Unofficial Britain


Book Description

There is a Britain that exists outside of the official histories and guidebooks - places that lie on the margins, left behind. This is a land of industrial estates and electricity pylons, of motorways and ring roads, of hospitals and housing estates, of roundabouts and flyovers. Places where modern life speeds past but where people and stories nevertheless collect: ghost sightings, first kisses, experiments with drugs, refuges for the homeless, hangouts for the outcasts. Struck by the power of such stories and experiences, Gareth E. Rees set out to explore these mundane and neglected spaces, which can be as powerfully influential in our lives, and imaginations, as any picture postcard tourist destination. This is Unofficial Britain, a personal journey along the edges of a landscape brimming with mystery, folklore and myth.




Unofficial Britain


Book Description

There is a Britain that exists outside of the official histories and guidebooks - places that lie on the margins, left behind. This is the Britain of industrial estates, and tower blocks, of motorway service stations and haunted council houses, of roundabouts and flyovers. Places where modern life speeds past but where people and stories nevertheless collect. Places where human dramas play out: stories of love, violence, fear, boredom and artistic expression. Places of ghost sightings, first kisses, experiments with drugs, refuges for the homeless, hangouts for the outcasts. Struck by the power of these stories and experiences, Gareth Rees set out to explore these spaces and the essential part they have played in the history and geography of our isles. Though neglected and forgotten, they can be as powerfully influential in our lives, and imaginations, as any picture postcard tourist destination. Welcome to Unofficial Britain, a personal and occasionally fevered journey along the edges of a landscape brimming with magic and mystery, tragedy and myth; a story of Britain that gets cut from the narrative; a map of the cracks in the urban façade where unexpected life can flourish.




The Stone Tide


Book Description

When Gareth E. Rees moves to a dilapidated Victorian house in Hastings he begins to piece together an occult puzzle connecting Aleister Crowley, John Logie Baird and the Piltdown Man hoaxer. As freak storms and tidal surges ravage the coast, Rees is beset by memories of his best friend's tragic death in St Andrews twenty years earlier. Convinced that apocalypse approaches and his past is out to get him, Rees embarks on a journey away from his family, deep into history and to the very edge of the imagination. Tormented by possessed seagulls, mutant eels and unresolved guilt, how much of reality can he trust? The Stone Tide is a novel about grief, loss, history and the imagination. It is about how people make the place and the place makes the person. Above all it is about the stories we tell to make sense of the world.




The Unofficial Countryside


Book Description

During the early 1970s Richard Mabey explored crumbling city docks and overgrown bomb-sites, navigated inner city canals and car parks, and discovered there was scarcely a nook in our urban landscape incapable of supporting life. The Unofficial Countryside is a timely reminder of how nature flourishes against the odds, surviving in the most obscure and surprising places. First published 1973 by William Collins Sons & Co.




The Magic of Terry Pratchett


Book Description

An in-depth look into the life and writings of the bestselling author of the Discworld novels, Good Omens, and Nation. The Magic of Terry Pratchett is the first full biography of Sir Terry Pratchett ever written. Sir Terry was Britain’s bestselling living author*, and before his death in 2015 had sold more than 85 million copies of his books worldwide. Best known for the Discworld series, his work has been translated into thirty-seven languages, and performed as plays on every continent in the world, including Antarctica. Journalist, comedian and Pratchett fan Marc Burrows delves into the back story of one of UK’s most enduring and beloved authors, from his childhood in the Chiltern Hills, to his time as a journalist, and the journey that would take him—via more than sixty best-selling books—to an OBE, a knighthood and national treasure status. The Magic Of Terry Pratchett is the result of painstaking archival research alongside interviews with friends and contemporaries who knew the real man under the famous black hat, helping to piece together the full story of one of British literature’s most remarkable and beloved figures for the very first time. * Now disqualified on both counts. Praise for The Magic of Terry Pratchett "In this encompassing biography of the prolific fantasy and science-fiction author, writer and comedian Burrows details both the writing accomplishments and the personal life of Sir Terry Pratchett. . . . Burrows spoke to friends and family, and this biography has moments of sadness, especially when discussing Pratchett’s fight with Alzheimer’s. But the book is also funny and conversational in tone, and an excellent tribute to a beloved author.” —Booklist “Affable and consistently engaging . . . Burrow’s buoyant, pun-peppered, and aptly footnote-flecked style . . . helpfully marries his subject matter, propelling us through decade after decade of a heavily writing-centric life while illuminating Pratchett’s complexities and contradictions without any drag in the tempo.” —Locus Magazine “An impressively comprehensive, engagingly written biography. ****”—SFX




The Unofficial Guide to Britain's Best Days Out, Theme Parks and Attractions


Book Description

The Unofficial Guide to Days Out & Attractions in Britain gives you the perfect guidebook to experience the best theme parks, attractions and days out in Britain. Researched and written to provide the most fun, exciting and diverse range of outings and excursions available to those looking for a great day out, this book provides an eclectic choice of big-hitting theme parks to more local experiences and unusual days out. This guide will help you plan your visit and bring the experience alive for you in a personal way written by a team of experts. For smaller attractions you’ll get the lowdown on what’s best to explore and hidden gems you’d never known about, while on the big theme parks you’ll get smart time and money saving advice designed to maximise your fun and eliminate any stress. With honest reviews, detailed information, invaluable maps and indispensible tips, this guide will give you a book brimming with inspiration to savour for your next day out. Take a look inside. The Unofficial Guide to Days Out & Attractions in Britain includes: Fun: A diverse book of exciting days out, theme parks and attractions, celebrating Britain’s character, from big, roller-coaster theme parks to local adventure experiences and unusual trips to savour and plot your next trip away. Eclectic: A different and eclectic set of day trip choices from hanging upside down at Thorpe Park or Alton Towers to dinosaur parks, famous film locations, steam trains, falconry, motor museums and wildlife sanctuaries. Time & Money Saving tips from a team of experienced experts. Expert advice to provide the most fun and enjoyable days out Honest reviews from a team with extensive training and research experience, plus evaluations based on reader surveys Up-to-date, invaluable and need-to-know information Touring plans based on patented algorithms and sophisticated research designs. Indispensible Maps and plans to show you exactly how to plan your day on the ground. About Unofficial Guides The Unofficial Guides have sold more than four million copies worldwide. This series is the only one that offers evaluations based on reader surveys and critiques, compiled by a team of unbiased inspectors. The Unofficial Guides are unique in their employment of sophisticated research designs and cutting edge science - focused around touring plans based on patented algorithms - to provide readers with extremely valuable information available in no other travel series, saving families time and money. An entire organization collects and compiles information for the Unofficial Guide series, guided by individuals with extensive training and experience in operations research as well as data collection and analysis. The result is a portfolio of guides that give visitors everything they need to know for a stress-free, efficient, fun and enjoyable day out.




Slim: Unofficial History


Book Description

Like most members of the professional military freemasonry, Slim came to admire "all the soldiers of different races who have fought with me and most of those who have fought against me." Among the most likable of his enemies were the Wazirs of India's Northwest Frontier. In 1920, Slim took part in a retaliatory raid on an obscure village. It was an unusually easy victory over the canny Wazirs, whom the British took by surprise and escaped from with scant loss. Afterwards, in the casual frontier way, the British sent a message to the Wazirs, expressing surprise at the enemy's unusually poor shooting. The Wazirs replied in courtly fashion that their rifles were Short Magazine Lee-Enfields captured in previous fights with the British and that they had failed to sight the guns to accord with a new stock of ammunition. Now, having calculated the adjustment, they would be delighted to demonstrate their bull's-eye accuracy any time the British wanted. "One cannot help feeling," Slim says, "that the fellows who wrote that ought to be on our side." Slim genuinely enjoyed his virtually blood-free skirmishes with such foes as the Turks, the Wazirs and the Italians in 1940 Ethiopia.




Through Time


Book Description

The quirky British television series Doctor Who is a classic both of science fiction and television drama. First broadcast in 1963, it has remained an influential TV presence ever since, with an eagerly anticipated new series airing in 2005. As a vehicle for satire, social commentary, or sheer fantasy adventure, Doctor Who is unparalleled. It was a show created for children, but it was immediately usurped by adults. Arriving at a time of upheaval in the popular arts in Britain, Doctor Who was born into a television tradition influenced by the TV plays of Dennis Potter, the cult television drama The Prisoner, the James Bond films and Stanley Kubrick's science fiction triptych — Dr Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange. A British fantasy adventure that has unfolded across television screens over decades in the tradition of Lewis Carroll, Conan Doyle and HG Wells, the strength of Doctor Who has always been its writers and the ideas they nurtured. In this new history of the show, Andrew Cartmel (who was the script editor on Doctor Who from 1987 to 1990) looks into its social and cultural impact - providing a fascinating read for committed and casual fans alike.




The Unofficial Bridgerton Cookbook


Book Description

"Blue satin ball gowns, chocolates and high tea, five course meals with family, scandal, and romance. Welcome to the dashing world of Bridgerton. Grosvenor Square is buzzing with ladies and lords dressed to the nines, promenading in the park, and sharing lemonade at the evening's ball. And while you might not be able to score the jewels and frocks of the Bridgertons and the Featheringtons, you can still eat like them with The Unofficial Bridgerton Cookbook. From dazzling canapes, savory meat pies, sparkling wine, gooseberry pie, delicious finger sandwiches, and more, you'll be eating like a Bridgerton in no time. Nevermind what Lady Whistledown says, it's time to eat! These 100 recipes inspired by the delectable foods from Regency England will have you dining Duke and Duchess style with recipes like: Daphne's Lemonade, The Duke's Gooseberry Pie, Penelope's Cucumber Sandwiches, Queen Charlotte's Cakes, and many more!"--




Marshland


Book Description

Marshland is a deep map of the east London marshes, a blend of local history, folklore and weird fiction, where nothing is quite as it seems. Cocker spaniel by his side, Rees wanders the marshes of Hackney, Leyton and Walthamstow, avoiding his family and the pressures of life. He discovers a lost world of Victorian filter plants, ancient grazing lands, dead toy factories and tidal rivers on the edgelands of a rapidly changing city. Ghosts are his friends. As strange tales of bears, crocodiles, magic narrowboats and apocalyptic tribes begin to manifest themselves, Rees embarks on a psychedelic journey across time and into the dark heart of London. It soon becomes clear that the very existence of the marshland is at threat. For on all sides, the developers are closing in...