Charlie Owen – författare

It is the Seventies and Horse's Arse is the affectionate name for Handstead New Town, a North Manchester overspill and an unholy dump. The police use it as a penal posting - all the bad egg coppers end up there. Worst amongst the residents of Handstead are the Park Royal Mafia, a gang of violent thugs who terrorise their neighbourhood. They and the officers doomed to serve at Handstead wrestle constantly for dominance. This is the story of some of those police officers - the Grim Brothers, Psycho, Pizza, Piggy Malone and others, a group of hooligans in uniform and their journey through excess, despair and finally some form of salvation...

It's 1976 and England is sweating its nuts off. As an unrelenting heat wave beats down on the nation, the residents of Horse's Arse - aka Handstead New Town, north Manchester - are reaching melting point. The Park Royal Mafia, having recovered from the loss of its senior members, is under new management and open for the business of mindless violence again. Unfortunately their antics have attracted the attention of a psychotic Turkish gangster, who's decided the Mafia is just what he needs to pull himself to the top of the criminal heap. And wading into the middle of it are the Grim Brothers, Psycho, Pizza, Ally - Horse's Arse's finest and the hardestboiled coppers you'll ever meet. With this lot hot under the collar it's all going to end in blood, (a lot of) sweat and tears.

The riotous third novel in Charlie Owen's acclaimed seventies police series.Summer 1977: It's no holiday in the sun in Handstead New Town, a north Manchester overspill. Known to the local cops as Horse's Arse, it's preparing to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. But with football violence, rampant police hooliganism and an expanding LSD market there'll be a riot going on...

The brilliant new novel in the hooligan cop series by the acclaimed author of HORSE'S ARSEIt's the seventies, and the boys in blue are preparing for the mother of all riots. The Albion Army are causing havoc north of Manchester, and DCI Dan Harrison needs to pull off something special if his boys are to retain control. As the picket lines form and the two sides square up for battle, a rare moment of inspiration strikes: could the hit movie Zulu provide an ingenious way out of mayhem? Or has the DCI finally lost the plot?

In September 1897 James Holland Walker, aged eleven, entered the Hull Trinity House Navigation School and began a lifetime at sea. His uniform that year was almost identical to that worn by the young powder monkeys on Nelson’s HMS Victory. James first went to sea in 1901 as an apprentice on a Liverpool barque called the Santon and in 1904 still aged only seventeen, he was shipwrecked during a storm in the North Sea. This would be only the first of five occasions that he would find himself in a lifeboat, either of his own choosing or otherwise. His career would embrace both World Wars during which time he was shipwrecked courtesy of a German U-boat torpedo that cast all on board into shark infested water. He was involved in rescuing other mariners in peril on three occasions and was decorated for gallantry at sea five times, including by George V in 1931. One of the rescues James undertook in 1929 was captured on film and can still be viewed today. Typical of his generation, James Holland Walker was a true White Star Line hero, and this is the extraordinary story of his life and career.

On 1 July 1916, the Lonsdale Pals Battalion went into action with thousands of other British troops and were massacred. Eight days later, the shattered and traumatised survivors were assigned to undertake another attack across no-mans-land that would inevitably lead to more deaths and injuries. They ensured that the attack failed and the entire Battalion was subsequently publicly disgraced as part of a policy to ignore the growing problem of shellshock. This humiliation was covered up for over 100 years. One Night on the Somme is the story of that massacre, the humiliation, the cover up and the eventual rehabilitation of the Battalion’s reputation under an inspirational Commanding Officer.

Highly Commended (Third prize) in the Standing Conference on Studies in Education book prize for books published in 1999.

`It was a breath of fresh air to see 'contentious' issues dealt with in an enlightened and informative way. We are certain it will move the debate on years!' - Chrissie Meleady, Sheffield Childrens' Centre

`Looks most interesting and will certainly be very useful' - Bronwen Cohen, Director, Children in Scotland

`It's a challenging and exciting book and I hope it is widely used' - Margy Whalley, Director, Pen Green Research, Development and Training Base, Pen Green Centre for Under 5's and Their Families

`An extremely interesting account. This book highlights some very important tensions and contradictions about the role of men in childcare work. The differing perceptions of women and men concerning men's involvement in childcare are particularly thoughtfully documented' - Peter Aggleton, Director, Thomas Coram Research Unit, University of London

`An essential book for the debate on gender and childcare... the more academic childcare students will cope with it, will be good for Second year BTEC students, `A' Level students' - Robin Wright, Lecturer, Bournemouth and Poole College of Higher Education

`Having been a lone male worker, this book has stimulate discussion on gender and how we need to wrestle and value difference. For that reason alone its worth buying' - Practical Parenting