Born in Croydon in 1936, his early life was turbulent. His father left home and his mother committed suicide during the war leaving his formidable, but adored grandmother, to raise him, and it was she who gave him the title for this book. His big television break came with "Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life" with David Frost, John Bird and John Fortune and he also had a brief stint in the popular TV soap "Coronation Street". His radio career includes the hugely popular "The News Huddlines", which he starred in and ran for twenty-six years. "A Fart in a Colander" brings together some wonderful stories from his life, and sparkles with the fun and laughter Roy has brought to millions of people throughout his career.

    He thought his only career choice would be a life of crime. Fifteen years later, he was one of Britain's most successful comics, playing live to half a million fans a year as Roy 'Chubby' Brown.COMMON AS MUCK! tells an incredible story of hardships, heartbreak and, ultimately, success. From an impoverished childhood with his abusive father, to his brand of comedy too rude for television and his determined fight against throat cancer, COMMON AS MUCK! is a frank telling of a remarkable life, laced with Roy's irrepressible humour.

    But then black clouds gathered on the horizonas war loomed ahead.People began to hoard food, military-aged men disappeared from the streets, and long linesformed at stores. It was Alice’s first war in Israel, and the situation was grave. The personal horror story of Alice’s first war comes back to haunt her Alice was beside herself; the ground felt unsteady under her feet. Was it possible that what had happened then is going to happen again? Alice was born when World War II was raging. Her father joined the army and never returned. When the Nazis started transporting Jews to ghettos and death camps, her mother wanted to save her. So she gave her away. Will Alice be mercilessly thrown back into the appalling experiences of her past? Alice never knew her parents. They are faceless to her; she can’t see or imagine them. Was this war now happening so that Alice would finally be able to feel like her mother when she gave her child away? Scroll up now to get your copy of In First Person!

    In a career spanning forty years, Barry has worked alongside the greatest producers and performers in show business: Tommy Cooper, Humphrey Lyttelton, Morecambe and Wise, Willie Rushton, Peter Cook, Kenny Everett, Rory Bremner to name but a few - this book is a veritable Who's Who of comedy.From humble beginnings at the Windmill Theatre and Expresso Bongo, to The Frost Report, Call My Bluff and I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue, Barry recalls the good, the bad, and the downright ugly in his own inimitable style.'Barry Cryer ...an anecdote jukebox whose whole life is basically one big chatshow.'Guardian

    Later, this Bermondsey boy would become known as Tommy Steele . In this engaging memoir Tommy recalls his childhood years growing up in Bermondsey. He relives with great fondness Saturdays as a young boy, spent gazing at the colourful posters for the Palladium and days spent wandering up Tower Bridge Road to Joyce's Pie Shop for pie and mash. But he also brings to life with extraordinary vividness what it was like to live through the devastation of the Blitz. Yet it was once he joined the merchant navy and began singing and performing for his fellow seamen that his natural ability as an entertainer marked him out as a favourite. And it was while ashore in America that he became hooked on rock'n'roll and a legend was born . From Tommy's humble beginning to life at sea and finally as a performer, Bermondsey Boy is a colourful, charming and deeply engaging memoir from a much-loved entertainer.

    It provides a depiction of American spirit and life in war-time England. The author's love story (and the love stories of her friends) illuminates war-time relationships, showing with sensitivity how they developed and how they were understood and accepted at the time.

    This was exciting enough but only a taste of what was to come. The Japanese advance into Burma threatened India and, along with many thousands of British and Colonial troops, Lowry found himself fighting in the Arakan region, where he earned a further Mention in Despatches. Conditions were appalling and the fighting was bitter by any standards. At one point his Battalion was cut off by the Japs for three weeks but surrender was never an option. Yet even worse was to come as the Battalion was thrown into the thick of the action at Kohima which is rated as the most desperate defensive action for the campaign. In one week 173 members of his Battalion were lost. All this is vividly described in this fascinating and inspiring memoir which will enthrall its readers.

    

    It is a rude awakening when they are called upon for the real war. Hugely absorbing, rich and rewarding, Other Times brims with history and experience, love, sorrow and humour.

         Johnny Johnson is 92 years old and one of very few men who can recall first-hand the most daring and ingenious air raid of all time. He can also vividly remember his childhood spent working on a farm with his controlling father, the series of events that led him to the RAF and the rigorous training that followed. But it was his decision to join 617 Squadron, and the consequences, that have truly stayed etched in his mind.    On May 16, 1943, Johnny, alongside 132 specially selected comrades, took off from Scampton airbase in Lincolnshire. For six weeks they had been trained to fulfil one mission that was near impossible: to destroy three dams deep within Germany's Ruhr Valley. It was a daring task but, against the odds, Johnny and his crew survived. Sadly, 53 comrades did not.   For the first time, Johnny relives every moment of that fatal night -- and the devastating aftermath. He recalls with unique wit and insight the difficult training conducted in secrecy, the race against time to release the bombs, and the sheer strength and bravery shown by a small unit faced with great adversity and uncertainty. Embodying a whole squadron, and leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come, Johnny's story is like no other.

    Vividly evoking the confusion, horror and comradeship of war - from the killing fields of Normandy bocage, through house-to-house fighting in shattered Flemish towns, to the final Rhine crossing - Lion Rampant is a powerful, authentic and moving story, telling with extraordinary clarity how the author, his fellow officers and the men of his company lived through one of the most bitter campaigns in history.

    A must for anyone who's interested in the business of laughter.' JOE LYCETT'The funniest book I've read in years.' ADAM KAYFrom a childhood spent making smoke bombs, killing wasps and carving soap in 70s Kent, Harry Hill then found himself in charge of hundreds of sick people as a junior doctor. Out of his depth and terrified, he chucked it all in to pursue his dream of becoming a stand-up comedian. Battling his way through the 90s Comedy circuit he quickly rose to become a household name and one of the UK's most celebrated comics, almost making it to the top of the showbiz tree . . .From being chased around a car park by an angry heckler, getting fired from Capital Radio and watching every episode of Freaky Eaters, to a bizarre assassination attempt and cutting up Simon Cowell's trousers, Harry takes an honest and hilarious look at the ups and downs of his life and career through the lens of what didn't go right.He shares his secrets on how to be a great comedian, finding joy in failure and creativity in struggle, whilst never forgetting that life is short . . . What readers are saying about Fight! 'Hilarious... recommended unreservedly' *****'Lots of laughs and memories of days gone by' *****'A great book... I could not put it down' *****'Beautifully written and great fun' *****

     With 26 victories to his name, he became the first pilot to equal Eddie Rickenbacker’s American World War I record. In October 1942, Foss and his regiment were sent into the heat of battle at Guadalcanal. Foss quickly gained a reputation for aggressive close-in fighter tactics and uncanny gunnery skills and rose to become the lead pilot of what was called Foss’ Flying Circus. Foss’ book Joe Foss Flying Marine: The Story of his Flying Circus is a remarkable work that demonstrates just how tough life could be for a fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater of World War One. Through the course of the book Foss explains how he became a pilot, despite the fact he was initially deemed too old, why he, and men like him, chose to fight the war in the air and what it was like to engage in dogfights with Japanese pilots. “His remarkable flying skill, inspiring leadership and indomitable fighting spirit were distinctive factors in the defense of strategic American positions on Guadalcanal.” Franklin D. Roosevelt, President, United States. Joe Foss’ citation read: “For extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flights with Marine Fighting Squadron 121 in the Solomon Islands area. During the period Oct. 13 to Oct. 20, 1942, inclusive, Captain Foss shot down six enemy Zero fighters and one enemy bomber in aerial combat. His constant aggressiveness, skill, and leadership during these engagements were worthy of the highest traditions of the Naval Service.” Joe Foss was a United States Marine Corps major and the leading Marine fighter ace in World War II. He received the Medal of Honor in recognition of his role in air combat during the Guadalcanal Campaign. His book Joe Foss Flying Marine: The Story of his Flying Circus was first published in 1943. Foss passed away in 2003.

    A Lincolnshire village on a glorious summer's morning in 1940, the countryside as still as a painting. In the blue sky above, the fate of the whole war will soon rest with the RAF and their desperate effort to win the Battle of Britain. If they fail, Hitler's next step will be invasion. And as the scene comes to life before us over the next six months, this shadow of war will not disappear - the conflict will take husbands and sons away, bring in evacuees from the city and soldiers to defend the coast. There will be more money from war work, but less to spend it on - legitimately at least. Everywhere, the feeling of change is in the air. From the pub to the church, the humblest cottage to the biggest farm, from a struggling single mother to the lady of the manor, the paper boy to a traumatised bomb disposal volunteer, this superb jewel of a novel portrays a community of people and weaves together their stories with passion, betrayal, intrigue and suspense.

    Written in his own hand from the day he signed up in October 1939 as a trainee pilot to the day he was ‘demobbed’ in October 1945, this poignant and often riveting diary by Squadron Leader Douglas Greaves D.F.C and Bar, records, in typical understated RAF style, the minutiae of everyday life in the services, as well as the horror he and his comrades endured and the heroism they all displayed.