Chaplin Books imprint: 51 books

When Penelope Gordon was headhunted to go and work in Doha, Qatar, her sole experience of the Middle East had been a brief luxury break in Dubai. Her husband Lionel, a much-travelled naval officer, was more blasé about the move, but neither was quite prepared for the experience that followed.Penelope...

Everyone on deck! All hands on deck! Fire! Fire! Bring the hose quick! As the steamship lurched in the heavy seas, Harry Braham grabbed what clothes he could and struggled with the other terrified passengers to climb the ladders. On deck, with the rain lashing down and the wind howling, he gripped the...

A romance that crossed continents ... A tour of duty ... A spiritual awakening.True story of how the author, a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF, met and married an Indian man; and of how exposure to different cultures led her on a spiritual journey from 'party girl' to learning about, and being transformed...

Until that fateful day in 1970 when the Royal Navy abolished the rum ration, the one thing that every Royal Navy sailor could rely on was that ‘Up Spirits’ would be piped at approximately 11:45 each day . ‘Tot-time’ was the cue for plenty of banter and lamp-swinging, but also for baffling negotiations...

1950s Britain - when life was great if you had the guts to live it.Murder, lurid courtroom dramas, gypsy horse fairs, eccentric admirals, child brides, and falling in love - it’s all in a day’s work for cub reporter John Bull.Meet a cast of characters - from the parish clerk who dresses like a French...

Passion for the Park is a celebration of the ordinary lover of the beautiful game, the dedicated lads who turn out week after week in the hope of beating another works or pub team. In Park Football the kit is never washed, there is no spare ball, studs are never inspected, there are holes in the goal-netting,...

In the 1880s, George Grossmith was the dazzling comic star of Gilbert and Sullivan’s immensely popular Savoy operas. London theatregoers waited excitedly for the next production, knowing that George would be cast in the lead role of the ‘patter man’. He was also many other things in his life, including...

Robert Mitchum was one of the most charismatic stars of the ‘classic Hollywood’ era. His screen persona was the essence of cool: tough but vulnerable, accepting of his fate with languid charm and easy humour. His films have often been seen through the lens of film noir, but they had something else...

August 1914 is the story of England in that watershed month when the country went from peace to war. It tells of what life was like in a country that looked, and smelt, very different to today. Work could be long, hard and deadly; pleasures were rough and simple; religion was a comfort for many. Some...

What do you think of when you hear the phrase ‘nineteenth-century schooling’? The bullies of Tom Brown’s Schooldays? The cane-wielding headmaster of Dotheboys Hall in Nicholas Nickleby? Or Latin lessons, writing slates, learning-by-rote and the smell of ink? In this lively and engrossing book,...

Rum Ba-Ba is a cheeky young lamb who is full of energy. He is always getting himself into scrapes and sees every day as an opportunity for a new adventure. In these eight short stories, ideal for bedtime reading for 6-9 year-olds, Rum Ba-Ba rescues a trapped lamb, makes friends with a fox, saves the...

John Sandiman is a librarian at a run-down Glasgow college full of feckless students and overseen by hopeless jobsworths.Fed up with his job, still mourning the cowardly way that Jessica, his ex-girlfriend, dumped him and bemoaning the apathy of the Scots, Sandiman dreams of the time when Caledonia was...

Every Sunday, Mollie - a miniature dachshund - would attend Mass at Holy Trinity Church in Gosport with her owner, Christine Harris. Mollie had her own kneeler, received the blessing of St Francis from the priest and regarded it as her special duty to welcome newcomers to the church. She was also known...

This is the Blitz story from a fresh new perspective - through the eyes of a small boy and his gang of streetwise Bomb Alley Kids. It was the worst of times for adults, thrust into the front line of the war by relentless night-bombing, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. It was maybe the best of...