Bindon: Fighter, Gangster, Lover - The True Story of John Bindon, a Modern Legend


Book Description

John Bindon is a modern legend. A fine screen presence and a powerful figure in London's underworld, his film-star looks, charm and talent brought him worldwide exposure. His story reads like the plot of a movie which Big John himself might have landed a part in. Usually typecast in tough-guy roles, his on-screen persona was chillingly close to the real-life one. Big John's nickname came from his status as a legendary sexual performer, so it was no surprise that his encounters with stunning women, most famously Princess Margaret, led to numerous high profile relationships. But most of all, Big John was a warm-hearted, complex man, utterly devoted to those who have him respect and always prepared to be the last line of defence to those closest to him. He emerged from a poor, working class London childhood and fraternised with the Krays and the Richardsons, but eventually turned his back on crime to play major parts in films such as Mick Jagger's Performance, "The Who's Quadrophenia" and Michael Caine's "Get Carter". This is the a truly moving book, as powerful as The Guv'nor, about a man who was many different things to many people, but never anything but himself.




Bowie


Book Description

Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke. Gender Bender. Rebel. Songwriter. Fashion Icon. Rock God. One of the most influential creative artists of his generation, David Bowie morphed from one glittering incarnation to the next over the course of five decades—an enduring superstar who remained endlessly enigmatic and always ahead of his time. Discover the man behind the myth in this intimate and in-depth biography—featuring a full-color sixteen-page photo insert. David Bowie passed away after an eighteen-month battle with cancer on January 10, 2016. Few knew of his illness, and Bowie flawlessly orchestrated his last goodbye with the release of his final (and some say best) album, Blackstar, featuring the haunting song “Lazarus,” and its accompanying video, a farewell message to his millions of fans. Throughout his iconic career that included such hits as “Let’s Dance,” “Space Oddity,” “Heroes,” “Modern Love,” and “Life on Mars,” Bowie managed to retain his Hollywood star mystique. Through in-depth interviews with those who knew him best, New York Times bestselling author Wendy Leigh reveals the man behind Bowie’s myriad images—up to and including his role as stay-at-home dad, happily monogamous in his quarter-of-a-century-plus marriage to supermodel Iman. In this “sizzling” (Radar Online) new biography, Leigh brings fresh insights to Bowie’s battles with addiction; his insatiable sex life—from self-avowed gay to bisexual to resolutely heterosexual—and countless conquests; his childhood in a working-class London neighborhood and the troubling family influences that fueled his relentless pursuit of success; and much more. This exploration of an artist beloved by so many reveals the man at the center of the mythos.




The Writers Directory


Book Description







The Great War for Civilisation


Book Description

A sweeping and dramatic history of the last half century of conflict in the Middle East from an award-winning journalist who has covered the region for over forty years, The Great War for Civilisation unflinchingly chronicles the tragedy of the region from the Algerian Civil War to the Iranian Revolution; from the American hostage crisis in Beirut to the Iran-Iraq War; from the 1991 Gulf War to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. A book of searing drama as well as lucid, incisive analysis, The Great War for Civilisation is a work of major importance for today's world.




The Films of Carol Reed


Book Description

Once enthroned as a major international filmmaker, Carol Reed has long since been banished to a musty corner of movie history. To dust off his work, however, is to discover a dazzling body of films, a canon as remarkable for its diversity as its quality. Building his case, film by film, Robert Moss argues persuasively for a reassessment of this gifted artist, claiming a place for him in the ranks of the world's greatest directors.




A Life in Three Acts


Book Description

With honesty, humour and occasional anger, performer Bette Bourne tells the playwright Mark Ravenhill about his brave and flamboyant life. Crafted from transcripts of a series of long, private conversations, actor Bette Bourne reminisces and replays scenes from his life from a postwar childhood,a stint as a classical actor in the late 60s, to living in a drag commune in Notting Hill and being an active member of the Gay Liberation Front. Bette then talks about his touring with the New York based Hot Peaches cabaret group and founding his own cabaret troop, Bloolips, which redefined the term gay theatre by creating their very own unique celebration of dramatic and colourful homosexuality. The piece, in three parts, marks a different series of events in Bette's life to reveal both a portrait of a pioneering, radical individual and a historical document of the struggles and achievements of gay liberation.







Costa Del Crime: Scoring Coke, Hustling Cash and Getting Laid - The True Story of Spain's Hottest Coast


Book Description

Half-a-million Brits reside full-time in the Costa Del Sol, drawn by the good weather and easy lifestyle. Among them are the drug barons, hookers, gigolos, pimps, con-men, fraudsters, killers, gangsters, drag queens and swingers who underpin the economy of the continent's most outrageous hotspot.'You get out there and lose all sense of proportion. It must be the sun, the booze and the women; so many blokes come a cropper and get hooked on all three' - Max, Costa entrepreneur'Many of the customers who walk into the club looking for sex are British holidaymakers. Some sneak out of hotels, leaving their wives and kids unaware they've gone off to a brothel. Takes all sorts, I guess' - Jenny and Madonna, Costa Club Girls''I got everything from colonic irrigation devices to rubber catsuits. Most of its worth trying at least once, just to see if ya enjoy it' - Ramona, Costa dungeon queen'Things got a bit heavy for a while. A few Molotov cocktails were chucked through me front window, if you know what I mean' - Lenny, Costa drug baron'I knew it was the place for me the moment the place touched down at Malaga. Lots of pretty birds and plenty of geezers prepared to get at it in front of the camera. That was where it was at' - 'Grubby' Vic, Costa pornographer




Letters from Iceland


Book Description

When Auden and MacNeice travelled in Iceland together in 1936, the verse, prose, letters and notes they recorded would appear the following year as 'Letters from Iceland'.