Anthony Meredith

Oscar Piastri is a rising star in the world of Formula One. Laser-focused, talented and with a huge future ahead of him, he represents the new breed of drivers hungry for success. After just a few seasons at the top, he has shown himself to be a driver of exceptional ability. In this book, motorsport writer Anthony Meredith charts Piastri's remarkable rise from the suburbs of Melbourne to the pinnacle of his sport. Documenting Piastri's trials and successes across his entire racing career, this is an essential read for fans everywhere.

The foundation of Stowe as a Public School in 1923 saved a fine eighteenth-century mansion from demolition and the surrounding landscape gardens from being built upon or farmed. Stowe Legends tells of a host of intriguing characters who, under the inspirational headmaster J.F. Roxburgh, set about making a success of the ambitious new school that had inherited a grand, but somewhat down-at-heel home. Here, as never before, are vivid insights into its daily life during the Roxburgh era (1923-49), told from the perspective of many of the leading characters. Notable personalities include novelist T.H. White. Shakespearean scholar G. Wilson Knight, and Stowe’s glamorous first woman teacher, Doreen Watt. Omnipresent throughout the whole narrative is the common denominator in all the Legends’ lives, John Fergusson Roxburgh, adroitly presiding over ‘the many-coloured web of Stowe’ and somehow ensuring that, despite all vicissitudes, the ground-breaking educational ambitions of 1923 would triumphantly take root in Stowe’s unique Arcadian setting.

New format paperback edition - The story of Silverstone's dramatic opening in 1948 and the colourful figures involved in its first Grand Prix.

For fans all over the world the thrilling partnership of Silverstone and Formula 1 has long represented one of the pinnacles of motor sport. Here the broad sweep of Silverstone’s Formula 1 history, a kaleidoscopic pageant of great cars and drivers, is explored in a new and highly accessible way through nine specific eras, each one delightfully and freshly illustrated: • The First Grand Prix and International Trophy (1948–49) • Forza, Alfa! Forza, Ferrari! (1950–51) • The Front-Engined Finale (1952–59) • Clark’s Dark Golden Age (1960–68) • The Stewart Dominance (1969–73) • The Hunt-Lauda Epoch (1973–79) • Three Titans: Prost, Mansell and Senna (1981–93) • The Schumacher Era (1994–2006) • New Heights: Hamilton and The Wing (2007 onwards) This photographic history of Silverstone and Formula 1 should appeal to motor racing fans everywhere, as it neatly captures the essence of what the highest level of a most demanding sport has meant to this very special venue.

Many myths, masquerading as facts, were flourishing, when Anthony Meredith’s first Arnold biography came out, almost twenty years ago. Accordingly, he misrepresented several key issues, just as previous biographers had done. He also fudged others, for Arnold was still alive, and so, too, was his forceful carer. The many Arnold myths lived on. Three years ago, however, Malcolm Arnold’s daughter, Katherine, encouraged the biographer to write a new book with the true story of her father’s last thirty years. She had much new evidence to support it - material that confirmed her suspicions that when her father, in mid-life, came under the total control of two different carers, his vulnerability had been terribly exploited. Arnold’s last thirty years could only properly be understood if seen in the context of his earlier life, so a full biography beckoned. Nor could the years after the composer’s death be omitted, for things occurred in this period that shed much light on previous dramas. The Inside Story, then, sweeps away the many myths that have surrounded the intriguing figure of Malcolm Arnold. It offers arresting new facts about his life, fresh insights into his music and much food for thought about the care of the mentally ill and its legal aspects. This important addition to the literature of British music is an engrossing saga, told with compassion and candour.

Northampton has rather more going for it than is often realised. Its industrial exploits have left it with a unique townscape, at last being properly appreciated. It has medieval roots, some remarkable buildings and an important place in the pageant of English history. It also has star performers with a record of broad creativity that few towns of comparable size could begin to rival. Local author Anthony Meredith takes readers on their very own A-Z tour around the town’s history, exploring the nooks and crannies, and along the way relating many a fascinating tale of the most interesting people and places. Fully illustrated with photographs from the past and present, this new A-Z guide to Northampton will appeal to residents and visitors alike.

The achievements of the great Victorian cricketer continue to fascinate. Even a hundred years after his death he is still widely written about, not least because his highly combative style of play has such modern resonances. W.G. Grace: In the Steps of a Legend offers a very special approach to the enigma that is W.G.: an exploration that takes the reader on a series of journeys of discovery. As places of particular significance to Grace and his family are visited, so the story of this great sporting celebrity steadily unfolds. Highlights include visits to W.G.’s wedding, where the evangelical Graces wreak havoc in a West Brompton church; Australia, seen afresh through the eyes of the newly married Mrs Agnes Grace; a long-lost ground in Grimsby, where we meet the forgotten twenty-two locals who fielded for three days while W.G. scored 400; the County Ground, Bristol, where we hold in our hands the very bat with which W.G. scored his hundredth 100; and The Oval, where, in the first ever home Test Match, W.G. and two of his brothers were representing England under the critical gaze of their mother and uncle, the redoubtable Martha and Alfred. It is a highly entertaining journey, bringing many fresh insights en route, as the man behind the legend comes vividly into focus.

It was madness: Grand Prix drivers racing flat out from opposite ends of two long runways, only to turn away from each other at the last moment at corners improvised with hay bales. But such was the major part of the first Grand Prix course ever to be devised at Silverstone. Fortunately there were no head-on collisions, and the next year the organisers hit on a more sensible arrangement. But none of the many subsequent Grand Prix at Silverstone, for all the ever-increasing glamour and hype, has quite engendered the same excitement as that very first one in 1948, even though it was held on a long-disused airfield bereft of modern amenities. Silverstone's Grand Prix of 1948 is a vivid recreation of that important day for British motor sport. But it is more than just the description of one historic race. We follow the various leading participants, both drivers and organisers, as fate draws them inexorably to Silverstone from different parts of the world and from very varied experiences, not least in the recent war. And after that one glorious day in early October is over and the RAC's International Grand Prix of 1948 has become part of motor racing history, we learn what fate had further in store for them. The Race on the Runways captures a moment in time when a few brave souls, enthused with a spirit of adventure, were boldly fighting, like knights of old, against the dragon of post-war depression.

With the liberal use of many previously unpublished photographs contrasting past and present, Silverstone Circuit Through Time shows how a wartime airfield developed, stage by stage, into the country's premier motor racing circuit, the annual home of Formula One's spectacular British Grand Prix. Though touching on some of the great personalities associated with the place, it is essentially a book about the circuit itself. There is much nostalgic emphasis on the 1950s and 1960s, when love of the sport and a willingness to make the best of things had to compensate for the somewhat primitive facilities on offer. The remarkable turnaround of more recent years is also fully explored, as a fairly ramshackle venue reflecting the dreamy surrounding countryside turned itself into a high-tech entertainment centre bristling with ambition for the future.

This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which Lord's has changed and developed over the last two centuries

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, in the enormous diversity of his activities, is arguably the most complete musician of all time. Not only does he have a remarkable 300 commissioned concert works to his credit, which have established him among the leading British twentieth-century composers, yet at the same time, with supreme success, he has also contrived to lead several completely different musical lives. For some, he is the ultimate exponent of 'crossover', as epitomised in his remarkable Concerto for Stan Getz and concert works for Cleo Laine. Others remember him as a concert pianist with a special enthusiasm for pioneering contemporary music, his partnerships with Susan Bradshaw, Jane Manning and Barry Tuckwell being particularly notable. Meanwhile, he also has over 70 film and television scores to his credit, the many classic titles ranging from "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Far From the Madding Crowd" to "Equus" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral". For cabaret and jazz club devotees, he is, again, something completely different: one of the finest and most knowledgeable of all exponents of the Great American Songbook, a much-in-demand singer and accompanist over the past thirty-five years, and, as such, the stage partner of some of the most glamorous performers in the business. This, then, is a book about a uniquely gifted musician. It is also a study of a most engaging personality and a fascinatingly complex human being.

The extraordinary story of Malcolm Williamson is one of rare musical talent combined with outrageous behaviour. An Australian, Williamson was the first non-Briton to hold the post of Master of the Queen's Music. He was appointed in 1975 and looked set to embellish his already illustrious career as a composer. By the time of his death in 2003 he was unproductive and largely forgotten. Authors Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris tell his bizarre story unflinchingly, sifting fact from fiction and offering a strong case for re-evaluating this flawed man and multi-talented musician. An investigation of the myths, rumours and half truths surrounding this controversial and misunderstood figure. The authors reveal the rift between Williamson and the Royal family. He was pointedly not invited to contribute to several high profile occasions including the wedding of Charles and Diana. They discuss if his failed marriage and open bisexuality was deemed beyond the pale at the Palace.

Gregory of Nyssa provides a concise and accessible introduction to the thought of this early church father with new translations of key selections of his writings. Anthony Meredith presents a diverse range of Gregory's writings:his contribution to the debates of the period about the nature of God in argument with a form of extreme Arianismhis discussion of the nature and work of the Holy Ghost, against the so-called 'Spirit fighters'his defence of the humanity of Christ against those who denied it (notably Apollinarius)the nature of fate and other philosophical issues.

Gregory of Nyssa provides a concise and accessible introduction to the thought of this early church father with new translations of key selections of his writings. Anthony Meredith presents a diverse range of Gregory's writings:his contribution to the debates of the period about the nature of God in argument with a form of extreme Arianismhis discussion of the nature and work of the Holy Ghost, against the so-called 'Spirit fighters'his defence of the humanity of Christ against those who denied it (notably Apollinarius)the nature of fate and other philosophical issues.