Wednesday 22 May 2013

International and diplomat

HAVE YOU HAD AN INTERESTING LIFE?        WOULD YOU LIKE TO PUBLISH A BOOK?

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 John Hofmeyr - Anecdotes of a Life of Contrasts
Born in South Africa. 

Anecdotes of a Life of Contrasts describes the unconventional and adventurous route of Dr J A Hofmeyr who had to find work in his home country, South Africa during the Great Depression with no hope of an academic training. Wartime contact with military doctors, who became his role models, fired him with the ambition to qualify as a physician, and overcoming great financial difficulty this was finally realised in London at the age of thirty-six.
In 1945 he began to study medicine at St Mary's in London and in 1952 his first appointments were at the London Hospital at Poplar, and Addenbrooke's, Cambridge. Later after a spell as a ship's doctor he returned to South Africa to an appointment in Durban, in 1957 becoming District Surgeon and mission doctor to the Benedictine Hospital, Nkandhla, Central Zululand.
Eventually, back in England with his wife and son, he served in the NHS from which he has now retired. He continues to attend lectures and functions at the Royal Society of Medicine, the Naval Club, the Royal Academy and some local societies.
The author describes this book as 'a string of life's vignettes, lay and medical'; it is a most unusual work that can be enjoyed by different people in all walks of life.

Review
...something to offer beyond the author’s close circle...
...an amiable string of anecdotes...
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
  
Price £9.95 P&P £2.00 UK £3.50 Europe £5.80 ROW (Hofmeyr)



Tom Russell - I Have The Honour To Be

Tom Russell  worked as a Diplomat in Solomon islands, Cayman Islands and Fiji


Tom Russell has an outstandingly interesting story to tell. From the outset he portrays his life with humour and vigour, from his background and education in Scotland, through to his extensive career in Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service.
His war service, including fifteen months as a prisoner of war, is described in poignant detail, conveying the atmosphere of wartime Germany as well as the many colourful characters he encountered.
Having been appointed to the Colonial Administrative Service, the author describes the post war conditions he found on his first assignment as a District Administrator in the Solomon Islands. Following secondment to the Colonial Office he returned to the Solomons where he undertook various duties in the portfolios of Home Affairs, Personnel Administration and Finance. He was eventually promoted Chief Secretary of the Western Pacific High Commission.
In 1974 he was appointed Governor of the Cayman Islands, a post which he held for seven years. His insight into human nature is put to use as he pays tribute to the high caliber of politicians, civil service and the private sector he encountered during this time, which have led the country to its continuing prosperity. He was to serve a further eighteen years as the Cayman Islands Government Representative in the United Kingdom, completing a career spanning fifty-two years.
Tom Russell has been in the overseas service throughout the whole of the decolonisation process and for the ensuing period when Britain accepted that decolonisation might not be the best solution for the smaller territories for which it remained responsible. He expresses some trenchant views on whether the existing partnership between Britain and the remaining Overseas Territories can last in perpetuity.
Educated at St Andrews and then Cambridge, Tom Russell served in the Second World War between studying at the two universities. Initially serving in the Black Watch, he was then commissioned to the Cameronians and finally transferred to the Parachute Regiment.
He has held a variety of positions in the Colonial Service and Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service and has thirty-four years administrative experience including District Administration and as a Governor in the Caribbean for seven years.
Tom Russell was awarded the OBE in 1963, the CBE in 1970 and the CMG in 1980. He now resides in Melrose, Roxburghshire, enjoys travel and has a holiday home in France.

Reviews

His understanding of islanders and their ways is manifested time and again throughout the narrative.  Lemuel Hurlston, Former Chief Secretary, Cayman Islands Government

The book had me laughing out loud..it actually brought a tear as I read the last page. 
Ned Seago - former assistant manager Old Vic Theatre

‘His memoirs offer a vivid and well informed insight into colonial administration’ 
 John Smith, Former Governor, Gilbert and Ellice Islands

I Have The Honour To Be is now available in eBook format.
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Norinka Ford - The Flowing Line
Norinka captures the fascinating story of her family from Hungary. The author now lives in Brazil

Norinka was able to travel extensively as a consequence of her father's diplomatic career and as a result we are given tantalizing glimpses of the various countries that she has lived in, countries as diverse as Iraq, Syria, Chile, Norway, India, and Brazil. 

This book is a unique family history. 


Reviews

The Flowing Line. Many, many congratulations Norinka. I thought it was absolutely wonderful. I am astounded at the amount of research that you must have done, and indeed at the excellence of the memories of some of the older relatives that you must have interviewed. The book combines very successfully so  many different aspects - family history and events, a near travel book, a political and social commentary on many places, a poetry anthology, and a near global survey of art and architecture, with many shrewd and perceptive comments. I thought we knew you both well and therefore that we knew the main features of your lives, but the book brought out all sorts of things of which I was only partly aware (eg the extent of your Father's diplomatic career) or of which I knew nothing (e.g. the eminence of your family in Hungary). And all so very well written. It is not at all a superficial book: it is a very solid read, and a very rewarding one. I do hope you have sold lots of copies. It is a book that deserves great success.
Sir Peter Heap


The Flowing Line is not only an absorbing family history but an evocative journey through diverse lands and different eras. The place and moment I most identify with is Syria at the start of the 1950s when, though neither of us knew it, Norinka Ford and I were both little girls within the small diplomatic community of Damascus. The magic of that ancient city has remained to this day in both of us.
Josceline Dimbleby, Author

Norinka’s work is unique in two respects. Not only does it straddle two such seismic world events across two different centuries, but it also unites them with real people’s lives. These stories deserve to be told, as they are in this book. If they are not, they will be lost. 
Tom Newton Dunn, Award-Winning Journalist, The Sun

Norinka Ford has written a beautiful and moving account of her family's dramatic history and of her own action-packed life. Weaving together her families' memories with her own, she describes with great narrative skill their stories throughout the tumultuous events of the twentieth century, as well as telling of their new lives in a vividly and lovingly described Brazil. This book will be a precious and inspiring record. 
Liz Calder, Publisher

I have been so much enjoying reading some of your book over the weekend and really enjoying it.  You have done so much research and combined with your own memories and own experiences of fascinating countries and cultures, it is truly a beautiful book.  You have a lovely eye for detail and your chapter about Kilgraston which I have just skimmed through is most perceptive and sympathetic.  I also love your very varied poetry quotations.
 Kilgraston School

Norinka Ford's book launch took place at the English Speaking Union, London on Monday 8th October at 6:30 p.m. 
The launch was a great success and lots of people attended.

Norinka thanked The Memoir Club for the help that we gave her: 

I would like to thank Lynn Davidson of The Memoir Club for helping me make a long-held dream – to write a book – come true.

Writing a book can be a lonely business but I have been fortunate in having an outstanding editor, Dr Jennifer Soutter, to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude. She has so wisely led a novice like me by the hand and with patience and encouragement guided me through the long journey as this book took shape and developed into something far larger and more ambitious than I had originally envisaged. It has been a great pleasure and a privilege to work with her.

Price: £14.95 P&P £4.00 UK £7.00 Europe £12.00 ROW

The Flowing Line is now available in E-book format:
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Susan Wilkinson - Recollections Of An Irish Born Doctor In Nineteenth-Century Argentina
Susan Wilkinson was born in India, educated in Ireland. and now lives in Canada. 

From a medical family, a maternal great-uncle served in the Royal Army Medical Corps in World War I and was attached to the Serbian Army on the French-controlled Salonika front, for which he was awarded the Serbian Order of St. Sava and the Croix de Guerre. Four of her Irish-born ancestors – Arthur Pageitt Greene and his two brothers and first cousin – were doctors in South America. Her father served in India, Persia and Burma in the Indian Medical Service in World War II, as did her father’s brother who was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for his service in Burma. 
She is author of works, both fictional and non-fictional, relating to 19th century Argentina, and lives in Canada.

Arthur Pageitt Greene was born in Ireland in 1848. In 1872, when he was twenty-four, after completing his medical studies at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh, he went to South America where five of his brothers had settled. In his Recollections, which he wrote towards the end of his life, he described his early years in Argentina as the only doctor in a remote area in the pampas, revalidating his medical diplomas in Buenos Aires that was required of all foreign-trained doctors, his medical posts in rural towns and later as a senior physician at the British Hospital in Buenos Aires, his marriage and births of his children, his grief at losing his youngest brother to tuberculosis. He wrote of violent crimes and revolutions prevalent in his day, of epidemics, diseases, suicides, the ravages of cancer and smallpox, and of his final years before retirement from medicine.
The Recollections, with a Foreword by Dr. John D.C. Emery, Head of Institutional Relations at the British Hospital in Buenos Aires, are arranged in chronological parts and edited by Arthur Pageitt Greene’s great-great-niece, Susan Wilkinson, author of Sebastian’s Pride and Mimosa: the Life and Times of the Ship that Sailed to Patagonia. They constitute the only known memoir of a doctor in nineteenth-century Argentina, written in English, in existence.

Reviews

Susan Wilkinson engagingly gives us a historical background of the development of the practice of medicine in Ireland, the description of the geographical and sociological situation of a newly emerging country in Latin America, its countryside and its towns, woven through and around the story of an Irish doctor who chose to practice his profession in Argentina in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Dr. John D.C. Emery, The British Hospital, Buenos Aires

Price £20.00 P&P £3.00 UK £5.00 Europe £9.00 ROW

To read about the author go to our website:


David Hutchinson - Through a Looking Glass
Lives in Colombia & Barcelona

Through a Looking Glass is the true story of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. David Hutchinson, 59 years old and retired from a life spent in international business, was kidnapped by criminals and sold to the FARC, the main Colombian guerrilla.
A nine-month forced march through the fierce terrain of Colombia ensued but the author makes little of this and we can only guess his feelings when he is told ‘You pay, you go free’. But this is not a one sided story. David Hutchinson incorporates his family’s side of the story; their efforts to contact him and the FARC: a whole picture of the kidnap is created.
Because this is the story of David Hutchinson’s long march, there is a pace to the narrative. Interspersed with this are pen-portraits of the various guerrilleros with whom he comes into contact and minibiographies of other captives and the limited occupations of the captives such as chess and wildlife watching.
When he is finally allowed to make a phone call to his home, there is the constant fear that it will be traced. The whole group could then be attacked by the air force, as did happen. This is not just kidnapping; this is war. The air force flies overhead and the army constantly track the guerrilla. They run, they fight and they die, it is a constant battle for survival. Interest is added by giving details of the political and social background and of how the kidnappings first started. Half the kidnaps in the world happen in Colombia. This is an enthralling memoir, which will both fascinate and horrify the reader.
David Hutchinson was born in 1943 in Peshawar, India (now Pakistan) of British parents, John and Antonia. They returned to England in 1947, where David went to school and to Oxford. David married Graciela Busto from Argentina whom he had two children. After her death from cancer he married his second wife Maria Cecilia (Nanette) Muñoz, from the Philippines. He was president of the Colombian-British Chamber of Commerce, Bototà 1993-97 and in 1998 was warded an MBE for services to British-Colombian Trade. He now lives in Barcelona.

Reviews

Through a Looking Glass - a great title for a great book! Memoir club, did such a good job.
Roger

Just to say that I read and much enjoyed David’s book. As I read it I could hear him speaking.
I found the chapters on the members of the FARC that encountered, and his fellow captives (and similarities between some of them), particularly interesting and you have a phenomenal memory to describe your experiences so vividly!
Jeremy

What an excellent book. I wonder if I enjoyed it because it was you, and knowing you made it fun, but I think it was just well written. I liked that it wasn't oppressive, full of violence and gore, nore depressing, as other books on this sort of subject sometimes are. The human elements, not romanticized, and appropriately brief, were appropriate as encounters in the military would be. I also like how you presented all sides without hammering the points. The wildlife made it delightful. I can’t wait for Jeff to come home and read it.
Patricia Harding of The American Orchid Society

Price: £14.95 P&P £2.25 UK £4.50 Europe £7.50 ROW

Through The Looking Glass is now available on e-book:
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Richard G Tallboys - Encounters of a diplomatic kind
Lives in Australia - worked as a British Diplomat in Brasilia, Cambodia, Seoul and Houston
The author followed an unusual career path; from seafarer to accountant, to representing two countries in the world of diplomacy.
Richard Tallboys started his working life at the age of 16 as an apprentice in ships trading between the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. During one of his voyages he met Margaret in Hobart, Tasmania, where he later settled to become a chartered accountant and to study economics and where Richard and Margaret were married. After representing Australia as a Trade Commissioner in Africa and South East Asia the author learned by chance that Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service was interested in recruiting ‘late entrants’ who had a commercial background.
Returning to London Richard began a twenty-year career as a British diplomat, a career that led to him receiving the honours of both CMG and OBE. The final of his 5 very different postings, from Brasilia to Cambodia, from Seoul to Houston, was as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Vietnam.
The interesting, informative, occasionally dramatic and often amusing anecdotes in Encounters of a Diplomatic Kind, derive from the author’s 26 years of diplomatic life. Many of the stories relate to his service in Asian countries.
This book will have great appeal to the general reader who might wonder what makes diplomatic life worthwhile. It should also become an essential read for anyone needing to understand business in Asia

Price £14.50 P&P £1.50 UK £3.00 Europe £5.00 ROW

Encounters of a Diplomatic Kind is available on bookbutler:



Cindy Coster - Where Am I From - Where Are YOU From?

The Author has lived in Malawi, Tanzania, Jamaica, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Sierra Leone
A travelogue to exciting and exotic places this book is packed with information and fun but has never meant to be an authoritative text.
With a passion for birdwatching Cindy and her husband Steve enter diverse eco systems such as the Nepal Himalaya, frozen Antarctica, the never-ending plains of Serengeti – and Ngorongoro Crater a natural wonder - rainforests in South America and a spiny forest in Madagascar.
With many WOW moments fulfilling Cindy’s life ambitions you are transported to the natural habitats of penguins, African Grey Parrots, brilliant Macaws, endangered mountain gorillas, almost-human chimpanzees, and endearing lemurs. Whilst scuba diving, you explore coral reefs off the coasts of Thailand, Tanzania and Jamaica. You stop off in left-behind Cuba and the contrasting fantasy worlds of Walt Disney World and glitzy Las Vegas.
There’s a biographical thread too telling of life on sugar estates in Africa and colourful Jamaica, hazards moving country and Cindy being at home by virtue of her husband’s work, plans fun dinner parties and events. Normally mundane tasks like haircuts and grocery shopping, and tropical diseases like malaria are a major challenge. The world shrinks when they learn that people they meet know their relatives, and meet many folk always asking (whilst trying to establish common ground) “Where are you from?”

This book is a delightful and intimate account of a very unusual life's journey through many exotic places. With her keen eye for observation, a great sense of fun and her passion for birding and scuba-diving, Cindy Coster shares with the reader many breathtaking and poignant moments such as coming face to face with  mountain gorillas in Rwanda, or following in the footsteps of Shackleton in South Georgia.
Customer Review on Waterstones website

Price £12.95 P&P £2.50 UK £4.60 Europe £8.20 ROW

Where Am I From- Where Are You From is available on bookbutler:


Carole Bell - Baltics To Beirut
The author has worked in Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Croatia, Turkey and Lebanon
A travelogue and professional memoir, this book will appeal to anyone who has an interest in travel to the less well-known corners of Europe, learning about their history and customs, consumer rights and the role of the European Union. It is written not from the usual visitor's perspective but by someone who has worked and lived among people whose country has undergone seismic change. Carole Bell explores the contrasting nature of beautiful cities in Eastern Europe that have been wounded by war, whose citizens have suffered severe hardship yet remain optimistic.
The story begins in 1970 with a unique glimpse of life behind the Iron Curtain when Romania was in the grip of a harsh communist regime. The break-up of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War two decades later paved the way for the restoration of democracy in Eastern Europe. Carole was employed in Trading Standards when she was unexpectedly offered the chance to work in this "New Europe". An assignment in Malta in 2003 led to projects in Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Croatia, Turkey and Lebanon - and a return to Romania. It was an amazing journey and makes a fascinating story. The towns and cities she has visited are described in poetic detail, along with a cast of interesting people she has met.

Reviews

The book will appeal to anyone who has an interest in travel to the less well-known corners of Europe, learning about their history and customs, consumer rights and the role of the European Union.
Croatian Times

Price £12.95  P & P £2.00 UK £3.00 Europe £4.50 ROW

Baltics To Beirut Is available on bookbutler:
http://www.bookbutler.co.uk/compare?isbn=9781841045290

Professor Walker-Smith - Enduring Memories
Born in Australia. 


Professor Walker-Smith has become well known on the internet and in the press because of his involvement in a GMC Hearing (2007-2010), where he and his colleagues, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, and Professor Simon Murch faced charges concerning a paper in the Lancet published in 1998. This article described the clinico-pathological features of a group of 12 children with features suggesting autism who also had bowel problems, significant enough to be investigated by means of colonoscopy for possible bowel inflammation. The paper also speculated that there was an environmental trigger to this syndrome, which could have been measles mumps rubella immunization, MMR. He was accused of performing research on these children rather than clinical care in a tertiary referral unit. The GMC Panel in May 2010 determined that he was performing research on the 12 children and recommended he be struck off. However in February 2012 Mr. Justice Mitting in the High Court quashed the GMC findings. This was a triumphant vindication for Professor Walker-Smith. This has proved to have been an historic judgement as Mr. Justice Mitting stated “it would be most unfortunate if this were to happen again”. Subsequently the GMC has proposed a new tribunal conducted by a judge, some have seen this as the biggest change in 150 years.
Professor Walker-Smith describes his personal experience over an eight year period after the allegations were made against him, by a journalist, and the GMC Hearing itself as well as his successful appeal, in a Chapter entitled the Trial. He draws attention to a number of parallels with Franz Kafka’s The Trial.
However this book is much more than this. It gives a detailed account of academic and hospital specialist medical practice (paediatric gastroenterology) from the inside, for a period over 40 years. Professor Walker-Smith was both an academic and a consultant working in the NHS from 1973-2000.

It also gives an account of his earlier personal and professional life growing up in Sydney, Australia. This covers the period from 1936-1972 when he transferred to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London.

Reviews

Price £9.95 P&P £2.50 UK £3.75 Europe £9.50 ROW

Enduring Memories is available from bookbutler:

Victor Dubowitz - Ramblings of a Peripatetic Paediatrician 

Born in South Africa. 
Victor Dubowitz enjoyed a globe-trotting medical career spanning half a century and is internationally known and regarded within the medical fraternity.
Throughout his academic and research career in the muscle field and the neurology of the newborn infant he has retained a passionate love for clinical medicine.
He has written five books on muscle disorders. He has also collaborated with his wife, Lilly in developing a scoring system for assessment of the gestational age in the newborn infant. This became an international standard known as the Dubowitz score. They have also co-authored three books on the newborn.
Victor Dubowitz takes the reader on a thought provoking journey, often tangentially. He tells of a career which moves off in diverse directions, determined as much by chance as a driving spirit to pursue any channel of special interest.
It represents one man's story of his environment and his encounters as he moves from a small country town in the Karroo region of South Africa to the professorship of paediatrics at the prestigious Royal Postgraduate Medical School at the Hammersmith Hospital in London.


Reviews
Victor Dubowitz’s book is fully deserving of a wider distribution, not only to all physicians, but also to the general public.
John H.Menkes

To read more about Victor Dubowitz visit his Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Dubowitz

Price £20.00 P&P £4.50 UK £6.25 Europe £11.75 ROW

Ettienne De Beer - Through Blisters and Saddle Sores

Born in South Africa
We were typical young lovers with many dreams and fantasies which clouded reality for some time. But no more than a year and a half into our marriage Trish was diagnosed with Grade 3 invasive Breast Cancer.
We had never had a shock like this in our lives before. We couldn’t believe it. More so, we didn’t want to.  We considered ourselves to be generally young and active, growing our own fruit and vegetables, doing physical labour on our allotment. Never take your health for granted.
Dean Karnazes’s book, Ultramarathon Man. This book changed my life . I couldn’t put it down, more honestly, I didn’t want to put it down. 

FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BOLD
It sounds so strong and rewarding. I don’t know if it’s just me but when I hear those lines, I just want to get out there and do something great.

My manager at the time, Dan Lauder, also a very well-travelled adventurer, had just completed an almost solo cycle from his door in England to the Coliseum in Rome. The distance of about 1,000 miles travelled in the space of ten days.

 It is funny how life works sometimes. He had just finished a book that inspired him to take on an ultra-marathon and asked me if I was up for the challenge. I found myself saying yes even before I had a chance to think about what it meant.

 IN MY PREPARATION I STUMBLED ON A WEBSITE CALLED THE GREAT TOUR, which was the circumnavigation of Britain’s coast line by bike. It looked like a worthy challenge and covered a distance of about 6,600 kilometres. I thought yes, that’s something I’d like to do

To read more about Ettienne De Beer go to his website at: http://www.ettiennedebeer.com/
Or to read more about his expedition go to his blog at: http://aroundtheukin50.blogspot.co.uk/
For his twitter page: https://twitter.com/EttienneDeBeer


ETTIENNE IS TRYING TO RAISE £100,000 for The Haven following his wife’s fight with BREAST CANCER.

HELP RAISE MONEY FOR THE HAVEN@BreastCancerH Support, information and complementary therapies to help anyone affected by breast cancer.

Email us if you want to make a donation memoirclub@msn.com

Available on Amazon Kindle click link below priced at £1.99 + VAT = £2.05:

10% of all profits go to THE HAVEN

Monday 20 May 2013

Police


HAVE YOU HAD AN INTERESTING LIFE?       WOULD YOU LIKE TO PUBLISH A BOOK

We have 20 years experience in publishing, editing, designing and promoting books.  

We are committed to bringing quality books to potential readers, and to maximising every book's potential.

Our dedicated in-house team is always on hand to take you all the way from manuscript to eBook or printed copy. Every author is treated as an individual, not a number.

Email your manuscript to Lynn Davidson, memoirclub.co.uk

We can produce an eBook from a PDF, word document or published book from £395.



Lord Mackenzie
Now available as an eBook on Amazon Kindle:  

What the author says about The Memoir Club
eBooks -  I think it is brilliant – It is a great addition to your portfolio of services and should assist your growth. Well done and many thanks!
Brian, Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate OBE 





IN THE PRESS

Lord Mackenzie described navigating parliamentary lobbying rules as “walking on eggshells”, but denied any wrongdoing. “I’m very meticulous about what I do and what I don’t do and make sure that I’m not crossing the boundary. When I left that interview, I checked the code of conduct in the House of Lords and I came to the decision that it was very near the mark and I immediately emailed the people who did the interviewing and I said that I’m not interested.”
                                                                                                                                                                           The Independent
"I wish to make it clear that I did not agree to act as a paid advocate in any proceedings of the House nor did I accept payment or other incentive or reward in return for providing parliamentary advice or services," he said.
 
Now available as a PDF £7.50email memoirclub@msn.com

Foreword by Sir John Stevens QPM  LL.B
Two Lives of Brian published in 2004 by The Memoir Club and on Kindle 2013.
This book chronicles an extraordinary journey from the back streets of the north east of England to the House of Lords. The story is of a child born into a working class family in Darlington, County Durham who soon decided he was dissatisfied with his lot and through sheer determination, strength and humour joined Durham Constabulary and embarked on a truly remarkable career.

Brian relates how his ability to communicate and his voracious study of the law allowed him to rise through the ranks from rural beat bobby to chief superintendent. Quite properly restricted as a police officer, his political ambitions were realised when he was elected National President of the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales in 1995.
He describes how this position allowed him to raise the Association’s profile, influence events and really make a difference to the legal system. By working alongside Tory Michael Howard and his successor, New Labour’s Jack Straw, Brian developed the plan for a paedophile register which resulted in the Sex Offenders’ Act of 1997. He went on to campaign for the abolition of the ‘right to silence’ and the removal of the ‘double jeopardy’ defence resulting in a change in the law in both cases to the advantage of the victims of crime. He continues this struggle as a Labour Peer in the House of Lords.
Two Lives of Brian is written with humour and vigour and allows Brian to give his side of the story, when he found himself the victim of a ‘honey trap’ sleaze campaign by the now totally discredited and defunct News of the World tabloid Sunday newspaper.

More about Lord Brian Mackenzie visit: Wikipedia Lord Mackenzie

REVIEWS
Brian Mackenzie has made a huge contribution to policing in Britain. As a serving police officer, as President of the Superintendents' Association and as a forceful contributor to debates in the House of Lords he has been at the forefront of many of the controversial issues which have characterised the politics of law and order over the last thirty years. He has written a very entertaining account of those experiences, which will be enjoyed by all who read about it.
The Right Honourable Michael Howard QC MP

Brian's work as President of the Police Superintendents' Association, detailed in these pages, had an important impact on government policies towards tackling crime. But, as the book shows, he has always been a colourful character and able to combine his serious role with good humour.
The Right Honourable Jack Straw MP

Brian Mackenzie has spent his life in public service, as a police officer, Superintendents' leader and parliamentarian. This memoir is a good read, evocative of working class life in the 1950s and 1960s and the changes in policing over the years. Brian is a good man and a fine parliamentarian and his memoirs reflect that history.
The Right Honourable David Blunkett MP 

Brian Mackenzie is a colourful, larger than life character and I am very pleased to say that this book does him justice. It is a modestly written account of a man whose life has been characterised by achievement but who remains someone who understands the value of friendship, loyalty and commitment to others.
John, Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington QPM LLB
Former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service

Price £17.50  P & P £2.50 UK £3.00 Europe £5.00  ROW
Available on http://www.thememoirclub.co.uk/ email: memoirclub@msn.com or tel 01913735660
with card details and address

Available on the internet go to link:

Tony Speed - PRIVATE EDITION ONLY - NOT FOR SALE
This book depicting the life of a Policeman working his way up the ranks is a fitting memoir at a time where the British Policing system is placed under great scrutiny, particularly concerning the methods deployed to counteract the 2011 London riots. The story takes the reader on a journey through the highs and lows of working within the force. Speed enthrals us with detailed analysis of murder cases and various other crimes that were dealt with over the span of his thrilling career.
He provides detailed coverage of major disasters during his time, such as the incident in 1989 at the Hillsborough football stadium when visiting Liverpool supporters stormed into the ground just as the game kicked off. 96 people were killed and 766 were injured during the event. In contrast the book is rounded off with a taste of Speed's peaceful life after retirement.
This cleverly written memoir allows us to delve deep within the life of a Policeman, whilst enabling us to appreciate the sheer courage and determination required to be able to succeed in the force. It presents a fine guide to anyone currently in the Police Force and also for those wishing to pursue a career in the future.


More about Anthony Speed visit: Royal Parks Constabulary Wikipedia

Richard Cole
This is a factual account of an amazing man who was loved and respected by many people. A combination of personal, social and family history, the story starts with Raymond Buxton Cole’s own history of life in Oxford as the youngest son of the Chief Constable and the impact the Great War had upon the family.
After that War, he built a career as a solicitor and then, when another War seemed inevitable, he joined the Territorial Army before later enlisting in the Royal Artillery.
Posted to Burma, he commanded British troops in the Battle of the Admin Box, a pioneering battle which led to the first defeat of the Japanese Forces. For his efforts he was awarded DSO and presented with his ribbon in the field by Lord Louis Mountbatten.
After victory in 1945 he returned “with a mission” to support others in the provision of sporting facilities in the Oxford area. He achieved this with the founding of the Oxford Sports Club. He also returned to professional life, entering into a partnership of solicitors (Cole & Cole) which became one of the largest in the country. In the meantime, he settled into life as a devoted family man until his death in 1991.
A former Lord Mayor of Oxford once said that “Bunny Cole is as much a part of Oxford as Carfax” (the main crossing in the centre of the city). This lovingly assembled book serves as a tribute to a great man who made a profound contribution to his community.

REVIEWS
This is clearly a nostalgic book as it refers to those pre 1968 days.
Oxford City Police Association

It is an inspiring story, lovingly assembled by its author and we think it serves as a fitting tribute to someone who did so much for his country and community in Oxford.

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Mike Chandler
The past, as they say, is another country; they do things differently there. Forty years in the making, And Nothing But The Truth is a dark and brutally honest account of life in an inner city Yorkshire police force in the 1960s.
Describing an era of law enforcement rife with sexism and racism, the book pulls no punches in its gritty portrayal of life as a city copper. Nothing is whitewashed or romanticised in this vivid portrait of a young recruit as he goes through police training, walks the beat without radio support and patrols the streets using ‘Noddy bikes’ and panda cars before finally working for the vice squad amidst the notorious underbelly of 1960s Leeds. Refusing to moralise or preach, the author simply tells it all as it was.
Semi-fictionalised but firmly rooted in fact, And Nothing But The Truth is a riveting look at the policing methods and values of a forgotten age. Often unsettling, at times shocking, but never boring, it is a blackly humorous tale that once read will never be forgotten.

The author, Mike Chandler, worked first as a uniformed officer and then as a plain clothes member of the vice squad in Leeds during the 1960s. Upon leaving the force he trained as a teacher and youth leader, working as both until his retirement in the 1990s. This is his first book. All profits will be donated to the Lymphoma Association.

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Ray Gibbon
The Way It Was, Tales from a Policeman’s Notebook is a well written and entertaining collection of short stories taken from the author’s time in three north-eastern police forces. Wittily illustrated with cartoons and pictures this book is an enthralling look at policing as it used to be. Packed full of amusing anecdotes from his police days Ray Gibbon also writes with great warmth about his family, colleagues and the many entertaining characters he meets in the course of his duties. 
Ray Gibbon had a distinguished career, he served in three North-Eastern Police Forces; The Durham County Constabulary, the amalgamated Durham Constabulary and finally the Northumbria Police Force. He received the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. He spent many happy years serving with the Dog Section and has fond memories of his faithful partner Rebel. Post retirement Mr Gibbon spent his time doing voluntary work with various charities, such as the Samaritans. He also served for 20 years in the Citizens Advice Bureau; eventually he became a Durham City Councillor. He had the honour of serving as Mayor of the city in the year 2003/2004 and became an Alderman of Durham in 2008. He married Margaret Allen in 1956 and they have spent many happy years together, they have a son, daughter and 4 grandchildren.

REVIEWS
Wittily illustrated with cartoons and pictures this book is an enthralling look at policing as it used to be. Packed full of amusing anecdotes from his police days Ray Gibbon also writes with great warmth about his family, colleagues and the many entertaining characters he meets in the course of his duties.
National Association  Of Retired Police Officers (NARPO)


This thoroughly enjoyable memoir is a warm-hearted and nostalgic collection of tales from the past.
Chief Constabule of Durham Constabulary Jon Stoddart

The author chronicles his training as a dog handler, his experience of raiding a so-called massage parlour in the West Midlands and the eventual realisation that a policeman's lot, although not entirely unhappy, was not well rewarded. The reminisces of a policeman working in days before technology was applied to policing will be valid for the social historian and others interested in the wider topic of law and order.
Terry Gilder, Staffordshire Newspaper

Many of his stories are of what Dixon of Dock Green called an ordinary copper just patrolling his beat, and all the more fascinating, and more credible, for it.


Ray is well known to a number of members - as a policeman, active City councillor and City Mayor in 2003-2004.  He came to us today to recount some of the incidents in a long career in the police force and to reflect on the way things change.  I particularly liked his story of the snow shoes which were part of the equipment at Greenside Police Station - winters could be bleak up there.  Ray told us how they were eventually replaced by a Land Rover - the snow shoes never went out but the Land Rover was never in!
Ray had kept many of his "official" pocketbooks and these have proved to be a rich source of recollections, leading, eventually, and much persuasion, to the publication of a book - and I'm sure he won't mind me reproducing the cover above.
In proposing a vote of thanks to Ray, Grenville Holland (City Mayor 2008-2009) praised him for his long and effective public service and stressed the importance of the "beat bobby" - one of the four pillars of a peaceful community - the priest, doctor, teacher and policeman.  Has their absence lead to the "broken society"?
Rotary Club of Durham

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Ralph Pettitt
This account of Ralph Pettitt's 30 years in the police force is an amusing and entertaining work which will  appeal to anyone who can remember The Beatles, Concorde's first flight and the Silver Jubilee. Focused on Birmingham, A Plod Round Brum traces the intriguing path of a young man who embarks upon a career in policing and encounters a great variety of experiences, some good, some not so good, before closing the door of the police station for the last time. The author takes us on a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable journey through his reminiscences and illustrates the lives, fortunes and deaths of his companions and colleagues as well as showing how the police force and society as a whole have changed and progressed.
The book is a modern history of a community moving from the slums to high-rise flats and a police force moving from whistles and truncheons to computers and helicopters.

REVIEWS
Ralph Pettitt's autobiography and account will neither age nor wither in interest, it is an encapsulation of a couple of brief decades but will serve to entertain and educate for many years to come, perhaps in time being regarded as 'a classic'.
Rob Jerrard
To read more of this review, please click onto the following link: Pettitt Review Jerrard

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John Tomlinson
This is an intriguing story of a boyhood dream come true. John Tomlinson longed to be a policeman from an early age but when he contracted polio at the age of eight it was thought that he would never make it. He did, and in this book he describes his journey through the police force, the happy, the sad, the characters he encountered, both good and bad.
During the 1950s and 60s the police force was very different to that of today and John describes how tough it was for a new recruit, without ever expecting the reader's sympathy. His early encounter with a dead body and all manner of events from tyrannical landladies to rowdy prisoners are described with humour.
John became one of the youngest ever mounted policemen and tells how working with horses brought its own problems and rewards. Throughout his career he continued to work with animals and spent the majority of his service as a dog handler. He recalls how the special relationship between man and dog made for an extremely effective crime fighting team.
Born in 1941 in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, John Tomlinson is the son of a farmer. Following the Second World War the family moved to a farm in Leek in the Staffordshire moorlands where he spent his childhood. Following his career in the police force John went to work for a Philips company in Wolverhampton which entailed vetting customers for credit. He was involved in most aspects of electrical retailing and after six years became general manager. In 1974 he left Philips to take up a position as Regional Director with what is now London Scottish Bank plc. John retired from the bank in 1998 as Deputy Chief Executive and now enjoys shooting and fishing. He is a member of the Stick makers Guild, the Chartered Management Institute and is a fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants. 

REVIEWS
His story of training courses in the Welsh mountains, grasping landladies, encounters with local and London villains etc all make for absorbing reading.
Police History Society

This is one of those books that for some reason you just do not want to put down. There's something compelling about it that is difficult to explain. Perhaps it is because it is not, as one might expect, the memoirs of a police officer who reached the top echelons of the service or had spent a lifetime dealing with high profile cases which captured the headlines and enabled the author to indicate the number of commendations that had been given from Judges down to Chief Officers. Instead, this is a book written rather late in life by a person who came to the police service as a Cadet, served a few years as a Constable and then went off to industry and banking. His path followed so many, who over the years have become police officers, only to have an urge to leave, probably at a time when they might have aspired to greater things and certainly at a time when in terms of experience their use to the police service was probably at its greatest.
Brian Rowland

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