Biographies

Suddenly there is a blow to my face, I am hurled to one side. ‘My child, I have to go with her!’ I scream. But Dr Mengel is standing before me, whip raised. ‘Maul halten, shut up!’ His eyes gleam. Filled with fear I cower down. In 1943, as the Nazi power swept across central Europe, Rosa, her husband Emanuel and their daughter, Judy, were forced into hiding. But after a year and a half of living a terrifying, day-by-day existence, they were betrayed. As they arrived in Auschwitz, Rosa was torn from her husband and her only daughter. Could she dare to hope she would see either of them again? Somehow, Rosa fought the horror and humiliation of the camp, on occasion coming dangerously close to death. In nursing the people trapped beside her, she helped others survive, but tragically she also watched them die – including a mother she had met before, with a similar story and a daughter the very same age. Her name was Edith Frank. Written immediately in the months after the war, Auschwitz – A Mother’s Story tells Rosa de Winter-Levy’s unique and heart-breaking personal story – from the atrocities of the camp to her journey out of hell. Powerful and affecting, it is the testimony of a mother, and the pain she will endure for the chance to hold her child again. It’s night. The door opens and along with 500 other women I am taken to the so-called Krätzeblock, the scabies block. Mice and rats run over us, the women scream and cry, it’s almost unbearable. There’s no chance of sleep, we’re all consumed by the same thought: tomorrow our final hour will have come. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781800962309 • Author: Rosa de Winter-Levy • Publisher: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 192 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 2 cm

THE UK'S NO.1 MILLION COPY BESTSELLING TRUE CRIME AUTHOR - A PETRIFYING GLIMPSE INTO THE MOST EVIL MINDS OF OUR TIME... Christopher Berry-Dee is the man who talks to serial killers. A world-renowned investigative criminologist, he has gained the trust of murderers across the world, entered their high security prisons, and discussed in detail their shocking crimes. The killers' pursuit of horror and violence is described through the unique audiotape and videotape interviews which Berry-Dee conducted, deep inside the bowels of some of the world's toughest prisons. Christopher Berry-Dee has collated these interviews into this astounding, disturbing book, which, since its first publication, has gone on to become a True Crime classic. Not only does he describe his meetings with some of the world's most evil men and women, he also reproduces, verbatim, their very words as they describe their crimes, allowing the reader a glimpse into the inner workings of the people who have committed the worst crime possible- to mercilessly take the life of another human being. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781789468045 • Author: Christopher Berry-Dee • Publisher: Bonnier Books UK Limited • Format: Paperback • Pages: 368

Why are Scotland Yard murder detectives considered among the finest in the world? And why is so little known about how they truly work? Take a look at what lies behind that success with someone who knows. DI Steven Keogh spent over half of his 30-year police career as a Scotland Yard detective, helping to hunt down terrorists and some of the worst murderers in London. Step inside the mind of an investigator in a never-before-seen look into what it takes to catch killers and bring them to justice. In a journey from crime scene to trial, you will witness the emotional highs and lows of cracking real-life murder cases and discover why people kill, while debunking the myths that surround this detective work. Are you ready to challenge everything you thought you knew about the world of murder investigations? Product Information: • ISBN: 9781789466423 • Author: Steven Keogh • Publisher: John Blake • Format: Paperback • Pages: 352 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2cm

In this extraordinary work of non-fiction, we hear the unforgettable stories of everyday heroes who look after our families, our friends and ourselves in the most challenging circumstances imaginable. When we're at our worst, nurses are at their best. Around the clock, highly skilled and compassionate men and women sacrifice and struggle for us and our loved ones. You have never heard their true stories. Not like this. From big-city and small-town hospitals. These are stories told from the heart. This book will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you understand the importance of the work they do. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781804955604 • Author: James Patterson & Matt Eversmann • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 320 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 1.9 cm

‘Please help me,’ he said in a small voice. ‘Will you help me?’ Six-year-old Ralph has only been in the care system for three days and has already been rejected by three different foster carers. After hitting a teacher at his school and causing mayhem since he arrived four months ago, staff are unable to get a hold of his mum and her partner. Social Services are called and when Ralph turns up at Maggie’s house, she knows immediately it’s going to be a challenge. Within a couple of hours, Ralph has trashed Maggie’s house and spit on her face. After a nightmare first day though, Maggie notices that Ralph is limping and a hospital check reveals broken limbs and several injuries that are months and years old. Can Maggie help this troubled little boy who has been rejected by everyone in his life find his forever home? From Britain’s most-loved foster carer, a new powerful true story of abuse, family and hope. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781399620925 • Author: Maggie Hartley • Publisher: Orion Publishing • Format: Paperback • Pages: 336 • Dimensions: 19.56 x 12.7 x 2.29 cm

Otto Rosenberg is 9 and living in Berlin, poor but happy, when his family are first detained. All around them, Sinti and Roma families are being torn from their homes by Nazis , leaving behind schools, jobs, friends, and businesses to live in forced encampments outside the city. One by one, families are broken up, adults and children disappear or are 'sent East'. Otto arrives in Auschwitz aged 15 and is later transferred to Buechenwald and Bergen-Belsen. He works, scrounges food whenever he can, witnesses and suffers horrific violence and is driven close to death by illness more than once. Unbelievably, he also joins an armed revolt of prisoners who, facing the SS and certain death, refuse to back down. Somehow, through luck, sheer human will to live, or both, he survives. The stories of Sinti and Roma suffering in Nazi Germany are all too often lost or untold. In this haunting account, Otto shares his story with a remarkable simplicity. Deeply moving, A Gypsy in Auschwitz is the incredible story of how a young Sinti boy miraculously survived the unimaginable darkness of the Holocaust. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781800961128 • Author: Otto Rosenberg • Publisher: Monoray • Format: Paperback • Pages: 240 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 2.2cm

The heart-warming tale of a life-saving friendship. In 2006, a traumatic car accident changed Kerry Irving’s life forever. Suffering from severe neck and back injuries, Kerry was unemployed and housebound, struggling with depression and even thoughts of suicide. He went from cycling over 600 miles a month to becoming a prisoner in his own home. With hope all but lost, Kerry’s wife encouraged him to go on a short walk to the local shop. In the face of unbearable pain and overwhelming panic, he persevered and along the way, met an adorable yard dog named Max. As the Spaniel peered up through the railings, Kerry found comfort and encouragement in his soulful brown eyes. This chance encounter marked a turning point in both their lives. In Max, Kerry found comfort and motivation and in Kerry, Max found someone to care for him. This is their remarkable, inspiring story. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780008353520 • Author: Kerry Irving • Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers • Format: Paperback • Pages: 272 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 1.8 cm

HMP Wakefield. ‘Monster Mansion’. Hell to be inside. Almost impossible to escape. This prison has seen some of the most infamous prisoners of all time pass through its cells – from Levi Bellfield to Harold Shipman, Ian Huntley and Charles Bronson. Jonathan Levi and Emma French are the perfect authors to give chilling insight into all the terrible men who have served time there. After detailing the shocking truth of life in Britain’s most high-profile psychiatric hospital in their bestselling book Inside Broadmoor, now they will take readers behind bars in this the UK’s most notorious prison. Inside Wakefield Prison will trace its long and intriguing history, from when it was first built in 1594 all the way up to the present day. Today, just over 750 of the country’s most dangerous offenders are kept there, including ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ Robert Maudsley, notorious killer Jeremy Bamber and former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins. Featuring all the sinister and truly horrifying stories that have emerged from the prison, as well as new unheard tales, this book will fascinate and shock readers on every page. Told with the help of interviews with staff, experts – and even in the words of the prisoners themselves – this is a no-holds-barred journey into the dark. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781789467536 • Author: Jonathan Levi & Emma French • Publisher: Bonnier Books UK Limited • Format: Paperback • Pages: 336 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2cm

Pull on your wellies, grab your flat cap and join Jeremy Clarkson in this hilarious and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the farm we're all obsessed with . . . An idyllic spot offering picturesque views across the Cotswolds, bustling hedgerows and natural springs. Until one day, Jeremy decided he would do the farming itself. After all, how hard could it be? . . . Faced with suffocating red tape, biblical weather, local objections, a global pandemic and his own frankly staggering ignorance of how to 'do farming', Jeremy soon realises that turning the farm around is going to take more than splashing out on a massive tractor. Fortunately, there's help at hand from a large and (mostly) willing team, including girlfriend Lisa, Kaleb the Tractor Driver, Cheerful Charlie, Ellen the Shepherd and Gerald, his Head of Security and Dry Stone Waller. And yet while the farm may be called Diddly Squat for good reason, Jeremy soon begins to understand that it's worth a whole lot more to him than pounds, shillings and pence . . . Product Information: • ISBN: 9780241464502 • Author: Jeremy Clarkson • Publisher: Michael Joseph • Format: Hardback • Pages: 224 • Dimensions: 24 x 16.2 x 2.6 cm

A chilling look into the brutality of life behind bars and what it’s like to be locked away with some of the world’s most dangerous criminals. Widely known in the criminal underworld as the ‘Black Widow’, Linda Calvey spent the first half of her life running with the UK’s top gangsters, robbing banks and rubbing shoulders with the Kray twins. That is, until, in 1990, her lover Robbie Cook was murdered at point-blank, and she found herself falsely convicted. Linda was sent away for decades, and would go on to become Britain’s longest-serving female prisoner. This is her story of life inside, and how she learnt to survive the many years she spent behind bars. Detailing the systems, characters and rules of prison life, as well as her encounters with notorious criminals Charles Bronson, Rose West and Myra Hindley, Linda gives a full account of her time locked up. Featuring stories of fights, riots, dodgy dealings and what happens when a prison officer gets taken hostage, this is a gritty and eye-opening look at prison life from a woman who has seen it all. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781802795950 • Author: Linda Calvey • Publisher: Hodder Headline • Format: Paperback • Pages: 320 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm

One of the most harrowing child abuse memoirs you'll ever read . . . Please Save Me is a story of the sickening abuse to which a father subjected his daughter, which led to her giving birth to two children conceived from that abuse. Mandy's father was seen as a pillar of society but no one knew what went on behind closed doors. From the age of 11, he raped his daughter four times a week, like clockwork, forcing himself on her even when she was pregnant. After being dismissed and ignored for years, Mandy finally found someone to believe her and help bring her father to justice. This remarkable woman now tells her story in the hope of shedding light on the horrors so many children endure, as well as exploring the stigma of conception through rape. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781789467840 • Author: Mandy Yousaf • Publisher: Bonnier Books UK Limited • Format: Paperback • Pages: 272 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 1.7cm

From No.1 bestselling author Toni Maguire comes a new true story of abuse and survival Gerri was only a young girl when she was first abused by her father. After her mother found out, and believing there was nothing she could do to help her child, nor deal with the stigma attached to it in their small Northern Irish town in the 1960s, she committed suicide. Gerri and her siblings were split up and placed in different foster homes, all knowing they were unlikely to see each other ever again. Told that her mother had committed a grave sin, Gerri was completely alone and abandoned as she confronted even more horrors from her past. After years of shame and isolation, she finally met a man who would help her heal the wounds she had been left with. With his love and support, Gerri decided it was time for her story to be told. Why, Father? is her true and moving story of survival. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781789465907 • Author: Toni Maguire • Publisher: Bonnier Books UK Limited • Format: Paperback • Pages: 352 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2cm

Champion dancer and Strictly Come Dancing professional Johannes Radebe has captured our hearts with his mesmerising talent, bringing joy to millions of fans and wowing the most critical of judges. He is loved not only for his dancing, but for his beautiful, infectious spirit and energy. Jojo: Finally Home is his never-before-told story, where he shares the experiences and challenges he’s faced – from growing up in Zamdela, a township in South Africa, as a young boy with a passion for dance (and playing with Barbies), to becoming the star he is today. Dance transformed Jojo’s future, giving him a tool to express himself – but as you will learn, this was not always easy. Captivating and moving, these are Jojo’s tales of euphoric highs and all-time lows, of making history, of grief, love, family and opportunity. It is a celebration of him finally feeling at home in his own skin. These are the personal moments that have shaped him into the man he is today – someone who lives life to the full and believes that no mountain is insurmountable. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781399722759 • Author: Johannes Radebe • Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton • Format: Paperback • Pages: 288 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 2.8 cm

In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and national treasure Billy Connolly reveals the truth behind his windswept and interesting life. Born in a tenement flat in Glasgow in 1942, orphaned by the age of 4, and a survivor of appalling abuse at the hands of his own family, Billy's life is a remarkable story of success against all the odds. Billy became a folk musician with a genuine talent for playing the banjo. But it was his ability to spin stories, tell jokes and hold an audience in the palm of his hand that truly set him apart. As a young comedian Billy broke all the rules. He was fearless and outspoken, but his stand-up was full of warmth and silliness too. His startling, hairy 'glam-rock' stage appearance - wearing leotards, scissor suits and banana boots - only added to his appeal. Billy's stand-up comedy continued- for over 50 years, in fact - until a double diagnosis of cancer and Parkinson's Disease brought his remarkable live performances to an end. Since then, he has continued making TV shows, creating extraordinary drawings... and writing. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529318272 • Author: Billy Connolly • Publisher: Two Roads • Format: Paperback • Pages: 400 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 3.4 cm

From tragedy to triumph, one step at a time – an inspirational story of triumph over adversity against the odds. At just 28 years old, Ed Jackson was told he would never walk again. After a miscalculated dive into a pool, he suffered multiple cardiac arrests, a broken neck and a partially severed spinal cord. Lying paralysed in intensive care, the former rugby player knew his life would never be the same. But he wasn’t ready to give up hope. Driven by relentless determination, Ed embarked on an incredible journey to independence. Millimetre by millimetre, he began to regain movement in his fingers and toes. Defying the expectations of even the most optimistic doctors, step by step, Ed began to walk again. Fuelled by a renewed appreciation for life and a determination to help others suffering similar injuries to his own, Ed set his sights on a new challenge: mountaineering. Embarking on a gruelling climb to raise funds for a spinal unit in Kathmandu, Ed realises that, once again, the odds are stacked against him. Will he be able to overcome his own life-changing injury and transform others’ lives for the better? Lucky is the story of how Ed faced the impossible when it seemed all hope was lost, and shows how you, too, can overcome the biggest challenges that life sends your way. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780008423407 • Author: Ed Jackson • Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers • Format: Paperback • Pages: 288 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.85 x 1.2 cm

In December 2018, after fifty years of belly-laughs, energy and outrage, Billy Connolly announced his retirement from live stand-up comedy. It had been an extraordinary career. When he first started out in the late sixties, Billy played the banjo in the folk clubs of Scotland. Between songs, he would improvise a bit, telling anecdotes from the Clyde shipyard where he'd worked. In the process, he made all kinds of discoveries about what audiences found funny, from his own brilliant mimes to the power of speaking irreverently about politics or explicitly about sex. He began to understand the craft of great storytelling. Soon the songs became shorter and the monologues longer, and Billy quickly became recognised as one of the most exciting comedians of his generation. Tall Tales and Wee Stories brings together the very best of Billy's storytelling for the first time. With an introduction and original illustrations by Billy throughout, it is an inspirational, energetic and riotously funny read, and a fitting celebration of our greatest ever comedian. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529361360 • Author: Billy Connolly • Publisher: Two Roads • Format: Paperback • Pages: 336 • Dimensions: 19.69 x 12.7 x 2.22 cm

Alice Vinten, a former Met Police Constable with over 10 years of service on the force, shares the stories of brave and dedicated policewomen who have been involved in real-life cases in the UK, based on a series of interviews with these women who have spent their entire careers at the sharp end of crime-fighting.  The Real Happy Valley reveals what life on the beat is really like. From dealing with domestic abuse cases to facing personal assaults, gang crime and murder, these courageous women stop at nothing to bring criminals to justice, never failing to put others' safety before their own.  Gripping and inspiring, The Real Happy Valley is a celebration of our finest policewomen's extraordinary courage, and their peerless commitment to protect and serve. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781804997031 • Author: Alice Vinten • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 288 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.7cm

One of the most remarkable stories in the history of Special Forces' operations - Daily Express In the bleak moments after defeat on mainland Europe in winter 1939, wartime leader Winston Churchill knew that Britain had to strike back hard. He recruited a band of eccentric free-thinking warriors to become the first 'deniable' secret operatives behind enemy lines, offering these volunteers nothing but the potential for glory and all-but-certain death. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare tells of the daring victories for this small force of 'freelance pirates' in their many missions against the Nazis, often dressed in enemy uniforms and breaking all previously held rules of warfare. Master storyteller and military historian Damien Lewis brings the true adventures of the secret unit to life, from their earliest missions to the death of the group's leader just weeks before the end of World War Two. Product Information:  • ISBN: 9781529439526 • Author: Damien Lewis • Publisher: Quercus • Format:  Paperback • Pages: 416 • Dimensions: 12.8 x 2.8 x 19.6 cm

Get the kettle on, the biscuits out and settle in for a belting read. Let Paddy McGuinness take you back, far, far away from celebrity land, to a two-up, two-down terrace in 1970s Bolton, where he grew up. They were happy times, but money was tight. Paddy slept on a mattress he dragged in from the street, and at 17 he struggled severely with the stress of juggling a college course and two jobs to support his beloved mum. But while cash may have been short, grit and wit were in over-supply, and this is the improbable true story of the lad who went from kipping in abandoned cars in Bolton to racing supercars on Top Gear, via laying concrete floors in prisons, a lively career in a leisure centre, a showbiz intervention by school pal Peter Kay and eye-popping adventures in the world of teledom. There has been mischief and misadventure, joy and sorry, huge success and unexpected challenges. It's a lifey well lived, and an unforgettable personal memoir written from the heart. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529956238 • Author: Paddy McGuinness • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 320 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.6 x 2 cm

A dramatic, gripping account of the rise and fall of the notorious business tycoon Robert Maxwell from the acclaimed author of A Very English Scandal. Robert Maxwell was a very British success. Born an Orthodox Jew, he escaped the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, fought in the Second World War, and was decorated for his heroism with the Military Cross. He went on to become a Labour MP and an astonishingly successful businessman, owning a number of newspapers and publishing companies. But after his dead body was discovered floating in waters around his superyacht, his empire fell apart as long-hidden debts and unscrupulous dealings came to light. Within a few days, Maxwell was being reviled as the embodiment of greed and corruption. What went so wrong? How did a man who had once laid such store on the importance of ethics and good behaviour become reduced to a bloated, amoral wreck? In this gripping book, John Preston delivers the definitive account of Maxwell's extraordinary rise and scandalous fall. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780241388686 • Author: John Preston • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 352 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.1cm