either from watching the other die. They were rescued, and Judy spent the rest of her life with Frank.Read by Andrew Cullum. 16 hours 33 minutes. TB22188.Wharton, James. Out in the army: my life as a gay soldier. 2013. TB21349.The amazing career journey of James Wharton as he becomes a man, enlists in the Army, joins the elite Blues and Royals and learns to deal with his sexuality in a sometimes hostile environment, prior to coming to terms with it and, in turn, helping the army itself come to terms with homosexuality. Read by Robert Nairne. 10 hours 49 minutes. TB21349.Courage and inspirationBegley, Andrea. I didn't see that coming. 2013. TB 20861.Andrea Begley stunned the nation with her unique voice and was the winner of The Voice UK. Born in Ireland, she had to come to terms with losing 90% of her vision, but she made sure nothing would hold her back to achieve her dream. Read by Melanie MacHugh. 6 hours 25 minutes. TB 20861.Booth, Louise. When Fraser met Billy. 2014. TB21264.Fraser was a two-year-old autistic child with a multitude of problems when he first met Billy at the cat protection shelter. Billy purred, laid his paws across Fraser and they have been inseparable ever since. Slowly but surely Billy has transformed Fraser's life. Their profound bond has immeasurably improved their lives and the family's, and brought them lots of hilarious and touching moments along the way.Read by Julie Stark. 7 hours 17 minutes. TB21264.Devey, Hilary. Bold as brass: my story. 2013. TB21874.From her father's bankruptcy to building her own company, Pall-Ex, Hilary Devey never gave up. Along the way she has survived destructive marriages, her son's heroin addiction, and fought back from a stroke that almost killed her. Contains strong language and violence.Read by Maggie Ollerenshaw. 10 hours 1 minute. TB21874.Mackenzie, Tom H. The last foundling. 2014. TB21589.When she fell pregnant in London in 1938, Jean knew that she couldn't keep her baby. Scared and alone in a city on the brink of war, she begged the Foundling Hospital to give her baby the start in life that she could not. This is both a story of survival from one of the very last foundlings and a testament to the love that ultimately led a family back together.Read by Crawford Logan and Phyllida Law. 7 hours 38 minutes. TB21589.Northup, Solomon. 12 years a slave: a true story. 2014. TB 21215.Born a free man in New York State in 1808, Solomon Northup was kidnapped in Washington, DC, in 1841. He spent the next 12 years as a slave on a Louisiana cotton plantation, during this time he was frequently abused and often afraid for his life. Against all odds, Northup eventually succeeds in contacting a sympathetic party and manages to get word to his family. Read by Tommie Earl Jenkins. 9 hours 38 minutes. TB 21215.Sixsmith, Martin. Philomena: the true story of a mother and the son she had to give away. 2013. TB 20982.The story of a mother and son, whose lives were blighted by the forces of hypocrisy on both sides of the Atlantic and of the secrets they were forced to keep. Read by Brian Fenton. 14 hours 42 minutes. TB 20982.Theoharis, Jeanne. The rebellious life of Mrs Rosa Parks. 2013. TB 20613.Presenting a corrective to the popular notion of Rosa Parks as the quiet seamstress who with a single act started the modern civil rights movement, Theoharis provides a revealing window into Parks' politics and years of activism.Read by Liza Ross. 14 hours 9 minutes. TB 20613.Uhlberg, Myron. Hands of my father: a hearing boy, his deaf parents, and the language of love. 2009 TB21925.A memoir of growing up as the hearing son of deaf parents - a world that Uhlberg found unaccountably beautiful, even as he longed to escape it. He was called upon to act as his father’s ears and mouth in the stores and streets of the neighbourhood beyond their silent apartment in Brooklyn and resentful as he sometimes was of this heavy burden, he nonetheless adored his parents, who passed on to him their own passionate engagement with life. Read by Garrick Hagon. 7 hours 57 minutes. TB21925.Yousafzai, Malala. I am Malala: the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban. 2013. TB 21093.The inspiring story of a schoolgirl who was determined not to be intimidated by extremists, and faced the Taliban with immense courage. Malala speaks of her continuing campaign for every girl's right to an education, shining a light into the lives of those children who cannot attend school.Read by Barathy Jones. 10 hours 47 minutes. TB 21093.MiscellaneousAitken, Jonathan. John Newton: from disgrace to Amazing grace. 2008. TB 20420.John Newton’s famous conversion during a storm at sea led to his new role as a social reformer and key figure in the abolition of slavery. He was the author of many hymns including Amazing grace and Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken. Read by Jon Cartwright. 13 hours 10 minutes. TB 20420.Bulger, Ralph. My James: the heart-rending story of James Bulger by his father. 2013. TB 21320.James Bulger was just a few weeks shy of his third birthday when, on 12 February 1993, he wandered away from his mum Denise in a shopping mall in Bootle. Jon Venables and his friend Robert Thompson murdered James in a crime that shocked the world. James' father Ralph describes how his world fell apart in the days that followed as he drank to numb the pain, and the stress tore his marriage apart.Read by Graham Elwell and Joan Walker. 9 hours 58 minutes.Daniels, Hope. Hackney child: a true tale of surviving poverty and the care system. 2014. TB21583.At the age of nine, Hope Daniels walked into Stoke Newington Police Station with her little brothers and asked to be taken into care. Home life was intolerable: both of Hope's parents were alcoholics and her mum was a prostitute. The year was 1983. Her experiences show that, with the right help, the least fortunate children have the potential not only to recover but to thrive. Contains strong language. Read by Annie Aldington. 6 hours 52 minutes. TB21583.Frayn, Michael. My father's fortune. 2011. TB 20467.A moving and humorous account by Michael Frayn of his father who was a quick-witted boy from a poor and struggling family who made a go of his life despite hardships and later deafness. Read by Martin Jarvis. 10 hours 10 minutes. TB 20467.Higashida, Naoki. The reason I jump. 2013. TB 20726.Written when he was only 13, Naoki abundantly proves that autistic people do possess imagination, humour and empathy, but also makes clear, with great poignancy, how badly they need our compassion, patience and understanding.Read by Ryan Watson. 2 hours 28 minutes. TB 20726.Ingrams, Richard. The life and adventures of William Cobbett. 2006. TB 20560.Cobbett, best known for 'Rural Rides', the classic account of early-19th century Britain, was also one of England's greatest radicals, being the foremost satirist and proponent of reform of the time. Read by Martin Reeve. 11 hours 14 minutes. TB 20560.Jago, Michael. The man who was George Smiley: the life of John Bingham. 2013. TB 20372.The true story of the man who inspired John le Carre's most famous character. Read by Neville Jason. 11 hours 21 minutes. TB 20372.Johnson, Martyn. What's tha up to? Memories of a Yorkshire bobby. 2012. TB21626.No two days were ever the same for bobby on the beat PC Johnson. Whether he was chasing unlikely coal thieves, tracking down peacocks gone AWOL or investigating mysterious flying saucers over Sheffield, he faced every new challenge with a smile and a healthy dose of his copper's common sense. Read by Martyn Johnson. 6 hours 51 minutes. TB21626.Johnson, Martyn. What's tha up to nah? 2012. TB21627.PC Martyn Johnson is back on the beat with more hilarious and heart-warming stories from the golden age of policing. With his nose for trouble and a knack for mischief, there's no such thing as a quiet shift for the friendly Yorkshire bobby, from drunken dogs and runaway horses to high-speed chases after Burglar Bill. Read by Martyn Johnson. 6 hours 37 minutes. TB21627.Kelly, Ian. Mr Foote's other leg. 2012. TB 20229.Samuel Foote, although forgotten now, was a major figure of Georgian London. Friend of Johnson, Garrick, Fielding, Goldsmith, Sheridan, Boswell and Franklin, Foote was the most famous and the funniest man in England. Here, Kelly argues Foote to be the singular founding father of the British sense of humour. Read by Phillip Bretherton. 15 hours 51 minutes. TB 20229.Leonard, Rosemary. Doctor, doctor: incredible true tales from a GP's surgery. 2013. TB 20379.Dr Rosemary writes with warmth, humour and honesty as she recalls the stories of 20 of her most memorable patients from her 25 years working as a GP in south London. Read by Charlotte Strevens. 7 hours 37 minutes. TB 20379.Mulholland, Marni. Raw: homeless child, groomed girl, teenage prostitute. 2014. TB21774.Marni thought she'd found a friend in her social worker, Matthew. But he groomed her from the moment she entered the children's home. A year later their 'relationship' crossed boundaries no child should know exist. Shocking and powerful, brave and inspiring, Marni Muholland's memoir reveals the full truth about grooming and its aftermath. Contains violence, strong language and passages of a sexual nature. Read by Emma Dillon. 8 hours 47 minutes. TB21774.Prentis, Evelyn. A nurse and mother: my life as a post-war nurse. 2012. TB21764.At the end of the Second World War, as husbands came back to Civvy Street, their wives had the luxury of staying at home with the children. For a short while at least. Soon Evelyn realised she had to find work to make ends meet, and to her astonishment she was offered part-time hours at her old hospital.Read by Anna Harwich. 7 hours 46 minutes. TB21764.Sanghera, Sathnam. The boy with the topknot: a memoir of love, secrets and lies in Wolverhampton. 2009. TB21500.For Sathnam Sanghera, growing up in Wolverhampton in the eighties was a confusing business. George Michael competed with learning to tie the perfect top-knot. And then there was his family, whose strange and often difficult behaviour he took for granted until, at the age of twenty-four, Sathnam made a discovery that changed everything he ever thought he knew about them. Read by Chetan Pathak. 10 hours 50 minutes. TB21500.Wainwright, Robert. Sheila: the Australian ingénue who bewitched British society. 2014. TB21771.Born on an Australian sheep station, Sheila Chisholm wedded earls and barons, befriended literary figures and movie stars, and died a Russian princess. Her clandestine affair with young Bertie, the future George VI, caused ruptures at Buckingham Palace, with King George offering his son the title Duke of York in exchange for never hearing of Sheila again. Read by Richard Burnip. 11 hours 44 minutes. TB21771.Walker, Malcolm. Best served cold: the rise, fall and rise again of Malcolm Walker CBE. 2013. TB 21097.Malcolm Walker opened a small frozen food shop called Iceland in Oswestry in 1970. By 1999 it had grown into a 2 billion turnover business with 760 stores. This is the dramatic story of the ups and downs of a born entrepreneur.Read by Sean Baker. 12 hours 46 minutes. TB 21097.Walsh, Mikey. Gypsy boy. 2010. TB 21179.Gypsy boy series; book 1. Mikey was born into a Romany Gypsy family which gave him the vibrant and loyal culture he grew up in and also the violence and grief which forced him to make the agonizing decision to leave. Contains strong language. Read by Robert Nairne. 8 hours 8 minutes. TB 21179.Walsh, Mikey. Gypsy boy on the run. 2011. TB 21180.Gypsy boy series; book 2. This story picks up from where Gypsy boy left off, and tells the story of Mikey's battle to escape the Romany gypsy camp he grew up on. Torn between his family and his heart, Mikey struggles to come to terms with his ancient inheritance and dreams of finding a place where he can really belong. Contains strong language. Read by Robert Nairne. 8 hours 39 minutes. TB 21180.Weaver, Pam. Bath times and nursery rhymes. 2013. TB 20765.In 1961, 16-year-old Pam Weaver began her training as a nursery nurse. She recounts the highs and lows of her career in both state nurseries and as a Hyde Park private nanny with engaging and uplifting honesty. Read by Melissa Berry. 9 hours 52 minutes. TB 20765.White-Cooper, Ronald. Call the doctor: a country GP between the wars: tales of courage, hardship and hope. 2014. TB21591.Ronald White-Cooper may have worked as a doctor in London's slums and tended to badly wounded men on the Western Front, but when he arrived in Dartmouth in 1920 to set up as a GP he found himself facing some unique challenges. Over the years he became a much-loved part of the community, often helping those who could not afford to pay him.Read by David Graham and Charlotte Strevens. 7 hours 43 minutes. TB21591. ................
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