Dr Carl Chinn MBE is well known as an academic, broadcaster and author. A passionate Brummie, he is Community Historian at The University of Birmingham, a regular columnist for The Birmingham Evening Mail, and a presenter of his own local history radio show from BBC Pebble Mill. He is also the author of many books on Birmingham's history. Meticulously researched, Brum and Brummies 3 includes extracts from the many accounts sent to Carl by men and women who remember the Birmingham of yesteryear. This third fully illustrated volume on the people and places of old Birmingham will reawaken many memories. The book is dedicated, in the author's words, to all Brummies proud of our city and proud of our forebears.

In the early 1870s, the boomtown of Birmingham erupted in a series of vicious gang wars. Mobs of youths armed with stones, knives and belt buckles fought pitched battles in a struggle for territorial supremacy. Known as "sloggers", they drew their numbers from the workshops and factories that made guns, nails and jewellery, and lived cheek-by-jowl in overcrowded, insanitary slums. Author Philip Gooderson traces the history of these warring factions from their first appearance in the Cheapside area to the later rise of the "peaky blinders", new gangs named for their peaked caps and long fringes. He describes for the first time the brutal antics of once-infamous fighters such as the Simpson and Harper brothers and the police killer George "Cloggy" Williams, and explains the eventual demise of the gangs at the turn of the century. The Gangs of Birmingham brings to vivid life a forgotten chapter in the history of British gangland.

Birmingham, the cradle of the industrial revolution and the world's first manufacturing town, is an important focus for many family historians who will find that their trail leads through it. Rural migrants, Quakers, Jews, Irish, Italians, and more recently people from the Caribbean, South-Asia and China have all made Birmingham their home. This vibrant history is reflected in the city's rich collections of records, and Michael Sharpe's handbook is the ideal guide to them. He introduces readers to the wealth of information available, providing an essential guide for anyone researching the history of the city or the life of an individual ancestor. His work addresses novices and experienced researchers alike and offers a compendium of sources from legal and ecclesiastical archives, to the records of local government, employers, institutions, clubs, societies and schools. Accessible, informative and extensively referenced, it is the perfect companion for research in Britain's second city.

Brummie Kid is a fascinating recollection of the experience of growing up in the slums of Nechells and Aston. All the harshness of daily life is remembered here by local author Graham Twist. Despite hard living conditions and a distinct lack of money, a strong community spirit prevailed and families and neighbourhoods were close-knit. In these tough times you hoped nobody noticed you going to the 'pop shop' to pawn precious valuables, siphoning petrol from cars under the nose of the local bobby, or sneaking into the flicks without paying - though everyone was more or less in the same boat. Here are more funny, heart-warming stories from the backstreets of Birmingham which are sure to rekindle old memories. 'Me and my mate used to go to the George Street Baths - our moms would give us a tanner and a piece of soap and off we would go. Because we were only small we'd share a bath. The attendant let you into the bathroom and you had about half an hour to do your bit. For me, who had only ever had baths in our oval galvanised tin effort (and after everybody else in our house, so that the water was tepid and grey coloured), to have real hot water and as much as you liked was sheer luxury.'

What does 'Chobblin' mean? What are 'Donnies'? If it's 'Black Over Bill's Mother's' what should you do? Where does the saying come from? All these questions and many more are answered in this humorous and engaging little book of how Brummies spoke and speak. containing sayings and phrases from recent history and much, much further back.Essential for the younger Brummie to understand their older relatives, and a book full of nostalgia for the 'old uns'. A treasure-trove of Brummie, Black Country and other slang used in Birmingham for centuries. An important repository for these fast - disappearing local gems. Read it, use them and keep our heritage language alive. Also a great gift for older Brummies.