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Showing 1 - 20 of 6300 items
By Pepsi Demacque-Crockett, Shirlie Kemp. 2021
London. Wham! Pop, glitz and glamour. And two girls with stars in their eyes.Our friendship began one windy day in…
1982, outside Finsbury Park tube. It was an instant like at first sight. We were on our way to a Wham! rehearsal. Pepsi was the new girl in the band and over a car stereo, a cassette tape and that journey to Bushey we bonded. We had no idea that we were on the first of many journeys together and that soon we'd be travelling all over Europe, Australia, America, China and Japan. Or that no matter where we went, together, we'd find a way to make every exotic destination feel like home.We'd both been teenagers during the seventies – a dreary and difficult decade, especially if you were young in London and you didn't have much money.So, in 1982, anything was possible for us – a pair of twentysomethings who hadn't been to university, who didn't have any money, who dreamt of singing and dancing, but ultimately lived for fun. Everything felt new and life was a question mark. We had no idea what was lying ahead, but we wanted to say yes.What we didn't know was that we were saying yes to a lifetime of connection that has endured whatever we've done, wherever we've been. From the side of the stage to its centre – we have many stories to tell.And it's all here, it's all in black and white.By Merryl Wyn Davies, Zia Sardar. 2004
Even before September 11, 2001, Muslims were often framed by Western media and many non-Muslims as enemies of “freedom” and…
“progress.” Like other religions, Islam is not without its ongoing tensions and struggles. However, like other religions, there is a depth and richness to the Islamic faith that is too often overlooked because of stereotypes. This No-Nonsense Guide looks at the complexities of Islam and how its adherents are reconciling their faith with the social realities of the twenty-first century. In so doing, Merryl Wyn Davies and Zia Sardar examine the Qur’an and Islamic law (sharia), how world history has been shaped by Islam, Islam’s rocky relationship with the Western world, and the many challenges within and without Islam.By Michael Korda. 2024
The First World War comes to harrowing life through the intertwined lives of the soldier poets in Michael Korda’s epic…
Muse of Fire. Michael Korda, the best-selling author of Hero and Alone, tells the story of the First World War not in any conventional way but through the intertwined lives of the soldier poets who came to describe it best, and indeed to symbolize the war’s tragic arc and lethal fury. His epic narrative begins with Rupert Brooke, “the handsomest young man in England” and perhaps its most famous young poet in the halcyon days of the Edwardian Age, and ends five years later with Wilfred Owen, killed in action at twenty-five, only one week before the armistice. With bitter irony, Owen’s mother received the telegram informing her of his death on November 11, just as church bells tolled to celebrate the war’s end. Korda’s dramatic account, which includes anecdotes from his own family history, not only brings to life the soldier poets but paints an unforgettable picture of life and death in the trenches, and the sacrifice of an entire generation. His cast of characters includes the young American poet Alan Seeger, who was killed in action as a private in the French Foreign Legion; Isaac Rosenberg, whose parents had fled czarist anti-Semitic persecution and who was killed in action at the age of twenty-eight before his fame as a poet and a painter was recognized; Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon, whose friendship and friendly rivalry endured through long, complicated private lives; and, finally, Owen, whose fame came only posthumously and whose poetry remains some of the most savage and heartbreaking to emerge from the cataclysmic war. As Korda demonstrates, the poets of the First World War were soldiers, heroes, martyrs, victims, their lives and loves endlessly fascinating—that of Rupert Brooke alone reads like a novel, with his journey to Polynesia in pursuit of a life like Gauguin’s and some of his finest poetry written only a year before his tragic death. Muse of Fire is at once a portrait of their lives and a narrative of a civilization destroying itself, among the rubble, shadows, and the unresolved problems of which we still live, from the revival of brutal trench warfare in Ukraine and in the Middle East.By Pepsi Demacque-Crockett, Shirlie Kemp. 2021
London. Wham! Pop, glitz and glamour. And two girls with stars in their eyes.Our friendship began one windy day in…
1982, outside Finsbury Park tube. It was an instant like at first sight. We were on our way to a Wham! rehearsal. Pepsi was the new girl in the band and over a car stereo, a cassette tape and that journey to Bushey we bonded. We had no idea that we were on the first of many journeys together and that soon we'd be travelling all over Europe, Australia, America, China and Japan. Or that no matter where we went, together, we'd find a way to make every exotic destination feel like home.We'd both been teenagers during the seventies – a dreary and difficult decade, especially if you were young in London and you didn't have much money.So, in 1982, anything was possible for us – a pair of twentysomethings who hadn't been to university, who didn't have any money, who dreamt of singing and dancing, but ultimately lived for fun. Everything felt new and life was a question mark. We had no idea what was lying ahead, but we wanted to say yes.What we didn't know was that we were saying yes to a lifetime of connection that has endured whatever we've done, wherever we've been. From the side of the stage to its centre – we have many stories to tell.And it's all here, it's all in black and white.Since medieval times, English literature has often demonized Muslims. The term ‘Islamophobia’ is recent, but the phenomenon is old. This…
survey of literature focusing on the modern period up to 1914 identifies negative ideas about Islam in novels and plays. Some works are iconic, some more obscure. However, the book highlights writers who challenged stereotypes and tended to see Muslims as equally capable of virtue and vice as Christians and others. The book deals with the role of the imagination in depicting others and how this serves authors’ agendas. The conclusion brings the book’s thesis into dialogue with the debate in the USA today between supporters of multiculturalism and its critics. Anyone interested in how stereotypes are formed, perpetuated and can be challenged will profit from this book. It is aimed at a non-specialist readership.By Günes Murat Tezcür. 2024
Liminal Minorities addresses the question of why some religious minorities provoke the ire of majoritarian groups and become targets of…
organized violence, even though they lack significant power and pose no political threat. Güneş Murat Tezcür argues that these faith groups are stigmatized across generations, as they lack theological recognition and social acceptance from the dominant religious group. Religious justifications of violence have a strong mobilization power when directed against liminal minorities, which makes these groups particularly vulnerable to mass violence during periods of political change.Offering the first comparative-historical study of mass atrocities against religious minorities in Muslim societies, Tezcür focuses on two case studies—the Islamic State's genocidal attacks against the Yezidis in northern Iraq in the 2010s and massacres of Alevis in Turkey in the 1970s and 1990s—while also addressing discrimination and violence against followers of the Bahá'í faith in Iran and Ahmadis in Pakistan and Indonesia. Analyzing a variety of original sources, including interviews with survivors and court documents, Tezcür reveals how religious stigmatization and political resentment motivate ordinary people to participate in mass atrocities.By Neil V. Rosenberg, Charles K. Wolfe. 2006
Spanning over 1,000 separate performances, The Music of Bill Monroe presents a complete chronological list of all of Bill Monroe’s…
commercially released sound and visual recordings. Each chapter begins with a narrative describing Monroe’s life and career at that point, bringing in producers, sidemen, and others as they become part of the story. The narratives read like a “who’s who” of bluegrass, connecting Monroe to the music’s larger history and containing many fascinating stories. The second part of each chapter presents the discography. Information here includes the session’s place, date, time, and producer; master/matrix numbers, song/tune titles, composer credits, personnel, instruments, and vocals; and catalog/release numbers and reissue data. The only complete bio-discography of this American musical icon, The Music of Bill Monroe is the starting point for any study of Monroe’s contributions as a composer, interpreter, and performer.By Jessye Norman. 2014
In this uplifting memoir, the acclaimed singer reflects &“on life, the arts, and spirituality . . . Inspiring&” (Booklist). Jessye Norman is…
one of the world&’s most admired and beloved singers—and her life story is as moving and dramatic as the great operatic roles she has performed on stage. Born and raised in Augusta, Georgia, she studied the piano and sang the songs of her childhood, never dreaming that this passion for music might lead to her life&’s profession. Here she presents &“a rich portrait of a childhood firmly grounded by family, church and community,&” and recalls in rich detail the strong women who were her role models, from her ancestors to family friends, relatives, and teachers (The Wall Street Journal). She also discusses her relationship with the pioneering African American singer Marian Anderson—revealing the lifelong support she provided through her example of dignity and grace at all times. Norman also describes coming face-to-face with racism, both as a child living in the segregated South and as an adult out and about in the world. Filled with inspiration and wisdom, Stand Up Straight and Sing! is not just for lovers of music, but for everyone.By N. J. Dawood. 2014
'Across the language barrier Dawood captures the thunder and poetry of the original' The TimesThe Koran is universally accepted by…
Muslims to be the infallible Word of God as first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel nearly fourteen hundred years ago. Its 114 chapters, or surahs, recount the narratives central to Muslim belief, and together they form one of the world's most influential prophetic works and a literary masterpiece in its own right. But, above all, the Koran provides the rules of conduct that remain fundamental to the Muslim faith today: prayer, fasting, almsgiving, pilgrimage to Mecca and absolute faith in God and His apostle.Also available from Penguin: The Koran with Parallel Text 9780141393841By Jls. 2013
Since forming in 2007, JLS have achieved everything they'd hoped for and more. From four smash-hit albums and five number…
one singles, to BRIT and MOBO awards and sell-out tours, Oritsé, Marvin, JB, and Aston have proved themselves as one of Britain's biggest boybands ever. But all good things come to an end and in this, their last ever official book together, the boys share their favourite memories with the people they love most: their fans.Inside, they reflect on everything they've experienced in the last six years, as a band and in their own personal lives, while sharing exclusive photos and the secrets they've kept. Find out how they feel about juggling family and finding love with life on the road and recording in the studio; how special it feels to step out on stage in front of thousands of fans and why choosing to part from the best friends they could have ever found was the hardest decision of all.The highs, the lows; the good times and bad, this is JLS like you've never seen them before. Older, wiser and hotter than ever, this is their final farewell and a treasured keepsake for years to come.By Mahmood Jamal. 2009
Written from the ninth to the twentieth century, these poems represent the peak of Islamic Mystical writing, from Rabia Basri…
to Mian Mohammad Baksh. Reflecting both private devotional love and the attempt to attain union with God and become absorbed into the Divine, many poems in this edition are imbued with the symbols and metaphors that develop many of the central ideas of Sufism: the Lover, the Beloved, the Wine, and the Tavern; while others are more personal and echo the poet's battle to leave earthly love behind. These translations capture the passion of the original poetry and are accompanied by an introduction on Sufism and the common themes apparent in the works. This edition also includes suggested further reading.By Big Narstie. 2020
Mans here to help you help yourself.Real talk. One thing you've got to know about advice: there are two types.…
Sometimes the people who give the most advice to others are the last people you should be listening to. They just love the sound of their own voice. No matter what the problem is, they'll just say: 'Believe in yourself, you can do anything.' And then ... well, then there's the kind of advice that's just the truth. That's the sort of advice you might get from this book, and I'll warn you sometimes the truth ain't pretty. In these pages I'm gonna tell you some of my story and show you how you can change yours: how to survive school, how to get a job, how to deal with family, friends, love and PAIN. How to live your own life, not someone else's.By Sarah Harding. 2021
Sunday Times Bestseller'I can't rewrite history; all I can do is be honest and wear my heart on my sleeve.…
It's really the only way I know. I want to show people the real me. Or perhaps remind them. Because, somewhere - amongst the nightclubs, the frocks and hairdos, the big chart hits, and the glamour of being a popstar - the other Sarah Harding got utterly lost. She's the one who's been forgotten. And all I want is for you to hear her out.'Sarah Harding is best known as the wild member of Girls Aloud, whose reputation for partying, drinking and dating made her a tabloid favourite. But where does the celebrity Sarah Harding end and the real Sarah begin? Faced with a devastating cancer diagnosis that turned her life upside down, Sarah has decided that now is the time to write her story. Her truth.This is Sarah Harding in her own words.By Jonathan Keates. 2008
Jonathan Keates original biography of Handel was hailed as a masterpiece on its publication in 1985. This fully revised and…
updated new edition - published to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the composers death - charts in detail Handel's life, from his youth in Germany, through his brilliantly successful Italian sojourn, to the opulence and squalor of Georgian London where he made his permanent home. For over two decades Handel was absorbed in London's heady but precarious operatic world. But even his phenomenal energy and determination could not overcome the public's growing indifference to Italian opera in the 1730s, and he turned finally to oratorio, a genre which he made peculiarly his own and in which he created some of his finest works, such as Saul, Messiah, Belshazzar and Jephtha.Over the last two decades a complete revolution in Handel's status has taken place. He is now seen both as a titanic figure in music, whose compositions have found a permanent place in the international repertoire, and as one of the world's favourite composers, with snatches of his work accompanying weddings, funerals and television commercials the world over.Skillfully interwoven with the account of Handel's life are commentaries on all his major works, as well as many less familiar pieces by this most inventive, expressive and captivating of composers. Handel was an extraordinary genius whose career abounded in reversals that would have crushed anyone with less resilience and will power, and Jonathan Keates writes about his life and work with sympathy and scrutiny.By Rick Wakeman. 2008
Around about August 1948, Mr and Mrs Cyril Wakeman had an early night and some time later, at Perivale in…
Middlesex, Mrs Wakeman produced a bonny baby son. They named him Richard, but he quickly became known as Rick. Rick was a likeable little fellow who had a talent for the piano and for making trouble. Music became Rick's life - he joined a popular music group called Yes and became a legend. Much later he became a Grumpy Old Man who appears on Countdown, hosts a hugely popular radio show on Planet Rock and performs a one-man show telling stories about his rather extraordinary life.Which is where this book you are holding comes in. Mr Wakeman is simply one of the great storytellers of our age - let's face it, he has some fabulous material. It seemed a shame that some of the funniest yarns should not be more widely known. So he accepted some cash and here we are.Curl up by the fire with a Grumpy Old Rock Star and your nearest and dearest. We defy you not to want to read it aloud and laugh.By Simon Goddard. 2013
He came from Outer Space...It was the greatest invention in the history of pop music – the rock god who…
came from the stars – which struck a young David Bowie like a lightning bolt from the heavens. When Ziggy the glam alien messiah fell to Earth, he transformed Bowie from a prodigy to a superstar who changed the face of music forever. But who was Ziggy Stardust? And where did he really come from?In a work of supreme pop archaeology, Simon Goddard unearths every influence that brought Ziggy to life – from HG Wells to Holst, Kabuki to Kubrick, and Elvis to Iggy. Ziggyology documents the epic drama of the Starman’s short but eventful time on Planet Earth… and why Bowie eventually had to kill him.By Wiley. 2007
‘Wiley is Wiley, and if you don’t know me, you don’t know much.’*Winner of the NME Best Music Book Award…
2018*A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARA SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARA TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR'The greatest UK MC of all time' NoiseyWiley. Godfather of grime. He's one of Britain's most innovative musicians – and the movement he started in east London in the early 2000s is taking over the world.This is his story. This is ESKIBOY.'Perhaps the most influential musician working in Britain today' Guardian'Wiley is the pioneering force of grime, the most revolutionary musical movement in Britain since punk' The Times'A glimpse of the 21st-century rock'n'roll' Sunday TimesBy Sayeeda Warsi. 2017
'Hard headed, well informed and intellectually coherent ... it turns conventional wisdom on its head. It deserves to promote a…
public debate on this subject which has been needed for more than 20 years' Peter OborneBritain has often found groups within its borders whom it does not trust, whom it feels have a belief, culture, practice or agenda which runs contrary to those of the majority. From Catholics to Jews, miners to trade unionists , Marxists to liberals and even homosexuals, all have at times been viewed, described and treated as 'the enemy within'. Muslims are the latest in a long line of 'others' to be given this label. How did this state of affairs come to pass? What are the lessons and challenges for the future - and how will the tale of Muslim Britain develop? Sayeeda Warsi draws on her own unique position in British life, as the child of Pakistani immigrants, an outsider, who became an insider, the UK's first Muslim Cabinet minister, to explore questions of cultural difference, terrorism, surveillance, social justice, religious freedom, integration and the meaning of 'British values'.Uncompromising and outspoken, filled with arguments, real-life experience, necessary truths and possible ways forward for Muslims, politicians and the rest of us, this is a timely and urgent book.'This thoughtful and passionate book offers hope amid the gloom' David Anderson QC, Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation'A vital book at a critical time' Helena Kennedy QCTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERJoin national treasure Gary Barlow as he opens the curtains on his remarkable life in this stunning…
autobiography, from his fascinating early life to his star-studded music career'Warm, wise . . . A never-before-seen insight into one of Britain's greatest songwriters' Woman's Own'I just wanted to share my personal journey through the last five decades - the highs and lows, the ups and downs. So in A Different Stage, this is me opening the curtains and sharing moments nobody has heard or seen before . . .'__________In this warm, intimate and humorous book, rich with nostalgia and unexpected intimate detail, Gary Barlow unpacks the people, music, places, things and cultural phenomena that have made him the man that he is.From the working men's club where it all began through to the sold out stadium tours, this is the story of Gary's life told through music.Filled with a mixture of brand new photography from Gary's current one-man show and incredibly personal unseen photos and notebooks, A Different Stage is a beautiful book about the man we've spent our lives listening to.__________'Refreshingly honest . . . Think you know everything there is to know about the Take That megastar? Think again' Woman & HomeBy John Robb. 1998
In the crazed aftermath of the late '80s northern pop explosion there have been few survivors. The Charlatans, however, still…
prosper despite once being perceived as runts of the Manchester music scene. The cruellest of luck has visited heartbreaking death, nervous exhaustion, a jail sentence, and the prospect of falling almost totally out of fashion upon them. And yet, a deceptively tough band with a charismatic lead singer, their combination of unnerving honesty, sheer pop talent, great live shows, and a total and touching commitment to their fans has seen them survive some of the worst disasters that fate has thrown at any pop group. They have remarkable street suss that, with their small town backgrounds makes them totally at one with their huge following -- a relationship that has given them a fistful of number one albums. This is a tale of a love of pop and a lust for life. A story of northern pop and a band with guts and a passion for creativity. It traces the rise of the Charlatans from the fringes of the Manchester scene in the late Eighties to their current position at the top of British music, one of the key bands of the Nineties in possession of a rare and beautiful canon of great pop tunes.