DAVID MATTHEWS

David Matthews, author of the critically acclaimed LOOKING FOR A FIGHT, needed a fresh challenge after he had recovered from being a professional boxer. Drawn to the slightly shady appeal of greyhound racing, and not averse to making some easy money, he decided to learn the tricks of the trade from the inside and buy a greyhound. Unfortunately Zussies Boy, aka Kevin, turned out to be something of a dud, and Matthews soon found out the hard way that in the world of greyhound racing there is only one winner - the hare.

TEACH YOURSELF URDU is a complete course in spoken and written Urdu. If you have never learnt Urdu before, or if your Urdu needs brushing up, this is the book you need. David Matthews and Mohamed Kasim Dalvi have created a practical course that is both fun and easy to work through. They explain everything along the way and give you plenty of opportunities to practise what you have learnt. The course structure means that you can work at your own pace, arranging your learning to suit your needs.

TEACH YOURSELF URDU is a complete course in spoken and written Urdu. If you have never learnt Urdu before, or if your Urdu needs brushing up, this is the book you need.David Matthews and Mohamed Kasim Dalvi have created a practical course that is both fun and easy to work through. They explain everything along the way and give you plenty of opportunities to practise what you have learnt.

The story of a boy from Baltimore who evolves from a safecracking, jewel-heisting, deep-sea diving, ultimate-fighting, international playboy into a globetrotting humanitarian. Stefan Templeton was born a child of extremes. The son of Ebba, an aristocratic Norwegian love child, and Roye, a militant African American philosopher, Stefan spent his early years shuffling between the discipline of his fathers house and dojo in decaying west Baltimore and the eccentricities of his mothers life as a healer and artist in the wealthiest enclaves of Europe. The confusion formed a singular man who had nothing but his own abilities. By age eighteen Stefan was a skilled fighter, philosopher, lover, horseman, and swimmer who exuded confidence and competence. His highs came from adventure, always. He hunted in Macon, France; brawled in Oxford, England; lived as a kept man off the Champs-Elysees; served as a medicine man in Colombia; escaped death on the Amazon; and trained to serve on Cousteaus Calypso in Marseilles. Love of the mother of his first child temporarily settled Stefan in Norway, but poverty and adrenaline addiction soon kicked in. Eventually, Stefan found himself in a labyrinthine criminal world-where he pulled off one of the biggest jewel heists in Scandinavias history as a player in a smuggling consortium. He eluded capture, but the downward spiral continued until he hit bottom one night in Tokyo. Alone and in need of redemption, Stefan lost himself in the south Asian jungle, but fate brought him an opportunity to help the wretched Karen people of Burma. By serving the forgotten, Stefan could begin his restitution. This Renaissance man at last utilized his uncommon skill set to embrace the call of humanitarian relief. Disasters like the Indonesian tsunami and the Sudanese civil war and drought required all of him. The adventure of Stefan Templeton tests the bounds of human possibility, and even the most hardened of skeptics will be gripped by this account of David Matthews, Stefans childhood friend and sometimes harshest critic.

No-one thought Bertie Simmonds could speak. So, when he is heard singing an Easter hymn, this is not so much the miracle some think as a bolt drawn back, releasing long-repressed emotions with potentially devastating consequences... A decade later, Bertie marries Anstace, a woman old enough to be his mother, and another layer of mystery starts to peel away. Beginning in a village in Kent and set between the two World Wars, That They Might Lovely Be stretches from the hell of Flanders, to the liberating beauty of the Breton coast, recounting a love affair which embraces the living and the dead.

Whatever happened to middle England? Two of our funniest writers set out on a journey through conservative country with hilarious results. The Womens Institute. Polo matches. The Duke of Edinburgh. Nimbys, shooting and game fairs. Pall Mall clubs, the Countryside Alliance and Boris Johnson. Hampshire Polices brass band, the rubber chicken circuit and of course the Conservative party itself. Middle England, with all the social rituals, institutions and traditions that hold it together, has lasted for a long time. And Chris Horrie and David Matthews, two left-leaning journalists Chris is from Manchester and Davids parents are from Guyana are fascinated by it. So off they go, armed with two ballpoints and a sharp sense of humour, to see what they can see. Sometimes, its as simple as hanging out at the proms, munching scones with the vicar at a village cricket match, or chatting with Michael Howard. And other times, a bit more guile is needed so Chris and David baffle Conservative party members by helping out with their campaigns. With backgrounds as investigative reporters, the authors infiltrate Middle England and capture its denizens at their least guarded. What they find is at times cheering, and sometimes a bit worrying but it is always very entertaining. True Blue is Bill Bryson meets Spitting Image and a must-read for fans of John OFarrell, Private Eye and Jon Ronson.