non-fiction – N S Ford

Review of ‘I’m Not With the Man’ by Sylvia Patterson

nsford — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:09:00 +0000

This entertaining read is a collection of interviews with some of the most outrageous, unconventional and outspoken musicians of recent decades, including Adam Ant, Sinead O’Connor, Liam Gallagher, Chrissie Hynde, Marianne Faithfull, Evan Dando, Bjork, Snoop Dogg, Thom Yorke, Pete Doherty, The Prodigy, and many more. Although I’m not a fan of them all, they certainly said a lot of interesting things. The author met them multiple times, so we get her perspective of them over the years. Her book is a celebration of rock’n’roll mavericks and claims it was the end of an era. It’s not the first time I’ve read that there are no real rock stars now. Sylvia Patterson’s career in music journalism was when the magazines and papers were at peak influence. From the way she writes the interviews, she enjoyed meeting the artists and provoking them a little! It feels as if she is drawing a line under that era, celebrating how amazing it was, and recognising that the music industry and music journalism have changed. Sometimes it was fun to read, other times it was shocking or thought-provoking, depending on how the interview went and what was said. The author had a tendency to over-use certain words, such as blubbing and cackling. It had that music journalist tone, which occasionally irritates when you read a whole book of it, as I’ve found when reading similar books. The book is actually a follow-up to a previous memoir I’m Not With the Band, which I haven’t read, but I’d like to. In summary, if you’re fascinated by larger-than-life rock’n’roll characters, this read is for you.

Thank you to the publisher Fleet for the review copy via NetGalley.

Review of ‘Backstage Pass’ by J D DeCosta

nsford — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:47:00 +0000

This book is dark, funny and chaotic. Although the cover and blurb suggest it’s stuffed with crazy and sordid tales (and there are plenty of those), it’s really a dive into the grim aspects of fame and the music industry. Many of the stories are sad or thought-provoking, rather than wild. The book also taps into the 90s/2000s nostalgia wave. It has a very specific era and place, Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, specifically the Roxy Theatre (where the author was a general manager for many years), Rainbow Bar and Grill, and Whisky A Go Go. The author, JD, narrates the book in an evocative, gritty way. He was in various bands which never made it big, so he knows first-hand about chasing the dream of rock stardom. He met so many music legends in his time at the clubs and witnessed the dark side of success. At times, it seems like a roll-call of everyone who has been lost, from his friends, family and bandmates, to the most famous. There are chapters on celebrities who are no longer with us, including Amy Winehouse, Brian Wilson, Prince, Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington, Ozzy Osbourne and Anna Nicole Smith. JD brings his own perspective to these encounters, which I think is valuable. Some of the other celebrities (not any of the above) are not portrayed in a good light and JD is incredulous at their diva behaviour. I’m not going to name who they are, you’ll have to read the book to find out! Luckily they are not musicians I especially liked to begin with, or I’d be disappointed in them. I hope he didn’t get into trouble, despite the lengthy disclaimer at the start of the book. The author also emphasises how low-paid the work was at the clubs for most of the staff. It sounds totally exhausting and stressful. The book is enhanced with photographs of flyers, signed posters, the inside of the club and portraits of the musicians, sometimes with black bars across their eyes. Although the book is quite heavy at times and has some gross anecdotes, it’s a lively and entertaining read.

Published by Stonehouse Press, 2025.

Review of ‘Rock Goes to College’ by Paul Sexton

nsford — Thu, 21 May 2026 10:05:00 +0000

It was not a glamorous life for rock bands who played UK universities and colleges in the 60s and 70s. Up and down the motorways in vans which frequently broke down, playing in halls and refectories for low fees, rarely given dressing rooms or anything to eat. Students were generally enthusiastic audiences, however, with cheap tickets giving them a chance to see up and coming rock bands booked by enterprising social secretaries and entertainments officers from the student unions. This book is a detailed account of how playing to colleges had a significant role in the careers of particular bands and musicians. It’s a part of music history I hadn’t read about before, so it was interesting to have a variety of perspectives on the topic, from the artists themselves, to the unions, promoters and gig-goers of the time.

I thought the narrative was most effective when each chapter focused on a particular band, but other chapters mentioned a lot of them and almost became a list of who played where, when and for what fee. I would have preferred one chapter per band so the influence of playing to students could be more easily traced. It’s chronological, going from jazz, to rock’n’roll, prog rock and a little of punk and new wave at the end. The bands included The Who, Dire Straits, Wings, Elton John, Suzi Quatro and Pink Floyd. The observation that the state basically enabled many rock bands’ careers was food for thought, because students got free tuition and grants. The era was also charmingly naive in some respects, with rugby students serving as security, students sitting cross-legged to watch some of the bands, and fire regulations often ignored. I expect the book will appeal most to people who were there at the time, but it’s also worth reading for a unique cultural history.

Thank you to the publisher Mudlark at HarperCollins for the review copy via NetGalley. The book is out today.

Review of ‘The Walnut Tree: Women, Violence and the Law’ by Kate Morgan

nsford — Mon, 11 May 2026 08:53:00 +0000

From the author of the Murder: The Biography, this is a well-written, insightful history of English law specifically about women and violence in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Double standards, victim-blaming, classism, and misogyny were evident in how women were treated by the law, the media and society. Some of the quotes from judges and police at the time are awful and are guaranteed to make you angry. It does show how far we have come but we are still not all the way there yet.

As with the previous book, the author only discusses the details of the crimes where they enhance our understanding of the narrative. The writing did become repetitive and a little like a text-book, and the narrowed focus of the time period was not as appealing. It was an important read, however, and I’m glad to have furthered my knowledge. The author has a talent for explaining the law in an accessible way; I’d be interested to read more books from her on legal history.

Published by Mudlark, 2024.

Review of ‘Through the Looking Glasses’ by Travis Elborough

nsford — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:53:00 +0000

I like reading niche history books, so this one was interesting, if not as ‘spectacular’ as it promised to be. No one knows who invented spectacles, but it seems to have come from medieval Italy due to refinements in glassmaking. Remarkably it was a long time before anyone thought of adding sides to glasses that hooked over the ears!

This book is divided into two parts. The first part is the history of spectacles, up until the world wars. The focus is on the industries and processes which allowed the technology to improve, and society’s views on people who wore glasses. You will not be surprised to hear that women wearing glasses was frowned upon, even by doctors. The second part of the book is more of a cultural history, focusing on representations in the movies in particular and the history of designer frames. This part started off very interesting to me, but it became a little tiresome because there was so much discussion of film. I’m not at all fussed about designers either, although as a part-time glasses wearer I often go for designer frames if they suit me better. I felt that although the subject is very worthy of a history book, the focus of it was not quite what I wanted. There is praise from Simon Garfield on the front cover, and indeed it’s the kind of book he would write, with its niche history topic and irreverent, rambling style. There are some photographs of famous spectacles-wearers, including Harold Lloyd, Buddy Holly, Dizzy Gillespie, Michael Caine, Gloria Steinem, Jarvis Cocker, Keith Haring, and John Lennon (the nude photo of him and Yoko). It was a good read, considering I bought it from the discount trolley at Waterstones!

Published by Abacus, 2023.

Review of ‘Apollo 13’ by James Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger

nsford — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 07:45:00 +0000

After watching the film Apollo 13, I discovered it was based on a book. Originally titled Lost Moon, it was published in 1994, with the film following the year after.

The book describes what happened to the Apollo 13 mission, which was supposed to be the third manned lunar landing in 1970. Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise were on their way to the Moon, when there was an explosion in an oxygen tank – on April 13th. They had to abandon the Moon landing and focus on getting home, with the odds stacked against them.

Although the book was co-authored by Lovell, the perspective is third person. At first I thought that was strange, as there are chapters of his biography every so often, but then it made sense. A lot of the time we are following the various teams on the ground as they battled to solve problems and communicate to the crew. We also follow Marilyn, Jim’s wife, as she tries to reassure their children and fend off the media frenzy, while praying that he would come back. As a non-technical person, the book had too much detail for me and I think it could have been shorter, but for a science nerd I’m sure it would be perfect. I appreciate how it was carefully researched and structured. There is a good deal of background on previous missions and astronaut selection before we get to number 13. With a few diversions, the rest of the narrative, which is written in quite a journalistic style, follows the events closely. I liked the epilogue best, which manages to blend the investigation into what caused the explosion, with fast-forwarding to 1993 and Jim showing his space souvenirs to his grandchildren. At the end of the book, there is a timeline, list of Apollo missions, and dramatis personae. I think some images would have been a good addition, but I’m sure plenty can be found elsewhere.

Published by Hodder and Stoughton, 2015.

Related reviews: Space: The Human Story by Tim Peake, Magnificent Desolation by Buzz Aldrin, Look Up: Our Story with the Stars by Sarah Cruddas, The Moon by Oliver Morton, Challenger by Adam Higginbotham.

Review of ‘This is the Door: Notes from a Body in Pain’ by Darcey Steinke

nsford — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 10:30:00 +0000

This book is many things: feminist, anatomical, spiritual, literary, philosophical, memoir. I almost didn’t read it, because the themes are very heavy. It’s about pain. However, it turned out to be a thought-provoking, carefully written, rather profound read. The author explores the experiences of herself, family, friends and well-known figures (including Frida Kahlo, Kurt Cobain, Simone Weil, Franz Kafka and Nietzsche) to consider pain and suffering. It’s quite a short book with a lot packed in. As the daughter of a minister, she is particularly interested in religious attitudes to pain. She describes her journey to Lourdes to witness people’s faith in the healing water. Sometimes she acknowledges that the content of the book gets a bit ‘New Age’ but I think the point is that all beliefs are valid if they help us to try and make sense of pain. It’s not the sort of book that provides answers, but many viewpoints and sources are included. She also discusses biased views of pain according to the gender and race of the sufferers, which is an important topic. The only criticisms of the book I have are that for a well-known literary author and lecturer, it has a surprising amount of typos; and that the section about Cobain could have been more detailed, as she met and interviewed him.

If you think the book sounds interesting but are not sure if it will be too much, I encourage you to read it.

Published by Canongate, 2026.

Review of ‘Mining Men: Britain’s Last Kings of the Coalface’ by Emily P Webber

nsford — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 09:07:00 +0000

This book is about the last generations of miners in Britain. Although it’s a history book, it has a personal touch, as the author interviewed former miners and visited locations of interest. It’s well-written and engaging, although she uses the word ‘hypermasculine’ three times which for some reason I don’t like. There are well-chosen photos, including strikes, banners and memorials. The book is intended as a tribute to this once essential profession, allowing us to remember the struggles, dangers, camaraderie and politics of the pit. As it focuses on particular areas, towns and people, it might not please everyone connected in some way with mining, especially if their places are not included in the book. Chapters are tied into themes, such as the disease caused by coal dust, fathers and sons at opposite sides of the picket, the dedicated rescue teams, and pit ponies. It feels like a very important book which helps us to understand the legacy of miners, with an emphasis that they must be remembered.

Published by Chatto & Windus, 2025.

Related posts: book reviews of Black Gold by Jeremy Paxman and How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn.

Review of ‘The Heart-Shaped Tin’ by Bee Wilson

nsford — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 10:10:00 +0000

What do your kitchen items mean to you? This book is a brilliant blend of memoir, anthropology, food writing and social history. It was a lot more interesting than it sounded from the blurb. The premise is that soon after Bee Wilson’s husband left, the heart-shaped tin, in which she’d baked their wedding cake, suddenly fell to the floor. This got her thinking about how and why we attach meanings to kitchen items, whether their significance can change, and how different cultures attach importance to things.

The book includes themes such as grief, hoarding, gifting, social status and memory. The chapters switched between her own reflections, those of her friends, the stories of people from the past, and the slightly academic bits from researchers. I have to admit that some were more fascinating than others. The chapters on paper cups and corkscrews, for example, did not really interest me. The chapters on Merry Mushrooms and Agas, for example, were very good. At the end, we are back to the heart-shaped tin, which stands for so much more than its original intention. The book is so well-written and I would definitely consider reading more from this author.

Published by Fourth Estate, 2025.

Review of ‘With a Little Help from their Friends’ by Stuart Maconie

nsford — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 11:30:00 +0000

Another fab book about the Fab Four! But what does this one bring to the over-saturated field of Beatles-related writing? It does not pretend to be a serious, in-depth work. In these very short chapters, we learn about 100 people who changed the Beatles’ lives and careers, from managers, producers, family, girlfriends, and other musicians, to promoters, politicians, policemen and the various people described as the fifth Beatle.

Stuart Maconie brings his journalism / radio / TV experience, a humorous northern outlook and some strong opinions to bring us yet another new perspective on the best music group of all time. It’s very current, referring to John & Paul by Ian Leslie (published the same year) and a variety of podcasts, YouTube videos and social media posts, as well as documentaries, interviews and photos. It’s not fully referenced, unlike some other books about the Beatles. Occasionally the writing didn’t quite make sense to me and it also needed more thorough proofreading. I wouldn’t say it’s one of the best books on the subject but it was an enjoyable read, full of trivia, what-ifs, and thoughtful observations. If you’ve never read a book about the Beatles before, or if you don’t know a lot about their history, don’t start with this one, because it assumes you know it already.

Published by HarperNorth, 2025.

Related book reviews: One Two Three Four by Craig Brown, Beatles ’66 by Steve Turner, The Lost Album of The Beatles by Daniel Rachel.