Bøker av Douglas Thompson

April Ashley was a trailblazing figure in the fight for trans visibility and acceptance, one of the first British people to undergo gender-reassignment surgery, in 1960 - this is her remarkable story

The astonishing true story of the Scottish coal miner's daughter who fought the Mafia-backed creators of the world's biggest financial fraud - and helped the FBI to convict them.

Drawing on recently released secret files, an astonishing look at the extent to which Frank Sinatra's life and career were inextricably linked with the Mafia, and how a number of innocent people died, simply because they knew Sinatra, or had upset him.

Scott Malthrop is a murderer with a difference: his entire house is filled with an enormous device gradually assembled by him and his father over four decades. Known only as "e;The Machine"e; the device seems to transport Malthrop to different locations in space and time by feeding off his memories and a vast array of sentimental objects and trophies taken by Malthrop from his own past and that of his victims. As Malthrop's experiments become ever more violent and life-threatening, they cause distortions in the surrounding quantum fabric, and spark off pursuit from two very different directions: a local Police Inspector and two "e;Angels"e; sent back from the end of time.

Invitations to John Aspinall and John Burke's illegal gambling parties were the most sought after in 1950s London - only the wealthy and well-connected were allowed past their door. When the police finally arrested them, Aspinall and Burke challenged the law - and won. As a result gambling was legalised. Which interested crime boss Billy Hill and his lieutenant Bobby McKew, because suddenly clubs sprang up everywhere and Billy had a foolproof way of fixing the cards. He also had his eye on the ultimate prize, Aspinall's exclusive new club, The Clermont... Revealing for the first time how Aspinall and Hill plotted to steal a fortune, based on testimony from Burke and McKew, The Hustlers is a riotous journey back to 50s and 60s London. With a cast of characters that ranges from safecracker Eddie Chapman to the reckless Earl of Derby, from croupier Louis the Rat to unlucky Lord Lucan, it vividly recreates the exploits of the gamblers and gangsters whose lives collided in the clubs and pubs of Mayfair. 'a fascinating glimpse into a bygone world . . . when chemmy parties took London by storm and toffs were often found to be rubbing shoulders with gangsters' Daily Express

Now Profumo is dead, I can finally reveal the truth about the most shocking scandal in British politics.

Vernon and Irene Castle were the world's first true celebrity couple. The Castles taught the world to dance to an altogether different tune, bringing social dancing out of stuffy ballrooms and into dance halls, night clubs and restaurants. For the first time, they made dancing in public respectable - and fun.