Biography General

100 WATT BUT FLICKERING

by Brian Leslie Jones

read by John Hobday

running time 14hrs

When the author discovered that he knew very little about his grandparents he decided to write his memoirs, so that his granddaughters would be able to understand their Granddad a little better, and that they might learn from his mistakes. The book reflects his memories of Luton and other factors that impacted on his life, including his sight loss.

438 DAYS: AN EXTRAORDINARY TRUE STORY OF SURVIVAL AT SEA

by Jonathan Franklin

read by Francis Mark

running time 10hrs

In November 2012, Salvador Alvarenga left the coast of Mexico on a fishing trip. A vicious storm killed his engine and the current dragged his boat out to sea, carrying him deep into the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Alvarenga would not touch solid ground again for 14 months. When he was washed ashore in January 2014, he had drifted over 9,000 miles.

81 DAYS BELOW ZERO

by Brian Murphy

read by Richard Ferrone

running time 8hrs 30mins

1943: Five Army aviators left Alaska's Ladd Field on a routine flight to test their B-24 Liberator in harsh winter conditions. The mission ended in a crash that claimed all but one - Leon Crane. With only a parachute for cover and an old Boy Scout knife in his pocket, Crane found himself alone in subzero temperatures. Crane knew that his chance of survival dropped swiftly with each passing day. This is his story.

AN ACCIDENTAL ICON

by Norman Scott

read by Norman Scott

running time 10hrs 30mins

In October 1975 an assassin tried to murder Norman Scott on Exmoor but the trigger failed and he only succeeded in shooting Scott's beloved dog, Rinka. Scott subsequently found himself at the centre of a major political scandal and became an unlikely queer icon. But this was never his intention... In 1960 Scott began a sexual affair with Jeremy Thorpe. By the time of the attempted assassination of Scott, Thorpe was married, leader of the Liberal Party and a figure at the heart of the establishment. He was embarrassed by their former relationship and wanted to cover it up. But he failed. The assassination attempt culminated in a sensational trial in 1979, where Thorpe was tried for conspiracy to murder. The press labelled Scott a madman and the establishment protected Thorpe, who was acquitted. Only recently has Scott's version of events been vindicated.

THE BABY LAUNDRY FOR UNMARRIED MOTHERS

by Angela Patrick

read by Christina Thornhill

running time 7hrs 25mins

London, 1963. Angela Patrick was 19 years old and pregnant. Her parents, strict Catholics, sent her to an imposing convent for unmarried mothers. At eight weeks, her son was taken away from her and put up for adoption. Thirty years later, he contacted her and a reunion was arranged.

CAIRNGORM JOHN: A LIFE IN MOUNTAIN RESCUE

by Robert Davidson & John Allen

read by Bob Rollett

running time 12hrs 10mins

John Allen recalls the challenges of his life in mountain rescue, with accounts of real-life rescues and discussion of the use of helicopters and dogs in the rescue process. The book describes many of the interesting characters he has encountered and is laced with humour.

DADLAND

by Keggie Carew

read by Katherine Shaw

running time 14hrs

Keggie Carew grew up under the spell of an unorthodox, enigmatic father. As a member of an elite SOE unit during the second world war he was parachuted into France, then Burma, in peacetime he lived on his wits and dazzling charm. As his memory began to fail, Keggie embarked on a quest to unravel his story once and for all.

EAT, PRAY, LOVE

by Elizabeth Gilbert

read by Elizabeth Gilbert

running time 13hrs

After a bitter divorce and a turbulent love affair, Elizabeth Gilbert emerges battered and determined to find what she's missing. So she begins her quest. In Rome, she indulges herself; in India she finds enlightenment through scrubbing temple floors. Finally in Bali she finds a path to peace, leaving her ready to love again.

FALLING LEAVES

by Adeline Yen Mah

read by Derina Dinkin

running time 10hrs

As the 'Fifth Younger Daughter', the author was rejected by her father and abused by her step-mother. The story of her lonely childhood is set against a backdrop of China in change.

THE GAMEKEEPER'S YEAR

by Stewart Guy

read by Stewart Guy

running time 1hr 30mins

Fascinating and dedicated way of life of a gamekeeper;

HANNAH GOSLAR REMEMBERS

by Alison Leslie Gold

read by Shirley Hall

running time 3hrs 30mins

Hannah Goslar was a childhood friend of Anne Frank, and here she remembers her own experiences in the war.

I AM FIFTEEN AND I DO NOT WANT TO DIE (X Rated)

by Christine Arnothy

read by Rebekah Germain

running time 9hrs 15mins

This is the compelling and moving narrative of a young girl caught by the tides of marching armies during the siege of Budapest in 1945. Christine Arnothy tells of the terrible experiences encountered by the refugees of Budapest, as the Germans and Russians battled for control. X rated, contains offensive language and explicit sex.

JACK AND ZENA

by Zena Briggs & Jack Briggs

read by Derina Dinkin

running time 7hrs 30min

When Jack, a Yorkshireman and Zena, a Pakistani Muslim, fell in love in Bradford, Zena's family hired a bounty hunter to kill them - they are now on the run.

KEEPING MUM: A WARTIME CHILDHOOD

by Brian Thompson

read by Brian Thompson

running time 6hrs 14mins

The author describes his childhood in Cambridge and London in the 1940s, where his mother danced the nights away with the Yanks and his father, who was always discouraging to his son, was mostly absent.

LAB GIRL: A STORY OF TREES, SCIENCE AND LOVE

by Hope Jahren

read by Derina Dinkin

running time 12hrs 30mins

Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which she has studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. This is her moving portrait of a longtime friendship, and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see the natural world. It is a revelatory treatise on plant life but it is also so much more.

MACHIAVELLI: PHILOSOPHY IN AN HOUR

by Paul Strathern

read by Jonathan Keeble

running time 1hr 45mins

Niccolò Machiavelli’s work remains misunderstood – synonymous with wicked scheming and underhand politics – nearly 350 years after his death. His advice is as relevant to modern politics as it was during the Renaissance – and reflects many profound and disturbing truths about the human condition.

NATIVE: LIFE IN A VANISHING LANDSCAPE

by Patrick Laurie

read by Bob Rollett

running time 7hrs

Desperate to connect with his native Galloway, Patrick Laurie plunges into work on his family farm in the hills of southwest Scotland. Investing in the oldest and most traditional breeds of Galloway cattle, he begins to discover how cows once shaped people, places and nature in this remote and half-hidden place. The links between people, cattle and wild birds become a central theme as Patrick begins to face the reality of life in a vanishing landscape.

OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS

by Rory Stewart

read by Rory Stewart

running time 12hrs 30mins

Rory Stewart served as Senior British Representative in Maysan in Southern Iraq until the handover of power in June 2004. He kept a journal of his experiences while under fire and trying to negotiate a settlement between rival factions. His narrative describes what it was like to try and piece together a country after invasion.

THE PALACE PAPERS: INSIDE THE HOUSE OF WINDSOR THE TRUTH AND THE TURMOIL

by Tina Brown

read by Tina Brown

running time 18hrs

'Never again', became Queen Elizabeth II's mantra shortly after Diana's death. More specifically, there could never be 'another Diana'—a member of the family whose global popularity upstaged, outshone and posed an existential threat to the British monarchy. Picking up where The Diana Chronicles left off, The Palace Papers reveals how the royal family reinvented itself after the traumatic years when Diana's blazing celebrity ripped through the House of Windsor like a comet.

QUANT BY QUANT

by Mary Quant

read by Pamela Todd

running time 8hrs 30mins

After opening her boutique Bazaar on London’s King’s Road in 1955, Quant soared to international fame with her brand of witty style that fitted perfectly with modern city life. She was at the forefront of fashion’s democratization, seeking to eliminate snobbery and “make fashionable clothes available to everyone.” Her autobiography captures the world in which she found inspiration, and which she ultimately helped to define and change.

RADAR DAYS

by Gwen Arnold

read by Margaret Hodgson

running time 6hrs 15mins

Born in Bournemouth in the 1920s, Gwen Arnold takes us from her early years in the seaside town to her wartime role as a WAAF radar operator at one of the top-secret radar bases guarding British shores during World War Two.

THE SACRED DIARY OF ADRIAN PLASS (AGED 37 ¾ )

by Adrian Plass

read by Jim Swingler

running time 5hrs

Humorous happenings in the day-to-day life of Christian family. This Christian bestseller provides a good laugh at those things said and done within Church life that are faintly ridiculous.

TAKING THE BISCUIT

by Faith Addis

read by Briony Sykes

running time 6hrs 15mins

Book 5 of 'Down to Earth' series. Faith and Brian must work hard to keep their holiday home, 'Phyllishayes', open, whilst at the same time cultivating their smallholding. Meanwhile Brian, in a government youth motivating programme, is ferrying a bunch of Totnes' young bohemians around the countryside charting the local by-ways.

THE UGLY ONE

by Countess Ranfurly

read by Kay Lawrence

running time 3hrs 45mins

The author recounts her early life between the wars. A life of great privilege but also tragedy as she copes with her parents' financial problems, illness, divorce and the death of her brother.

THE VALLEY: A HUNDRED YEARS IN THE LIFE OF A FAMILY

by Richard Benson

read by Richard Burnip

running time 18hrs 30mins

The close-knit villages of the Dearne Valley were home to four generations of the Hollingworth family. 'The Valley' lets us into generations of carousing and banter as the family's attempts to build a better and fairer world for themselves meet sometimes with triumph, sometimes with bitter defeat.

WAINWRIGHT: THE BIOGRAPHY

by Hunter Davies

read by Patrick Purser

running time 13hrs 45mins

The author reveals the complex, witty and generous man known to all true walkers for his Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.

A YEAR IN PROVENCE

by Peter Mayle

read by Andrew Burt

running time 7hrs 30mins

Author's hilarious description of living in Provence;

A ZOO IN MY LUGGAGE

by Gerald Durrell

read by David King

running time 7hrs

Gerald Durrell's account of his attempt to set up his own zoo, after years spent gathering animals for other zoos. Journeying to Cameroon, he and his wife collected numerous mammals, birds and reptiles, including Cholmondely the chimpanzee and Bug-eye the bush-baby.