This book gives the fullest account so far of the origins, success and public impact of Walter Greenwood's Love on the Dole in all three of its versions: novel (1933), play (1935) and film (1941).

This engaging memoir covers the first 25 years of Brian Edward's life in Northern Ireland during the 1940s and 1950s. His father abandoned his wife and son in dramatic circumstances when Brian was still a baby. He grew up in 'lodgings', often cared for by landladies who were mad, bad or simply sad, while his mother was at work. In his early teens Brian desperately tried to track down his mysterious father but to no avail. Years later he discovered that he had at least one half-sister and that his father may well have been a German spy, a bigamist and a charming con-man who embezzled funds from numerous employers. While Brian's relationship with his parents and their extended families lies at the heart of this book, Daddy was a German Spy is also a funny, poignant and intriguing story about growing up in Northern Ireland.

Life is tough and cheerless for Billy Casper, a disillusioned teenager growing up in a small Yorkshire mining town. Violence is commonplace and he is frequently cold and hungry. Yet he is determined to be a survivor and when he finds Kes, a kestrel hawk he discovers a passion in life. Billy identifies with her proud silence and she inspired in him the trust and love that nothing else can. Intense and raw and bitingly honest, A KETREL FOR A KNAVE was first published in 1968 and was also madeinto a highly acclaimed film, 'Kes', directed by Ken Loach.