The Real Gorbals Story

The Real Gorbals Story
Author: Colin MacFarlane
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2011-07-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1780571682

Colin MacFarlane was born in the Gorbals in the 1950s, 20 years after the publication of No Mean City, the classic novel about pre-war life in what was once Glasgow's most deprived district. He lived in the same street as its fictional 'razor king', Johnnie Stark, and subsequently realised that a lot of the old characters represented in the book were still around as late as the 1960s. Men still wore bunnets and played pitch and toss; women still treated the steamie as their social club. The razor gangs were running amok once again, and filth, violence, crime, rats, poverty and drunkenness abounded, just like they did in No Mean City. MacFarlane witnessed the last days of the old Gorbals as a major regeneration programme, begun in 1961, was implemented, and, as a street boy, he had a unique insight into a once great community in rapid decline. In this engrossing book, MacFarlane reveals what it was really like to live in the old Gorbals.

Van Wars

Van Wars
Author: Teddy Rennoc
Publisher:
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2019-03-09
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 9781799167518

The real story of the Glasgow Ice Cream Van Wars, Tam McGraw was on a mission. He wanted to destroy Marchetti. However, first, Tam had to test the waters. So he started with Carntyne one of Marchetti's most lucrative routes. McGraw went for the jugular right from the start. He knew Marchetti would not give in easily, They would defend their territory, but they were about to suffer brutality and destruction that they could never have imagined in their wildest nightmares. McGraw planned to be the Ice Cream King of Scotland, and Carntyne is where he would lay the foundations of his throne. Nothing or no one would stand in his way.Written in a broad Glaswegian dialect with a lot of swearing, the author writes as he speaks. This book might not be suitable for those who prefer perfect grammar and proper English.

The Agathas

The Agathas
Author: Kathleen Glasgow
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2022-05-03
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0593431138

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Who killed Brooke Donovan? It’s the biggest mystery of the summer, and everyone in Castle Cove thinks they know what happened. But they're wrong. Two unlikely friends come together to solve the case in this fast-paced, fun, modern Agatha Christie inspired thriller. "Part Agatha Christie, part Veronica Mars, and completely entertaining." —Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Of Us Is Lying A PEOPLE MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF SUMMER Last summer, Alice Ogilvie’s basketball-star boyfriend Steve dumped her. Then she disappeared for five days. She's not talking, so where she went and what happened to her is the biggest mystery in Castle Cove. Or it was, at least. But now, another one of Steve’s girlfriends has vanished: Brooke Donovan, Alice’s ex–best friend. And it doesn’t look like Brooke will be coming back. . . Enter Iris Adams, Alice’s tutor. Iris has her own reasons for wanting to disappear, though unlike Alice, she doesn’t have the money or the means. That could be changed by the hefty reward Brooke’s grandmother is offering to anyone who can share information about her granddaughter’s whereabouts. The police are convinced Steve is the culprit, but Alice isn’t so sure, and with Iris on her side, she just might be able to prove her theory. In order to get the reward and prove Steve’s innocence, they need to figure out who killed Brooke Donovan. And luckily Alice has exactly what they need—the complete works of Agatha Christie. If there’s anyone that can teach the girls how to solve a mystery it’s the master herself. But the town of Castle Cove holds many secrets, and Alice and Iris have no idea how much danger they're about to walk into.

The Glasgow Effect

The Glasgow Effect
Author: Ellie Harrison
Publisher: Luath Press Ltd
Total Pages: 437
Release: 2019-11-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1912387646

How would your career, social life, family ties, carbon footprint and mental health be affected if you could not leave the city where you live? Artist Ellie Harrison sparked a fast-and-furious debate about class, capitalism, art, education and much more, when news of her year-long project The Glasgow Effect went viral at the start of 2016. Named after the term used to describe Glasgow's mysteriously poor public health and funded to the tune of £15,000 by Creative Scotland, this controversial 'durational performance' centred on a simple proposition – that the artist would refuse to travel beyond Glasgow's city limits, or use any vehicles except her bike, for a whole calendar year.

Great Glasgow Stories

Great Glasgow Stories
Author: John Burrowes
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2011-10-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1780573383

Few cities in the world abound with so many extraordinary stories as Glasgow. The city has been the silent witness to some of the most significant events of the past century, from major triumphs to cataclysmic calamities, and the best of these anecdotes are compiled here to form this unique collection. Amongst the notable events revisited are the launching of the Queen Mary, which captivated the city's inhabitants in 1934, the victorious 16-month work-in campaign by the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders in the early 1970s, the Ibrox disaster of 1971 and the plague that gripped the Gorbals in 1900. Some of Glasgow's most successful people are also covered, including Clydeside revolutionary John Maclean, founder of the Barras Maggie McIver and the inimitable Billy Connolly, whose humour and colourful personality are synonymous with the city. From the Battle of George Square to the bravery of the Glasgow people during the Blitz, Great Glasgow Stories provides an all-encompassing view of the city throughout the eras.

Glasgow

Glasgow
Author: Michael Meighan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781445618869

A new history of Glasgow tracing the growth of the city from prehistoric days to its rise as one of the Great Victorian cities.

Glasgow: The Autobiography

Glasgow: The Autobiography
Author: Alan Taylor
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
Total Pages: 406
Release: 2016-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0857909185

Glasgow: The Autobiography tells the story of the fabled, former Second City of the British Empire from its origins as a bucolic village on the rivers Kelvin and Clyde, through the tumult of the Industrial Revolution to the third millennium. Including extracts from an astonishing array of contributors from Daniel Defoe, Dorothy Wordsworth and Dr Johnson to Evelyn Waugh and Dirk Bogarde, it also features the writing of bred-in-thebone Glaswegians such as Alasdair Gray, Liz Lochhead, James Kelman and 2020 Booker prize-winner Douglas Stuart. The result is a varied and vivid portrait of one of the world's great cities in all its grime and glory – a place which is at once infuriating, inspiring, raucous, humourful and never, ever dull.

Glasgow's Godfather

Glasgow's Godfather
Author: Robert Jeffrey
Publisher: Black & White Publishing
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2011-05-22
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1845025105

Walter Norval was a man marked by destiny to be a career criminal in one of Britain's hardest cities. As a boy he grew up in a world of illegal betting, violent canal bank pitch-and-toss schools, sleazy dance halls, brothels and bars where the denizens of the slums in the north side of Glasgow slaked gargantuan thirsts and plotted murder and mayhem. Before he had reached his teens, close relatives had died as blood was spilled in the streets. As a youngster he ran 'messages' for the toughest gangsters in the city and stood guard over the pots of cash in illegal gambling schools. It was a remarkable apprenticeship, dangerous and sometimes deadly. It honed a latent toughness and a talent for lawbreaking that saw him emerge in the Seventies as the first of a succession of Glasgow godfathers. Dressed in pinstriped style, he controlled his foot soldiers with fearsome fists and planned robberies with the attention to detail of a military general. He organised various Glasgow fighting factions into a single gang, which pulled off a spectacular series of robberies. But, unlike his successors, he abhorred drugs and drug-dealing.And, in a remarkable twist, he joined the anti-drugs war in later life. His story - told by the best-selling crime historian Robert Jeffrey - provides a fascinating insight into the making of a criminal mastermind, from boy to man.

Parly Road

Parly Road
Author: Ian Todd
Publisher:
Total Pages: 458
Release: 2019
Genre: Detective and mystery stories
ISBN:

It is the summer of 1965 and things are looking up for ten-year-old Johnboy Taylor in the Townhead district of Glasgow. Not only has he made two new pals, but their dream of owning their own pigeon loft or 'dookit' and competing with the city's grown-up 'doo-men' in the sport they love, could soon become a reality. The only problem is that The Mankys don't have the dosh to pay for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Lady Luck begins to shine down on them when Pay Molloy, aka The Big Man, one of Glasgow's top heavies askes them to do him a wee favour. The Mankys are soon embroiled in an adult world of gangsters, police corruption, violence and crime.

Spin Me Right Round

Spin Me Right Round
Author: David Valdes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2022-01-04
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1547607793

From lauded writer David Valdes, a sharp and funny YA novel that's Back to the Future with a twist, as a gay teen travels back to his parents' era to save a closeted classmate's life. All Luis Gonzalez wants is to go to prom with his boyfriend, something his “progressive” high school still doesn't allow. Not after what happened with Chaz Wilson. But that was ages ago, when Luis's parents were in high school; it would never happen today, right? He's determined to find a way to give his LGBTQ friends the respect they deserve (while also not risking his chance to be prom king, just saying...). When a hit on the head knocks him back in time to 1985 and he meets the doomed young Chaz himself, Luis concocts a new plan-he's going to give this guy his first real kiss. Though it turns out a conservative school in the '80s isn't the safest place to be a gay kid. Especially with homophobes running the campus, including Gordo (aka Luis's estranged father). Luis is in over his head, trying not to make things worse-and hoping he makes it back to present day at all. In a story that's fresh, intersectional, and wickedly funny, David Valdes introduces a big-mouthed, big-hearted, queer character that readers won't soon forget.