Married to the Guv'nor

Married to the Guv'nor
Author: Valerie McLean
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Adult
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2004-03-01
Genre: Boxers (Sports)
ISBN: 9780330493239

When his autobiography The Guv'nor was published, it turned bareknuckle champion Lenny McLean into an unlikely cult hero. His widow here takes up the pen on his behalf, to reveal more colourful incidents - Lenny's winning match against the Mafia's best boxer, and his acting career.

The Guvnor Tapes - Lenny McLean's Unpublished Stories, As Told By The Man Himself

The Guvnor Tapes - Lenny McLean's Unpublished Stories, As Told By The Man Himself
Author: Peter Gerrard
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2007-02-28
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1844543587

A bare-knuckle fighter by profession, Lenny McLean was one of the most notorious figures ever to emerge from the East End of London. His untimely death in 1998, following a battle against cancer, was a tragic loss for family and friends and left his legions of fans shocked and bereft. Now those fans have a unique opportunity to learn more about their hero in this sequel toThe Guv'nor. Packed with adventures, bouts, fights, and amazing stories, these conversations between Lenny andnbsp;the author revealnbsp;the parts of his life that haven't been knownnbsp;until now.

An American Marriage

An American Marriage
Author: Michael Burlingame
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2021-06-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1643137352

An enlightening narrative exploring an oft-overlooked aspect of the sixteenth president's life, An American Marriage reveals the tragic story of Abraham Lincoln’s marriage to Mary Todd. Abraham Lincoln was apparently one of those men who regarded “connubial bliss” as an untenable fantasy. During the Civil War, he pardoned a Union soldier who had deserted the army to return home to wed his sweetheart. As the president signed a document sparing the soldier's life, Lincoln said: “I want to punish the young man—probably in less than a year he will wish I had withheld the pardon.” Based on thirty years of research, An American Marriage describes and analyzes why Lincoln had good reason to regret his marriage to Mary Todd. This revealing narrative shows that, as First Lady, Mary Lincoln accepted bribes and kickbacks, sold permits and pardons, engaged in extortion, and peddled influence. The reader comes to learn that Lincoln wed Mary Todd because, in all likelihood, she seduced him and then insisted that he protect her honor. Perhaps surprisingly, the 5’2” Mrs. Lincoln often physically abused her 6’4” husband, as well as her children and servants; she humiliated her husband in public; she caused him, as president, to fear that she would disgrace him publicly. Unlike her husband, she was not profoundly opposed to slavery and hardly qualifies as the “ardent abolitionist” that some historians have portrayed. While she providid a useful stimulus to his ambition, she often “crushed his spirit,” as his law partner put it. In the end, Lincoln may not have had as successful a presidency as he did—where he showed a preternatural ability to deal with difficult people—if he had not had so much practice at home.

My Unexpected Journey

My Unexpected Journey
Author: Harry Roe Hughes
Publisher: The History Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2006
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781596291171

Raised in a sleepy Eastern Shore farming town where he was the son of a popular high school teacher, Harry Roe Hughes's dream was to play for the New York Yankees. He never envisioned a life in politics, let alone becoming the governor of Maryland. As often happens, life steered a different course. In 1954, he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates and entered a political world where he would prosper for the next thirty-two years. He steadily rose from delegate to senator, from back bencher to committee chairman to majority floor leader, and from legislator to cabinet secretary to Governor. Pitted against better known rivals, hopelessly short of money and running a campaign staffed with amateurs, Hughes came out of nowhere to win the September 1978 Democratic primary for governor in what remains one of the biggest upsets in Maryland political history. Two months later, he was elected in the largest landslide in state history to the first of two terms as Maryland's 57th governor. In contrast to the rampant political partisanship and governmental paralysis so common today, Harry Roe Hughes took a workmanlike approach to public service, more interested in results than personal advancement. His record--major tax and education reform, protection of the Chesapeake Bay and more--is one of lasting significance to all Marylanders. He respected the policy-making role of the General Assembly and governed through consensus. He eschewed the political. His style reflected his personality and approach to life: decent, honest, efficient, low-key and businesslike. Elected in an era of political scandal, Harry Roe Hughes restored Maryland's reputation for integrity and good government--an approach that, sadly, seems quaint and old-fashioned by today's standards.

Our Story

Our Story
Author: Reginald Kray
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2015-08-27
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 0283072431

London's most notorious gangsters, in their own words . . . The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller. The Kray twins were Britain's most notorious gangsters. Ruling London's underworld for more than a decade, as gang lords they were among the most powerful and feared men in the city. Photographed by David Bailey and even interviewed for television, they became celebrities in their own right and are infamous to this day. Ronnie and Reg's reign of terror ended on 8 March 1969 when they were sentenced to life with the recommendation that they serve at least thirty years. Ronnie ended his days in Broadmoor – his raging insanity only controlled by massive doses of drugs. Reg served almost three decades in some of Britain's toughest jails before being released on compassionate grounds in August 2000. He died of cancer eight months later. Compiled from a series of interviews with Fred Dinenage from behind prison walls, Our Story is the classic account that explodes the myths surrounding the Kray twins. In it, the twins set the record straight. In their own words they tell the full story of their brutal career of crime and their years behind bars. With an introduction from Fred Dinenage, this compelling, disturbing and highly readable book is the definitive story of two legendary criminals.

The Lacemaker

The Lacemaker
Author: Laura Frantz
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2018-01-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1493412507

When colonial Williamsburg explodes like a powder keg on the eve of the American Revolution, Lady Elisabeth "Liberty" Lawson is abandoned by her fiancé and suspected of being a spy for the hated British. No one comes to her aid save the Patriot Noble Rynallt, a man with formidable enemies of his own. Liberty is left with a terrible choice. Will the Virginia belle turned lacemaker side with the radical revolutionaries, or stay true to her English roots? And at what cost? Historical romance favorite Laura Frantz is back with a suspenseful story of love, betrayal, and new beginnings. With her meticulous eye for detail and her knack for creating living, breathing characters, Frantz continues to enchant historical fiction readers who long to feel they are a part of the story.

Ima Hogg

Ima Hogg
Author: Virginia Bernhard
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014-01-30
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1625110111

Texas legend has it that James Stephen Hogg, Governor of Texas from 1890 to 1894, named his daughters Ima and Ura, but that is only half-true: there never was a Ura. Ima had three brothers, Will, Mike, and Tom. Ima Hogg, who was born in 1882 and died in 1975 at age 93, became a legend in her own right, and this book is her story. It is also the story of the extraordinary bond between a father and a daughter. James Stephen Hogg, who worked his way from a hardscrabble life in the piney woods of East Texas to the Governor's Mansion in Austin, was a giant in Texas politics, both literally (standing six feet three inches tall and weighing close to 300 pounds) and figuratively, as the champion of the "little people" against big business in the 1890s. He adored his daughter, and after his wife, Sallie Stinson Hogg, died of tuberculosis in 1895, Ima and her father drew even closer. Jim Hogg, a widower in his 40's with four children--Will, 20; Ima, 13, Mike, 10, and Tom, 8--left politics to practice law in Austin, and Ima became the "sunshine" of her father's household. While Ima attended the University of Texas and then studied music in New York City, ex-Governor Hogg pursued business interests, and was one of the early investors in the Texas oil boom after the Spindletop gusher in 1901. He was not a rich man when he died in 1906, but the old plantation he bought in Brazos County near West Columbia would eventually produce oil that would make Ima and her brothers wealthy. The Hogg children lived well, but they also devoted part of their time and money to the enrichment of the educational and cultural life of Texas. Will gave generously to the University of Texas, his alma mater, and to many other institutions, such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Houston YMCA. “Miss Ima,” as she was known (she never married), founded the Houston Symphony, served on the Houston School Board, established the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, and restored several historic Texas buildings, including the house at the Varner-Hogg Historic Site, which had been her father's beloved country home. In 1966 she gave her own house, filled with the priceless Early American art and furniture she had collected, as the Bayou Bend Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Thousands of people visit Bayou Bend every year, and this book describes its history, as well as that of an extraordinary Texas woman. Ima Hogg: The Goverrnor's Daughter is number 20 in the Fred Rider Cotten Popular History Series.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle

The Caucasian Chalk Circle
Author: Bertolt Brecht
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2015-03-16
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 140816101X

This Student Edition of Brecht's classic dramatisation of the conflict over possession of a child features an extensive introduction and commentary that includes a plot summary, discussion of the context, themes, characters, style and language as well as questions for further study and notes on words and phrases in the text. It is the perfect edition for students of theatre and literature. Brecht projects an ancient Chinese story onto a realistic setting in Soviet Georgia. In a theme that echoes the Judgment of Solomon, two women argue over the possession of a child; thanks to the unruly judge, Azdak (one of Brecht's most vivid creations) natural justice is done and the peasant Grusha keeps the child she loves, even though she is not its mother. Written in exile in the United States during the Second World War, The Caucasian Chalk Circle is a politically-charged, much-revived and complex example of Brecht's epic theatre. This volume contains expert notes on the author's life and work, historical and political background to the play, photographs from stage productions and a glossary of difficult words and phrases. It features the acclaimed translation by James and Tania Stern with W. H. Auden.