Showing results by publisher "Hodder & Stoughton" in Biographies & Memoirs

Fast bowler, six-hitter, popular hero, one of the lads, king of the jungle - Andrew Flintoff is all of those things. In Second Innings, his searingly honest yet uplifting autobiography, Flintoff reveals unseen, surprising sides to his career and personality. The restless need to push and challenge himself that led him to take up professional boxing. The complex and troubled relationship with discipline, alcohol and authority during his exhilarating cricket career.

At 25 Dan left his 'spoiled white asshole' life in Los Angeles to look after his dying parents in Salt Lake City, Utah. His mother, who had already been battling cancer on and off for close to 15 years, had taken a turn for the worse. His father, a devoted marathon runner and adored parent, had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease, which was quickly eroding his body. Dan's four siblings were already home, caring for their parents and resenting Dan for not doing the same.

Joan Bomford, BBC Countryfile's Farming Hero of 2015, has lived all her life in the lush, rolling countryside of the Vale of Evesham, where cows graze the water meadows of the River Avon and modern life seems far away. Farming is in Joan's blood. Generations of her family have worked the land, and in Up with the Lark, Joan tells us with warmth, wit and great insight what it's been like to live through an era of such enormous change.

Dermot O'Leary charts his story, from school to The X Factor, through the songs that were playing at the key moment in his life. This is the story of Dermot's life so far, from growing up in semi rural Colchester with his Irish born parents, to landing one of the biggets jobs in television. Throughout this journey, music has been a constant companion: a best friend, confidant, a really annoying sibling, and at times a tormentor.

In a sodden tent at a '70s festival, the teenage Mark Ellen had a dream. He dreamt that music was a rich meadow of possibility, a liberating leap to a sparkling future, an industry of human happiness - and he wanted to be part of it. Thus began his 50-year love affair with rock and roll. From his time at the NME and Smash Hits to Radio One, Old Grey Whistle Test, Live Aid, Q, Select, Mojo, and The Word magazines, he's been at the molten core of its evolution, and watched its key figures from a unique perspective.

Keep your enemies close, your family less so...Last year Nat found herself with nowhere to live. She considered sleeping on the bus and washing in the rain but inevitably ended up on her parents' doorstep. It was only for a month, she assured them, if that.. She repeated this phrase a lot over the next six months, while the housing market stagnated like a spoilt kid's fish tank, and her life followed suit.

In June 2011, Susan Spencer-Wendel learned she had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - Lou Gehrig's disease, an irreversible condition that systematically destroys the nerves that power the muscles. While Susan cannot stop the rapid decline of her body and her inevitable death, she refuses to give up on life. A woman of immense strength and indomitable spirit, the forty-five-year-old mother of three has made every day count. After her diagnosis, Susan began taking special trips

The most detailed and insightful portrait of the life and death of Amy Winehouse, in the context of the infamous 27 Club. The death of Amy Winehouse at the age of 27 was a tragedy. She was one of the brightest music stars in years - a brilliant, original song writer with a mighty voice and great personal charm. Amy was loveable, but troubled. She was as notorious for her messy personal life, drug addiction and alcoholism, as she was celebrated for her songs, and her death in 2011, while shocking, was not unexpected.

When Philip Serrell - now well known for his television appearances - gave up teaching to become a professional auctioneer, he thought he was embarking on a sensible and safe career...a quiet life in the country with no surprises. How wrong he was.

Nature took on a new importance for thousands of people when the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Britain, providing solace in a time of great anxiety - not least because the crisis struck at the beginning of spring, the season of hope and renewal, and furthermore, in an extraordinary conjunction, the spring of 2020 turned out to be the loveliest spring ever recorded in Britain. Three nature writers, living like everyone else under lockdown, but walking out each day to exercise, resolved to record their experiences of the coronavirus spring, in widely contrasting parts of the country.

With enough fast-food nostalgia to satisfy even the most fat-hardened foodie arteries as well as glorious dollops of nostalgia, Picky is a hymn to the gleam of the golden arches and the soft shine of worn formica as well as opulent marble and tweezered micro herbs. It is a generous, warm look at a life built around food: what it can mean, what it can stand for, and why you should always pay attention to what someone is eating.

George the Poet knows better than anybody the importance of understanding your surroundings. Born to Ugandan parents on the St Raphael's Estate in Neasden, north-west London, George Mpanga has always been aware of his community. It was both his teacher and his inspiration - giving him the language, the experiences, and the skills to become the person he is today. In Track Record, George unveils the power dynamics that shape our world, shedding light on the forces that restrict Black creativity and put limits on Black excellence.

Online quizmaster Jay Flynn was down on his luck as the Covid pandemic broke. He'd lost his pub, The Crown in Lancashire, which he'd been running with his wife, and was looking for ways to keep the loyal locals together for whom the regular weekly quiz was a lifeline. He set up a quiz night on Facebook but forgot to mark the event as private. Before long 800 people had registered their interest and it was about to go viral around the world.

Russell Watson was at the peak of his success as a much-loved classical singer. He had gone from humble beginnings, working in a factory making nuts and bolts in Salford to singing in working men's clubs to performing to stadiums filled with thousands of fans. But then tragedy struck. In 2006 and 2007 he was diagnosed with two brain tumours. In the subsequent years he battled crippling treatment, lifesaving operations, HRT therapy and mental health struggles. In Encore he tells his remarkable story of triumph over tragedy and the resilience he built along the way.