The Plymouth Book of Days

by John van der Kiste

Taking you through the year day by day, The Plymouth Book of Days contains a quirky, eccentric, amusing, or important event or fact from different periods of history. Find out when Plymothians elected the first woman to take her seat at Westminster, when Sir Francis Chichester sailed back into the city at the end of his global voyage in Gipsy Moth IV, when Laurel and Hardy made their last ever appearance onstage, and what became of Casper the famous commuting cat who regularly traveled on the same bus day after day. Ideal for dipping into, this addictive little book will keep you entertained and informed. Featuring hundreds of snippets of information, it will delight residents and visitors alike.

368 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2011

About the author

John Van der Kiste, British author, was born in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, on September 15, 1954, son of Wing Commander Guy Van der Kiste (1912–99). He was educated at Blundell's School, Tiverton, where he briefly formed a rock band Cobweb with fellow pupil Miles Tredinnick, later vocalist with new wave band London and subsequently playwright and scriptwriter, and read Librarianship at Ealing Technical College, where he edited the librarians’ student magazine.
He has worked for several years in public and academic libraries, but is best known as a writer. His first book, Frederick III, appeared in 1981, and since then he has published over twenty historical biographies, as well as books on local history, true crime, rock music, a novel and a play. He is also a contributor to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Guinness Rockopaedia, and has produced articles on historical, musical and art subjects in national and local journals, including Illustrated London News, Royalty Digest, European Royal History Journal, Best of British, BBC History Magazine, Record Collector, Antique Collector, This England, The Independent, and Gibbons Stamp Monthly. He has reviewed books and records for the press, written CD booklet notes, and between 1991 and 1996 edited the 70s rock fanzine Keep on Rockin.
In 2002 he was a consultant for the BBC TV documentary 'The King, the Kaiser and the Tsar', first screened in January 2003.
He married professional musician and teacher Kim Graham (née Geldard) in 2003 and lives in Devon.

Reviews

[Jennifer Homeyard]

Great little book, very interesting read.

[Garry Marlton]

It is one of those books where you need to be from Plymouth or it will not really intrest you. I do feel some of the entries were just book fillers but over all very good.