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  The Bells of Old Tokyo -...

  Anna Sherman

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  An elegant and absorbing tour of Tokyo and its residents.From 1632 until 1854, Japan’s rulers restricted contact with foreign countries, a near isolation that fostered a remarkable and unique culture that endures to this day. In hypnotic prose and sensual detail, Anna Sherman describes searching for the great bells by which the inhabitants of Edo, later called Tokyo, kept the hours in the shoguns’ city.An exploration of Tokyo becomes a meditation not just on time, but on history, memory, and impermanence. Through Sherman’s journeys around the city and her friendship with the owner of a small, exquisite cafe, who elevates the making and drinking of coffee to an art-form, The Bells of Old Tokyo follows haunting voices through the labyrinth that is the Japanese capital: an old woman remembers escaping from the American firebombs of World War II. A scientist builds the most accurate clock in the world, a clock that will not lose a second in five billion years. The head of the Tokugawa shogunal house reflects on the destruction of his grandfathers’ city: “A lost thing is lost. To chase it leads to darkness.”The Bells of Old Tokyo marks the arrival of a dazzling new writer who presents an absorbing and alluring meditation on life in the guise of a tour through a city and its people.

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  Zigzag - The Incredible Wartime...

  Nicholas Booth

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  The most remarkable double agent of World War II, Eddie Chapman was witty, handsome, and charming. Too bad he was also a con man, womanizer, and safe-cracker. To the British, though, he was known as ZigZag, one of MI5's most valuable agents. To the Abwehr—German military intelligence—he was known as Fritzchen (Little Fritz), and was believed to be one of their most valued and trusted spies. For three long years, Eddie played this dangerous double game, daily risking life and limb to help the Allies win the war. He was so charming that his German handler, Baron Stefan von Gröning, thought of Fritzchen as the son he never had. The Germans even awarded him the Iron Cross for spying for the Reich! They sent him to Britain, with the mission to blow up the De Havilland aircraft factory. How he and MI5 convinced the Germans that he had accomplished his mission stands as one of history's greatest acts of counterintelligence. 
   
   
   
  Until now, Eddie Chapman’s extraordinary double life has never been told, thwarted by the Official Secrets Act. Now all the evidence—including Eddie's MI5 file—has finally been released, paving the way for Nicholas Booth's enthralling account of Eddie's long and extraordinary life.

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  Sure Beats Working

  Freddy Botica

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  Sure Beats Working follows the story of Freddy Botica, and the series of unexpected twists and turns that ended up being a long and successful career in broadcast radio. 
  Freddy was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1947 – the youngest child of Croatian parents who fled the conflict of World War II to give their children a new life full of opportunities. 
  In 1969, while working as a signwriter for Coca Cola, Freddy was invited to spend a week aboard the Tiri 2 – the infamous ship that brought pirate radio station Radio Hauraki to the masses in New Zealand. He was on board the ship to repaint a faded sign, but when a severe storm hit Auckland a few days later, Freddy was asked to fill in on air for the rest of the week. His immediate success and appeal on air led to Freddy being offered a full time role with Radio Hauraki – the beginning of what would become a broadcasting career that spanned 5 decades, and broke Australian records. 
  Freddy’s time in radio gave him a chance to not only meet, but spend meaningful moments with many of rock music’s greats – from spending a weekend with Alice Cooper in Sydney, to hosting Sting and the Police at a barbecue on the beachfront lawn of his home. Many broadcasters have interviewed the stars. Very few of them have spent extended periods of time with the stars and their families. A chance meeting with Neil Young’s boat ‘Ragland’ in the Bay of Islands, led to a whole week spent with Neil soon after – windsurfing, and discussing life, family and music. 
  Freddy was then part of the team that took Radio Hauraki to the top of the radio ratings in New Zealand. A radio station that originally didn’t even have a legal license to broadcast was beating all their competition consistently through the late 1970s and early 80s. From there, Freddy was poached by the competition, and was a key member of New Zealand’s first (and also legal) FM radio station, 89fm Stereo.

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  On The Beat: My Story

  Graham Cole

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  Graham Cole has played PC Tony Stamp in hit television drama The Bill for nearly 25 years. Now he lifts the lid on his own life and reveals how he became one of Britain's best-loved TV cops. From growing up in London to patrolling the streets of fictional Sun Hill, Graham's story is witty and warm and reveals what life is like as a star of the country's favourite police drama.

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  Bodyguard - My Life on the Front...

  Craig Summers

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  Craig Summers had one of the most dangerous jobs in television. His task? Keeping adventurous celebrities alive. Summers was the BBC's security advisor through some of its most turbulent years. His job took him to war zones, scenes of natural disaster and big international sporting events - as well as on undercover operations involving child trafficking, football hooliganism and narcotics. Using his extensive military experience - he served with the British forces in both the Falklands War in 1982 and the Balkans conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina - he has been the right-hand man, confidant and enforcer to many adventurous celebrities, including Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Gary Lineker, John Simpson and Matthew Pinsent. In Bodyguard Summers talks extensively about these relationships, demonstrating how his knowledge and experience have been vital in keeping BBC casualties to a minimum. From Kabul, to Gaza, to Zimbabwe, Summers has escorted and protected some of our biggest stars through testing and hazardous conditions. These are the stories of some of the key events of our time, from the inside out.

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  Tell Me Everything - A Memoir

  Minka Kelly

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  This program is read by the author. "Kelly is so piercingly honest, you just want to reach out and give her a hug...It’s totally gripping: I couldn’t take my earbuds out." —Vulture"Kelly reads the book with grace, even when she gets to the tough moments, and you’ll walk away afterward with your jaw on the floor." —Shondaland“A timely, urgent portrait of working-class American women.”—Gabrielle UnionMinka Kelly takes listeners behind the shiny silver-screen facade and reveals just how good an actress she really is. Fans know her as the spoiled, rich cheerleader Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights or as the affluent, mysterious Samantha on the HBO megahit Euphoria. But as revealed for the first time in these pages, Minka Kelly’s life has been anything but easy.Raised by a single mother who worked as a stripper and struggled with addiction, Minka spent years waking up in strange apartments as she and her mom bounced around the country, relying on friends and relatives to take them in. At times they even lived in storage units. She reconnected with her father, Aerosmith’s Rick Dufay, and eventually made her way to Los Angeles, where she landed the role of a lifetime on Friday Night Lights.Now an established actress and philanthropist, Minka takes this next step in her career as a writer. She has poured her soul into this audiobook, which ultimately tells a story of triumph over adversity, and how resilience and love are all we have in the end.A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company.

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