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QueenSpark Books Archive - Free Full Text Books
A unique searchable archive of the books published by QueenSpark Books up until 2010. Free to view and full text this collection features voices that tell the story of Brighton and Hove, across the 20th Century, in their own words. The majority of these titles are now out-of-print.
You can buy those still in-print, and newer titles, with this link.
Brighton behind the Front - Photographs and memories of the Second World War
Author(s): Various
Published: 1991(reprinted Oct-08)
First published in 1990, Brighton behind the Front was originally produced in collaboration with the now defunct Lewis Cohen Urban Studies Centre, in the same series as Backyard Brighton and Back Street Brighton. It brings together a collection of Brighton wartime reminiscences and documents how ordinary people were affected by the war. This was a challenging time in British history, giving rise to moving accounts of individual lives set against a society undergoing profound changes. Using personal recollections, contemporary photographs, letters, a logbook and diaries, Brighton behind the Front vividly portrays what it was like to live in this south coast town during the Second World War.Me and My Mum - The story of five daughters and their relationships with their mothers
Author(s): Leila Abrahams, Irene Donald, June Drake, Monica Hastings, Violet Pumphery
Published: 1996
These childhood reminiscences examine the special and unbreakable bond between mothers and their daughters. Through the story of five daughters and their relationships with their mothers, the book charts the positive and negative experiences of family life. In particular, it examines the influence that their mothers had on their development as women and individuals in their own right. Each story is as different as the people involved and reflects the actions, attitudes, beliefs and subjectivity's of the authors, and is especially relevant to all mothers and daughters, whatever their ages.Who Stood Idly By - Poems and Cartoons
Author(s): Alf Johns
Published: 1984
Published in 1984, this is a book containing humorous and political poems and cartoons intended for an adult audience. Satirical and witty, exhibiting a wry, often black sense of humour, the subject matter centres around the politics of the government of the day, in particular the policies pursued by the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet. Written by a retired hospital porter, Alf Johns highlights the failures of Thatcher's government in the 1980s and early 1990s. Alf believed in socialism, which he described as 'the language of peace and economic success' and of particular concern to him was the topic of anti-nuclear disarmament.Alt-History - New Writing from Brighton
Author(s): Michael Acton, Emily Atkinson-Dalton, Ed Bell, John Bourne, Bryony Cleary, Joanne Dearden, Rachel Grant, Jane Hansford, Grace Judge, Andrew Kearsley, Barnaby O'Rorke, Neil Palmer, Rob Paraman, J T Sellers, Stephen Silverwood, Mark Wilkinson, Joe Young, Kjell Yri
Published: 2005
This diverse collection consists of fifteen stories by new writers, including five pieces of work by young authors under the age of twelve. The aim of the publication is to allow people the opportunity to write their own versions of ‘histories' of Brighton and Hove and the material includes fictional accounts of real places and events from Brighton and Hove's past, both distant and more recent. The tales include the humorous, the poignant and the surreal and provide a glimpse into an alternative world, highlighting the eccentric and heroic people from the Brighton area. It is hoped that they will be enjoyed by both a local and a wider audience.Deckhand, West Pier
Author(s): Arthur Thickett
Published: 1993(reprinted 1999)
This is a fresh and often humorous look at a young man who came to Brighton in the summer of 1970, full of hope and optimism – his goal was to find adventure and ultimately love. Written in a witty prose style, we learn that on his first day he found digs, on his second day, he walked into a job, but cupid's arrow was to prove more elusive! Haunted by memories of the Second World War, Arthur Thickett tried to reconcile himself to his past and find friendship and laughter. He describes a town that behind the bright and lively holiday facade was full of lonely people. Note that the cover shown is from the second edition produced in 1999. The original book looked more like Margaret Ward"s Memories of Rottingdean.Life After Stroke - A book by stroke survivors who have learned to live again
Author(s): QueenSpark Stroke Writing Group
Published: 1993
This is an account of stroke survivors' triumphs over adversity, as they undertake the difficult and painful process of learning how to live again. The book examines the lasting effects of degenerative trauma and documents the transition from being able-bodied to becoming disabled. Writing is viewed as part of the process of rehabilitation, as the survivors share their experiences in a mutually beneficial and supportive way. Through descriptions of their day-to-day lives, they demonstrate resilience and offer other stroke survivors an insight that cannot be gained from professionals, however skilled and caring, proving that there is indeed a life after suffering a stroke.Poverty: Hardship but Happiness - Those were the days 1903-1917
Author(s): Albert Paul
Published: 1974(reprinted 1975)
This book is the first that was published by QueenSpark. It tells the story of a working class boy's life in the years between 1903 and 1917, from his childhood through to adolescence. It looks at the hardships of life before and during the First World War and examines the ways that children's lives changed as a result of the Great War. Albert Paul was a retired carpenter who lived all his life in Brighton, and he describes in vivid detail the life of a boy brought up in poverty and his struggle against adversity.Who was Harry Cowley?
Author(s): QueenSpark writers
Published: 2003(reprinted Jun-03)
This is a reprint of the revised second edition published in 2003. It is included here (out of sequence in the QueenSpark chronology) because it was created to be a limited edition of the 1984 book that enabled a new generation of readers to become acquainted with Harry Cowley, a Brighton chimney sweep who became a legend. When he died in 1971, his body was laid in state at St Peter"s Church. More than 500 people attended his funeral to pay tribute to the man they called "the Gov"nor". Since then, Harry has not been forgotten. In 1999 Brighton and Hove Bus Company acknowledged his contribution to the City by giving a bus his name and in 2003 The Cowley Club, named in tribute to Harry and his grassroots action, opened its doors to the public.Pullman Attendant
Author(s): Bert Hollick
Published: 1991
In 1935, fifteen year old Bert Hollick signed on at Brighton Station for his first shift on a Pullman Train. Working on the midnight shift from Victoria to Brighton, he learnt to ladle soup from a tureen at seventy-five miles per hour and serve a three-course lunch in a speedy fifty-eight minutes. A man of few words, Bert's life story is told in a succinct and concise style that nonetheless manages to convey wonderfully the atmosphere of the Pullman Cars, as well as providing interesting factual details of railway life. He worked at a time when a twelve to fourteen hour day was commonplace, and wages were a meagre two pounds a week, despite providing a luxury service to everyday travellers. This book is a must for all train and railway enthusiasts.Oh! What a Lovely Pier
Author(s): Daphne Mitchell
Published: 1996
Working on the West Pier from 1956 to 1970, Daphne Mitchell's story evokes the atmosphere of the seaside in bygone times. Daphne recalls seaside shows that featured acts, such as the Great Omani, floating by on a bed of nails. She describes scenes with dolphins basking in the sea and aerial displays by the Red Arrows; all things that made the West Pier - the pier of piers.' During the season, it was so hectic that Daphne comments 'you didn't know whether to laugh or cry'. In this account, the life of the West Pier is vividly brought to life for the modern reader, who today can only view a ghostly wreck that echoes to the seabirds' sad songs. The subject is of particular relevance in view of the current debates that are taking place over the future of the West Pier.