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Conquest: The English Kingdom of France in the Hundred Years War - Juliet Barker (£9.99)From the eminent locally-based historian and now in paperback, the story of the dramatic years when England ruled France at the point of a sword. Henry V's second invasion of France in 1417 launched a campaign that would put the crown of France on an English head. Only the miraculous appearance of a visionary peasant girl - Joan of Arc - would halt the English advance. Colour illustrations. This edition came out in June this year and I failed to spot it - sorry!
Spotland: The Sun Also Rises - And Other Football Stories - Mark Hodkinson
(£7.99)
To mark Rochdale AFC’s promotion (after 36 years of trying!) locally-based Mark Hodkinson has written a book about the 2009/10 season. It's a personal reflection of the season, written from the perspective of a long-term supporter whose family and life are intertwined with his football club. Also included are interviews with Paul Gascoigne; Colin Bell and Mike Doyle of Manchester City; the irrepressible Stuart Hall; Barry Hines, and schoolboy football legend Paul Moulden, plus articles on Halifax Town, Accrington Stanley, non-League football and tragic footballers Gary Charles, Jason Ross, Bobby Stokes and Pedro Richards. Other topics include cortisone use, racism in football, sport finance, The Damned United and the perils of being a football reporter. And, of course, Subbuteo.
Misery Begins at Home - Winston H Plowes, Rachel Bond, Marianne L Daniels, John Darwin (£5.00)
Poems from Hebden Bridge-based performance poet Winston H Plowes, and three Manchester poets. Winston can be seen at the Hole in the Wall ("Write Out Loud") and at Open Mic sessions at Stubbing Wharf. Gaia Holmes in her Foreword says: "Raw, rich in atmosphere and imagery, claustrophobic and mercilessly intense; the poems ... share a love for the powers, density and potential effect of language as well as themes of loss, love, identity, rejection and illicit unions." The cover picture by Jefferson Hammond is from a local ruined farm house.
Diomed's Ghosts - Peter Copley (£12.99)
Picaresque thrilller and ghost story set on a ship, from a Todmorden-based retired seaman and fireman. The story is loosely based on a haunted tramp steamer he actually served on, with vivid descriptions of life at sea.
And to celebrate what would have been Ted Hughes's 80th birthday, The Independent has made available online Aelish Michael's play Dreaming of Foxes at
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/free-independent-drama-late-poet-ted-hughes-is-remembered-in-dreaming-of-foxes-2056052.html
The play is set in Mytholmroyd: Ted Hughes is visited by an old school friend after he becomes Poet Laureate. Will their shared boyhood provide the link between them or has time and experience destroyed their chances of re-connection? It was performed as part of The Ted Hughes Festival in October 2008, and locally-based actor Robert Garrett played Ted Hughes in both productions.
Tyke on a Bike: Canals of Northern England and Scotland - John Priestley (£9.99) From Halifax-based author John Priestley, an account of how he abandoned his job to bike around the canals of Yorkshire, Lancashire and further afield - including our very own Rochdale Canal.
Upward Road: my early life - John Priestley (£9.99) This new book by the same author is about growing up in Halifax in the 1950s and '60s before he went on to Oxford University.
From Haworth-based author Edward Evans: II PY (£12.99) A thriller featuring a Rolls Royce - the IIPY of the title - crimes and chases from Haworth to France, with homage to one of automobile history's greatest cars. (The car is alive and well and available for hire.) The book, first published in 2008, raised £2,000 for the homeless.
Like a Fish Out of Water (£14.99) A chunky page-turning novel which ranges from a mid-20th century English public school to the violence of Nazi-occupied France - seen through the eyes of an 89-year-old widow who asks a Bradford Telegraph and Argus journalist to write her life-story. £1 from every copy sold goes to the RAF Benevolent Fund.
For the Right Reasons (£12.99) New out this year, and featuring the Conway family of Haworth first met in "IIPY". As the Berlin Wall falls, they become dragged into the murky world of espionage. £1 from every copy sold will go to the Help for Heroes charity.
