Paul McGrath is Ireland’s best loved sportsman and also its least understood. An iconic football presence during a professional career stretching over 14 years he played for his country in the European Championship finals of 1988 and the World Cup finals of 1990 and 1994. But behind the implied glamour of life in the employ of great English clubs like Manchester United and Aston Villa McGrath wrestled with a range of destructive emotions that made his success in the game little short of miraculous. That story has until now never been told. It is a story that runs from a hard hidden childhood spent in Dublin’s orphanages all the way to the pain of two marriage break-ups and the struggle to cope with life after football. Quite apart from his all too public struggle with alcoholism the story runs through the surreal highs and calamitous lows of a life lived habitually on the edge of chaos. It is not just a football story. It is an extraordinary human story that is certain to surprise with its candour.Here for the first time read about the father he never met; the mother whose love never died; the routine loneliness and ritual bullying endured by a black kid growing up behind closed doors in 1960s Dublin; the emotional breakdown suffered on leaving that institution; the recovery that – remarkably – brought him all the way to Old Trafford; the rollercoaster ride that followed. Here the guilt fear self-loathing are all laid bare in a story fired with hope and determination for the future. It may well be the most candid sports book ever written.

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Get acquainted with a northern soul Jimmy Nail has been a household name since Auf Wiedersehen Pet hit our screens in the 1980s. since then his career as an actor and a musician has put on him on the silver screen alongside Madonna and given him a No. 1 hit single. Success on this astonishing scale was beyond the wildest dreams of the working class lad whose harsh childhood and brutal schooling put him on a collision course with Strangeways. But a short spell in prison helped propel Nail onwards and upwards. With the support of his friends and family it wasn’t long before Jimmy’s unique talents and single-minded determination brought him attention of a different kind and changed his life for ever. In A Northern Soul Jimmy Nail tells his own vivid story in this intriguing inspiring and sometimes confounding account of how one man rose to fame and fortune by refusing to be anything but himself.

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Possibly the best wind-up toy ever invented the Racing Grannies are to geriatric speedway what Ferrari is to Formula One. As anyone who has been on the receiving end of a Zimmer-frame will know grannies are formidable movers with legendary stamina and these delightful wind-ups are testament to their endurance. With expressions of steely determination and complete with go-faster cardigans these two are just a few winds away from the race of their lives. It’s time to have your own Gran National! Set of 2 wind-up grannies. Clashing outfits silver hair droopy breasts and a snazzy zimmerframe. Adjustable arms so the Grannies can be in ‘Stand-up’ mode or bent to ‘Race’ mode. Made of plastic. Presented in an illustrated box with witty captions. Suitable for ages 8 years+. Size: – Individual Granny: 8 x 6 x 4cm Presentation Box: 15.5 x 11.5 x 7cm. Whilst this product is technically suitable for those of 8 years and up after extensive research (well the office) we have discovered that the older you are the more hilarious you find this product.

• Gift – Home & Office

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Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable alcoholic mother a mother who played tortuous unpredictable games – games that left one of her three sons nearly dead. She no longer considered Dave a son but a slave; no longer a boy but an ‘it’. His bed was an old army cot in the basement his clothes were torn and smelly and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dog’s bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. But throughout Dave kept alive dreams of finding a family to love him. This book covers the early years of his life and is an affecting an inspirational book of the horrors of child abuse and the steadfast determination of one child to survive. ‘Dave Pelzer conveys brilliantly how his own determination allowed him to keep alive his dream of one day find a family who would be proud to call him their son. Truly touching and emotionally shocking. A marvel’ Best

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*The No. International Bestseller. ; ; As the only woman homicide inspector in San Francisco Lindsay Boxer has to be tough. But nothing she has seen prepares her for the horror of the honeymoon murders when a brutal maniac begins viciously slaughtering newlywed couples on their wedding nights. Lindsay is sickened by the deaths but her determination to bring the murderer to justice is threatened by her own personal tragedy. So she turns to Claire; a leading coroner Cindy; a journalist and Jill; a top attorney for help with both of ; her crises and the Women’s Murder Club is born. ; ; “Patterson knows where our deepest fears are buried…there’s no stopping his imagination” – New York Times

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