Memoirs

The following memoirs or books on personal memories have been published:

Ship to Shore
The Autobiography of a Royal
Naval Signalman 1889—1981
Sidney Hill
Publisher: SPIDERWIZE
UK: £9.99
US: $13.45
Euro: €12.79

Type: Paperback 6" x 9"
Pages: 396
Publisher: Spiderwize
Language: English
ISBN-10: 095605191X
ISBN-13: 978-0-9560519-1-2

A remarkable insight in 19th and 20th century social and naval history through the eyes of a self-styled 'ordinary man'.

ALAN PATON SPEAKING    The Lintrose Conversations: Interview with Alan Paton   by Roy Holland edited by Charles Muller

UK price: £14.60     US price: $28.95 Publisher: DIADEM BOOKS Format: Paperback: Perfect binding , cream interior Size : 6 x 9 (US trade) Pages: 114 ISBN: 978-0-9559741-4-4 Published: August-2008

This interview with Alan Paton by Roy Holland has never, until now, been published. The interview took place on June 19 and June 20, 1973, when Holland was a guest in Paton’s home, Lintrose, at Bothas Hill, Kloof, Natal. It provides many insights into Paton’s life, his political involvement as the founder of the Liberal party in South Africa, and his writings.

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Both Sides of the Fence by Lesley Drinkwater

UK price: £6.99   US price: $11.15 Publisher: SPIDERWIZE Format: Paperback: Perfect binding , cream interior Size : 6 x 9 (US trade) Pages: 196 ISBN: 978-0956051950 Published: January-2009

Orphaned at ten, destitute at fourteen — vital ingredients for early maturity.

Set initially in Lancashire in the late twenties, this story follows the early life and Vicissitudes of Tim who, shortly after birth, was fostered out by his mother to a poor, socially deprived family, in Blackpool.

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Fighting the Big       Disease, Diet, and Education In Early Knightswood by Bryan Cromwell

UK price: £8.40   US price: $11.15 Publisher: SPIDERWIZE Format: Paperback: Perfect binding , cream interior Size : 6 x 9 (US trade) Pages: 200 ISBN: 978-0956051943 Published: December-2008

Book Description

The first part of this book deals with disease, health, and diet mainly in Knightswood prior to, during, and immediately following World War II. The second part is concerned mainly with the education of primary school children in the same area and during the same period, although there are several ventures beyond Knightswood and into Glasgow generally.

Of Laundries and Rabbits: Growing Up in England and Scotland        by John Waddell & Ellen Waddell

UK price: £7.00     US price: $12.95 Format: Paperback Size: 6 x 9 Pages: 112 ISBN: 0-595-52039-1 Published: Jun-2008

The captivating story of two people who grew up in two very different environments—one in the harsh economical conditions of urban London, the other in the picaresque countryside of rural Scotland.

Winston Churchill by his Personal Secretary:       Recollections of The Great Man by A Woman Who Worked for Him by Elizabeth Nel

UK price: £7.99    US price: $15.95 Format: Paperback Size: 6 x 9 Pages: 170 ISBN: 0-595-46852-7 Published: Sep-2007

Elizabeth Nel served as Winston Churchill's personal secretary during World War II. The vivid and human details of her experiences, of her impressions and memories of that great man at the height of the conflict against Hitler, make this compelling reading. An epilogue about the subsequent life of Elizabeth Nel over the past 60 years brings the book up to date

Memories from Good Hope to Guardafui (1940-2000)     by Michael Fergusson

UK price: £8.00    US price: $15.95 Format: Paperback Size: 6 x 9 Pages: 168 ISBN: 0-595-49828-0 Published: Mar-2008

An autobiographical account of the author's life from 1940, when he left England for Southern Rhodesia until his return to England in 1999. A highlight is the entertaining account of his colonial service in the Somaliland Protectorate.

The (not too serious) exploits of a young Royal Artillery Officer in Germany in the 1960s, extending through his career from RMAS until after his retirement. The title introduces an enchanting collection of humorous "Kiplingesque" episodes, drawn from the author's real-life experiences in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Other Formats: Adobe eBook

Thomas F Jacques has a written a true and vivid life of an English boy born into poverty and has depicted a life without prejudice to persons past and present. He now lives as a state pensioner in his 88th year without wealth and riches, grateful for being mentally sound and in full health.

A very amusing, at times hilarious, account by a British airman of his involvement in World War II. From the depths of Wiltshire, through the Syrian desert, the siege of Malta into Italy, the author tells us how it really was!

“The life story of a very ordinary man, who didn’t achieve much but also achieved a lot.” The author spent 3/4 years of his prime employed as a Tunnel Miner working on the Hydro Schemes in the Highlands of Scotland. The tunnels were under peat and various different soils and clay. The miners went by the glamorous name of the Tunnel Tigers, hence the title Tigers Under the Turf—but tunnel mining was anything but glamorous!

Other Formats: Adobe eBook

This book is dedicated to all of the Royal Marines, be it squaddies, N.C.O.s or officers who were lucky enough to be in 40 commando on the dates November 1955 to November 1957, who cemented a wonderful camaraderie in the Suez Battle and training in Malta and Cyprus.

The book is an asylum seeker's account of courage and perseverance, of how for years she suffered the indignities, humiliations and anguish of racial prejudice and violence in Zimbabwe with its disintegrating economy and law and order, finally seeking refuge in Britain, the home of her grandfather.

Other Formats:  Hard Cover : $43.95  £23.54   Adobe eBook

Autobiographic journey through the changing patterns of life in Medicine and the Church in many parts of the world over the past 75 years. Conflicting priorities don’t diminish the drive of destiny with a kindred spirit by your side.

Flight of the Dancing Bird is Tanjas Darke's remarkable and moving account of her life, told in her own words. It is a story of enormous courage and triumph over appalling adversity. Remarkably, she has survived the most horrifying ordeal of child abuse imaginable and has found the strength to write about her experiences in this powerful and balanced autobiography.

An English family’s first visit to the U.S.A. In addition to seeing traditional tourist attractions, they meet everyday Americans and stay in typical American homes.

A retired Group Captain in the RAF, Kel Palmer’s autobiography is a fascinating exploration of his experiences in over 110 countries. He is a pioneer in the development of radar, but most exciting is his heartfelt romance with the love of his life!

“There is always a choice in life. One way of life is to follow the word and the will of God. The other is to follow the way of the world. I had chosen to drift further and further away from my home and Christian upbringing to follow a man who was not a Godly man but a follower of his own whims and desires.” The book is a poignant account of a woman’s experience and escape from the hell of domestic abuse.

Rhodesia was once a prosperous and thriving country, and the story of the author's enterprising and entrepreneurial spirit in that land, followed by his desperate escape from the country when, as Zimbabwe, it became ruled by a tyrant, imparts a realistic perspective of the present desperate plight of many exiles from a country that was once a paradise and the breadbasket for so much of Africa.

The memoirs of a fighter pilot who flew Spitfires and Hurricanes during World War II, with many earlier recollections of Clowne, a Derbyshire village, during the thirties.

Actions and reactions of a ‘cockney kid’ to his imposed life in a rural landscape during his six years of World War Two. His thoughts, fears and imaginings, broken by loss, lust, brutality and learning.

This is a remarkable Christian testimony of faith and endurance by a man who is led by God from Ghana to his new home in Europe . Throughout his journey the writer experiences pitfalls and witnesses many incidents of human greed and tragedy that drive him to seek the reason for man's life on earth.

This is a really a remarkable book about World War 2. So many battlegrounds—first in the Shetlands (a preparation rather than a battle), then the desert in North Africa, then D-Day itself into France, and finally Norway! As a first-hand account by someone directly involved in these battles, especially the D-day invasion, this work is a very valuable record of history.

To the readers who have read the author's first book Life and Deaf, this new story will answer their desire to know what happened to her daughter Rosemary, who became deaf at the age of two years due to an overdose of streptomycin, and her progress thereafter despite eminent specialists suggesting her only vocabulary would be "signing" and her speech would be very limited.

This is the second volume in Wally Payne’s entertaining and often hilarious account of the doings (and misdoings!) of a soldier in the Royal Military Police, his postings this time ranging from Germany, Northern Ireland, Colchester, Edinburgh, to Hong Kong.

How can words describe the huge difference between life in a little village in a typical developing country in Africa and that of a city in the sophisticated West? Well, that exactly is what the book sets out to achieve.

Wally by Name is an entertaining and often hilarious account of the doings (and misdoings!) of a soldier in the Royal Military Police, his postings ranging from Germany to Malta, Northern Island to Cyprus and Hong Kong.

Not just an autobiography, A Life is a historical record of achievement, from pre-war childhood to post-war retirement, taking in school, training ship, the sea, the commercial world, home and family.

This is a delightfully entertaining account of the author’s three-year period during the Second World War as a wren, when she was enlisted in the W.R.N.S., the much coveted service that had been so difficult to enter. 

One man, three lives—from idyllic village childhood, through war-torn Europe, to a new life in England.

Set in the Lancashire cotton town of Oldham, this moving and gripping autobiography presents a catalogue of events that helped shape the author to be the man he is today.

A father’s celebration of the short but busy life of his son who died in a tragic accident, aged eleven.

This is the story, beguiling and often moving, of a young girl brought up in the harsh realities of the 1930's in St. James Square in Edinburgh, Scotland.

This inspiring story tells of the courage of a young Ghanaian boy who, having failed to achieve his aim to become a medical doctor by attending a university in Ghana or by virtue of a scholarship to the USSR, raised funds by working on a building site in Nigeria to pay for a daring one-way flight to East Berlin to become an asylum seeker in West Berlin—a route by which he realised his dreams and became a medical doctor in Germany.

The book covers a lifetime of serving in the Catholic Church combined with the renegade lifestyle of seven lads who became men and dealt with the hysterical consequences of being holy and sinful.

Working with the Dead         by Josephine Price Powell

UK  price: £9.99     US price: $11.95 Format: Paperback Size : 6 x 9 Pages: 100 ISBN: 0-595-31814-2 Published: May-2004

Not only a how-to book on embalming! Jo Powell has seen Death many times, through the eyes of a child, a woman and an embalmer. She understands the needs of those wishing to become embalmers and the difficulties that face them. Her book tells of her encounters with the Dead and how to care for them in a way that can easily be understood by the reader.

Life and Deaf, about bringing up a girl who is profoundly deaf, is for anyone who enjoys a true inspirational and uplifting story filled with pathos, hope, dejection, unswerving love, success and romance.

The enthralling and courageous story of a woman who became a priest in the Church of England, having survived one of the first open heart operations and persevered against deep-rooted prejudices against women in the clergy.

A Stroke of Genius:      
Letters and Stories
by Mick Sutton

$11.95     £9.99
Format: Paperback
Size: 6 x 9
Pages: 98
ISBN: 0-595-27855-8
Published: Jun-2003

Mick Sutton’s letters that recount the experiences and impressions of a world cruise will be an inspiration and help to others who have had to overcome the challenges of a stroke or similar circumstances that have brought unexpected changes to the course of their lives and to the lives of their partners.

This readable book traces the history of an ordinary English family through six generations, complete with anecdotes, photographs and genealogical tables.

This true life story tells of the turbulent life of a woman who suffered abuse and humiliation as a child and young woman, and who later faced insurmountable challenges in providing care for a son inflicted with a bone disorder that required frequent surgery.

Someone living near you can turn out to be your reincarnated loved one—given that we reincarnate into the people around us! The author illustrates her premise with her real-life story.

Tell it as it Was

by Kathleen Hann   

US price: $12.95    UK price: £10.99
Format: Paperback
Size: 6 x 9
Pages: 176
ISBN: 0-595-22790-2
Publication Date: May-2002

This book will make you laugh and cry as the author revisits the Black Country of the thirties and forties.

A CAMERA IN THE DALES   by  John Moore. Published by Writers Club Press, 2000.    

This is a photographic diary in monochrome!  With its authentic and picturesque verbal memories, it is a magical evocation of past customs in one of the most romantic dales in Yorkshire. 

US price: $9.95       UK price: £8.55

Why Daddy, Why? by Emelia Dion Hardy.  Published by Writers Club Press, 2002.    

The reader will be drawn irresistibly into the world of the author who presents a catalogue of abuse and cruelty suffered by herself as an innocent child, first at the hands of her alcoholic father, then by nuns, and later by a heartless husband who raped and beat her. This is compulsive reading.

UK Price £13.99      $15.95 in  US 

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Turning Thirty, Forty, Fifty... by  Marcia W Tuttle. Published by Writers Club Press, 2002.    

Journal entries and short stories recorded over twenty years reveal the poignant struggles and heartfelt triumphs and the joys of a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as she matures from young woman to mother, to teacher and grandmother

US price: $13.95       UK price: £8.55            Read more

Cinderella in Arabia                             
A Cross-Cultural Autobiography               
by Monika al-Amahani    US price: $25.95    UK price £18.04
Format: Paperback
Size: 6 x 9
Pages: 532
ISBN: 0-595-20116-4
Publication Date: Nov-2001      MORE INFORMATION

Cinderella in Arabia is a serious critique of Gulf Arab society, revealing the devastating crunches the author has so triumphantly survived in her intercultural marriage.

A Boy from the Valleys

by Raymond G Hicks   

US price: $11.95    UK Price £9.99      
Format: Paperback
Size: 6 x 9
Pages: 148
ISBN: 0-595-17625-9
Publication Date: Apr-2001

Autobiographical tales of a young boy, growing up in the South Wales mining valley in the 1920's with adventure, tension and humour.

Schools for Slander: A True Story  
by Ruth Barrett.
Writers Club Press, 2000.
Teaching is a vocation, not a job. And yet teachers can suffer unbelievable torture. In this book the author gives a vivid account of her years of teaching in England -- years of unmitigating persecution and slander!
     US price: $11.95      UK price : £10.27

What I Can See For You by Ruth Barrett. 
This is the story of the author’s personal battle over several years to regain her health. The battle was successful - eventually - but many lessons were learnt the hard way on the journey. This book is written as a warning to all those who value their health. Read on and draw your own conclusions ...

US Price: $14.95       UK Price £10.12

A MILD FORM OF INSANITY by Mike Tuson.    Writers Club Press, 2001.

The book covers Mike Tuson's experiences in almost all forms of helicopter operations, including military, oil field support, mountain and desert flying in Oman.

US price: $15.95   UK price: £17.99

Two Rabbits Reliant on Three Wheels 
by Michael Page
This entertaining book presents laughable yet poignant situations in the life of a male nurse travelling through Britain, Ireland and the Continent in a three-wheeler in the company of two rabbits.

On-line US price:  $11.95    UK price £7.65