One-eyed Baz: Barrington 'Zulu' Patterson, One of Britain's Deadliest Men
Book
Blinded in one eye by a childhood incident, his tormentors called him 'One Eye' or 'Cyclops'; it...
1611 King James Bible Audio Version
Book and Education
App
This is the original 1611 King James Bible with Apocrypha No internet connection needed. The King...
Genesis P-Orridge recommended Featuring The Human Host And The Heavy Metal Kids by Hapshash and The Coloured Coat in Music (curated)
Move Along, Please
Book
At 10.41am on a Tuesday morning in September, Mark Mason boards the number 1A bus at Land's End in...
Robert Simpson -- Composer: Essays, Interviews, Recollections
Book
Robert Simpson (1921-1997) was a composer whose thinking was sometimes alarmingly uncompromising. In...
Sisters of the East End: A 1950s Nurse and Midwife
Book
Heart-warming tales of nursing and midwifery from the Sisters who worked with Jennifer Worth. "A...
A Shadowed Livery (Inspector James Given Investigations #1)
Book
The first book in a page-turning historical mystery series! Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie,...
Historical Fiction Pre-World War 2
Top Fear: The Remaking of a TV Legend
Book
'Today and every day for me, up until May 2016, is all about the first episode of the brand new Top...
Rat (1 KP) rated Peaky Blinders - Season 1 in TV
Mar 28, 2018
Every part of Peaky Blinders is perfection. From the superb acting of its regular cast (Cillian Murphy on a tv show? Sign me up!) to a roster of featured guests (Sam Neill? Tom Hardy? Adrien Brody? Who did the casting director sell their soul to, anyway?) to the use of colour and an outlaw music soundtrack that shouldn't work, but does (Nick Cave? PJ Harvey? Tom Waits? David Bowie? On a period drama? What is this? Freaking genius, that's what.)
Shortly after the end of the first World War, a family of Irish gypsy (their word, not mine) - blooded Birmingham bookmakers tries to recover from the horrors of that war and build up their business. Second oldest, Tommy Shelby (played expertly by Cillian Murphy who manages to play a gangster who is both ruthless and fragile with the ability to break your heart with a single look), came back from the war broken by his experiences, but determined to rise far beyond the limitations of his Small Heath upbringing. Not only does he have the expected clashes with those who want to keep him from growing his business (both criminal rivals and the police) but he has a family to run (with all the interpersonal conflicts that entails). All of this is set against a backdrop of political turmoil from the IRA and the rise of communist sympathy in the UK.
You shouldn't like Tommy Shelby, but he is written and acted so well that you won't be able to not like him. The same can be said for older brother, Arthur, younger siblings John, Ada, and Finn. If you don't love Aunt Polly, then you must have a problem with strong female characters.
Steven Knight has taken a world told to him through family legend and turned it into a world that you will be eager to inhabit an hour (or, if you're like everyone I know, a season) at a time. He writes a period drama that doesn't feel dated. The characters and their struggles are as relevant today as they were nearly a hundred years ago.
Take a chance on the show with the weird name and discover why there are very few casual Peaky Blinders fans. There's a reason why the late, great David Bowie was a huge fan and made sure that they would have a song from his last album before he died. There's a reason the show's dated fashion and hairstyles are making a comeback, why Peaky Blinders pubs and pub nights are popping up all over. It's that good. Check it out for yourself.
Ambulance Services: Leadership and Management Perspectives: 2015
Paresh Wankhade and Kevin Mackway-Jones
Book
This volume provides fresh insights and management understanding of the changing role of the...