John Craven

Matt Baker

Published In Aid of BBC Children in Need * The Countryfile Calendar has brought nature into our homes for nearly three decades, and now this comprehensive collection captures the essence of each season, bringing together viewers’ photographs of the British countryside throughout the year.

Countryfile – A Picture of Britain: A Stunning Collection of Viewers’ Photography

Greg Miles: My Lucky Life is a fascinating and inspirational gem of Australian horse racing literature. It digs deep into a life peppered by struggle, tears, failure, self-doubt, lucky breaks and, ultimately, supreme achievement and accolades. Melbourne-born Greg Miles called a record 36 Melbourne Cups, two more than the revered Bill Collins and three ahead of his mate and mentor Joe Brown. He also called a record 36 Cox Plates and 36 Caulfield Cups. He became known as "The Voice of Australian Racing," with the Herald Sun newspaper branding him "Calling Royalty." He called his first Melbourne Cup in 1981, aged just 22, and his last in 2016, retiring soon after at 57. He called for radio and television, starting with the ABC, then Sky Channel, Sport 927 and Racing.Com. He was also the course broadcaster at the Flemington, Caulfield, Moonee Valley and Sandown tracks. He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2016 for services to racing, and is a life member of the Victoria, Melbourne and Moonee Valley Racing Clubs.

Behind the Binoculars

Greg Miles: My Lucky Life

John Craven has been presenting Countryfile since its launch in 1989 and, for the first time, he has distilled all his knowledge and wisdom about country life into The Countryfile Handbook. This book is an invaluable resource for those who live in the countryside or want to know more about it. Divided into the different types of land (villages and market towns; fields and farming; upland; lowland; woodland; waterways; coastline) it offers practical information: ¤ How to tell the difference between the swallow, martin and swift ¤ How to learn the various sheepdog calls ¤ The do's and don't's of foraging ¤ How lichen can help tell us how clean the air is informative essays on rural issues: ¤ Why hedgerows are important ¤ Saving British meadows ¤ Reintroducing beavers plus useful (and entertaining) facts and figures: ¤ Did you know an acre is the space need to park 200 cars ¤ 10 things to do with a stinging nettle ¤ What to do if you see a sheep on its back Together with stories and anedotes from the programme, this book really will become your Countryfile companion.

John Craven's Countryfile Handbook

The Prison Life of Jefferson Davis is John Craven's absorbing first-person account of Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, imprisonment after the Civil War. Davis, accused of treason, the plot to assassinate President Lincoln, and the horrors of Andersonville Prison, spent two years in prison after General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the North to General Ulysses S. Grant. Craven served as personal physician to President Davis for seven months of his imprisonment and has recorded his experiences in this captivating story.

Prison Life of Jefferson Davis

Take a trip down memory lane with the memoir from national TV treasure John Craven, as he recounts both the highs and lows of one of the longest entertaining careers in history, and the people and animals that have helped to shape it. _______ 'A cracking read' Chris Evans, Virgin Radio Breakfast Show _______ He began by reading the front page of the evening newspaper in the kitchen to his mother and aunt. Since then he's spoken into microphones to the nation on the BBC almost every week for more than half a century and is one of the most-beloved broadcasters of our time. Presenter of treasured programmes Newsround, Countryfile and Swap Shop, John brought us the headlines and breaking news of our childhood and later helped us discover the magic and wonder of the British countryside. Now, in his first ever autobiography, he recounts a life in news starting with the Grimthorpe Street Gazette, the handwritten newspaper he produced in his early teens - just one copy at a time, so small beginnings. Later, broadcasting on television to millions of children, his casual style of news-reading even found his jumpers making news. He writes about his childhood, his career and the people, events - and animals - that have shaped his life. This is John Craven. And this is the story behind the man so many of us grew up watching on our television screens. _______ 'Magical memoirs. A BBC legend. A broadcasting icon. The best bits from cub reporter to Countryfile . . . his early career sounds like a riot' Daily Mail

John Craven

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