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Tango 190: Raoul Moat, the Gateshead Shootings & Life Without My Eyes. David Rathband by David Rathband
true-crime
abandoned
autobiography
biography
Thirty-six Years in the White House (1902)
Thomas Franses Pendel - 2016
Pendel's attention. It is very interesting and throws many sidelights on the life of the White House. Pendel writes: "In 1861, or 1862, the Metropolitan Police was established by Congress at the Capital, and I made application for and received an appointment on the force. I made the first arrest, with the assistance of "Buck" Essex. The case was that of a fellow named Grady, one of the English Hill toughs. A roundsman said to us, "Boys, you take a walk down Seventh Street, and if you see anything going on, take a hand in it." Just as we got opposite the Patent Office, this Grady had assaulted, or rather was assaulting, a young fellow with a whip. I went up and grabbed him and put him under arrest, then took him to Squire Dunn's court and preferred charges against him. The Squire was busy writing for some time. When he got through he handed me the paper he was writing, and I was so green at the business I did not know what it was, so said: "What is this, Squire?" He replied, "Why, that is the paper of commitment for this fellow. Take him to jail." "On November 3, 1864, Sergeant John Cronin, Alfonso Dunn, Andrew Smith, and myself were ordered to report at the First Precinct, in the old City Hall, at one o'clock in the afternoon. We supposed we were to be detailed for detective work in New York City on account of the great riot then on there, especially as we were ordered to report in citizens' clothes, to conceal our revolvers, and to be sure to have them all clean and in good order. We arrived at the City Hall, and then were told where we were to go, which was to the President's Mansion, there to report to Marshal Lanham, at that time United States Marshal of the District of Columbia, and a bosom friend of Abraham Lincoln. "These were days that tried men's hearts, and women's, too. Men were falling at the front by hundreds, both in the Union and in the Confederate armies. There was weeping and mourning all over the land. Our nation was trembling with anxiety; we were all hoping that the great strife was over or soon to be. "Marshal Lanham took us upstairs and into the President's office, where we were introduced to him and to his two secretaries, Mr. Nicolay and Mr. Hay, the latter now being Secretary of State. We were then instructed to keep a sharp lookout in the different parts of the house, more particularly in the East Room and at the door of the President's office. " CONTENTS I — Under President Lincoln II — Under President Johnson III — Under President Grant IV — Under President Hayes V — Under President Garfield VI — Under President Arthur VII — Under President Cleveland VIII — Under President Harrison IX — Cleveland's Second Administration X— Under President McKinley XI — Furniture in Executive Mansion Originally published in 1902; reformatted for the Kindle; may contain an occasional imperfections; original spellings have been kept in place.
Rod Laver: A Memoir
Rod Laver - 2013
A diminutive, left-handed, red-headed country boy from Rockhampton, Rod Laver is one of Australia's greatest ever sporting champions and arguably the best tennis player the world has ever seen. He is the only male player to have won the Grand Slam - all four major titles in the same calendar year - in the Open era, and he is the only player to have won two Grand Slams. He was the dominant force in world tennis for almost two decades, playing and defeating some of the greatest players of the 20th century.Rod Laver writes vividly of his life, from the early days growing up in a Queensland country town, playing on makeshift backyard courts, to breaking into the amateur circuit and eventually the professional realm. He also writes movingly about the stroke he suffered in 1998, and of his beloved wife of more than 40 years, Mary, who died last year after a long illness. Rod Laver's memoir is a wonderfully nostalgic journey into Australia's sporting past, filled with anecdotes about the great players and great matches, set against the backdrop of a tennis world changing from rigid amateurism to the professional game we recognise today.
Dance for your Daddy: The True Story of a Brutal East End Childhood
Katherine Shellduck - 2005
I had been looking for sweets. I put my hand in the bag and felt a sticky liquid on my fingers, then I looked at it. A red smear. Then I looked in the bag: bloody knives and clothes. It didn't feel good. What did it mean? I don't know. There are no answers; I daren't ask the questions'Growing up in poverty in London's East End, Kathy was eight years old when her father forced her mother into prostitution. When their mother fled, leaving Kathy and her sisters behind, the girls stuck fiercely together while being passed from children's homes to boarding schools. Then, on a rare trip home, Kathy looked out the window to see a man firing four shots into a Rolls-Royce. It took several seconds for her to realise the victim was her mother's lover, and the gunman was her father.Kathy began her haunting memoir when, as an adult, she travelled back to London, to find out who her gangster father really was. A compelling memoir of an extraordinary childhood, Dance for your Daddy is a true story of the effects on one family of poverty and affluence, violence and love.
Alligator Blood: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of the High-rolling Whiz-kid who Controlled Online Poker's Billions
James Leighton - 2013
That is until he discovered the lucrative world of payment processing for online poker companies. Soon the Australian whiz-kid was living the American dream, raking in as much as $3m a week. Revelling in his jet set lifestyle of fast cars, luxury yachts and VIP nightclubs, he embarked on an epic rollercoaster of champagne fuelled excess which mirrored that of the extraordinary world of online poker, where hot shot college students won millions from the confines of their dorms, and fortunes were won or lost in seconds.However, Tzvetkoff’s move to the neon splattered underworld of Las Vegas would soon see him facing the abyss. Owing millions to the poker companies, and with the FBI hot on his trail, the tarnished boy wonder needed to pull an ace from his sleeve to keep from busting out. And when he did, it resulted in a day that sent a seismic shockwave through the world of online poker and saw him take the blame.
The Boy in the Boat
O'Raleigh Brian - 2003
This is a totally engrossing, real life thriller that reads more like fiction than fact. A compulsive page turner that will have you burning the midnight oil. Brian O'Raleigh never knew why his family fled Ireland but he learned early to escape his father's demonic rages by slipping away from the Alexandra Private Hotel to the beach and the Kathleen R, the fishing boat that was to become his refuge and sanctuary. At the age of 18, in trouble with the law himself, Brian leaves England for Australia seeking to overcome a growing dependency on alcohol and the damage it was wreaking on the lives of those he loves. In a style that is both raw and compelling, The Boy in the Boat tells the riveting story of Brian's childhood, his triumph over alcoholism, his inspirational journey towards recovery, and eventually to the profound revelation that he was moulded and shaped during his childhood years for the meaning and purpose of his life. This is a truly engrossing memoir. Read what the leadings critics said about this book.The Australian Irish Echo: “O'Raleigh is a convincing writer and this book deserves ranking with 'Angela's Ashes'. He mixes dialog, narrative and reflection in a story that is always engrossing, often scary and sometimes funny.”Australian Woman's Day. "From raw and compelling prose a moving portrait emerges of Brian. From cowed child to fierce rebel and finally to an adult battling his own inner demons. This is a finely crafted memoir".Australian New Idea: "Brian is no angel. He's an infuriating drunk and an irresponsible brute; which is why this story of ultimate redemption is so powerful."Review. Ballarat Courier. In this searingly honest memoir O'Raleigh chronicles the abuse that would leave him scarred for life. The fact that he can now write about his tumultuous origins, given over to crime, drugs and alcohol, must mean that he has at last conquered his own inner demons. This is an engrossing read." Amazon 5 Star Review.By Tina Beana January 28, 2015"It takes a special kind of courage to tell the world about all the mistakes you've made, about years of emotional and physical abuse by a parent, decades of alcoholism, pulling no punches, but that's exactly what Brian O'Raleigh has done in this memoir. Yes, it was a difficult book to read on many levels, it's not easy for a reader to watch a character sink further and further into an addiction, to see them lose everything at one point. But this man succeeded in turning his life around! He tells a dramatic and compelling true life story that reads more like fiction than fact.