Blitz Boy

Blitz Boy
Author: Alf Townsend
Publisher: The History Press
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2008-08-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0750959061

Blitz Boy is a fascinating recollection of life in the Blitz and of evacuation to Cornwall. Charismatic author Alf Townsend tells the harrowing and touching tale of what it was like for a young inner-city child to suffer the trials of war at first hand. The mass exodus of kids from Britain's major cities in 1940 was unique and the government's hasty organisation programmes left a lot to be desired. It must have been a shock to rural communities to take in frightened, scruffy, poverty-stricken cases from the poorest areas of Britain's cities. Many of the foster parents who took in these children did so purely for the cash (8s 3d per week). The family which took in Alf and his siblings did not treat them well. There were beatings and other punishments from the foster-mother, who thought nothing of mistreating a six-year-old child. This only ended when the author's real mother turned up on the doorstep to reclaim her children. The author and his siblings remained in Cornwall with their mother until the end of the war to evade the danger of being bombed-out back in London. Eventually, though, they did return to the capital. The sight that greeted them on their return came as a shock. Rows of houses had been destroyed and huge areas had been totally flattened. Although life was tough back in London, at least the Townsend children were back in the fold of their loving family. Alf recalls this time with much fondness, going into the details of day-to-day life back home.

Blitz Kid

Blitz Kid
Author: Eliza Graham
Publisher: Eliza Graham
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2013-11-03
Genre:
ISBN:

London 1940. Rachel is alone and adrift in a stricken city as the Blitz reaches its most deadly stage and thousands die in nightly air raids. Her father is under arrest as a suspected spy, her mother seriously ill in hospital. As German bombers pound the city each night, she must survive in the murky blackout alongside London’s criminals and unearth the real traitors. Age 12-plus.

Blitz Boy

Blitz Boy
Author: Robert Trevor
Publisher:
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2010
Genre: World War, 1939-1945
ISBN: 9781846830990

In this engaging autobiographical account, veteran journalist and broadcaster Bob Trevor recalls his childhood experiences in war-torn London during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz and as an evacuee, first in rural Southern England and later in Liverpool. The result is as powerful an evocation of civilian life in wartime Britain as you are ever likely to read. This is a compelling and at times deeply moving portrayal of family life, childhood, friendship and collective fortitude in the face of adversity. Just five years old when war is declared in 1939, Bob and his gang of childhood friends are soon watching in awe as the dogfights of Battle of Britain take place in the skies above their local streets in suburban Thornton Heath, although their initial excitement gives way to trepidation as the nightly bombing raids of the Blitz begin. With London under siege, Bob, his mother and baby sister are evacuated to Pangbourne in rural Berkshire, where for the next two years they will share a single room in a dilapidated old Rectory, struggling to survive on their meagre wartime rations. To add to his hardships, Bob is sent to the local village school, where he and a few fellow evacuees face relentless bullying by local children who resent intruders on their turf. The daily playground battles of this plucky band of uprooted city kids mirrors the hostilities taking place in the wider world, where Allied forces face a similarly intractable enemy. Just as all seems lost, a unit of the Royal Canadian Engineers is stationed nearby and Bob is befriended by a trio of native Canadian soldiers. Far from home and victims of prejudice themselves, these 'Red Indian' servicemen empathise with the displaced city kids and tutor them in the art of self-defence. It is a valuable education that will help our young hero overcome the challenges that lie in store for him in Liverpool and back home in London before VE Day finally heralds a longed-for return to normal life.

Blitz Boys

Blitz Boys
Author: Linda Newbery
Publisher: A & C Black
Total Pages: 88
Release: 2001-05-01
Genre: Children's stories
ISBN: 9780713654240

The stories in the World War II Flashbacks series draw the reader into the experiences and emotions of a young person's life, caught against a period backdrop of historical upheaval. The child reader can also absorb important historical details that might otherwise be taught only as dry facts.

Boy King

Boy King
Author: David Belbin
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 65
Release: 2013-10-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1408163543

Young Edward VI is crowned king upon the death of his father, Henry VIII - but he is only nine years old. How can he fight his way through the treacherous adult world to claim the sovereignty he is entitled to? This thoroughly researched novel features some of best-known and most intriguing characters in English history - including, of course, King Henry VIII and his many wives. This story presents a balanced view of Edward VI, who is often portrayed as an unpleasant, rather sickly child, whose death was inevitable. Above all, it's a page-turning read not to be missed.

Beastie Boys Book

Beastie Boys Book
Author: Michael Diamond
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 592
Release: 2018-10-30
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0812995554

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A panoramic experience that tells the story of Beastie Boys, a book as unique as the band itself—by band members ADROCK and Mike D, with contributions from Amy Poehler, Colson Whitehead, Wes Anderson, Luc Sante, and more. The inspiration for the Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ “live documentary” Beastie Boys Story, directed by Spike Jonze NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Rolling Stone • The Guardian • Paste Formed as a New York City hardcore band in 1981, Beastie Boys struck an unlikely path to global hip hop superstardom. Here is their story, told for the first time in the words of the band. Adam “ADROCK” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond offer revealing and very funny accounts of their transition from teenage punks to budding rappers; their early collaboration with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin; the debut album that became the first hip hop record ever to hit #1, Licensed to Ill—and the album’s messy fallout as the band broke with Def Jam; their move to Los Angeles and rebirth with the genre-defying masterpiece Paul’s Boutique; their evolution as musicians and social activists over the course of the classic albums Check Your Head, Ill Communication, and Hello Nasty and the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits conceived by the late Adam “MCA” Yauch; and more. For more than thirty years, this band has had an inescapable and indelible influence on popular culture. With a style as distinctive and eclectic as a Beastie Boys album, Beastie Boys Book upends the typical music memoir. Alongside the band narrative you will find rare photos, original illustrations, a cookbook by chef Roy Choi, a graphic novel, a map of Beastie Boys’ New York, mixtape playlists, pieces by guest contributors, and many more surprises. Praise for Beastie Boys Book “A fascinating, generous book with portraits and detail that float by in bursts of color . . . As with [the band’s] records, the book’s structure is a lyrical three-man weave. . . . Diamond’s voice is lapidary, droll. Horovitz comes on like a borscht belt comedian, but beneath that he is urgent, incredulous, kind of vulnerable. . . . Friendship is the book’s subject as much as music, fame and New York.”—The New York Times Book Review “Wild, moving . . . resembles a Beastie Boys LP in its wild variety of styles.”—Rolling Stone

Boy in the Blitz

Boy in the Blitz
Author: Colin Perry
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2011-03-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1445612321

The only first-hand account of the Blitz to be written as it was happening.

The Blitz Kids

The Blitz Kids
Author: Paul Douglas
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2010-11-24
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 145359938X

This is the `amazing` story of a brother and sister`s adventure, which begins in war torn London in 1940. A piece of paper with symbols on it, accidentally comes into Jo and Geordie Cameron`s possession! Could it be a Secret Code? Jo and Geordie are kidnapped and the lad is tortured by the `Ferret`. They escape from their prison and get help from gang members Alan, Eddy and Pete. After a roller coaster ride they find their home bombed and their mother missing. Their father, a Captain in the Royal Marines, sends them to their Uncle in Scotland while he is called to the War Office. At King`s Cross Gang Leader Gary gives Geordie Long Distance Lizzie to look after and Jo acts on impulse! Disaster strikes when a bomb explodes on the train and the Flying Scotsman is dive-bombed by a `Stuka` at the Forth Bridge! When they reach Dundee someone is watching! In Carlogie they meet `Bonnie` the mare and later renew their friendship with `Spot Oor Dog`. There is a GREAT RAT HUNT and Spot gets badly bitten! The next day they get a cable from their father but German Commandos invade the farm! The kids get unexpected help before making their escape on a motorbike! They are taken to an Airfield and fly south in a Lysander! Two more narrow escapes later they reach London to find the Blitz Kids Gang have been warned! An Almighty BATTLE takes place and more discoveries are made before Jo and Geordie and their friends in the BLITZ KIDS GANG fight the invaders to a standstill! There are more surprises in store but to know more you must read the book!

Joey Jacobson's War

Joey Jacobson's War
Author: Peter J. Usher
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press
Total Pages: 575
Release: 2018-01-26
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1771123443

In the spring of 1940 Canada sent hundreds of highly trained volunteers to serve in Britain's Royal Air Force as it began a concerted bombing campaign against Germany. Nearly half of them were killed or captured within a year. This is the story of one of those airmen, as told through his own letters and diaries as well as those of his family and friends. Joey Jacobson, a young Jewish man from Westmount on the Island of Montreal, trained as a navigator and bomb-aimer in Western Canada. On arriving in England he was assigned to No. 106 Squadron, a British unit tasked with the bombing of Germany. Joey Jacobson’s War tells, in his own words, why he enlisted, his understanding of strategy, tactics, and the effectiveness of the air war at its lowest point, how he responded to the inevitable battle stress, and how he became both a hopeful idealist and a seasoned airman. Jacobson's written legacy as a serviceman is impressive in scope and depth and provides a lively and intimate account of a Jewish Canadian's life in the air and on the ground, written in the intensity of the moment, unfiltered by the memoirist's reflection, revision, or hindsight. Accompanying excerpts from his father's diary show the maturation of the relationship between father and son in a dangerous time.

David Bowie Made Me Gay

David Bowie Made Me Gay
Author: Darryl W. Bullock
Publisher: ABRAMS
Total Pages: 471
Release: 2017-11-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1468316257

LGBT musicians have shaped the development of music over the last century, with a sexually progressive soundtrack in the background of the gay community’s struggle for acceptance. With the advent of recording technology, LGBT messages were for the first time brought to the forefront of popular music. David Bowie Made Me Gay is the first book to cover the breadth of history of recorded music by and for the LGBT community and how those records influenced the evolution of the music we listen to today.