Clare Campbell – författare

*** THE BOOK BEHIND THE MAJOR NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY: MISSING: THE LUCIE BLACKMAN CASE *** In summer 2000, Lucie Blackman arrived in Tokyo to work as a nightclub hostess. Pretty, blonde, 21 years old, Lucie was a prized 'gaijin girl' (Western girl) whose job it was to serve drinks to Japanese businessmen, light their cigarettes, flirt. Lucie thought the job would be fun and glamorous; a great way of earning a lot of money quickly.But she did not know that behind the lights and excitement of Tokyo's nightclub scene lies a terrible darkness. Many beautiful Western girls have found themselves lured into performing sexual acts for money, seeing their job slowly change from nightclub hostess into that of high-class prostitute. Although Lucie never took this path, her glamorous adventure ended even more tragically - businessman Joji Obara was convicted of dismembering and abandoning her body. In this groundbreaking, authoritative account of Lucie's life and death, Clare Campbell lifts the lid on the often horrifyingly sleazy world of Tokyo nightclubs.

What was it like to be a dog or cat when the world was at war? When food was rationed and cities were bombed? Pets (on the whole) do not write memoirs, so to find the answer to that question, Clare Campbell went in search of voices of those people whose lives were entwined with animals.She found stories - inspiring and harrowing - of animals under fire, of evacuated and homeless pets, of brave animals who provided comfort to humans while the bombs fell. Of pets unwittingly entangled in war, like the Dunkirk pets and the camp followers who switched sides to stay alive; and the 6,000 dogs recruited by the British Army - loaned for duty by their families - many never to return. Meanwhile with food in short supply, government officials launched a ruthless campaigns against pets... Thoroughly researched and deeply moving, Bonzo's War gives a fascinating account of, and platform for, the forgotten stories as yet unheard, of the creatures big and small caught up in a human conflict far beyond understanding.

In Bonzo's War, Clare Campbell told the fascinating story of what it was like for Britain's pets when the world was at war. This time, she follows the incredible journey of the dogs who conscripted to fight for their country, with some even returning with medals for their bravery. During the most dangerous days of the Second World War, the British government set out to recruit an army of canines - a 'Guard Dog Unit'. This experimental team of brave hounds would later use their incredible sense of smell to sniff out the anti-personnel mines that barred the way to reclaiming Europe. Dog owners countrywide shed tears as they bid farewell to their beloved 'Brian', 'Rex', or 'Molly' and packed them off to the War Dogs Training School to learn the skills they'd need to 'do their bit for Britain' on the very frontiers of the Third Reich. The soldiers waiting out in the field to greet their canine counterparts were under strict instructions: do not get too attached to your new four-legged companion. That bit proved disastrously impossible.Based on original documents, first-hand accounts and interviews, Dogs of Courage tells a story of human determination, heartbreak and uncompromising canine courage that has never been told before.

In Please Take Me Home, Clare Campbell takes us on a journey with the nation's rescue cats, from being treated as pests throughout history to being the pet of choice today.For a long time, stray cats in Britain were seen as a nuisance and hunted down as vermin. Having invited this wild, independent creature into our homes, humans did not extend their welcome for long. Over time, thousands of cats were subsequently abandoned and left to live on the margins of survival.There were, however, the kind few who sought to help. But these good spirited people were often scorned, even derided as 'mad'. A Princess of Wales was even told to stop helping lost cats in order to avoid a royal scandal; the story was kept a secret of state for years. It would take over a century for strays to become the beloved rescue cats of today, with some now gaining celebrity status, such as Downing Street's Larry or Street Cat Bob.Please Take Me Home is a fascinating and insightful history through the ages of the struggle for cats to exist in domesticity alongside mankind.