Great Glasgow Stories

Author: John Burrowes
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1780573383
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233

Book Description
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.

Great Glasgow Characters

Author: John Burrowes
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1780573413
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Book Description
There are few cities in the world to rival Glasgow and the extraordinary happenings that have occurred there, and in this engrossing sequel to Great Glasgow Stories, more of the finest of these are recounted. From the story of the biggest youth movement the world has ever known to the life and crimes of Scotland's most colourful criminal, Johnny Ramensky, whom even the police dubbed 'Gentle Johnny', a vivid picture of the city's eventful history emerges. Elsewhere, the hilarious scenes that greeted the most sensational visitor Glasgow ever had - Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess - are recounted, and the shocking case of one of BBC radio drama's best-known personalities, who was found brutally murdered in his flat in Govan, is explored. Read, too, about doomed pugilist Jackie Peterson, dubbed 'the second Benny Lynch', and about the accidental death in 1931 of Celtic's 'Prince of Goalkeepers', John Thomson, which shocked the city and remains the saddest event in the club's history. These are just some of the highlights to be found in this compelling collection of stories about the great city of Glasgow and its myriad entertaining characters.

The Real Gorbals Story

Author: Colin MacFarlane
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1780571682
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 181

Book Description
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.

Glasgow

Author: John Burrowes
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 178057343X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 178

Book Description
Not only has Glasgow produced some incredible personalities, it has also been witness to some of the greatest happenings of our times. These outstanding people and epoch-making events are featured in Glasgow: Tales of the City. As a result of painstaking research, some startling new facts have emerged about the life and times of some of the city's most interesting characters. The many individuals documented in this book include the world's greatest pilot, whose many flying feats are still held in great awe today and unlikely ever to be repeated. He was hailed as a hero in America, they gave a him a ticker-tape reception in New York and Hollywood begged him to be a star. More recently, Glasgow was popularised by a TV programme about the city's tough police officer Taggart. The role of the Glasgow detective made Mark McManus one of Scotland's first international TV stars, and Mark's own life story makes equally compelling reading. Before Billy Connolly, Glasgow's greatest-ever comedian was Lex McLean. He smashed all the box-office records in a Glasgow theatre and became a legend in his own lifetime. His story has never before been told in such detail. This is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating studies of Scotland's largest city ever published.

Our Glasgow

Author: Piers Dudgeon
Publisher: Headline
ISBN: 0755364465
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Book Description
This ebook edition contains the full text version as per the book. Doesn't include original photographic and illustrated material. This oral history of Glasgow spans most of the last century - a time of economic downturn and eventual renewal, in which the many communities making up the city experienced upheavals that tore some apart and brought others closer together. It tells of the beating heart of no mean city in the words of the people who made it what it is. Piers Dudgeon has listened to dozens of people who remember the city as it was, and who have lived through its many changes. They talk of childhood and education, of work and entertainment, of family, community values, health, politics, religion and music. Their stories will make you laugh and cry. It is people's own memories that make history real and this engrossing book captures them vividly.

The Battle Ground

Author: Ellen Glasgow
Publisher: The Floating Press
ISBN: 177541986X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 598

Book Description
Dive into a richly detailed historical romance that provides a fascinating glimpse into nineteenth-century life in the American South, with a sweeping perspective that considers the challenges facing the working classes, the landed gentry, and everyone in between. An engrossing read for anyone who likes to learn from their romance fiction reads!

Jaunty Jock

Author: Neil Munro
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3752444045
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 106

Book Description
Reproduction of the original: Jaunty Jock by Neil Munro

Call the Nurse

Author: Mary J. MacLeod
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1611459176
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Book Description
Tired of the pace and noise of life near London and longing for a better place to raise their young children, Mary J. MacLeod and her husband encountered their dream while vacationing on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides. Enthralled by its windswept beauty, they soon were the proud owners of a near-derelict croft house—a farmer’s stone cottage—on “a small acre” of land. Mary assumed duties as the island’s district nurse. Call the Nurse is her account of the enchanted years she and her family spent there, coming to know its folk as both patients and friends. In anecdotes that are by turns funny, sad, moving, and tragic, she recalls them all, the crofters and their laird, the boatmen and tradesmen, young lovers and forbidding churchmen. Against the old-fashioned island culture and the grandeur of mountain and sea unfold indelible stories: a young woman carried through snow for airlift to the hospital; a rescue by boat; the marriage of a gentle giant and the island beauty; a ghostly encounter; the shocking discovery of a woman in chains; the flames of a heather fire at night; an unexploded bomb from World War II; and the joyful, tipsy celebration of a ceilidh. Gaelic fortitude meets a nurse’s compassion in these wonderful true stories from rural Scotland.

Glasgow Kiss

Author: Alex Gray
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0748111298
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
***Discover your next reading obsession with Alex Gray's bestselling Scottish detective series*** Whether you've read them all or whether this is your first Lorimer novel, GLASGOW KISS is perfect if you love Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Ann Cleeves Don't miss the latest thrilling series instalment - BEFORE THE STORM IS OUT NOW WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT THE LORIMER SERIES: 'Warm-hearted, atmospheric' ANN CLEEVES 'Relentless and intriguing' PETER MAY 'Move over Rebus' DAILY MAIL 'Exciting, pacey, authentic' ANGELA MARSONS 'Superior writing' THE TIMES 'Immensely exciting and atmospheric' ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH _______________ Eric Chalmers is one of the most popular teachers at Muirpark Secondary School in Glasgow. So when precocious teenager Julie Donaldson accuses Chalmers of rape, the school goes into shock. With some students and teachers supporting Julie, and others standing by Chalmers, life at Muirpark is far from harmonious. And then Julie Donaldson goes missing, and the police are called in. For DCI William Lorimer, this is the second missing persons case in a week. He's been having sleepless nights about a toddler who has been missing for several days. With hope fading, it becomes a breakneck race against time to find both missing girls.

Shuggie Bain

Author: Douglas Stuart
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 1529019303
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 501

Book Description
WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE WINNER OF 'BOOK OF THE YEAR' AND 'DEBUT OF THE YEAR' AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER 'An amazingly intimate, compassionate, gripping portrait of addiction, courage and love.' – The judges of the Booker Prize 'Douglas Stuart has written a first novel of rare and lasting beauty.' – The Observer 'Shuggie Bain means so much to me. It is such a powerfully written story . . . I love a heartbreak book but there is so much love within this one, particularly between Shuggie and his mother Agnes.' – Dua Lipa It is 1981. Glasgow is dying and good families must grift to survive. Agnes Bain has always expected more from life, dreaming of greater things. But Agnes is abandoned by her philandering husband, and as she descends deeper into drink, her children try their best to save her, yet one by one they must abandon her to save themselves. It is her son Shuggie who holds out hope the longest. Shuggie is different, he is clearly no’ right. But Shuggie believes that if he tries his hardest, he can be normal like the other boys and help his mother escape this hopeless place. Shuggie Bain lays bare the ruthlessness of poverty, the limits of love, and the hollowness of pride. For readers of A Little Life and Angela's Ashes, it is a heartbreaking novel by a brilliant writer with a powerful and important story to tell. 'A heartbreaking novel' – The Times 'Tender and unsentimental . . . The Billy Elliot-ish character of Shuggie . . . leaps off the page.' – Daily Mail