All biographical and autobiographical books by Old Shirburnians.
The famous Farley’s Rusks have been a staple diet for babies and young children for around 165 years and are still going strong. For the best part of sixty years the Farley’s firm was run, and largely owned, by three generations of a single family. Memories still abound, not only from many of those who … Read more
Set against the background of Liverpool’s rapid development as a port, ‘Restless Enterprise’ explores the achievements of the author’s three-times great-grandfather, Richard Lloyd, and his family. Aged fourteen, Richard arrived from Wales in 1836 and would be one of four generations of his family to hold the ancient post of Official Gauger to the Port … Read more
AN AXE AND FOUR BALLOONS – The biography of Lieutenant Colonel Brian Franks DSO MC – the man who saved the SAS, with a foreword by General Sir Michael Rose KCB, CBE, DSO, QGM Brian Franks, loved by officers and soldiers alike, tough, capable, charismatic and charming. Like Biffy Dunderdale (A Suspicion of Spies) and … Read more
Author, envoy, soldier, spy, the Chevalière d’Eon spent half her life in France, presenting as a man, and the other half in London, presenting as a woman. D’Eon fought in battle, negotiated peace treaties and leaked state secrets, narrowly escaping the Bastille. Defying royal authority and gender norms alike, in the 1770s she became one … Read more
Highlights Details the career of a highly experienced officer and commander in the Royal Marines, Britain’s elite amphibious and special force – from joining the Corps in 1952, through to his command of 3 Commando Brigade in the Falklands War and his retirement as Major General in 1986. Provides a fascinating background to his family … Read more
From his first day of teaching in a school in one of the most deprived towns in the country, to the end of his career as headteacher of a large international school in London, Graham Lacey (a 75) reflects on thirty-five years at the ‘chalkface’, through a number of specific experiences that helped shape his … Read more
In any list of the alumni whose names are widely associated with Sherborne School, the name of Michael D’Oyly Carte is unlikely to appear. However, had his life not have been taken tragically from him at the young age of 21, he would have surely gone on to earn fame as the head of the … Read more
In Love and War is the gripping account of one man’s, Captain Donald ‘Drew’ Bethell (Harper House 1934-39), war. Aged nineteen he was wounded on the beaches of Dunkirk, captured in North Africa, escaped from his PoW camp, walked 500 miles to rejoin his regiment and fought in Italy until the end of the war. Then, … Read more
Dearest Brother is a gripping memoir that follows the author’s quest to re-discover the brother. Robin Bethell (g 68), he lost through suicide in 1980. After thirty years of anger and guilt that caused him to suppress and deny his brother and his short life, his journey takes him back into his own shared past … Read more
A captivating blend of memoir and fiction, this story begins with the author’s first job at a shirt factory in the 1970s. What starts as a true-life account soon takes a darker turn when an unusual delivery sparks an investigation that uncovers sinister secrets. As a colleague vanishes, the police uncover a disturbing conspiracy involving … Read more