Mostrando resultados por Editor "Gadfly Press" en Todas las categorías

Diana Nammi became a fighter with the Peshmerga when she was only 17. Originally known as Galavezh, she grew up in the Kurdish region of Iran in the 1960s and 70s. She became involved in politics as a teenager and, like many students, played a part in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. But the new Islamic regime tolerated no opposition, and after Kurdistan was brutally attacked, Galavezh found that she had no choice but to become a soldier in the famed military force.

Not heard of Paul Sykes? Mentioned in the book Legends by Charles Bronson, an A to Z guide of the men Bronson had regarded to be the toughest in Britain. Referring to "Sykesy", Bronson describes him as "a Legend, Born and Bred" and writing: "I first met Sykes in Liverpool in the early 70s and at that time he was probably the fittest Con in Britain. A notorious hard man from Yorkshire, a fighting man in every sense. A lot of people never liked him, perhaps they even feared him but I respected the man for what he stood for."

In Self-Made, Dues Paid, learn how a British-born Asian kid with disabilities raised in a corner shop emerged as a protector of his family from racist thieves and hooligans. Be prepared to be entertained, informed, and offended by Chet’s no-holds barred account of raves, drugs, body-building, entering the fashion industry, working the doors, and life in one of the world’s deadliest places to be incarcerated.

Just before Christmas in 1996, a beautiful French woman - the wife of a movie mogul - was brutally murdered outside of her holiday home in a remote region of West Cork, Ireland. The crime was reported by a local journalist, Ian Bailey, who was at the forefront of the case until he became the prime murder suspect. Arrested twice, he was released without charge.

Harrowing, heart-breaking and often horrific were the challenges that confronted Marvin after his birth in prison. Born in distress, Marvin was wrenched from his drug-addicted parents and deposited into an orphanage. In this inspirational memoir, Marvin searches for his birth parents and battles his crack addiction with the help of the woman he loves, determined to start a family and to live his life crime and drug free.

Frank’s years as a peaceful football fan and socialist end abruptly when he turns to hooliganism and British nationalism. In the menacing drinking clubs of Belfast, he takes orders from prominent Loyalist paramilitaries. His crimes escalate, until the media and authorities uncover his secretive and dangerous existence.

Drugs. Riots. Shanks. Dirty Protests. Violent Freemason guards. Self-mutilation and suicides. Welcome to the brutal truth about life as a prison officer.

By the age of 24, Big Joe Egan had over 80 boxing wins and seven Irish titles and was a Golden Gloves champion. A mean body puncher with a durable chin, he went the distance with Lennox Lewis and beat future WBA champion Bruce Seldon. Encouraged by Floyd Patterson to try his luck in the USA, Joe joined "Iron" Mike Tyson’s training camp in the Catskill Mountains with the great Cus D’Amato. Joe became like a brother to Mike, who described him as the Toughest White Man on the Planet. Big Joe Egan is a gripping, entertaining, and uncompromisingly emotional account.

Britain's most notorious twins – Ron and Reg Kray – rose through the ranks of the underworld to become the most feared and legendary gangsters in London. Their escalating mayhem culminated in murder, for which the brothers received life sentences in 1969. While incarcerated, they received letters from a schoolboy from Tyneside, Steve Wraith, who had grown fascinated by their story. Eventually, Steve visited them in prison and a friendship formed. The Twins hired Steve as an unofficial advisor, which brought him close to more members of the crime family.

Coming from a huge close-knit family of street traders long before it was legalized, Stephen Sayers spent his early years on the barrows, witnessing constant brushes with the law. Aunties and uncles were frequently incarcerated and a hatred and distrust of authority swelled within the younger members of the family.

In this inspirational memoir, one of the best descriptions of UK prison life, Mo expertly tells jaw-dropping stories and brings to life the eccentric characters from a hidden world.

1920s Sheffield was so infested with gangs that it was nicknamed "Little Chicago". Cut to Hillsborough 1960 and a new breed of criminal, Clyde Broughton, is born into the ‘’Steel City". An early start in petty crime led to time at Borstal, football trials at "Wednesday", and an apprenticeship in crime with the notorious Dave Lee. Robbery with violence, burglary, and run-ins with his arch nemeses in CID eventually resulted in a hefty sentence behind bars. Clyde’s story sees him travel through the UK prison system, where he meets some of the country’s most revered faces.

Unfinished Business was an idea conceived between Paul Ferris and writing partner Reg McKay. When Reg passed away in 2009, Paul got on with his life. A film The Wee Man was based on one of his books and released in 2013. Three years later, a new alliance was formed between Paul and true crime writers Stuart Wheatman and Steve Wraith, and the idea was reimagined. Paul wanted to pay tribute to Reg while revisiting the notion that he still had things he wanted to say.

In the early 2000s, Dave Gunn and his brother Colin built the Bestwood Cartel, a multi-million-pound empire based on drugs, extortion and violent crime during a time when Nottingham was labelled Britain's gun crime capital. Much has been written about the Gunn Brothers in the media and books such as Hoods, but no gang leader has ever detailed the real-life warfare in Nottingham in the early 2000s. In Bestwood Boss, Dave Gunn sets the record straight with the first ever insider’s account of what led to the blood-soaked ganglands.

Brian Cockerill and Lee Duffy were individually forces to be reckoned with. But the day they decided to team up, they became unstoppable. This is the true story of the Taxmen of Teesside, the only book with input from members of the Duffy family.

Tales from the estates of Middlesbrough over the last 50 years.... These are the memoirs of Paddy Moloney's very colourful life. From a two up two down in Cannon Street to Grovehill and the luxury of an inside lav! Going from a "quiet lad" at St Joseph's to his first spell in borstal. This is a brutally honest account of Paddy's journey from an Altar boy to a Criminal, spanning four decades including his dealings with some of Middlesbrough's notorious characters to the big guns from further afield. This book pulls you in from the very first chapter.

Lee Duffy 2 - The Blood Moon is the sequel to the Amazon best seller The Whole of the Moon also written by Jamie Boyle. This final Lee Duffy book takes a look at Lee's Tyneside links as well as more tales from Teesside. This time and for the first time we hear from a police officer on what it was like to be a serving officer in Lee's era and school friends of Lee's who tell us how he was as a schoolboy. Love him or hate him he's still being spoken of to this day!

A book that has taken more than 25 years to arrive. The definitive story of the man who held an eight-year reign of terror over the town of Middlesbrough. Containing many firsthand and previously unheard accounts from some of Duffy’s closest friends and associates, this book will finally confirm who the man was and what he was really all about.

Paul Sykes, from Lupset, near Wakefield, died aged 60 in Pinderfields Hospital from pneumonia and cirrhosis of the liver. He was a man whose life might have been changed by success in the boxing ring, but despite contending for the British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles, he sank back into old habits. It heralded a return to the self-destructive course of his life. This audiobook is my journey to find out what happened to Paul Sykes between the years after his 1990 cult classic documentary and his eventual tragic demise in 2007.

Every village, town, and city has its share of notorious names and infamous families. Ones who seem to capture the headlines and imagination of its inhabitants. On Tyneside, one family name has long been synonymous with controversy and crime for decades, yet their lifelong conflict with the law began over a century ago.