Biography Books > K Biography Books > 5 GBP to 9 GBP

Advantages: none
Disadvantages: will make you cry

Broken by Shy Keenan is not a book for the faint hearted to read. It is one of the most disturbing stories of child abuse ever written. It is unbelievable to think that there are perverts out there who get their kicks out of treating young children like sex objects, but it happens and Shy Keenan is a survivor of such abuse. Shy Keenan was let down by the social services and the police and made to believe that she was a bad person who attracted ...
...and also extreme sadness that there are people out there who have suffered such terrible childhoods at the hands of the people who were meant to look after them and protect them. Broken is available from various bookshops. I paid £9 for the hardback from Amazon. ... Read review

Advantages: The authoritative work on Hitler.
Disadvantages: A huge book which takes time to read - and this is only the first half.

Ian Kershaw, the historian behind the BBC’s excellent series, ‘The Nazis: A Warning From History’, is also the author of what I feel is the definitive biography of Adolf Hitler. It is fascinating not just in terms of the details it unearths, but also from the point of view that Kershaw has taken a style of writing typically alien to him and made it his own. Modern ‘revisionist’ historical perspectives view history through ...
...previous historians tended to focus on individual people at the centre of importance (e.g. Hitler, Stalin or Napoleon) more modern writings examine the influences around them that shaped history. As the latter is the style adopted by Kershaw, it is surprising that he has chosen to write a biography of Hitler. As Kershaw mentions in the introduction, there is estimated to be over 120,000 works on Hitler, so why is another needed? The existence of ... Read review

Advantages: Great inspirational reading
Disadvantages: Bit long winded when she laks about other race competitors

Black White and Gold is the biography written by 2 times Olympic champion, Dame Kelly Holmes. She starts the book in March of 2005 as she is sitting in a limousine driving towards the gate of Buckingham Palace. She is off to receive her Damehood and she says how surreal it felt and how she had to pinch herself to make sure it was really happening. She tells how she joked with the other people who were also their receiving their Damehood and Knights', ...
...to have the Queen place the sword on each of her shoulders, she tells them all she is going to kneel down anyway! As we all know she did not and she received her dame hood in the correct way! We are then taken back to her early years and she tells how when her parents found out she was pregnant and had split up from her boyfriend they did not want her to have the baby but she went ahead and when Kelly was born her mother was given the choice of ... Read review

Advantages: Funny, interesting and gossipy
Disadvantages: slightly boring in places

After watching multiple episodes of Britain's got talent, and quite enjoying the remarks made by Piers Morgan I decided to pick up one of his books. My brother had a copy 'Don't you know who I am?' so this was the obvious choice. The book consists of a number of diary entries around the time after his Mirror newspaper sacking, and evolves around his search for a new job, celebrity status and also I had no real idea of who Piers Morgan was except ...
...owing to a sacking. In this book Piers lifts the lid on his meeting with numerous celebrities ranging from top bench cabinet ministers to the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Sharon Osborne, all of which are thoroughly eventful. My favourite has to be his meeting with Sharon where he waits for her PR to go to the loo before asking her opinion of certain celebrities knowing that she would be more likely to slag them off without the PR present. Piers manages ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to read and follow
Disadvantages: Controversial at times with strong opinions

This is the story of one of Britains most controvercial and opinionated Shock Jock Radio presenters. It takes you along the road of his life in Radio, including Top Shop Radio, for the Top Shop clothes store, Local Radio in Newcastle, Radio Aire in Leeds, where he took his show to Television, to his last show on Talk Sport Radio. It also talks about his diagnosis with Cancer and the setting up of his cancer charity. This book does not dissapoint. ...
...his opinions on a variety of subjects as well as charting his life and career. It also has a wonderful tribute to his personal friend, Bernard Manning, who passed just before the book was published. Witty, controversial and entertaining, this is a must read for all who have listened to the James Whale Radio Show. The book is written by James himself and charts his life at various stages as well as sharing his experiences and opinions. ... Read review