The original Northern Powerhouse, Newcastle upon Tyne has witnessed countless transformations over the last century or so, from its industrial heyday, when Tyneside engineering and innovation led the world, through decades of post-industrial decline, and underinvestment, to its more recent reinvention as a cultural destination for the North. The ten short stories gathered here all feature characters in search of something, a new reality, a space, perhaps, in which to rediscover themselves: from the call-centre worker imagining herself far away from the claustrophobic realities of her day job, to the woman coming to terms with an ex-lover who’s moved on all too quickly, to the man trying to outrun his mother’s death on Town Moor. The Book of Newcastle brings together some of the city’s most renowned literary talents, along with exciting new voices, proving that while Newcastle continues to feel the effects of its lost industrial past, it is also a city striving for a future that brims with promise.

For more than fifty years, two ruthless gangs have dominated the Tyneside underworld. Initially, the Conroy and the Sayers families lived side by side in relative harmony in the West End of Newcastle, but the birth of the drug-fuelled rave culture in the late 1980s changed everything. Drunk on power and with an intense desire to take complete control of the north-east, the families went to war with one another and with anyone else who stood in their way. What followed was an orgy of mindless violence. In Fog on the Tyne, bestselling true-crime author Bernard O'Mahoney explores the origins of this gangland war and reveals for the first time how and why it spiralled out of control, leaving many injured and others dead.

Haunting and atmospheric, this debut novel portrays the heartbreak, hardship and moments of surprising grace in the life of a man struggling to realize his destiny. A young man of astonishing promise when he emigrated from Ghana in 1955, Samuel Tyne was determined to accomplish great things. Fifteen long years later, he’s an insignificant government employee who hates his job when he unexpectedly inherits his uncle’s crumbling mansion in Aster, Alberta. Despite his wife’s resistance and the sullen complaints of his thirteen-year-old twin daughters, Samuel quits his job and moves his family to the town. For here, he believes, is that fabled second chance, and he is determined not to fail again. At first, Aster seems perfect — to Samuel, the formerly all-black town represents the return to a communal, idyllic way of life. But he soon discovers the town’s problems: a history of in-fighting, a strict town council and a series of mysterious fires that put all the townsfolk on edge. When his daughters cease speaking and refuse to explain their increasingly strange behaviour, Samuel turns more and more to the refuge of his electronics shop. As his ambitions intensify, the life he has struggled so hard to improve begins to disintegrate around him, and a dark current of menace in the town is turned upon the Tyne family.

Complete with Christmassy gold cover, this is the perfect uplifting gift for Ant and Dec fans. (P.S. it's a little known fact that you can give gifts to yourself, too. Go on, treat yourself!) Told through the lens of every TV show Ant and Dec have made, this is the riotously funny journey of two ordinary lads from Newcastle who have gone on to achieve extraordinary things. From their modest beginnings in Byker Grove through to their "unique" time as pop stars and an award-laden TV career, Ant and Dec are surely the most loveable double act on our small screens. With more laugh out loud moments than you can count, ONCE UPON A TYNE includes behind-the-scenes stories about their first scriptwriter (an unknown comedian called David Walliams), Saturday night fun and games with countless Hollywood A-listers, and celebrities they torture - sorry, work with - every year in the jungle.

This book takes an innovative approach to telling the history of Newcastle upon Tyne by focusing on the historic maps and plans that record its growth and development over many centuries.

In the course of 27 short chapters, Linda Fortune draws a vivid picture of a place, time and lifestyle that no longer exist. This book never gets bogged down in politics. Instead, it succeeds in recreating a specific time and specific place with its focus firstly on one family in particular, warts and all. A bigger picture also emerges, that of a whole community: people teachers, shop-keepers, barbers, entertainers and specific places movie-houses, shops, streets and lanes still recalled by many who lived there. Eighteen black and white photographs by photographers such as Cloete Breytenbach, J H Greshoff, George Hallet and Noor Ebrahim, and family snapshots from Linda s own collection, adds to the value of The House in Tyne Street as a recreation of and testament to the District.