King's Cross Kid
A London Childhood Between the Wars
1st Edition
Published on 9. May 2013
256 pages
978-1-4088-4052-8 (ISBN)
Description
Victor Gregg, born in 1919, has had a rich and fascinating life. King's Cross Kid follows his London childhood from the age of five, when life was so hard that the Salvation Army arranged for young Vic to be taken to the Shaftesbury Home for Destitute Children. Home again a year later, the scallywag years of late childhood began. Then, after the years of street gangs and run-ins with the law, Vic leaves school at fourteen and his real adventures start, and with them a working-class apprenticeship in survival. Ending with his enlistment in the army on the day of his eighteenth birthday, this prequel to the bestselling Rifleman will appeal to the many readers who were charmed by Victor Gregg's engaging, honest and warm voice.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
1 x 8 page black and white plate
ISBN-13
978-1-4088-4052-8 (9781408840528)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
05/2014
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€32.39
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05/2013
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
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Persons
Victor Gregg was born in London in 1919 and joined the army in 1937, serving first in the Rifle Brigade in Palestine and North Africa, notably at the Battle of Alamein, and then with the Parachute Regiment, at the Battle of Arnhem. As a prisoner of war he survived the bombing of Dresden to be repatriated in 1946. The story of his adult years, Rifleman, was published by Bloomsbury in 2011, and the prequel, King's Cross Kid, in 2013. Both were co-written with Rick Stroud. Victor Gregg died in 2021, aged 102.
Rick Stroud is a writer and film director. As well as working with Vic Gregg on Rifleman he is the author of The Book of the Moon and The Phantom Army of Alamein: How the Camouflage Unit and Operation Bertram Hoodwinked Rommel. He lives in London.
Rick Stroud is a writer and film director. As well as working with Vic Gregg on Rifleman he is the author of The Book of the Moon and The Phantom Army of Alamein: How the Camouflage Unit and Operation Bertram Hoodwinked Rommel. He lives in London.
Content
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- King's Cross to the Thames, my childhood stomping ground
- King's Cross and the streets where I was born
- Preface
- Part One
- 1 Morning, King's Cross
- 2 Four into Two
- 3 Prospect Terrace School
- 4 'As Jesus Been Yet?
- 5 Little Emmy
- 6 Losing My Marbles
- 7 Big Boys Don't Cry
- 8 Mean Streets
- 9 Harsh Lessons
- 10 Bit of a Lark
- 11 The Bear
- 12 Picking Up Tips
- 13 Tar Blocks and Cricket
- 14 Hop-picking in Kent
- 15 Mr James and His Canes
- 16 The Move to Bloomsbury
- 17 The Crusade of Rescue
- 18 Costermongers in Kenton Street
- 19 Growing Up in Bloomsbury
- 20 Choirboy and Scout
- Part Two
- 21 Brooklands Boy
- 22 Peggy
- 23 Jobs and Sods
- 24 Bloomsbury Society
- 25 Running into Eddie Wilson
- 26 . . . and Fred
- 27 Joe Brown's Masters of Rhythm
- 28 Saturday Night Dance Halls
- 29 Defending Sidmouth Street
- 30 Helping Out Abe
- 31 A Bit of Prestige
- 32 Horror Job
- Part Three
- 33 Covent Garden and Maisie
- 34 Boxing Clubs and the Palais de Danse
- 35 Talking Family
- 36 Trouble in the Garden
- 37 Frankie's Café
- 38 The Loss of Sammy and Maisie
- 39 Bookie's Runner
- 40 Back with Eddie Again
- 41 Granddad Reflects
- 42 Soldier Boy
- 43 Basic Training
- 44 The End of the Beginning
- Plate Section
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on the Authors
- By the Same Authors
- Also Available by Victor Gregg with Rick Stroud
- eCopyright
