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Best biographries you've read?


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I've read McLean's book and also Shaw's. Both well worth a read. Had to laugh at Shaw calling McClean a bullshitter, then completely 'forgetting' that they had a third fight. McClean's wife has also written one, which isn't as good as the others, but contains more truth than the other two together.

Bret Hart's is an excellent read (certainly if you're a fan). Mankind's is excellent too, whether you're a fan or not.

The first Chopper was very entertaining.

My all time favourite of all time has got to be Mr Nice.

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Billy Bragg's The Progressive Patriot is well worth a read: bits of history, bits of music, bits of philosophising about Lefty politics and Englishness.

 

Probably the best biography I've read recently is Darwin's Sacred Cause by Adrian Desmond and James Moore.  It misses the most obvious bits that everyone already knows - the Galapagos, religious controversies on the publication of the Origin of Species, etc. - and focuses more on the campaigns against the slave trade (which Darwin and his family were deeply involved in) and the state of (what passed for) science, before he published his stuff.

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I've read McLean's book and also Shaw's. Both well worth a read. Had to laugh at Shaw calling McClean a bullshitter, then completely 'forgetting' that they had a third fight. McClean's wife has also written one, which isn't as good as the others, but contains more truth than the other two together.Bret Hart's is an excellent read (certainly if you're a fan). Mankind's is excellent too, whether you're a fan or not.The first Chopper was very entertaining.My all time favourite of all time has got to be Mr Nice.

mclean and Shaw both exaggerate but fucking hell I wouldn't mess.

 

can see one of their fights on YouTube. mclean hammers Shaw but never seen a man who won't fall like that. and roy was a lot older and smaller

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Shaws is better in my opinion. Read it if you liked Mcleans.

Agree with that. Preferred Shaw's book myself. He was a fucking genuine lunatic.

 

You should check out Geoff Thompsons book as well mate. Worked as a bouncer in Coventry during the 70's and 80's. A really tough fucker. Some great stories in it

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Aggasi is really good as has been mentioned....

Hands of Stone , Roberto Duran

The Profession of Violence, about Ronnie and Reggie Kray which is to be made into a film soon starring Tom Hardy playing both of the twins which is a bit more realistic than the Spandau Ballet hard men portraying them.

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One of the best was by a member of he RMP. It covers his very short spell in the police to joining the army and his time through the ranks and eventual retirement.

Wally by name; A monkeys tale Vol 1 and A minority of one; A monkeys tale continued by Wally Payne

  Having been required to resign from the Leicester City Constabulary for the heinous crime of 'gross impertinence to a member of the public', the author crossed the road to the Army Recruiting Office and enlisted into the Royal Military Police. It was a decision that, despite the odd knock back, he was never to regret.

 

The volumes recount the adventures, mishaps, misdeeds and observations of a character of some notoriety, charting his journey from the NAAFI canteen to the Officer's Mess via Germany, the UK, Malta, Cyprus, Northern Ireland and the Far East. The tongue in cheek tales are told in a ribald, sometimes bawdy, occasionally cruel and unfailingly irreverent fashion that befit a person with a chip on both shoulders. Described by one officer as 'arrogant, selfish, self-centred and pig headed', he never discovered any reason to change.

 

Notwithstanding his swift progression through the ranks, the author's contempt for those he considers unworthy of positions of authority remains undiminished. An inability to bear fools gladly, his outspoken manner and a reputation as a fighter of lost causes does little to endear him to his commanders.

 

His primary concerns are to enjoy life to the full and the well-being of the men in his charge. He claims a modicum of success on both fronts.

 

To the bewilderment of many and the utter disgust of others, the Army sees fit to commission the man so adept at swimming against the tide. It's said that, on moonless nights at the Royal Military Police Training Centre in Chichester, the ghostly sound of resentful retching into galvanized buckets may be heard to this day.

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Politics wise, those I've read and enjoyed the most are Guilliani, Mandelson and Alan Clarke's diaries.

 

The letter being hilarious, perverted and scary in equal measure.

 

I've been really struggling reading but quite fancy Clarke's diaries

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I'll recommend these two books by a former NYPD cop called Jimmy the wags. First one is about his 22 years in the NYPD, second one is about his career after that as a private detective. They are both completely fucking ace, they read like a novel and have some outstanding funny moments. You can't get them new anymore I don't think but they are on Amazon second hand for a penny plus postage.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Life-NYPD-Jimmy-Wags/dp/0451410246/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406462893&sr=8-2&keywords=jimmy+the+wags

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jimmy-Wags-Street-Stories-Private/dp/0688165117/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406462893&sr=8-1&keywords=jimmy+the+wags

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mclean and Shaw both exaggerate but fucking hell I wouldn't mess.

 

can see one of their fights on YouTube. mclean hammers Shaw but never seen a man who won't fall like that. and roy was a lot older and smaller

Fucking hell ,just you tubed that. What a hammering he took.

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Dear Boy - Keith Moon's life by Tony Fletcher is brilliant.

Slash by Antony Bozza also ace.

Sounds like it shouldn't be good but - How to make love like a porn star, the Jenna Jameson story is a really good read.

The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx is also really good.

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Any good survival, war stories out there?

 

Try this mate, bit of a different perspective from the more common English/American war books you tend to see.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samurai-Illustrated-Martin-Caiden-ebook/dp/B00LPLHAOC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406468384&sr=8-1&keywords=Saburo+Sakai

 

 

“Saburo Sakai is Japan's greatest fighter pilot to survive World War II, and his powerful memoir has proven to be one of the most popular and enduring books ever written on the Pacific war. First published in English in 1957, it gave Americans new perspectives on the air war and on the Japanese pilots who, until then, had been perceived in the United States as mere caricatures. Today, the books remains a valuable eyewitness account of some of the most famous battles in history and a moving, personal story of a courageous naval aviator.

A living legend, Sakai engaged in more than two hundred dogfights, from the Philippines to Iwo Jima, and was the only Japanese ace never to lose a wingman in combat. By war's end he reportedly had shot down sixty-four Allied planes. Although this number cannot be confirmed, Sakai's exploits in the air were extraordinary by any standards. His most renowned accomplishment, an epic of aviation survival, occurred after action over Guadalcanal in August 1942. Partially paralyzed and nearly blind from multiple wounds, he managed to fly 560 miles to Rabaul and safely land his crippled Zero.

Here, Sakai offers a full account of his experiences, modestly recalling his rise from an impoverished childhood to feats of mythic proportions. And because he shares his innermost thoughts with his readers, the book not only provides rare insights into the Samurai character but also describes with complete honestly the human emotions common to warriors of all causes.”

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Any good survival, war stories out there?

Not a biography as such but the book

'In harms way' is one of the most horrific books I have ever read. Its the story of thr USS Indianapolis that was sunk in the Pacific after brining the Atomic bombs across. The crew spent days lost at sea in shark infested waters.

 

I'll see if I have it still if you want it, ill send it to you.

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Malcolm X's biography was one of the best I've read; well, it's be hard not to make that life interesting really.

 

 

Stig, nothing personal but I don't have the power of neg but if I did I would double neg you. From his stand-up days in the 70's he built his whole reputation on the being ant-establishment Glasgow/Irish/Socialist/working class hero thru his journey to become an integral part of the establishment and first on the list of Prince Charles's party guests. He chooses not to pay his taxes into the Scottish economy (he's not alone in that) His comments on Ken Bigley removed any doubt in my mind that he is a massive hypocritical cunt. He took a 180% turn from what he proported to be. I can't think of worse let down for the lads. He's pretty much a male Cilla Black. Fuck him and his 'remembered' crimes.

 

Ps His altered faced banshee of a missus hardly screams 'integrity' at you either.

 

In what way?

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I read one about kody Scott when I was younger which was pretty fucked up, you'd be safer on the Gaza Strip than some parts of LA. I enjoyed surely you're joking mr feynman his level of curiosity about how things work and how much he wanted to understand everything was insane, really opened my eyes into how people like him are just wired differently. I'm not really fussed on biographys though. I love a bit of true crime and I think I've read everything on the Sicilian mafia not because I think they're cool because I think they are subhuman scum its just fascinating the history of it and how great men like Giovanni falcone gave their lives fighting them.

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