Personal Memoirs

Do you remember Pathe News? Taking the train to the seaside? The purple stains of iodine on the knees of boys in short trousers? Knitted bathing costumes? Then chances are you were born in or around 1950. To the young people of today, the 1950s seems...

Melvyn Bragg's first ever memoir - an elegiac, intimate account of growing up in post-war Cumbria, which vividly evokes a vanished world.'The best thing he's ever written . . . What a world he captures here. You can almost smell it' Rachel Cooke,...

'Hilarious, subversive, sharp without being lethal, and loving without an ounce of sentiment, Shirley Jackson's more-or-less autobiographical account of life as a mother of four and faculty wife (and brilliant writer) is an eternal, comic joy' Amy...

"Darkness is not empty," writes Teju Cole in Black Paper, a collection of essays that meditate on what it means to keep our humanity-and witness the humanity of others-in a time of darkness. Cole is well-known as a master of the essay form, and in Black...

'Nobody knew the truth. For all those years while people judged me, I protected those closest to me. Now it's time for the real story to be told. It's time for healing and forgiveness.' Tressa Middleton made UK history when she became Britain's youngest...

Enjoy this special edition hardback of one of the greatest pieces of travel and nature writing ever written. Go with Peter Matthiessen all the way to Dolpo, a Tibetan plateau in the high Himalayas. ...

Return to HMP Parkhurst in this raw and fascinating account of life as a prison officer. David Berridge returns with more stories from his time as a prison officer at HMP Parkhurst, giving a uncompromising look at the harsh reality of working in British...

In this extraordinary book, an acclaimed young war reporter chronicles a dangerous journey on the smuggler's road to Europe, accompanying his friend, an Afghan refugee, in search of a better future. In 2016, a young Afghan driver and translator named...

The real story that inspired the BBC drama, The GoldOn Saturday, 26 November 1983, an armed gang stole gold bullion worth almost GBP26 million from the Brink's-Mat security depot near London's Heathrow Airport. It was the largest robbery in world...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING Wishing to leave behind the isolation of her Orkney island life, Amy Liptrot books a one-way flight to Berlin. She rents a loftbed in a shared flat and starts to look for...

The diaries of the last British Governor of Hong Kong, published on the 25th anniversary of the handoverIn June 1992 Chris Patten went to Hong Kong as the last British governor, to try to prepare it not (as other British colonies over the decades) for...

Written in his own unmistakable voice, this is the frank and fascinating memoir by arguably the greatest bass player of his generation. Beginning with an East End childhood in a London barely recovered from the War, Jah Wobble takes us on a journey...

'An entertaining first-hand account of pure rock 'n' roll madness.' The Daily Telegraph'Hundreds of exclusive photos and brilliant one-liners make for a sensational read.' the Sun'We are the biggest band in Britain of all time, ever. The funny thing is,...

After working as a barristers' clerk, man and boy, for over thirty years Stephen Ward wrote a collection of reminiscences of his working life to date. He describes some of the characters he's met together with some of the more amusing and repeatable...

WINNER OF THE 2023 LOCUS AWARD FOR NON-FICTIONWINNER OF THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARD FOR BEST NON-FICTION'Always readable, illuminating and honest. It made me miss the real Terry.' - Neil Gaiman'Sometimes joyfully, sometimes painfully,...

As read on BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week'Shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year AwardLonglisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize'Sherman's is a special book. Every sentence, every thought she has, every question she asks, every detail she...

Dragged Up Proppa is the story of growing up working class in a forgotten England.'Very compelling, beautifully written memoir of a time and England that no longer exists but remains just as important today as ever' - Sebastian Payne, author of Broken...

A powerful, personal agenda-changing exploration of poverty in today's Britain.'Totally engrossing and deliciously feisty' Bernardine Evaristo'Staggering... An absolute inspiration' Douglas Stewart, Herald'When every day of your life you have been told...

The celebrated chef behind Momofuku and star of Netflix's Ugly Delicious gets uncomfortably real in his New York Times bestselling memoir.In 2004, Momofuku Noodle Bar opened in Manhattan's East Village. Its young chef-owner, David Chang, served ramen and...

The explosive book from ex-MI5 surveillance officer Tom Marcus takes you on a non-stop, adrenalin-fuelled ride as he hunts down those who would do our country harm.'The brutal truth about the war against terror. Fast-paced and gripping.' - Ant Middleton,...

**Now watch the BBC drama Doing Money**'They took me because I would not be missed'This is the shocking true story of how an ordinary young girl was kidnapped off the street as she walked home and turned into a slave - before fighting for her freedom and...

Now is Not the Time for Flowers is the beautiful and honest memoir from writer Stacey Heale. With the death of her husband Greg as the catalyst, Stacey explores the full spectrum of our lives as women and all its complexities. Told through the lens of...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780063352445Author Neil KingFormat PaperbackPage Count 368Imprint CollinsPublisher HarperCollins Publishers IncWeight(grams) 295g

Ludwig Bemelmans came to the California home of famed interior decorator Elsie de Wolfe, Lady Mendl, for cocktails. By the end of the night, he was firmly established as a member of the family: given a bedroom in their sumptuous house, invitations to the...

'Steve Gallant's exceptional act of courage on London Bridge speaks of both heroism and redemption' - Jon Snow, former anchor of Channel 4 NewsThis is a story of physical bravery, moral courage, and the power of redemption from the man who led the charge...

'Steve Gallant's exceptional act of courage on London Bridge speaks of both heroism and redemption' - Jon Snow, former anchor of Channel 4 NewsThis is a story of physical bravery, moral courage, and the power of redemption from the man who led the charge...

THE POWERFUL AND UPLIFTING NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERIn March 2022, much-loved pop star, father and son Tom Parker died from incurable brain cancer. This story is his legacy, in his own words.A proud working-class lad from Bolton, he rose to...

Written in 1857, this is the autobiography of a Jamaican woman whose fame rivalled Florence Nightingale's during the Crimean War. Seacole's offer to volunteer as a nurse in the war met with racism and refusal. Undaunted, Seacole set out independently to...

An intimate and engrossing celebration of the first ten years of the beloved TV series Call the Midwife.Learn the up-close and personal story of Call the Midwife as told by the cast and crew. Call the Midwife: A Labour of Love is a moving journey through...

An intimate and engrossing celebration of the first ten years of the beloved TV series Call the Midwife.Learn the up-close and personal story of Call the Midwife as told by the cast and crew. Call the Midwife: A Labour of Love is a moving journey through...

As a practising mortician, Caitlin Doughty has long been fascinated by our pervasive terror of dead bodies. In From Here to Eternity she sets out in search of cultures unburdened by such fears. With curiosity and morbid humour, Doughty introduces us to...

'People say "Like father, like son", and the story of my life has mirrored my father's to a quite uncanny degree. Right from when I was a little boy, he was my rock; my mentor; my hero. It is no exaggeration to say that he taught me virtually everything...

'People say "Like father, like son", and the story of my life has mirrored my father's to a quite uncanny degree. Right from when I was a little boy, he was my rock; my mentor; my hero. It is no exaggeration to say that he taught me virtually everything...

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL CHRISTOPHER BLAND PRIZE 2023**SHORTLISTED FOR THE POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2023*'I read the book in one go. I laughed and cried like a baby, and was transported back to a time of innocence, clouded by the enormity of the harsh...

Rock stars to royalty, society to sobriety, get to know the real Susannah Constantine in the hottest memoir of the year! 'Sensational, juicy, gossipy, filthy and bravely honest in equal measure, Susannah Constantine's memoir is a rollicking romp through...

Rock stars to royalty, society to sobriety, get to know the real Susannah Constantine in the hottest memoir of the year! 'Sensational, juicy, gossipy, filthy and bravely honest in equal measure, Susannah Constantine's memoir is a rollicking romp through...

A 2019 Poetry Book Society Winter Wild Card. A Sunday Times Book of the Year 2019. Ever since her first Carcanet book, In White Ink (1991), Mimi Khalvati has been drawn to the sonnet form. In Afterwardness its pull became irresistible. She has...

The extraordinary testimony of OJ Simpson about the murder of his wife Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman that became an Oscar-winning Netflix series.Book InformationISBN 9781783341092Author OJ SimpsonFormat PaperbackPage Count 288Imprint Gibson Square Books...

"The Steve Irwin of Farm Animals" You fell in love with Farmer Will for his hilarious, informative - and insanely cute - TikTok vids. How would you like to visit his farm, meet his animals and escape to the world of this loveable TikToker and champion...

WITH A FOREWORD BY PATRICK BARKHAMAnd an essay by Welsh hill farmer, Dafydd Morris-Jones'One of the great no-holds-barred life-adventures in the wilds of the British landscape.' ADAM NICOLSONWritten on the eve of the Second World War, this memoir tells...