Alumni authors: A-C

My View of Hinckley 1950s to 2010

Like so many persons of Hinckley born immediately after the war, my birth certificate records that I entered the world at the Market Bosworth maternity home. My early years were then spent living in the pre-fabricated accommodation of Middlefield Place, prior to moving into a bungalow in Hollycroft.

All the other situations in life are in the pages in this book from boyhood to manhood.

Managing Change in Local Governance, 2006, with Andrew Nickson

Decentralisation has become an integral part of local government reform programmes in recent years. But how to put these changes into effect? This book explores the reasons for making these changes, and applies recent thinking in change management to the particular challenges facing all those who are seeking to make their local governance systems more responsive.

The Midnight Sun: The Death and Rebirth of God in Ancient Egypt, 2004, Eridu Books

Pyramid of Secrets: The Architecture of the Great Pyramid Reconsidered in the Light of Creational Mythology, 2003, Eridu Books

The Atlantis Secret: A Complete Decoding of Plato's Lost Continent, 2001, Eridu Books

Three earlier titles published by Hodder & Stoughton are now out of print.

The focus of Alan's most recent books is Ancient Egyptian religion and the role of the Pyramids therein. Although not an Egyptologist, his ideas have attracted national publicity, e.g. The Daily Mail and the Richard & Judy Show (2003), and his books have been well received by academics. Alan was invited to present his ideas at the British Egyptology Congress in 2005, and is regularly invited as a guest lecturer by Ancient Egypt and historical societies across the UK.

How to be a Productivity Ninja, 2012, READ Press

In the age of information overload, managing attention and information not time is the key to staying sane and being productive. It's time to think like a Ninja! - Graham Allcott. Are you... Overloaded by your growing email inbox? Feeling stressed by your to-do list? Spending your days in frustrating and unproductive meetings? Secretly procrastinating? (Shhh.) There is another way. Whether you are in need of a complete productivity makeover or just a few good tips and tricks to improve what you're doing well already, this powerful, practical book will help you develop Ninja-level productivity. Learn how to keep your email inbox at zero, develop to-do lists that really work, unleash the power of checklists and transform your meetings. It's time to discover the Way of the Productivity Ninja.

I have managed to overcome the challenge of having multiple sclerosis to edit and publish a book.

Following the fall of Saddam Hussain in 2003, Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani (b.1930) has had a significant impact on the political climate of Iraq and holds the greatest following as the supreme source of emulation within the Shii world. Al-Sistani’s formal state political involvement has developed from strong interventions in the creation of a new political system post-2003 to a period of less formal involvement until the rise of Daesh and his crucial fatwa urging Iraqis to take arms and defend the state in 2014. Al-Sistani was fundamental in the drafting of the Iraqi constitution in addition to supporting the democratic transition of Iraq by encouraging his followers to participate in elections.

With a focus on 2014, this book argues that Al-Sistani has consistently been involved in Iraqi state politics post-2013, but primarily in an informal manner. By conducting fieldwork in Iraq and interviewing senior state politicians such as Nouri Al-Maliki and Haider Al-Abadi, as well as senor clerics such as Al-Sistani himself and those closest to him, this book provides new insights into understanding Al-Sistani’s modus operandi, whilst acknowledging the political limitations of Al-Sistani’s clerical establishment as a result of the current socio-political environment in Iraq. This book argues that Al-Sistani is a cautious political actor whose preferred means of political intervention is through informal channels and institutions which previous academic scholarship – primarily focussing on his formal interventions – has not sufficiently acknowledged. In accomplishing this, this book reflects on Al-Sistani’s role in the removal of Prime Minister Al-Maliki, the role of Al-Sistani’s Friday prayers sermons in influencing government decisions, and the apparent aspiration of the marja’iyya for a more formal role in the state by appointing representatives to the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq.

Managing World Order:United Nations Peace Operations and the Security Agenda, 2008, London: I B Tauris

The monograph examines the reorientation of the United Nations around peace operations since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. This work looks at the internal process of programmatic reform that this has entailed for the UN, and the wider international politics of UN peace operations in three seminal cases of the 1990s (in Somalia, Rwanda and Angola). It argues against seeing these activities as a neutral, impartial or value-free set of activities and suggests that they are best seen as very specific political and ideological practice designed to manage social change at the margins of the world system.

Vircheu and the Bow, 2009, EnK Books

This is Vircheu's first in a series of adventures. In this story, Vircheu as a boy, learns the secrets of his father's skills, the Grand Master Bowman. As little Vircheu struggles, he also learns why this skill is so important to the village and the family. Vircheu's father proudly teaches his son the secrets of the world around him.

Drumendus: Mission to the Drum Planet, Book Guild 2022.

Best friends, Ella and Freddie, blast off to Drumendus on a homemade spaceship invented by brilliant and eccentric Aunt Belinda, the most famous astronaut in history. Will Ella be able to face her fears and uncover the truth about her family's past? What other secrets will she uncover on this unexpected, musical adventure to the extraordinary purple planet?

Three Phase Conversion, 2010.

Often, model engineers buy industrial workshop equipment, such as lathes, drilling machines and milling machines, which usually require a three-phase electricity supply. Although ready-built phase converters are available, they can often cost as much or even more than the equipment purchased. This book provides a source of practical guidance on how model engineers can find out the type of electrical equipment they have, and convert it to allow it to run on a single-phase supply.

Jack O’ Beans, Penpress, 2010

A tale of medieval adventure, set in and around Dudley Castle.

A country lad dreams of becoming a soldier in the nearby castle of Dudley. When taken there with his uncle, his bag of mysterious beans throws the castle into turmoil. Later, as the Arrow-Boy in the Baron’s hunting party, he witnesses a murder and himself becomes the quarry.

Jack O’ Knaves, New Generation Publishing, 2014

A second tale of High (and Low) Adventure, set in and around Dudley Castle. 

Now a strapping a young man, Jack enrols as a trainee-guard at the castle. But his grandmother’s misplaced generosity leads to them both becoming outlaws. Captured by desperate peasants, he seeks asylum in the local priory. Then wounded in a sword-fight in the forest, he leads his band of knaves to repulse an attack on the castle.

Jack O’ War, New Generation Publishing

The third medieval adventure of the ‘JACK’ trilogy. Battle and bewitchment in the English Midlands.

Married to the nagging daughter of the castle’s Steward, Jack enrols as an archer in king Edward the Second’s army. In spite of the wound in his side, Jack plays a crucial role in the war against the king’s adversaries. Having witnessed a demon being summoned up from Hell to kill the king and his loyal barons, Jack and his Gran fight back as it attacks the Baron in Dudley Castle.

A Better Mousetrap: The business of invention, 2007. 

A highly readable step-by-step guide to invention, this book tells first-time inventors how to evaluate their ideas, protect their intellectual property and get their invention to market. Approved by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys. Available from http://www.abettermousetrap.co.uk/

Before the Wars: Churchill as Reformer (1910-11)

Has converted his MPhil thesis into a book for which, with the support of Sir Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official biographer, he hopes to find a publisher.

It is an account from original and little known sources of how Churchill, when Home Secretary in 1910/11, sought to solve prison treatment and sentencing problems not unlike those with which our country has to deal in the present day. There are valuable lessons to be learnt from it.

Words Gone Wild, 2010, Skyhorse Publishing Co

Subtitled "Fun and Games for Language Lovers", this is a book about wordplay, with many puns, puzzles, anagrams, palindromes, lipograms, tongue-twisters, mondegreens, spoonerisms, malapropisms, limericks, clerihews and other comic verse.  

Porcupine, Picayune and Post: How Newspapers Get Their Names, 2007, University of Missouri Press

Why a Gazette? When one stops to think about it, Times or News is easy to understand, but why do some newspapers have strange names such as Jimplecute or Bazoo? Word sleuth Jim Bernhard stopped to consider such questions and began a quest that resulted in the only book-length account of the history of newspaper titles. Cataloguing names from the most common to the most bizarre, Porcupine, Picayune and Post explores the history and etymology of newspapers' names - names that, by their very peculiarity, cry out for explanation

Richard Strauss: "Arabella" (Cambridge Opera Handbooks), Cambridge University Press, 1989

This is the first comprehensive guide to Richard Strauss's Arabella. The opening chapters explore the literary background of the work, and examine the Strauss-Hofmannsthal collaboration. Arabella is seen as the culmination of specific ideas and techniques: an attempt to win something of the subtlety of the spoken theatre for the operatic stage and to find a balance between words and music. A full synopsis of the work provides an insight into the psychological motivation of the drama and an impression of the musical shape and substance of the opera. More detailed analytical comment considers Strauss's 'long-range' tonal procedures and his use of key and Motiv for characterisation, allusion and particular expressive purposes. Special features of this guide are a commentary on one of the Strauss Arabella sketchbooks and an investigation of a series of as yet unpublished letters from Strauss to Böhm, Krauss and Fanto.

Hans von Bulow - A Life for Music, Cambridge University Press, 2011

Drawing upon an extensive selection of rare letters, reviews and memoirs, Kenneth Birkin sets Hans von Bülow's work as a recitalist, chamber-music artist and orchestral conductor at the centre of a disturbed and eventful life. Bülow's Zukunftsmusik advocacy and ruthless criticism of performance standards in Berlin and Munich antagonised a musical 'establishment' nonetheless spellbound by his keyboard and orchestral mastery. Birkin pays particular attention to the premieres of Tristan and Meistersingers, the European and American tours, and operatic activities in Hamburg and Hanover. He also examines Bülow's pedagogic activities and forays into musical journalism. The book makes liberal use of Bülow's correspondence, published and unpublished, which personalises the narrative. Contemporary comments and reviews, translated here for the first time, give the reader an insight into the critical and public reaction. An extensive Appendix records the dates and venues of all Bülow's public appearances, both as pianist and conductor.

A Dictionary of International Units: Metric-Matters Words and Symbols, 2005

A reference source for scientists and students, this book enables Trivia and Scrabble buffs to enrich their vocabulary and symbologists and symbolists to ponder over character sizes.

Chris is a local author writing crime/action/thrillers based on his experience of working in criminal justice. Chris’s books are available from all good bookshops and from on line sellers (including e-format) both in UK & abroad.

In the Shadow of the Bayonet, 2014, Pen Press

Three strangers and a chance meeting in a beach bar in Cyprus. By coincidence all have retired from working within the justice system and are looking forward to what the future holds for them on this beautiful island; sun-kissed beaches, lazy days...not quite. When one of them spots a suspicious convoy of minibuses the three men realise that something sinister is afoot. Private Steve Mantel has completed his tour of Afghanistan with his unit of the Parachute Regiment and along with his comrades is looking forward to a little respite on the island, but what he is about to discover is to turn his world upside down.

Out of the Shadow, 2014, Pen Press

Ex soldier Steve Mantel continues to grapple with the consequences of his actions whilst serving with the British Army in Cyprus. Now back in the UK he must face his demons knowing that he leaves devastation and unfinished business behind him. Already used to discipline, order and routine, Steve must keep his head down and get through his sentence in the best way he can if he stands any chance of coming out of the shadow...

Recovery; A Victim's Story, 2015, New Generation Publishing

Imagine leading a law abiding life and suddenly becoming the victim of serious crime. How would you react? How would you cope with the event and its aftermath? These were questions that the Hartwell family had never had to consider until one dark winter's night when four men brutally intruded on their lives and the nightmare began... From the incident, through the police investigation and subsequent court case, pressures on the family and their relationships mount, exposing difficult and painful flaws. As they grapple with their unfolding circumstances their tolerance, love and faith in each other and humanity are tested to breaking point as they attempt to emerge from the dark events, to adjust and to seek recovery...

Green Terror, 2016, New Generation Publishing

This story is centred around a group of bright, idealistic young students at Oxford who find a common interest in environmental issues. This leads them into green politics & activism. As their studies progress and their career paths culminate in positions of power and influence they find that their lofty ideals of loyalty and duty collide.

As the international community attempts to respond to the threats of terrorism, green issues, criminal interests and radical politics entwine to challenge global security. How will the main characters react and will old loyalties nurtured at Oxford be enough?

Identity: A Man's Quest to Discover His True Self, 2017, New Generation Publishing

Rory Scott is a young probation officer working in mid Staffordshire. Working closely with the Police and the Prison Service he is busy unravelling the trail of destruction left by a local celebrity exposed as a child sex offender. His role regularly involves helping people make important steps about understanding their past and in trying to become the kind of person they would like to be. This raises questions for him about himself and his own background.

Rory later discovers an unexpected facet of his own family history which has shocking implications and sets him on a quest to discover the truth about his past and reveal his true identity.

Can he rely on his sister’s trust and support during this time or does he risk being estranged from his family altogether? Time spent with her including travelling along the local canals helps to clarify his thoughts until a tragic discovery leads him to a final unexpected conclusion. 

Money is the Route, 2006, Athena Press 

The Harper family has been torn apart since being deprived of their former material wealth. When they win the lottery, however, it looks like all of their troubles are over. But there is just one problem: a twist of fate means they will receive just half the jackpot...

A Matter of Life and Death, 2016, Jessica Kingsley Publishers

People from all walks of life share their insights and wisdom about death and dying.

The book includes stories from a Holocaust survivor whose mother collapsed and died only moments after they both registered as survivors, a death row inmate who reclaimed his life through Buddhism and a mother whose daughter was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer two days before her 30th birthday. Each offers their perspectives on death and dying in this thought provoking volume.

Contributors from all walks of life share their thoughts on carefully selected writings, images and artwork that most accurately express death to them. Describing their unique experiences, they reveal that, beyond the heartache and the mystery, death teaches us all invaluable lessons about how we live our lives.

Offering comfort, reassurance and varied insights into death, loss and its impact on life, this collection is for anyone who might be coming to terms with this inevitable destination. Royalty proceeds from the book will be donated to Ashgate Hospice Care, North Derbyshire, UK.

The Narrows, 2012, Snowbooks

There are places where the skin of the world is thin. Here, miracles walk the streets, and nightmares haunt the alleyways. Welcome to the Narrows.

Bex belongs to a hidden society of misfits, homeless, and runaways who live in the Narrows - the hidden paths that lie behind even the darkest of alleyways. For years they have lived invisibly alongside ordinary city-dwellers, with their own allegiances, their own dreams and deaths, loves and wars. Except that the Narrows are closing, and nobody knows why, and the things that hunt them have begun to chase them onto the daylight streets.

Andy Sumner lives a perfectly conventional life, but a chance encounter with a wounded and pursued Bex leads him into a world where the very laws of space and time are malleable. But how much of his life is truly governed by chance? Why does he seem to be able to control the Narrows? And what secrets were inscribed in the energy meridians of his own flesh by the dark figure that now hunts them both?

The search for answers will take Andy and Bex far beyond the spheres of reality that either of them have known, and to a confrontation with evil upon which hangs the fate of an infinity of possible worlds.

Innocents in the Arctic - The 1951 Spitsbergen Expedition, 2005, University of Alaska Press

An engrossing account of the University of Birmingham Spitsbergen Expedition, 1951, of which the author was a member. Ten young members of the University set off in a highly unreliable and unsuitable vessel, Miss Mabel, to carry out geological investigations on a remote, nearly uninhabited, ice-covered northern land.

James had his first book, Rhyming Thunder: The alternative book of young poets, Burning Eye Books, 2012, published last year after being asked to compile and edit a collection of young performance poets into the first anthology of its kind.

He is now writing his own book.

Infectious Causes of Cancer: A Guide for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, 2010, Wiley-Blackwell

Over 99% of the world's population is infected with at least one potentially cancer-causing organism. It is vital for nurses and other healthcare professionals to be aware of the extent of infection-associated cancer and of how they can contribute to prevention of such cancers.

Infectious Causes of Cancer, aimed principally at nurses and other healthcare professionals, considers the epidemiology and biology of infectious causes of cancer. This book examines each of the infectious agents associated with an increased risk of cancer discussing epidemiology of the infection and cancer; pathophysiology of the cancer, mechanisms, associated risk factors, and prevention of the infection and of the associated cancer. 

Two for Joy, 2013, Hodder and Stoughton

Julia and Toby have been friends for years, but apart from a couple of drunken snogs in their university days, there's never been anything more than friendship between them. It's only when Toby goes through a dramatic break up with his gorgeous ballerina girlfriend Ruby, that he and Julia realise they're meant to be together.

Then Ruby drops a bombshell - she's pregnant - and though he feels in two, Toby feels he has to give their relationship another chance.

Heartbroken Julia is left to lick her wounds in her little Walthamstow home, thinking she has lost Toby forever. But things soon become much more complicated . . . 

Falling Night, 2023, Ambassador International

Alan Swales is no hero and no saint. Bored by a successful, yet dull life in Britain with his girlfriend, Mandy, he decides to become an aid worker in Africa to experience adventure and acquire anecdotes to impress his mates.

Plunged into a civil war waged by vicious warlords and their child soldiers, Alan has to make unexpected choices about the direction of his life as well as his relationship with Mandy. As the situation deteriorates, he hears rumours of a hidden genocide, which leads him on a dangerous quest for evidence in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles.

Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa, 2000, IUCN, with Neil Burgess

The eastern African coastal strip contains a chain of tiny patches of surviving lowland tropical dry forest. They were previously considered to be of low conservation priority in terms of endemism and species diversity, but research since the mid-1980s has shown that their biological richness is comparable to other important tropical forest types in Africa. This book defines these "Coastal Forests", describes the physical environment which influences their formation, and summarises the latest available information on their species diversity and levels of endemism. Human impact on these forests is considered against current conservation efforts and needs.

David has written 43 fiction and non-fiction books for children including:

2002 - Fingers Finnigan ( OUP Web Spiders) ISBN 0199175314

2005 - Sport is Fun! (OUP Treetops) non-fiction 

2007 – Against the Odds (OUP Treetops) Sporting comebacks and bravery

2008 –NASCAR (Tick Tock Publishing) non-fiction 

2008 - F1 (TickTockPublishing) non-fiction

2008 - Dark Windmills of Time [with Andrei Bystrov] (Fantasy – in Russian)

Richard Wainwright, The Liberals and Liberal Democrats, 2011, Manchester University Press

Richard Wainwright is central to the story of the Liberal Party and sheds light on the reasons for its survival and the state of its prospects. At the same time this unique book is a parable of politics for anyone who wants to represent an apparently lost cause, who wants to motivate people who have been neglected, and who want to follow their convictions at the highest level. 

Lessons in Class - A Fresh Appraisal of Comprehensive Education, 1998, TUPS Books.

Ryhope School in Sunderland was a battleground of comprehensive education in the 1970s, The heart of this book is a documented account by its then head of the fight to uphold comprehensive principles in the teeth of attacks and misrepresentations. Summarising the history of teaching methods and activities, and of school organisation, Lessons in Class describes the educational and political context in which comprehensive schools were introduced and exist today.

Heart of Flesh: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A study in Christian prophecy, 2007, CTBI Publications.

Gillian Court, author of Heart of Flesh, presents the role of the prophetic in Bonhoeffer's life and work, comparing his message with the message of the Hebrew prophets of the 6th century BC. The lessons to be learned continue to resonate in the climate of the 21st century, at a time of change, shaking and dismantling of established structures and the resultant confusion among the people of God. Bonhoeffer's vision, passion and love for God continue to move and inspire in equal measure. A new, thorough and frank perspective on Bonhoeffer and the truth of a heart of flesh. 

Own The World, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013

Have you been meaning to sort your finances out but kept putting it off? Perhaps you have had a bad experience with financial advice in the past? Own The World shows you why you can and should invest your own money and highlights the significant advantages you have over most finance professionals. The knowledge needed to make a huge difference to your money is not that complicated, just very poorly distributed throughout the population. You will see how successful investment can turn hundreds into millions thanks to the power of compound interest, something Einstein described as "The Eighth wonder of the world". It has never been more important to take charge of your financial affairs. Fortunately the tools available to you have never been more powerful or inexpensive. Own The World shows you where to go and what to do to make the very best of your personal finances...