{"title":"Richard Anthony Baker","description":"\u003cp\u003eDiscover the captivating historical fiction of Richard Anthony Baker. Explore tales of ancient Rome, Viking sagas, and medieval England, brought to life with meticulous detail and thrilling narratives. Start your historical journey here.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"british-music-hall-book-richard-anthony-baker-9780750936859","title":"British Music Hall","description":"Music-hall lies at the root of all modern popular entertainment. It grew from the songs that people sang for their own entertainment in taverns at the start of the nineteenth century. Within a few years rooms were added to inns for shows to be staged. Instead of folk songs and traditional airs, songs were specially composed for music-hall's first professional singers. Purpose-built theatres sprang up everywhere and became big business.  Britain's working class had for the first time its own form of public entertainment and its own breed of stars. The professional classes found it tawdry and meretricious but serious writers and artists - because of its vitality and colour - were much taken by it and it became simultaneously the haunt of the working classes and the avant-garde, including the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII).  With a wonderful roll-call of names - Marie Lloyd, Lottie Collins, Harry Lauder and Little Tich - and the songs that have made an indelible impression - I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside, Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay - Richard Anthony Baker's book is more than a nostalgic glimpse of a world now passed away. It is a hugely engaging slice of social history, rich in humour, tragedy and bathos.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49516494094609,"sku":"GOR013376520","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53266107171089,"sku":"GOR006243198","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/B007YWB0D8.jpg?v=1751043035"},{"product_id":"marie-lloyd-book-richard-anthony-baker-9780709041351","title":"Marie Lloyd","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49571272917265,"sku":"GOR002687347","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50459063779601,"sku":"GOR002460222","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0709041357.jpg?v=1750977770"},{"product_id":"british-music-hall-an-illustrated-history-book-richard-anthony-baker-9781783831180","title":"British Music Hall: An Illustrated History","description":"'The music hall ...had no place for reticence; it was downright, it shouted, it made noise, it enjoyed itself and made the people enjoy themselves as well.'  W.J. MACQUEEN POPE Music Hall lies at the root of all modern popular entertainment. With stars such as Marie Lloyd, Harry Lauder and Dan Leno, it reached its glorious, brassy height between 1890 and the First World War. In the first book on this subject for many years, Richard Anthony Baker whisks us off on a colourful and nostalgic tour of the rise and fall of British music hall. At the beginning of the nineteenth century people sang traditional songs in taverns for entertainment. This was so popular that rooms started to be added to inns for shows to be staged, and, before long, songs were being specially composed and purpose-built theatres were springing up everywhere. Britain's working class had, for the first time, its own form of public entertainment and its own breed of stars. The colour and vitality attracted serious writers and artists, as well as the future Edward VII, and music hall became simultaneously the haunt of the working classes and the avant-garde. Including stories of a clergyman who wrote music-hall sketches, a hall in Glasgow where luckless entertainers were pulled off stage by a long hooked pole, and Cockney dictionaries that helped Americans understand touring British performers, this book is a hugely engaging slice of social history, rich in humour, tragedy and bathos.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49583823192337,"sku":"GOR006433484","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49661916676369,"sku":"GOR013677988","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53337723699473,"sku":"GOR012267657","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1783831189.jpg?v=1751216517"},{"product_id":"many-a-true-word-book-richard-anthony-baker-9780755365159","title":"Many a True Word","description":"What are the top one hundred words we use the most? How should anchovy, chastisement and tryst be pronounced? How good are you at spelling the most commonly misspelt words and names? For the answers to these andquestions and much more, sit back and let Richard Anthony Baker take you on a journey through the English language.    Marvel at the richness of what we derive from French and German; bristle at the words banned in the Daily Telegraph; laugh at the officialese of corporate writers; bone up on our use of language from William Shakespeare (and the Bible) in our day-to-day talk; absorb Richard's master classes on how to win at Scrabble with devastating ease and how to complete cryptic crosswords with impressive alacrity; and test your linguistic agility by trying to answer the five questions which Google puts to job applicants.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49608476721425,"sku":"GOR005354564","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0755365151.jpg?v=1750701458"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-richard-anthony-baker.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}