John Peel Remembered Margrave Of The Marshes

This moving tribute to John Peel features the BBC Radio dramatisation of Margrave of the Marshes.

Includes the BBC Radio 4 serialisation of ‘Margrave of the Marshes’, John Peel’s part-written autobiography completed by his wife, Sheila Ravenscroft and read by Michael Angelis and Carolyn Pickles. John Peel was one such, whose contribution to British culture is undeniable. His 40-year career on Radio 1 and Radio 4 reached a huge and diverse audience, and he influenced the musical tastes of millions.   Guaranteed to appeal to all John Peel’s many devoted fans, this release is a perfect reminder of the genius of a man many regarded as the best DJ ever.

Margrave Of The Marshes

The autobiography of a legend, completed by the woman who knew him best

Pure Peel...This magnificent book is the real thing...Essential reading

As with the man himself ... there's the surprising, the cosy ... and the fascinating.

A rich and technicolor life... The joy of this book comes from something more than spiky anecdotage, delicious though it is... the evocation of an age is so sharp

... Tender and acute ... underlines the one truth that Peel understood better than anyone ... [what] really mattered was the music.

Sparkling with the warmth and dry wit that made Peel nothing short of a national treasure, it's a timely reminder of a man who crossed the radio divides

Arguably one of the most important radio broadcasters of the twentieth century...  The book bounds through the decades and the characters that populate them with Peel's trademark dry humour

It's like listening to the story of a much missed friend ...

John Ravenscroft (Author) John Peel was born the day before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. His 38-year career as a radio DJ is the stuff of legend and the bands he went on to discover too numerous to mention, though David Bowie, Roxy Music, T Rex, Genesis, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Radiohead and the White Stripes would do as a start. He lived in Suffolk with his wife Sheila and their children William, Thomas, Alexandra and Florence, plus various dogs and cats, until his death in October 2004. John Peel (Author) John Peel was born the day before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. His 38-year career as a radio DJ is the stuff of legend and the bands he went on to discover too numerous to mention, though David Bowie, Roxy Music, T Rex, Genesis, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Radiohead and the White Stripes would do as a start. He lived in Suffolk with his wife Sheila and their children William, Thomas, Alexandra and Florence, plus various dogs and cats, until his death in October 2004. Sheila Ravenscroft (Author) Sheila Ravenscroft and John Peel were married in 1974. They lived in Suffolk with their four children - William, Alexandra, Thomas and Florence. William Ravenscroft (Author) John Peel was born the day before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. His 38-year career as a radio DJ is the stuff of legend and the bands he went on to discover too numerous to mention, though David Bowie, Roxy Music, T Rex, Genesis, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Radiohead and the White Stripes would do as a start. He lived in Suffolk with his wife Sheila and their children William, Thomas, Alexandra and Florence, plus various dogs and cats, until his death in October 2004. Alexandra Ravenscroft (Author) John Peel was born the day before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. His 38-year career as a radio DJ is the stuff of legend and the bands he went on to discover too numerous to mention, though David Bowie, Roxy Music, T Rex, Genesis, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Radiohead and the White Stripes would do as a start. He lived in Suffolk with his wife Sheila and their children William, Thomas, Alexandra and Florence, plus various dogs and cats, until his death in October 2004. Thomas Ravenscroft (Author) John Peel was born the day before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. His 38-year career as a radio DJ is the stuff of legend and the bands he went on to discover too numerous to mention, though David Bowie, Roxy Music, T Rex, Genesis, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Radiohead and the White Stripes would do as a start. He lived in Suffolk with his wife Sheila and their children William, Thomas, Alexandra and Florence, plus various dogs and cats, until his death in October 2004. Florence Ravenscroft (Author) John Peel was born the day before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. His 38-year career as a radio DJ is the stuff of legend and the bands he went on to discover too numerous to mention, though David Bowie, Roxy Music, T Rex, Genesis, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Radiohead and the White Stripes would do as a start. He lived in Suffolk with his wife Sheila and their children William, Thomas, Alexandra and Florence, plus various dogs and cats, until his death in October 2004.

Through nigh-on forty years of laconic brilliance on Radio 1, a musical taste which defined a culture and his wildly popular Radio 4 show, Home Truths, John Peel reached out to an audience that was as diverse as his record collection. He was a genuinely great Briton, beloved by millions. John's unique voice and sensibility were evident in everything he did, and nowhere is that more true than in these pages. 
 
Margrave of the Marshes is the astonishing book John Peel began to write before his untimely death in October 2004, completed by the woman who knew him best, his wife Sheila. It is a unique and intimate portrait of a life, a marriage and a family which is every bit as extraordinary as the man himself - a fitting tribute to a bona fide legend.

John Peel

Fit to burst with colourful commentary... he crams in references to music that will have you in hysterics over his sumptuously structured prose.

What makes the Olivetti Chronicles stand out is that it contains his voice rather than anyone else's... It helps (and is entertaining) to imagine Peel speaking these pieces, and then they become very fine indeed.

This entertaining book is essential reading for Peel fans.

John Peel is best known for his four decades of radio broadcasting. His Radio 1 shows shaped the taste of successive generations of music lovers. His Radio 4 show, Home Truths, became required listening for millions. But all the while, Peel was also tapping away on his beloved Olivetti typewriter, creating copy for an array of patient editors. He wrote articles, columns and reviews for newspapers and magazines as diverse as The Listener, Oz, Gandalf's Garden, Sounds, the Observer, the Independent and Radio Times. 
Now for the first time, the best of these writings have been brought together - selected by his wife, Sheila, and his four children. Music, of course, is a central and recurring theme, and he writes on music in all its forms, from Tubular Bells to Berlin punk to Madonna. Here you can read John Peel on everything from the perils of shaving to the embarrassments of virginity, and from the strange joy of Eurovision to the horror of being sick in trains. At every stage, the writing is laced with John's brilliantly acute observations on the minutiae of everyday life. 
This endlessly entertaining book is essential reading for Peel fans and a reminder of just why he remains a truly great Briton.

John Peel

Praise for The Olivetti Chronicles

As warm and funny as the man himself.

Fit to burst with colourful commentary... he crams in references to music that will have you in hysterics over his sumptuously structured prose.

What makes the Olivetti Chronicles stand out is that it contains his voice rather than anyone else's... It helps (and is entertaining) to imagine Peel speaking these pieces, and then they become very fine indeed.

As warm and funny as the man himself.

Fit to burst with colourful commentary... he crams in references to music that will have you in hysterics over his sumptuously structured prose.

What makes the Olivetti Chronicles stand out is that it contains his voice rather than anyone else's... It helps (and is entertaining) to imagine Peel speaking these pieces, and then they become very fine indeed.

As warm and funny as the man himself.

Fit to burst with colourful commentary... he crams in references to music that will have you in hysterics over his sumptuously structured prose.

What makes the Olivetti Chronicles stand out is that it contains his voice rather than anyone else's... It helps (and is entertaining) to imagine Peel speaking these pieces, and then they become very fine indeed.

Books by John Peel

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