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The Labour Party, the DAILY EXPRESS, West Ham United FC, Birmingham University and the opera TOSCA all have one thing in common with the Queen Mother. They all saw the light of day in the year 1900. Author and interviewer Hunter Davies has had the brilliant idea of following our century through these people and institutions, casting vivid light and new perspectives on how we live now - and how we lived then. Why isn't education as valued today? Where are the great philanthropists? Why does work have so little meaning when it's all people do? These are some of the questions provoked by Hunter Davies' interviewees and their candid recollections of being born with the century. Amid huge technological changes, it is the lack of community, most people's belief that they live in an uncaring world, that defines the century's end. ... Read more

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Author and journalist Hunter Davies traces the fortunes of the Quarrymen, the 6-man skiffle group formed by the young John Lennon in the 1950s. The group later took on Paul McCartney and then George Harrison, leading into the creation of the legendary Beatles. Davies reveals the personal histories and facts surrounding Lennon’s original group and how their lives have evolved since that monumental time in musical history. Includes rare photos! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fascinating and fun
Hunter Davies doesn't take the Beatles phenomenon nearly as seriously as most writers, despite the fact that he wrote the only authorized biography of the Fab Four back in the 60s.This book is part biography and part personal memoir by Davies (recalling the times and some of the fibs surrounding the Beatles).

The Quarrymen were John Lennon's skiffle band, the group Paul McCartney went to see on July 6, 1957 (when he first met John) and that Paul and George subsequently joined, which changed everyone's life forever.The book focuses on the original Quarrymen (Rod Davis, Len Garry, Eric Griffiths, Collin Hanton, Pete Shotton and John Lennon) and follows them through to their "reunion" minus John in the 1990s.It is principally interesting for (1) placing the Beatles' phenomenon in the context of the place and times, and (2) illustrating the amount of hysteria that continues to cling to the Beatles' legacy to this day.It is NOT a prequel to Davies' Beatles book, nor is it "essential reading," but it is definitely fun.

Plus, it's interesting to look at the Beatles' vague memories of the Quarrymen in Davies' Beatles book and then to compare those with the vivid memories that the Quarrymen themselves have of their close brush with fame (including the fact that they couldn't afford to have a tape made of their 1958 record (which everyone except Quarryman Duff Lowe, who had it, had forgotten about) -- it cost about one pound more than they could scrape up between them!).

The Pre-Fabs
Anyone who has ever read Hunter Davies' authorized 1968 biography of The Beatles (-and it's worth noting that its 1996 revised edition contains many very good pages of added preface, additional writing on 1968-1996, and appendices-) knows that he is a good writer, not just another silly fan writing another Beatles book. The Quarrymen is the story of John Lennon's first band told with interviews with all of the other musicians as we follow their lives, as well as those of John and later Quarrymen Paul and George, over the many years. The regrouped Quarrymen were quite the rage at 90's Beatles conventions around the world and the book tells that tale too. Normal Liverpudlian blokes whose lives were brushed by fame and passed by all those years ago. Only Pete Shotton, Lennon's best friend from childhood, kept up with the Beatles over the Fab years and this too adds entertainment to his life story. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern to the Fabs, normal folk with normal lives, who just happened to play in Lennon's skiffle band. A fun read for any fan. ... Read more

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The world's greatest haulier -- a rags-to-riches tale of British entrepreneurialsim.If you've never seen an Eddie Stobart truck, you've never driven down a British motorway.This is the extraordinary story of a multi-million pound business that spawned a middle-class motorway game. Of dynastic struggles that ended in a merchandising shop opposite Carlisle cathedral.A quintessentially British tale -- written by the inimitable bestselling writer Hunter Davies, and with the full promotional support of Eddie Stobart himself. ... Read more

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Reissued with Beatrix Potter illustrations and previously unpublished materials, this book combines authoritative text with colour photographs taken during the course of a complete year to show the Lake District in all its seasons and moods. ... Read more

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A nostalgic eyeopener
The Glory Game paints a picture of the game of football in the seventies that is charming, nostalgic and diametrically different from how fans perceive it today. To me, as a spurs fan, this was a great read. The author writes of the season 1971/1972, where he keeps his focus mainly on the personalities in and around the team. My only drawback about this books is that the games of the season is merely the location of the story, where the involved persons and their destiny plays the major role. The season is such an exciting one, especially for us "young" (26) who did not know the details of it from the beginning. The author could have described the games with more details and with a more dramatic pen.

Lots of guts and glory for little pay
For the football fan, this is a classic work. Perhaps most compelling is the time capsule it represents, back to a simpler age for football, before advertising, television, marketing and crass commercialism took hold. The book is now thirty years old. Updated in the late 1990s Davies adds information on the team members, twenty-five years after they won their national cup. The reader can only marvel at how much things have changed in world football since this book emerged. Back then, an apprentice might earn [very]little...Even though that amount went a lot further back then, it was a pittance. Players were recruited at about age 13 from local teams. The glory, not the cash, earned their attention. Training consisted of some jogging, minimal weight training and drills in the basics. It was a pretty simple, and certainly unglamorous routine, ten months of the year. Medical care seemed primitive, some based more on superstition than science. Veterans would decry the lack of guts from some of the players, and the absence of grounding in the key, basic skills, e.g., ball trapping. But what a life it was! From the players' bios, it is clear that the alternative would have been to work the mines, unload ships, or collect garbage. Football was a joy! And even then, the players from the middle of the century would probably think those of the 1970s had it pretty soft.

Chapters cover several players, the manager, the early version of English hooligans, key games, a doting, almost sinister fan, and the club directors, in relatively brief, insightful and not-too-critical prose. The appendices include a study of the team's set plays and shows with statistics for the year how critical these 'dead ball' moves were to the success of the team. Brief surveys of player attitudes, life history, family, and hobbies offer a superficial profile of the club. We catch a glimpse of lives, from dads changing nappies to a manager's busy schedule, yet I felt more empty at the end than moved.

Tim Parks and Joe McGuinness have made more recent, intensive attempts to cover this same ground: a year with an Italian football team, up close and personal. A modern version of 'Glory game', featuring Man United (see, for instance, "Manchester Unlimited"), would offer stark contrasts, like Michael Lewis' recent book on American baseball.

First Of A Kind
The Glory Game was published in 1972. It has, as the author notes in his introduction to the 1999 edition, been in print every since. The book tells the story of the 1971-72 season of the English football team the Tottenham Hot Spur Football Club. This is the prototype of many such team stories that have followed. The book succeeds because it tells the story of not only a team in the collective sense but of the individuals that made it.It also presents to the present day fan of the cash saturated Premier League a study of almost sociological precision of an era in English football which, although only thirty years in the past, is now "your father and granfather's football."The players are fairly and insightfully treated. The book is in sum their stories and the stories of their competitions. The book is complete with appendices of team plays,player's attitudes, qualities and what the players did upon retirement.The treatment of the players and coaches is far from dull or superficial.In fact the revealing nature of the book created quite a contrversy when it was published. Its insights are enjoyable reading and tell a true team story. ... Read more

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THIS 30 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: The Boy's Own Book of Frontiersmen, by Albert Britt. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1419122703. ... Read more

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Five tales about the exploits of the mightiest hunter in North Carolina. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Slaying the Demons
I am still unsure as to the value of this book and as to why it was actually written. Gazza, Englands most talented soccer player of his generation tells an honest account of the demons that he lives with on a daily basis. The extent of his addictions, the daily struggles and the complexities of being Gazza are all here in brutal honesty. The book reads like a series of letters both from Gazza and from his councellor to the reader and acts something like a diary. It's more coffee-table literature (that demands very little of the reader), than an autobiography. The benefit being that you can 'dip' in and out of the book at your leisure and the down-side being that it lacks consistency. I learned a little about Gazza here but not enough to recommend the book to anyone. Reading the book did not affect me positively or negatively, nor did it give me anything to occupy my mind. If you like Gazza, buy his autobiography 'Gazza.My Story'. If you are obsessed with Gazza, then you could consider buying this.

Amazing
I don't know anything about soccer players, but wanted to read about bipolar disorder. I love his conversational writing style and all his English-isms throughout the book. I was saddened at how much Paul Gascoigne had to deal with...besides bipolar disorder, as if that's not enough.Yet, it's really heart-warming to see how much he accomplished and continues to accomplish...a great deal more than many who don't have his afflictions.
I don't think anyone would be disappointed reading this book.

Honest Reflection.
Being Gazza is an honest look back at his life by Gascoigne. Before this book I was just familiar with the media image of him as, basically, a clown who threw away his talent by too much partying.Now I understand the medical problems underlying his behavior.The book reveals just how much suffering he has gone through and demonstrates how celebrity helps worsen serious medical problems.Takes a lot of courage to be this frank and the book is an easy read for anyone interested in the person rather than just his football career. ... Read more

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Calling all football fans: settle down in your favourite armchair, fix yourself a drink, and prepare to wallow lengthily, indulgently and nostalgically in the must-have football book of 2007 from one of the UK's best-loved writers on football. Beautifully designed, affectionately written, and lavishly illustrated, this is a football book for boys and girls of all ages, written and presented in the spirit and style of the annuals that adorned the game's golden age. The Bumper Book of Football delivers a feast of facts, feats and anecdotes relating to every conceivable aspect of the world's most popular game: how it began, and how its rules developed; the stories of the great clubs, legendary managers, epic games and great players (including today's top premiership stars); bizarre facts and records; origins of footballing words and phrases; famous football quotes; plus footballing nicknames and superstitions.But The Bumper Book of Football is not merely a rich source of football information and entertainment, it also provides practical guidance on such matters as how to become a footballer, how to start and manage a collection of footballing memorabilia, and how to become a demon autograph-hunter. And, last but not least, like any self-respecting bumper book, it includes an exciting story - A Moral Dilemma for Wayne, written especially for The Bumper Book of Football by Hunter Davies, and concerning the exploits of aspiring schoolboy footballer Wayne Wright. As appealing to the boy or girl who is anxious to find out more about the game as it is to the seasoned fan looking for a footballing gift book or memento, The Bumper Book of Football looks set to find its way into Christmas stockings the length and breadth of the land. ... Read more

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Behind every ritual of every day—waking up from a dream, calling in the dog, going for a drink after work—there are figures which detail the most common dreams, the most popular names for male and female dogs and the preferred after-work activities of various people. In an all-new approach to the list format, Hunter Davies explores these statistics and their meanings, dispensing knowledge on every topic from the top 10 breakfast cereals (and the amount every household eats each year) to the things people want to do before they die. If you want to know what doctors' slang really means, and what on earth the Twelve Days of Christmas actually refer to, Hunter Davies' Book of Lists is for you. ... Read more

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Chapters: Gordon Ramsay, George Reid, Peter Tobin, Jim Leighton, Hunter Davies, John Hunter, Robert Buchanan, Jack Whyte, Tommy Bryce, David Wylie, Robert Pitcairn, Willie Bell, Ally Dawson, Gordon Mcmaster, Bruce Mcfee, Fraser Wishart, Malcolm Manley, Hughie Dunn, Mark Fulton, Renée Houston, John Anderson, Craig Cranmer, Paul Mclaughlin, Adam Brown, James Lindsay. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 108. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Boxwood CaféMazePétrus BanquetteVerreGordon Ramsay au Trianon Palace, VersaillesGordon Ramsay at Conrad TokyoGordon Ramsay at PowerscourtCerise by Gordon RamsayGordon Ramsay at The LondonLa NoisetteThe NarrowThe Devonshire Plane Food at Heathrow Airport T5Gordon James Ramsay, OBE, (born 8 November 1966) is a British chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded a total of 12 Michelin Stars, and in 2001 became one of only three chefs in the United Kingdom to hold three Michelin stars at one time. Ramsay ranks in terms of Michelin Stars behind Joël Robuchon and Alain Ducasse. Ramsay is known for presenting TV programmes about competitive cookery and food, such as Hell's Kitchen, The F Word and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Ramsay was born in Johnstone, Scotland and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, England from the age of 5. Ramsay's father was, at various times, a swimming pool manager, a welder, and a shopkeeper, and his mother and sister were nurses. Ramsay has described his early life as "hopelessly itinerant", as his family moved constantly due to the aspirations and failures of his father. In 1976, they finally settled in Stratford-upon-Avon where he grew up in the Bishopton area of the town. In past public interviews, Ramsay has declined to describe his father as an alcoholic; however, his autobiography, Humble Pie, describes his...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=636344 ... Read more