Books

Jeffrey Archer pictured exclusively at the Tower (Image: ) We are standing in the inner ward of the Tower of London amid school parties and anorak-clad tourists while Jeffrey Archer is explaining how to steal the Crown Jewels. Not just any of our most precious treasures mind, but the veritable …

Melody with her inspiration, Jock (Image: Getty) “Growing up was challenging,” says Melody, 55, a former TV presenter turned author and public speaker. “Domestic violence was rife. I held my breath waiting for the next row. Mum showed affection and tried her best. But to my father, I didn’t exist.” …

It was one of the biggest tests of Joan Collins’s career. Would she star in one of the most-hyped films of the era? Or would she have to watch another actress win the role of a lifetime? But this was no audition room for the actress, then aged in her …

The children’s book Winnie-The-Pooh has been revised to ­imagine Hundred Acre Wood without any trees. Winnie-The-Pooh: The Deforested Edition features new illustrations and is the first classic to be updated to reflect green concerns. The book has been changed to highlight the loss of trees across the world to make …

Dame Joan Collins is happier than she has ever been (Image: Getty) Age is a dirty word in the Collins household. Not because Dame Joan’s scared of her 90 years. Or because her beloved fifth husband is a few decades her junior. But because she’s always believed the secret to …

Clara Miller painted on her wedding courtesy of the National Trust. Inset, daughter Agatha aged 36 (Image: National Trust) Too often female authors are defined solely by their relationships with the men in their lives, lovers and husbands foremost. But how about the women who feature most prominently in their …

Adrian Edmondson played a key role in the success of Absolutely Fabulous, he reveals. He had the inspired idea of Joanna Lumley playing the iconic Patsy Stone, suggesting the actress to his wife Jennifer Saunders, who created the show. Adrian, 66, recalls: “Another actress was in the frame and at …

The Elgin Marbles on display at The British Museum (Image: Getty) Have I Got News For You stalwart Ian Hislop may be a national treasure in the UK for his sardonic sideswipes at power, but in Greece it is his wife Victoria who is the star. And if the best-selling …

Journalists packed into Douglas DC-3 bound for Rhodesia (Image: Fincher//Popperfoto) The threat of violence was everywhere, betrayal was an ever-present danger, but forbidden love was a risk that journalist James MacManus was prepared to take. Half a century later, the thrill of his African adventure has rekindled treasured memories for …

Laura’s father’s bucket list (Image: Adrian Bacolo) “I was terrified,” says Laura, who threw up as the ground hurtled towards her while skydiving. “Surfing the Pacific was also really scary; I must have wiped out 20 times, as was sailing alone: I capsized.” Laura was 25 years old when her …

Osman never thought he would become one of the world’s best-selling authors (Image: Getty) Steven Spielberg has optioned his book series for the big screen, but if Osman is starstruck by this turn of events, he isn’t showing it. The 52-year-old creator of quizzes and former co-host of BBC’s Pointless …

Peggy, the hedgehog (Image: ) It was my toddler grandson Billy who first spotted the hedgehog in the autumn of 2021, caught in a net we used to clear debris from our pond. We tried to shake it free but it gave only the slightest tremor. My husband, Kim, is …

After breaking Netflix records, hitting No 1 in 84 countries around the world, the One Piece live-action adaptation is getting a second series. Eiichiro Oda, author of the manga the show is based on, announced the news in a special video with his face covered by a fish drawing as …

Clive Myrie in Kyiv dodging Russian missile strikes (Image: BBC) It was TV presenter Alan Whicker who first inspired Clive Myrie to pursue a career in broadcasting. Growing up in Lancashire in the 1970s, his imagination was sparked by the long-running documentary series Whicker’s World. “Whicker would travel the globe …

Earlier this year Young Bond novel writer Charlier Higson published his first official adult 007 adventure. Set during King Charles III’s Coronation, On His Majesty’s Secret Service follows a James Bond who disapproves of anti-immigration talk and drinks kombucha. Recently the author has been engaging on social media with 007 …

Hampton Court, though no longer used as a royal residence, has seen centuries of regal drama (Image: Getty) Growing up at Hampton Court, young Prince George was utterly miserable. When his father died, he had become the charge of his grandfather, George II – a man of moderate intelligence, minimal …

Hollywood’s take on a megalodon on The Meg, (Image: ) Imagine an enormous shark weighing twice as much as a humpback whale. This giant predator is making its way through coastal waters off Africa: its body moving as if to the rhythm of a beating drum, its scythe-like fin, taller …

Chris Tarrant, a teacher-turned-TV-newsman (Image: Getty) The morning after the first episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? transmitted on 4th September 1998, a lorry-driver spotted Chris Tarrant walking through Wembley and cheerfully hollered, “Oi, Chris, phone a friend?” Twenty-five years later – and ten years after he stopped …

Child survivors at the Auschwitz death camp in Poland (Image: Getty) Imagine knowing your death is inevitable, and possibly imminent, only to be offered a lifeline so unlikely and unexpected it can only be described as a miracle. Yet such a miracle actually saved the lives of several thousand Jews …

Suchet at home, with his bookshelves fastidiously arranged by height. (Image: ) Why did the world fall so deeply in love with Sir David Suchet as Hercule Poirot? After all, the famous Belgian detective with whom he has become synonymous is a fastidious, pernickety and, whisper it, sometimes rather irritating …

Yesterday the long-awaited live-action adaptation of the world’s best-selling comic by volume landed on Netflix. One Piece, a swashbuckling fantasy about a young man’s quest to find a legendary treasure and become King of the Pirates, has been going as a Japanese manga since 1997. With over 1090 chapters to …

Eiichiro Oda may be the 10th best-selling fiction author in the history of the world, who’s not far behind JK Rowling’s sales, but is famously reclusive and rarely gives interviews. The creator of One Piece, the best-selling manga and comic by volume in the world, has been writing his pirate …

As George RR Martin continues to work away on The Winds of Winter, he occasionally takes a break to update fans on his news via his blog. Most recently the 74-year-old was honoured to discover that Vanity Fair has named a Game of Thrones episode he penned as one of …

Charles Dickens, author of David Copperfield (Image: Getty) THE harbour town of Broadstairs has been making the best of the mixed British summer. Children splash in the gentle surf while adults stroll along The Parade, browsing food stalls, enjoying the views and ozone-rich air. This seaside idyll might not be …

Burger King is facing a lawsuit that claims its Whopper burger appears too small on menus compared to what is offered in reality. The fast-food giant must face up to allegations that it is misleading customers by showing a burger that boasts a meatier patty, and ingredients that “overflow over …

Among the main Straw Hat Pirates crew in One Piece is the ship’s cook Vinsmoke Sanji.  In Eiichiro Oda’s manga, the character is famous for his kicks, sporting a jacket and tie and chain-smoking. Infamously, his cigarettes were censored in the 4Kids version of the anime, being converted into a …

It’s been 26 years since the One Piece manga began and six since its live-action adaptation was announced at Netflix. Author Eiichiro Oda is an executive producer on the show, which debuts on the streaming service this Thursday. Earlier this year the creator confessed to “frustrating” moments during production of …

The nation has obsessed with The Arches for over 70 years (Image: Getty) It’s the world’s longest-running drama, created way before most of its audience were born, and still going strong today. Such is the pulling-power of The Archers that everybody – from Queen Camilla to Rylan Clark – listens …

He’s the 10th best-selling fiction author in the history of the world, with over 500 million sales globally for his One Piece manga. Now over 25 years on since he started, Eiichiro Oda is penning the final part of the most popular comic by volume ever. As the 48-year-old embarks …

This is one of the best memoirs I have ever read. Written by novelist John Niven, it begins on the day in August 2010 when he was told that his 42-year-old brother Gary was in a coma. Gary had been admitted to hospital after self-harming. Then, left in a room …

One Piece is a global phenomenon but has had only a niche impact on popular culture in the UK. This is surprising given that the ongoing Japanese comic is the world’s best-selling manga and the best-selling comic by volume ever with over 500 million copies sold worldwide In fact, the …

Frederick Forsyth and the novel that made him a star (Image: Getty) I was not long out of school and working on my third unpublished novel when The Day Of The Jackal came out in 1971. It was serialised in the Daily Express and I remember reading the first chapter …

Frederick Forsyth gained fame with The Day of the Jackal, published in 1971 (Image: GETTY) Frederick Forsyth would tell you he got a lucky break with the blockbuster story that made him a household name around the world, but don’t you believe it. Forsyth, who is calling time on his …

He may be best known for a fictional detective haunted by the disappearance of his wife, but dognapping rather than kidnapping drives Peter James’ latest book. The best-selling author will talk about the “horrific” rise in dog thefts alongside an RSPCA officer at a book festival in London. The creator …

James Hanratty (Image: Handout) James Hanratty walked the few steps from his condemned cell to the gallows just across the prison landing. A hood was draped over his head, and a noose slipped around his neck. Executioner Harry Allen pulled the lever, sending the 25-year-old Londoner plunging eight feet. Minutes …

A top children’s author has waded into the woke book editing row that’s seen favourite kids’ stories revised to avoid offending people. Dame Jacqueline Wilson has revealed that she is “very against” editing classic text so that they fit with a more woke agenda and the sensitivities of modern audiences. …

William Shakespeare’s First Folio (Image: Getty) To be, or not to be… the most famous writer of all time. When it comes to William Shakespeare, that is not the question. The love that endures for England’s national poet, the son of a humble glove maker from the West Midlands, really …

Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer (Image: ) The summer blockbuster film Oppenheimer has given millions a fresh understanding of how and why America raced to develop atom bombs, ultimately bringing an end to World War Two. Director Christopher Nolan’s epic concentrates on the turbulent life of theoretical physicist J. …

Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart at a party, 1951 (Image: Getty) Squinting through narrowed eyes beneath a fedora, a cigarette hanging from his thin lips, his world-weary expression forged by hard liquor and hard-bitten women in smoke-filled bars, Humphrey Bogart was Hollywood’s iconic tough guy. In classic movies from The …

Over the last few years, JK Rowling has caused a rift in her fandom over her views on transgenderism and gender identity. This includes her questioning if trans women should be allowed in women-only spaces. The Harry Potter author, who denies being transphobic, has responded to the considerable online backlash …

Ambrose Parry: Marisa Haetzman and Chris Brookmyre (Image: ) Smothering a victim’s face with a chloroform-doused rag is favoured by filmmakers and writers as a dramatic way to knock out a character fast…which irritates anaesthetist-turned-novelist Marisa Haetzman, as science has long proven this to be complete nonsense. “It takes about …

First we have a fun-filled adventure, How I Became a Dog Called Midnight by the bestselling author and actor Ben Miller. This body-swap story follows George as one night there’s a magical mix-up and he swaps places with his lovable hound Midnight! Can the two friends save the day before the clock …

Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs (Image: Getty) Great train robber Ronnie Biggs was relaxing in his trunks and thinking of the £35,000 fee a newspaper interview had just netted him, when he heard the knock at the door he had been dreading for nearly a decade. Biggs instantly recognised the …

Today Belinda is a registered mental health nurse and director at the Care Quality Commission (Image: Getty) When mental health nurse Belinda Black arrived at work one day in the early 1990s she was perturbed to see one of her long-term patients lining up to board the hospital minibus. Josephine …

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Image: Getty) Peering through a magnifying glass beneath his signature deerstalker hat, sucking on a blackened clay pipe, Sherlock Holmes remains the world’s greatest literary detective, immortalised in more than a century of books, films and television. The Baker Street sleuth’s preternatural powers of observation and …

Author Steve Cavanagh (Image: ) Before you seek revenge, dig two graves, including one for yourself. Or so warns the ancient proverb commonly attributed to Confucius. It’s a cautionary message author Steve Cavanagh pondered while writing his new book: how far can a person go to avenge themselves before becoming …

It’s been 12 years since George RR Martin last published a novel in his A Song of Ice and Fire series. Since then the Game of Thrones TV show has come and gone, with its creators having had to rely on plot outlines for the last two books that are …

Teun Toebes with care home resident and ‘housemate’ Murielle (Image: Marijke Krekels) In Teun Toebes’s small bedroom is a pub-style peanut dispenser, coffee machine, and well-stocked bar. In the wide corridor outside are fake plants and the sound of blaring televisions. It could be any well-appointed student digs, but for …

Crime writer M W Craven (Image: PA) When Mike Craven sent the draft of his novel The Botanist to a scientist friend, the response wasn’t quite what he had anticipated. “He got straight back and told me I could face ten years in prison for revealing the recipe for ricin,” …

Barrister-turned-broadcaster Rob Rinder thinks his friend Benedict Cumberbatch would be the ideal choice to star in a TV adaptation of his debut thriller The Trial. He recalls how Cumberbatch, who he met at Manchester University, deterred him from pursuing a career in acting. “I’d been to the National Youth Theatre …