Hunter Davies

Ivy, Dulcie, Barbara, Ann, Dorothy and Jean all had different reasons for applying to work at Carr’s biscuits, but once they had put on their overalls and walked through the factory gates they discovered a community full of life, laughter and friendship. To those who didn’t know, the biscuit factory that towered over Carlisle might look like just another slice of the industrial North, a noisy and chaotic place with workers trooping in and out at all hours. For the biscuit girls it was a place where they worked hard, but also where they gossiped, got into scrapes and made lifelong friends. Outside the factory walls there might be difficult husbands or demanding kids, and sometimes even heartbreak and tragedy, but they knew there would always be an escape from their troubles at Carr's. Some, like Barbara, only applied because she needed the extra cash, until things got a bit easier at home. Her supervisor cross examined her about who would be looking after the kids while she was at work, but let her have the job. Like many of the women who joined up ‘temporary’ Barbara went on to stay at Carrs for 32 years. Beginning in the 1940s, these heartwarming and vividly-remembered stories have all been told by the women themselves to Hunter Davies.

Sellafield Stories is the largest Oral History Project conducted in the UK. It was started by Jenni Lister, of Cumbria Record Office & Local Studies Library, and was funded by the BNFL. Through the personal life stories of 30 people who lived, worked and built the complex SELLAFIELDS STORIES tells the true story of the Sellafields Nuclear Plant that has been at the heart of the Nation's story for the last 60 years. First set up in the aftermath of World War II to develop Britain's nuclear weapons, it was not until 1957 that it was given over to nuclear power, kick starting a revolution in post war energy. Since then it has been the site of protests, controversy and debate. Today it is still the country's biggest single industrial site employing 13,500 people.

Whether they're a man who loves his Heinz so much he's changed his name to Captain Beany or a kleptomaniac Vintage Radio buff, these eccentric collectors are Britain's finest and could live in no other country in the world. Once you discover these museums and get to know their curators, Great Britain won't look quite the same again...

Cumbria Murders brings together numerous murderous tales that shocked not only the county but also made headlines throughout the country. They include the cases of Wai Sheung Siu Miao, strangled while on honeymoon in 1928; William Armstrong, shot by the Revd Joseph Smith in 1851; Ann Sewell, stabbed to death by farmhand George Cass in 1860; and the murder of Jack West at his home near Workington in 1964, whose killers were the last two men to be lawfully hanged in England. Paul Heslop was a policeman for over thirty years, mostly as a detective. His experience and understanding of the criminal justice system give authority to his unbiased assessment and analysis of the cases in this book. His carefully researched, well-illustrated and enthralling text will appeal to anyone interested in the shady side of Cumbria’s history, and should give much food for thought.

Hunter Davies is one of the most respected writers in the country. THE GLORY GAME is a footballing classic still in print some 30 years since its original publication but Hunter is also a successful novelist and distinguished biographer, whose subjects include The Beatles, Wayne Rooney and Paul Gascoigne. Now, though, he describes his own extraordinary life, from growing up on a Carlisle council estate in the 1950s and his student days at Durham to his introduction to Fleet Street, his enduring obsession with football and memorabilia, and the many fascinating characters he has met, interviewed and written about over the last 40 years. It is also the intimate portrait of his marriage to teenage sweetheart Margaret Forster, herself a well-known novelist. Full of wonderful observations, warm humour and colourful anecdote - a memoir to treasure.

The nation has commented on and devoured Paul Gascoigne for years. But until now no one has ever known what it is really like to be Gazza. Here Gascoigne, in the company of his therapist, confronts his demons and takes the reader into the recesses of his mind. The triggers that plunged Gascoigne into dark despair are revealed together with the critical moments that influenced his alcoholism, depression, drug abuse, gambling, eating disorders and compulsive behaviour. This is more than the story of one man. It applies to people who face turmoil every day. Through self-assessment forms and expert advice, any reader who sees a mirror of themselves will be offered help and a way forward.

Following 'The Fan' comes a further hilarious collection of Hunter's football columns from The New Statesman. Broadsheet and specialist reviews expected.

Much is known about the achievements of George Stephenson and of his infamous creation, the Rocket, yet little is known of the man himself. This volume is a profile of the self-taught and often testy Geordie, whose Victorian invention is now the backbone of every nation on the planet.

More than any other poet, Wordsworth was his own biographer, and told his story through his verse. This work on the poet's entire life and times draws upon the letters and diaries of Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, and of their contemporaries Coleridge and Southey. Hunter Davies also draws upon his own knowledge of the Lake District, which featured so strongly in Wordsworth's life, to present a complete portrait of England's best known poet.

The world’s greatest haulier – a rags-to-riches tale of British entrepreneurialsim. If you’ve never seen an Eddie Stobart truck, you’ve never driven down a British motorway. This is the extraordinary story of a multi-million pound business that spawned a middle-class motorway game. Of dynastic struggles that ended in a merchandising shop opposite Carlisle cathedral. A quintessentially British tale – written by the inimitable bestselling writer Hunter Davies, and with the full promotional support of Eddie Stobart himself.

When the first edition of The Glory Game was published in 1972, it was instantly hailed as the most insightful book about the life of a football club ever published.