Bob Burrows

No church in Canada has generated more news coverage for more years than Vancouver's First United. That has everything to do with its location in the heart of the infamous Downtown Eastside and with its role as caregiver and defender of the poor, the needy and the homeless inhabitants of Canada's poorest postal code. Like Mother Teresa's mission to the slums of Calcutta, the First United seizes its position among the marginalised as an opportunity to serve and has proven a shining example of humanitarian activism for 125 years. Famous for its defence of the jobless poor during the Great Depression under the leadership of the Rev. Andrew Roddan, it is now equally renowned as a bastion of support for modern-day street people with more complicated problems. With its roots in the early Presbyterian and Methodist Church Missions established in Vancouver in 1885 and 1888, the history of the First United Church spans that of the city it resides in. During that time it has seen the area around it and the population it serves undergo tremendous changes, as initial generations moved out to the suburbs, and the congregation assisted with the settling of newcomers from all over the world. In this well-written and lively account, Burrows, himself a United Church minister for over four decades, brings his lifetime of commitment and compassion to the remarkable history of the First United Church in Hope Lives Here.

It Happened in Shropshire is a vibrant and compelling account of the county’s diverse heritage; its heroes, its battles, its discoveries, its crimes. Bob Burrows’s highly readable prose transports the reader through time, racing across the landscape of Shropshire’s past from the woolly mammoths of 10,000 BC, the Roman occupation of Wroxeter and the Battle of Shrewsbury, to the Industrial Revolution and to the sporting achievements and murderous exploits of recent years. The book celebrates Salopians of national renown such as Charles Darwin, Clive of India, Wilfred Owen and Percy Thrower, as well as commemorating the accidents and disasters of: Shropshire’s ghostly past…and presentThe legends of ‘Mad Jack’ Mytton and the charismatic outlaw Sir Humphrey KynastonA celebration of Salopian sporting champions: Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Richie Woodhall, Billy WrightShropshire’s notorious and also its heroic vicarsThe 'Black Panther’ and other Salopian murderers exposed

A report on the excavation of a series of plots, defined by ditches and adjoining metalled roads, in use from the 2nd century into the 3rd century AD. The plots contained a ditched enclosure, two roundhouses and other contemporary features. A double-ditched enclosure was laid out further to the west, set within a ditched compound. Both the enclosure and the compound contained elaborate 'funnel-like' entrance arrangements which suggest use by livestock.

Infamous Cheshire explores the darker side of this idyllic county, where murders in sleepy villages, royal scandals ancient and modern and the antics of showbiz personalities reveal that all is not as tranquil as it may seem. In his new book Bob Burrows digs deep into forgotten tales of villainy and crime, deceit and death, as well as throwing new light on more recent and well-remembered events - including the Great Train Robbery's connections with the county, Britain's biggest financial fraud, the IRA attack in Warrington, the plane that crashed in the centre of Stockport, and even the story behind one of Cheshire's roads - designated the most dangerous in Britain. Infamous Cheshire will enthral and fascinate anyone who would like to discover more about the unexpected history of Cheshire.