Matt Richards

Mark Langthorne

"Including interviews from Freddie Mercury's closest friends in the last years of his life, along with personal photographs, Somebody to Love is an authoritative biography of the great man. Woven throughout Freddie's life is the shocking story of how the HIV virus came to hold the world in its grip, was cruelly labelled 'The Gay Plague' and the unwitting few who indirectly infected thousands of men, women and children--Freddie Mercury himself being one of the most famous."--

The Life, Death and Legacy of Freddie Mercury

Somebody to Love

Originally published: Great Britain: Blink Publishing, 2015.

The Doctor, the Damage, and the Shocking Death of Michael Jackson

83 Minutes

An intimate look at the life of Freddie Mercury, the iconic singer of Queen, featuring interviews with close friends and rare photographs revealing facts about his personal life, search for love, and his tragic battle with HIV/AIDS. With four new chapters, Somebody to Love pays tribute to an extraordinary life. Freddie Mercury’s untimely death at the age of 45 in 1991 revealed his hidden battle with AIDS, shocking the world and shedding light on the devastating impact of the disease. In Somebody to Love, authors Matt Richards and Mark Langthorne interweave Mercury’s pursuit for musical greatness with Queen, his personal struggles and quest for love, and the origins and aftermath of the AIDS epidemic that swept the globe in the 1980s. Four new chapters in this revised and updated edition bring fresh insights into the legacy of Freddie Mercury, the future of Queen, and the lasting impression he continues to make on fans around the world.

The Life, Death, and Legacy of Freddie Mercury

Somebody to Love [Reissue]

Almost seventy-five years ago, MI9 dreamt up the most audacious escape and evasion plan of World War Two. Formulated by Airey Neave, one of the first men ever to escape from Colditz, this plan was one of subterfuge, concealment and deception on a scale never seen before. With numerous downed RAF and Allied pilots on the run in Europe and with the fabled Comete Escape Line having been infiltrated by double agents, Neave's plan was to hide these men right under the very noses of the Nazis rather than risk repatriation. Choosing a forest in the heart of France, right next to one of the German Army's largest ammunition bases, Neave, Belgian agents and the French Resistance would secretly transport and hide Allied pilots and soldiers within feet of the enemy. Nobody thought it would work, but such was the success of the secret camp that a whole community of over one hundred and fifty Allied escapers lived within the forest for three months in the run-up to D-Day. Despite numerous close shaves, they were never discovered and this outrageous plan, brilliant in its simplicity, saw the Allied evaders make their home in the forest, cooking and hunting to survive - and even setting up a golf course in the forest using branches for clubs - without discovery. This operation remained absolutely secret, to the point that the inhabitants of the villages surrounding the forest were unaware, until the end, of the existence of that allied force so close to them. Told through interviews with evaders, members of the Resistance and the children charged with smuggling food into the forest, this book tells the compelling story of one of the most audacious operations in World War Two. A story that has, until today, remained as secret as the Hidden Army of Freteval.

The Hidden Army - MI9's Secret Force and the Untold Story of D-Day

How to Tan with Natural Materials ; a Field Guide for Hunters and Gatherers

Deerskins Into Buckskins

First edition published under title, Deerskins into buckskins: how to tan with natural materials; a field guide for hunters and gatherers, c1997.

How to Tan with Brains, Soap Or Eggs

A definitive look at Michael Jackson's final minutes, revealing for the first time the shocking details behind the tragic death of one of the world's biggest pop stars. On June 25th, 2009, the world was rocked by the tragic news that Michael Jackson—the biggest and most influential music icon since Elvis Presley—had died. He was only 50 years old when paramedics pronounced him dead on arrival at a Los Angeles hospital. For weeks after his death, speculation and rumor abounded concerning the drugs in Jackson’s system and the role Conrad Murray, the singer’s personal physician, had played in the his death. In 2011, Murray was tried and convicted of involuntary manslaughter, for which he served two years in prison. Now, for the first time, readers have access to a comprehensive and truly horrifying account of the crucial moments leading up to Jackson’s demise. Drawing on court documents and testimonials, 83 Minutes presents a multi-perspective tracking of every individual involved and the part they played as the tragedy unfolded, examining forensically the mystery of the 83 minutes that elapsed from the moment Dr. Murray suggested he found Jackson not breathing to the moment the singers' lifeless body was wheeled into hospital. Evenhanded and unbiased, Matt Richards and Mark Langthorne’s account is rich with detail, including the specific cocktail of drugs employed in an attempt to keep Jackson alive and the harrowing conditions in which the troubled genius’s life ended. Included as well is the story of the legal struggle for control of Jackson’s assets that followed his death where Richards and Langthorne report that “the combined earnings of Jay Z, Taylor Swift, and Kanye West since Michael Jackson died come nowhere near the revenues Jackson has earned for his estate after his death.” Written with documentary flair, this powerful and compelling book is already emerging as the definitive account of one of the darkest hours in music history.

On June 25th, 2009, the world was rocked by the tragic, shocking news that Michael Jackson - the biggest and most influential music icon since Elvis Presley - was pronounced dead on arrival at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 50 years old. As the news reverberated around the world, it was accompanied by even more shocking and controversial information - a sickening revelation to Jackson's millions of fans: that Jackson had died in the care of his personal physician, Dr Conrad Murray - a whole 83 minutes before Murray put a 911 call in to emergency services. In this, a comprehensive and truly horrifying account of those crucial minutes - Murray's frantic attempts to cover his tracks and revive his client before the truth could be revealed - are laid bare. This is a compelling, multi-perspective tracking of all who were involved at the scene, and their part to play in the events surrounding Jackson's tragic passing. The shocking cocktail of drugs employed to keep Jackson alive, adminstered by Murray himself; the harrowing and squalid conditions in which this troubled musical genius ended his life, all is 100% accurately described from official court transcripts and documentation. A powerful and compelling account of the brutal truth behind the rumours.

Matt Richards

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