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The Road to Westminster
Nothing in life is impossible provided you never lose sight of your goal and are willing to be flexible at all times and totally dedicated to achieving your aims. Setbacks crop up at the most inconvenient times, but they give you the opportunity to make changes, accept new challenges and achieve your targets in ways you could never have thought possible.
Never give up, never lose sight of your objectives. Be ruthless when assessing your progress. Take chances when you need to. Everyone needs to speculate to accumulate. Go for it at all times.£9.99 -
The Voice, the Face
This is a quite extraordinary story. Martin Muncaster describes his life experiences in a way which has surprises in every chapter. He writes in detail, often with very personal and emotional descriptions, about many aspects of his family. The book starts with a life-threatening road accident followed by even more challenging incidents. He goes on to describe how, as a young man from a somewhat aristocratic family background, he had to adjust himself to life on the ‘lower deck’ for part of his National Service in the Royal Navy, but eventually, after much hard work and perseverance, acquired the coveted commission (and cap badge!). And it was this same determination and personal strength which carried him through the ups and downs of his life and his career in broadcasting.
Along the way, there are many lighter anecdotes, starting from his early days at stage school, then working as an actor in Canada before returning to pursue his career in television and radio. As a well-known presenter, he had an insight into the world of both commercial television and the BBC, and he describes his encounters with many well-known people including Sir Laurence Olivier and Richard Dimbleby. In the background throughout the book is the inspiration provided by his father, the renowned marine and landscape artist, Claude Muncaster.
There are also vivid descriptions of travel experiences in South Africa, Canada and Scotland, but it is all interspersed with family and personal tragedies which remind the reader that even familiar faces and voices have another private life we don’t know of.
£23.99 -
Things will Get Better
Normal is as normal does – right? Well, my version of normal seemed to be quite unique. Compared to friends I’d always be the one with the hilarious stories. My friends would flock to hear them, tall tales about my misadventures and awkward encounters with men.
However, at university, these shenanigans began to take their toll. Euphoric highs and dramatic lows were exhausting and had nearly taken my life.
I’m sharing some of these stories which will definitely make you laugh out loud as well as cringe so you can better appreciate that mental health (good or not so good) is normal.
Hold on in there – things do get better.
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Truth & Li(e)bor
Truth & Li(e)bor is the story of the author’s personal journey and legal battles which consumed over six years of his life.
As the story unfolded, the author slowly began to understand that even though he was charged with “conspiracy to defraud”, the real conspiracy might have been elsewhere. Was he one of the conveniently selected scapegoats thrown under the bus, allowing others to escape untouched? Had it been a well-executed plan involving individuals from all over the globe and in many different roles? Was it a coincidence that the LIBOR “scandal” emerged shortly after the Great Financial Crisis of 2008? Why has the practice of “lowballing” been seemingly buried within the media?
One of the author’s main tasks is to put readers in his shoes and make them ask themselves a few simple questions: “How would I react to the events that are unfolding? Would I have carried out my professional duties like he did? Would I have done something different if I was in his shoes? How would I have coped with the adversity?”£9.99 -
Unbreakable
Eighteen years ago, I stood in the passage of my home staring down the barrel of a gun while my children lay asleep meters away. One loud bang and the bullet slammed into my chest, paralyzing me instantly. My whole life as I knew it was changed forever. As if that wasn’t enough, I survived breast cancer and a deadly tumour when the doctors said my chances were slim.
I am the preacher’s daughter that was thrown out of home at the tender age of 17 years old living on my own in a downtown Hillbrow, I did what needed to be done to pay the bills and this is where I found myself working in gentleman’s clubs as a dancer and working as a dominatrix on the side. These early challenges prepared me for the road ahead shot, and paralyzed, two rounds of cancer, two divorces from abusive men, and other life-threatening events. Only while reading my story will you fully understand that thus far it is a miracle for this autobiography to been penned.
Now, the unexpected: a chance to walk again…
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My Life Without Drink
In My Life Without Drink the author takes the reader through a life where insecurity in childhood is carried forward to the adult years when alcohol is taken up as a means of coping. Through marriage, childbirth, estrangement and brushes with the law, the author slides in and out of dependency but always succumbs to the craving described as trying “to get that ‘high’ feeling again and again but it is well-nigh impossible.”How she turns things around must be an inspiration to those who can see no way out of a terrible ‘disease’ that can afflict anyone at any time.A short book on a long and painful story with an ending full of hope: “I walked out free and have been sober for seventeen years.”The author has also written a delightful children’s story called ‘Bertie the Croc’, which you will find towards the end of this book.
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When We Were Very Rich
A family saga rich in characters and backdrop, this book will hook you from the first few lines. Isabel, eldest daughter of Sarah and Albert, lives a life of many riches; family togetherness, love, nature and freedom. Her life is poor in monetary value and lacking in belongings, but she experiences a childhood the sort that money is unable to buy. Surrounded by many siblings - her mother had 14 live births, all without any attention from a doctor or medical intervention, a valiant and strong mother she was. Sarah's grandparents were shipped off as convicts to Australia from England and made a life there when they were given their freedom. Albert and Sarah married in 1918 and forged a life through the Depression in the late 1920s. What was considered poor then, would be rich pickings today; unpolluted air, wild flowers, organic home-grown food and an abundance of wildlife. The story is like a tapestry, the last word or stitch humbling and too soon.
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Finding Balance – Confessions of a Bipolar
In a life filled with the elation, exhilaration and animated exultation located at a paradise called mania… to the dejection, despair, and desolation of the hopelessness of depression … but in the end mostly spent in the aftermath of normality and having to deal with reality… I remain always steadily cautious, for with great unannounced swiftness, I may be called upon to answer the torment and anguish of every emotion you can conjure betwixt up and down. The unfortunate and shattered relationships now crippled in the wake of my experiences are too many to count. Regrets I have many! But I know I am not alone in my tribulations. In these purposeful, selected retellings of a journey to finding balance, it is my hope that you find similarities to compliment or maybe enhance your experiences, and help you make sense of your own journey.
It will also, in stages, fittingly break to take you inside the complex mind of a bipolar. But, an early cautionary heed, it can be playfully whimsical at stages, bold and brightly humoured at others, to profoundly philosophical, then savagely scary and even scaringly depressive in episodic peaks. No matter how this is externally viewed, in those interludes, the feelings and experiences are very real to me. I humbly prostrate my story before you in the desire that it may provide some guidance in making sense of the eccentricities of a bipolar life, or perhaps as we are all woven from the same ancient cloth, simply, life!
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The Journey of Duty: From Africa to Europe
Early life experiences of the author in the northern province of Zambia in Africa, and training in healthcare with subsequent employment in the mining industry healthcare owned jointly by the Anglo-American Corporation and the Government of the Republic of Zambia, mark the beginning of the journey of duty. After working for eight years from 1990 to 1998, this initial part of the journey of duty becomes full of challenging encounters and adventure stories associated with copper mining operations. Moving to Britain as a migrant worker marks the second part of the long journey of duty. Over the next 22 years, the author is immersed in the busy National Health Service (NHS), an umbrella organisation for thousands of hospitals and allied institutions. Experiencing the British way of life becomes fascinating but then part of this way of life is about how politics influence the way healthcare is delivered by the NHS which takes the centre stage throughout the rest of this book. The NHS tales about itsorigins, evolution, inspiring radical transformation in the 21st century, traffic light targets, and the dark times of scandals with red tape are quite revealing especially for people intending to work, train or are working as healthcare professionals. In the thick of it are some of the shining stars with rare qualities of fixing the broken parts of the healthcare systems that end this book.
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On the Hippy Trail to India
This memoir recounts a journey undertaken during an era marked by innocence and naivety, yet brimming with excitement. It was a time when one could traverse from Europe to Asia entirely by land, savouring the gradual shift in cultures and landscapes, a feat that has become increasingly challenging in today’s world. This travelogue reflects on a privileged experience, one for which the author remains deeply grateful, having witnessed these diverse regions and cultures first-hand.
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Walking the Camera in the South Pennines
The South Pennines covers the hill country between Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire, easily accessible but less well known than other walking hot spots. This is an area of high moorland with deep, often wooded valleys and drained by fast-flowing rivers such as the Colne and Calder.
Early textile industry took place in isolated farms and small collections of houses dotted around the countryside, where income from farming often marginal land was supplemented by handloom weaving; the workshops often ran along the top storey of a terrace of cottages with the typical rows of mullioned windows.
There were so many of these isolated settlements with people needing to travel between them and to the cloth markets, such as Halifax’s magnificent PIece Hall, that there is a dense network of footpaths, so inviting for exploration on foot.
Later, textile production moved to water-driven mills, now abandoned but providing a unique landscape as they are being reclaimed by nature, such as at Crimsworth Dene or Healey Dell. Steam power using the plentiful water and coal resources meant that huge factories could be built for textile production; these are themselves now being adapted for other uses, including housing such as the Titanic Mill at Slaithwaite.
Stuart and his wife Jean spent many hours walking the paths and byways of this magical area, with Stuart’s camera recording the many beautiful and interesting sights they encountered. This book is a testament to a couple’s love of rambling for almost 40 years in the magical South Pennines.
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From the Darkness into the Light
In this insightful and multifaceted book, the author recounts his two-year battle against one of the most pervasive modern-day ailments – depression. He likens his struggle with depression to a lingering, oppressive darkness that clouded his mind, challenging his will to live and his belief in the human capacity for resilience.
Throughout the book, the author invites readers to explore the self-healing potential that lies within all of us, a power rooted in our evolutionary connection to nature. This innate strength, he argues, can enable us to triumph over depression. As the narrative unfolds, he shares how rediscovering this dormant potential can gradually transform the darkness of depression into the soothing light of freedom.
The author, a nature enthusiast who believes strongly in the evolutionary power of the natural world to heal the human body, combines his knowledge of nature-based self-healing methods with personal reflections and often harrowing experiences. Presented in a relatable, down-to-earth style, the book charts a journey from despair to victory. The author’s personal story of self-treatment emphasizes reliance on our internal strengths and the healing aspects of nature, offering an alternative perspective to the conventional medical system.
From the depths of despair to a triumphant resurgence, this book challenges and inspires readers with a candid account of overcoming depression through self-discovery and a deep connection to the natural world.
£11.99