Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Diane Blood

Diane Blood first hit the headlines in 1996 when she went to court to fight for the right to use her late husband's sperm to try for the child they had planned together before his sudden death from meningitis. Diane's case caused an ethical storm and was debated in the courts, in Parliament and in the media. With huge public support, yet against almost impossible odds, she won on appeal and went on to have two miraculous little boys. 
 
 The legal battles were not over, however, as the law still prevented Diane from naming the boys' father on their birth certificates. After many hurdles and stumbling blocks, she triumphed again and made constitutional history when the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Deceased Fathers) Act finally came into force on 1 December 2003 and she was allowed to re-register her children's births. 
 
 Flesh and Blood asks many important questions and helps provide some of the answers. It shows how controversial policies are made that affect all our lives. Beyond that, it is a simple story of life, death and procreation: an incredibly vivid account written by the woman who lived through the despair and jubilation.

Flesh and Blood

The Harrowing and Moving Story of a Mother's Fight to Bear Her Late Husband's Children

Yvonne Collinson Heath

Yvonne Collinson Heath will never forget the telephone call that changed her life for ever. On 23 March 2002, her eldest son, James – a private with the Royal Logistic Corps – was found dead in mysterious circumstances at the notorious Deepcut barracks. He had a single gunshot wound to the head. It was a tragedy that to this day raises questions. 
 
A Mother’s War recounts Yvonne’s anguish at losing her son, a boy who dreamed of serving his country but died before he had even reached his 18th birthday. It is also the powerful story of an extraordinary woman who overcame adversity – including the hurt of being abandoned by her father, bullied as a child and abused by a trusted uncle – to find love and raise a son, only to see him cruelly taken from her within weeks of his joining the Army. It reveals how her decade-long quest for answers uncovered sinister secrets and a series of cover-ups that went right to the heart of Whitehall. 
 
Above all else, A Mother’s War is the story of how Yvonne’s grief triggered a search for the truth that took her to Downing Street and captured the hearts of the nation.

A Mother's War

One Woman's Fight for the Truth Behind Her Son's Death at Deepcut

Mick North

Mick North's daughter Sophie was one of the children killed in the massacre at Dunblane Primary School. Dunblane: Never Forget is a personal account of Mick's life before and after the massacre and includes a critical assessement of the events that led to the tragedy and those that have followed. 
 
 He begins by recalling his arrival in Stirling and how he and Barbara moved to Dunblane while awaiting the birth of their only child. A few months later Barbara was diagnosed with cancer and the family had to deal with her terminal illness. After the death of Barbara, father and daughter became an inseparable team until that dreadful day in 1996. 
 
 North writes about how he and the other families dealt with public sympathy, the anti-handgun campaign, the memorial service, the television programmes, newspaper interviews and the creation of the Dunblane Memorial Garden. He describes how it felt to attend a public inquiry into the murder of his child, criticises the local police force and details the ambivalent attitude of the Dunblane community.

Dunblane

Never Forget

Helen Newlove

When Helen was 20, she met Garry Newlove at a local disco. They married in 1986 and had three daughters. On 10 August 2007, Garry was brutally beaten by a gang of youths outside the family home in Warrington. He died two days later. It was an act of violence that shocked the nation and would have a profound impact on the lives of Helen and her children. 
 
After the ordeal of a ten-week trial and the murder conviction of three youths, Helen held a press conference, giving a speech that attracted national media attention and propelled her into the role of a campaigner for victims’ rights and against the lawlessness that blights so many of our towns and cities. 
 
In 2010, Helen was appointed a seat in the House of Lords among some of the most powerful and influential people in the country. Today, she is Baroness Newlove of Warrington, a tireless campaigner against antisocial behaviour and for the rights of victims and witnesses. 
 
In this engaging memoir, Helen recounts how her family was shattered by Garry’s murder and how good unexpectedly came out of evil. Her remarkable story is not one of politics and committees; it is about real people and the impact that crime has on us all.

It Could Happen to You

The Inspirational Story of the Crime Victim Who Became the People's Crusader

John Hartson

In July 2009, former Celtic and Wales soccer star John Hartson was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which had also spread to his lungs and brain. But before his treatment even began, John came to the brink of death after contracting pneumonia, ceasing to breathe and undergoing emergency brain surgery. Against all the odds, he pulled through, and in Please Don't Go he documents his incredible fight for life. 
 
Profoundly moving, John's own story is interwoven with the poignant recollections of his pregnant wife, Sarah, as well as with extracts from his sister Victoria's personal diary. This remarkable book covers the five-week period during which John's survival was most in jeopardy. 
 
John's truly inspirational account of how he has managed to overcome a very aggressive form of cancer will offer hope and courage to others affected by the disease. It is a touching and ultimately uplifting insight into the bravery of the popular football hero, who has fought back to full health in the face of adversity.

Please Don't Go

Big John's Journey Back to Life

Laura Walsh

'At the lowest moment in my life, I stood at the gates of hell. I saw what it was like. I can never, ever go back there again.' 
 
When Laura Walsh walked into her four-month-old daughter's bedroom, she was confronted with a mother's worst nightmare. Her beautiful baby was dead in her cot. This tragedy marked the beginning of Laura's journey of self-destruction. She became addicted to painkillers and alcohol, her marriage failed and she lost her house and alienated her friends and family. 
 
Lying and stealing to acquire tablets and booze, Laura spent several desperate years in the wilderness, years in which her two remaining children had to watch their mum become a sordid shadow of the woman they loved. She was ashamed but unable to find the strength to fight back - until one Christmas when her addictions finally threatened to kill her. 
 
Ashamed is the inspirational account of how Laura found the strength to step back from hell, launch a successful business and become a mother to her children once again.

Ashamed

Jason Peter

Tony O'Neill

Blighted by a neck injury at a young age, sports superstar Jason Peter was forced to retire prematurely. In just a few short years, Peter's brilliant career was in ruins as he found himself consumed by painkillers, then crack and finally heroin. His addiction transformed him from a pumped-up athletic gladiator to a small, wispish shell of his former self. 
 
In Millionaire Junkie, Peter tells of the lost days and nights spent prowling the streets of Manhattan, flying cross-country with high-class call girls and doing piles of heroin and cocaine. It is a visceral, ragged-edged story of true glory, self-destruction, addiction and, finally, redemption.

Millionaire Junkie

My Journey Down to Heroin - and Back

Elizabeth Gabriel

You never know how you'd react if it happened to you, and the last thing I want is to dictate to people. I don't wonder: why me? But: why not me?' - Elizabeth GabrielThere are many books about the processes people go through when they discover they have cancer. What makes Flying Crooked different is the way in which Elizabeth Gabriel accepts the disease and its consequences. She continues to enjoy life, refuses radiotherapy and rejects the idea of wearing a prosthesis after one of her breasts has been removed. The choices she makes are in sharp contrast to those made by her ex-lover Simon when he, shortly after her operation, is diagnosed with prostate cancer. Their different ways of coping form a well-balanced diptych: on her part, acceptance and the peace that this brings, as opposed to, on his part, fighting and anger at the cost of precious energy and enjoyment. Flying Crooked describes the process of a search for balance. The open, direct and unsentimental manner in which Gabriel describes her decisions as well as her experiences in hospital and out of it are deeply refreshing. And yet this autobiographical novel is more than an account of coping with disease; it is an inspirational story of love and friendship and faith.

Flying Crooked

An Inspiring Tale of Loss and Love

Martin Spinelli

'In the pit of my stomach, as I kissed my four-year-old son Lio and my darling wife Sasha goodbye, I knew something was up. By that evening, the police had told me about the crash. 
 
'Lio's bright and talented mother was killed that day, and he narrowly escaped the same fate. But instead of it being an ending for us, the crash was a beginning. 
 
'Lio's miraculous recovery from severe brain damage and a coma defied medical science. As I witnessed his astonishing journey - from intensive care bed to 10 Downing Street - and fought to pull him through horrific injuries and the loss of his mother, I found real purpose and meaning for the first time in my life.' 
 
After the Crash is much more than a moving personal story. It's a handbook for dealing with disaster, not just surviving it but mastering it and using it to transform your life for the better.

After the Crash

Martyn Compton

Michelle Compton

Marnie Summerfield Smith

Lance Corporal Martyn Compton's life was changed beyond recognition when he was blown up in a Taliban ambush that killed three of his colleagues. His survival was described as a 'miracle', as he suffered third-degree burns to 75 per cent of his body. He endured 15 operations and doctors used shark cartilage as a base for new skin on his face. 
 
But he did not have to face this gruelling ordeal alone. From the moment she heard of his near-fatal wounds, Martyn's fiancée Michelle Clifford found an inner strength to help them both face the future. During Martyn's treatment, Michelle kept a diary in which she revealed the innermost thoughts and emotions she wished she could relay to her wounded partner. 
 
Home From War gives a rare insight into the story behind the headlines when soldiers die or are injured. It is also the account of Martyn's battle for adequate compensation. This exploration of how one courageous man came to terms with losing his handsome young face cannot fail to inspire.

Home From War

How Love Conquered the Horrors of a Soldier's Afghan Nightmare

David Leslie

'Mummy, take me home,' sobbed little Jasmine Chapman as she was ripped from her mother's arms. But there was nothing that Morag could do . . . except continue to fight for custody of the child she loved so much. 
 
When their relationship ended, Jasmine's parents argued bitterly about her future. But they were unable to come to an amicable agreement, and a UK court ruled that the case be heard in the US, the home of Jasmine's father. Fearing that she would lose her child, Morag fled from Texas with her daughter, only to be hauled back in shackles and incarcerated in a grim American prison. 
 
When Morag was eventually freed and awarded custody of her little girl, she thought her nightmare was over. However, back in the UK, every move she made was watched and every mistake recorded. Morag sank into deep depression and became lost in a haze of alcohol and drugs. The once beautiful and desirable young woman found her life spiralling out of control. Eventually, she lost the daughter she had fought so hard to keep. 
 
Mummy, Take Me Home is the gripping and disturbing true-life story of a tug of love that no mother should ever face and no child should be forced to endure.

Mummy, Take Me Home

A Mother's Tug-of-Love Torment

Jan de Vries

HIDDEN DANGERS IN WHAT WE EAT AND DRINK deals succinctly with the hazards that growing children, teenagers and adults are exposed to. Food and drink today contain many additives, E numbers and other hidden dangers that could affect people physically, mentally and emotionally. The growth in the problems of hyperactivity and autism are just two examples of the perils of an unbalanced food pattern. This book contains advice on food and dietary management, highlights the potential problems with what we consume and provides sensible advice on how to adjust our food pattern accordingly when certain problems arise. The immune system is very complex and depends on the nutritional values necessary for energy and vitality. In today's fast moving society, there are many convenience foods available. These foods can ultimately damage the immune system and, as such, there is a great need for more natural input in order to get the right output, namely healthy living. This carefully researched book gives the opportunity for the readers to help themselves to improved health through making wise choices regarding food and drink.

Hidden Dangers in What We Eat and Drink

A Lifelong Guide to Healthy Living

Rachael Oakes-Ash

Between the ages of 17 and 31, Rachael Oakes-Ash lost 63kg and gained 76kg on a roller-coaster of body image problems and food obsession. She went through anorexia, bulimia, bulimarexia, gym mania, strict dieting and binge eating before she finally she figured out how to stop torturing herself and hating her body. Good Girls Do Swallow is the very black and very funny story of her downfall and her recovery. 
 
 Rachael might have taken things further than many of us, but this is a story every woman can relate to. You might not have rescued food from the rubbish bin in a moment of binge-madness but if you've ever felt lousy and reached for a chocolate biscuit for comfort, this book is for you. 
 
 'What the diet promised, I got,' writes Rachael. `I got the body that can wear the clothes. I got the job I love, I got the man I want. But I only got it for keeps when I stopped dieting.' From the Carol Brady Syndrome and Thindarella to Mutiny in Aisle Six, Good Girls Do Swallow tells how she did it.

Good Girls Do Swallow

The Darkly Comic True Story of How One Woman Stopped Hating Her Body

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