News, events and new titles from Bristol Books this October
Award Nomination
Bristol Books has been shortlisted in the first ever South West Business of the Year Awards.
Winners will be announced at a glittering black-tie dinner in Bristol’s Harbour Hotel on November 14.
Bristol Books is one of six businesses shortlisted in the Community Impact category with the winner being selected by a panel of judges.
The mystery of Marie Antoinette’s sister
Did a half-sister of Marie Antoinette live in a haystack in Flax Bourton, near Bristol while the Queen of France was sweeping through the mirrored halls of Versailles? The conspiracy theory about the illegitimate daughter of Emperor Francis I swept across Europe in the 18th Century.
In Maid of The Haystack author Martin J. Powell has captured the story of what Bristol was like in those times and how the scandal unfolded with philanthropist Hannah More playing a major part in the life of the “stranger” who arrived in Bristol and the stories that surrounded her. Written as an historical novel it brings to life the city and the rural areas of North Somerset while exploring the theories surrounding these true events.
October history talks
Bristol Books director, Clive Burlton will be doing a series of talks for local history and community groups in and around Bristol throughout October.
Audiences will hear about how Harry Dolman rose from rural roots to lead Bristol City FC; how the site of the Bristol International Exhibition of 1914 was transformed into a barracks for volunteer soldiers in WW1 and in two film screenings, how Bristol's emergency services operated during World War 2 and how Bristol's health services have run since 1948.
Talks include:
2nd Oct - 2.30pm - Downend Ladies Enterprise, Downend Baptist Church - Film screening - "70 years of the NHS in Bristol"
9th Oct - 7pm - Blagdon Local History Society - Film Screening - "The Citizens of Bristol at War"
15th Oct - 2.30pm - Bromley Heath Gardening Club - Film Screening - "The Citizens of Bristol at War"
22nd Oct - 10.30am - Clevedon Probus Club - Talk - "The Life and Times of Harry Dolman"
24th Oct - 10.30am - Nailsea Probus Club - Talk - "Bristol's Lost City"
28th Oct - 10.30am - Memories of Bedminster Group - Talk - "Bristol's Lost City"
Buzzards Flying off shelves
Our latest book Robin Prytherch: A Life With Buzzards has proved incredibly popular both locally and nationally, with bird enthusiasts loving the story of Robin and his observations of buzzards around the Bristol area. The hardback book, which features Robin’s drawings and fieldwork observations of the behaviour of buzzards is a unique insight into the birds' habits.
Television ornithologist Iolo Williams, a regular presenter on Springwatch said: “A cracker of a book by the doyen of buzzard watchers. Robin’s words and sketches ooze from every page.”
