MARIA DUARTE recommends a remarkable study of the friendship between a Palestinian and a Pakistani, broken by a hostile state
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How an Oldham working-class hero powered to Jarama
COLIN TURBETT reviews a colourful account of the life and death of communist speedway star Clem Beckett
MATTHEW HAWKINS rakes through un-fancy words and flair-free summaries to find who and what might be flamboyant
PETER MASON is exhilarated by an exciting, well-considered and historically minded tribute to the great Trinidadian instrument
Reducing historical lives to ‘male’ and ‘female’ roles, we lose the nuance of those lives and a clearer understanding of past societies, suggests CLAIRE ISABELLA GILMOUR
CHRIS SEARLE relishes the genius of pianist Alexander Hawkins, his many ensembles, and his new album
Clem Beckett – Motorcycle Legend and War Hero
by Rob Hargreaves
Pen & Sword Books £25
SOME readers may know of Clem Beckett from the wonderful Townsend Theatre Productions 2016 tour of Daredevil Rides to Jarama that told some of his story.
Despite its rather military sounding title this book tells a north of England story of working-class individualism and commitment to the cause of communism during the turbulent times of the 1920s and 1930s; as such it fills in the gaps of writer Neil Gore’s theatrical production.
Born in 1907, Beckett grew up in an Oldham terraced house and had to go out to work at the age of 12 to help support his family after his father abandoned them.
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