Noel 'Razor' Smith – författare

As a gun-wielding bank robber, Noel 'Razor' Smith was top of the criminal tree, enjoying the excitement and benefits of a dangerous and adrenalin-filled career. But he'd also spent the greater part of his adult life in prison, an environment where respect and basic survival were guaranteed only to those prepared to use the most brutal violence. In his new book, Smith takes the story on from his highly acclaimed memoir A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun, and describes how he came to realize that the game wasn't worth the candle. In his mid-forties he applied to enter Grendon, then the only prison in Britain offering intense therapeutic treatment to hardened criminals. He went from a brutal high-security prison, HMP Whitemoor, to an institution where he was encouraged to investigate just why his life had been given over to violence and crime. Smith paints an unforgettable portrait of the hardened and severely damaged inmates of Grendon, many of them guilty of famous crimes, and their attempts to turn round their lives. And in particular his own arduous five-year journey to re-enter society as a straight citizen.

THE TRUE STORY OF LONDON'S MOST PROLIFIC ARMED ROBBERY GANGThe average bank robbery takes around four minutes. The essential ingredients are ruthlessness, cunning and plenty of bottle. You'll also need a weapon, a disguise and a getaway car. If you have all those things, then you could go to work right now. The Bradish boys had all these things and, boy, did they go to work.The 'Dirty Dozen' were a ruthless federation of criminals who ran the armed robbery game in London for over a decade.When charismatic leader 'Gentleman' Jim Doyle was jailed, the innovative but violent Bradish brothers, Sean and Vincent, stepped up to take the throne. Hardened by a life in London's most lawless corners, they recruited a tight-knit crew to forge a reputation as the brutal kings of their underworld trade.Banks, security vans, post offices, travel agents - anywhere was fair game and nowhere was safe. With endless money at their disposal, the gang spent freely on cars, drugs and decadence. Life was good.But with the Met's tough-as-nails Flying Squad hot on their heels, a member of the inner circle cracked under the pressure and turned grass - and so began the thrilling chase-down of the Bradish boys and their illicit empire. The Dirty Dozen is the real story of the rise and fall of London's most feared crime syndicate.

Not everyone was a Punk in 1976. In fact, most young people danced to a different beat and wore their hair in entirely different ways. Noel Smith was a 16 year old Teddy Boy who bought his first drape suit and styled his hair into a quiff just as the long hot summer began. By the time the heatwave ended, he'd become the leader of a gang of South London rockabilly rebels and led them into battle with all manner of other street gangs – including Punks, Skins, Smoothies and bikers. This is the sharpest and truest telling of London’s gang wars fought between 1976 and 1982 that’s ever been written. Drawing on a cast of hugely memorable characters Noel tells the shockingly violent and sometimes hilarious story of what life was like for he and his gang of Balham Wildkatz. The clothes, the music, the pubs and parties of those far from golden years are all recalled in vivid and engrossing detail. It’s all crazy man, crazy.

Empire of Dirt is a true story, more thrilling thanfiction.Andrew Pritchard emerged from the fractured streetsof post-Windrush London, navigating life as a mixed-race young man in an eramarked by racial tension, police hostility, and Thatcherism. Some would say itwas wit, charm, ingenuity, and a razor-sharp business instinct inherited fromhis oracle-like Jamaican mother that propelled him.From the gritty foundations of sound-system cultureto orchestrating the infamous 'Gennesis' acid-house raves, he rose from streethustle to illicit wealth, and ultimately into the shadows of Britain's criminalunderworld, where global drug trafficking, high society, and scandal collided.By his thirties, he had married Miss Jamaica,staged the iconic Reggae Sunsplash festival, and risen to become one of theUK's most prolific narco-smugglers. His empire spanned continents, until a GBP100million cocaine bust exposed not only his operation, but staggering corruptionwithin British and international law enforcement agencies.But this isn't just a crime story or a tale of raves-to-riches,it's a story of redemption. Following gangland violence, tragedy, and anunimaginable downfall, Andrew's path led from a Jamaican jail to Britain'shigh-security prisons before taking a radical turn. After founding the APFoundation, a charity supporting at-risk youth, and finding the love of hislife, he began the long road to rebuilding a life once consumed by chaos.Told with dark humour and unflinching honesty,Empire of Dirt is a raw, riveting autobiography of ambition, identity, and transformation.A cautionary tale, and a deeply human one, it will stay with you long after thefinal page.