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Billy Brown, I'll Tell Your Mother

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Billy Brown, I'll Tell Your Mother

By: Bill Brown
Narrated by: Bill Brown
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About this listen

By the time he was 10 years old, Billy Brown was running a successful little business on the black market and, for the right price, he would deliver it direct to your door in an old carriage pram.

This is the highly entertaining and eye-opening memoir of a young boy growing up in 1950s post-war London. With energy and insight, Billy Brown paints a vivid and lively picture of Britain emerging from the ruins of the war, the hunger for opportunity, the growing pace of modernisation, and the pride and optimism that held communities together. Londoners were intent on getting themselves back on their feet, and it provided the perfect opportunity for a boy with ambition and a lively imagination.

Born in Brixton, south London, in 1942, Billy Brown was a loveable scamp with a nose for mischief. Left to his own devices whilst both his parents went out to work, if there was trouble to be had, Billy would be in the thick of it. Ignoring the shaking of fists from his neighbours, his mother's scoldings, and the regular thwack of the cane on his bottom at school, Billy wheeled and dealed, charmed Woolies Girls, planned coronation celebrations, ran circles around circus performers, and persuaded villains to work on his terms.

©2011 Billy Brown (P)2011 Orion Publishing Group Limited Europe Great Britain England War

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All stars
Most relevant  
I was recommended this ‘book’ by a work mate. Said he’d been recommended it by a friend a few years back and how he’d read it many times. I checked to see if there was an audiobook available only to find it was read by the author. I have to say my work mate was right. A great book telling of the authors early life in the aftermath of the Second World War in Brixton.
I lived every minute of this book. Tears and laughter in equal measure. I know I’ll be listening to it again and again! Highly recommended!!

Wonderful

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A Great read for anyone interested in life in post war London, from unexploded bombs, playing on the bombs sites, the arrival of the immigrants to the queens coronation, Bill Brown brings it to life along with the characters who lived in south London at the time. Highly recommended.

Post war London brought to life.

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I have laughed and cried at the ups and downs of billy brown brilliantly narration by the man himself,
Thank you for the hours of pleasure

Heartwarming, funny and beautiful

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Engaging, witty, poignant, and entertaining; read by the original author who brings such a quality of warmth and mischief that one lives through the adventures with him.

Definitely one to revisit many times over.

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I've always enjoyed reading memoirs written by 'real' people (as opposed to celebrities) and Billy Brown was a wonderful post-war character with the gift of the gab and a finely honed entrepreneurial streak.

He got his first job at the age of 9, tying bundles of firewood for Big Mike. This opened doors for him and he branched out to selling firewood from the discarded boxes at the market. Eventually his contacts allowed him to source pretty much anything for the right price. He became known around the area for his huge old pram, with which he transported his goods.
His other pastime was scouring the bomb sites from WWII for metals, bric-a-brac and treasure. He even found an old German gun, which he sold for untold riches.
Unfortunately he was also a bit of a rogue and found himself in trouble on several occasions. I really felt for him when his mother punished him by confiscating some of his hard earned cash.

This is a wonderful reminder of a simpler time, when children roamed the streets for entertainment and neighbours kept an eye out for them. Set in Brixton, it also tells of the relocation of families into the new flats, with running water and heating, and the influx of coloured workers from the Commonwealth to drive the buses and tube trains.

My only criticism arose from the fact that I was listening to the audio version, read by the author - who is now in his seventies. I was aware of a disconnect between the narrative of a young boy and the reading by a much older man.

A real-life Just William.

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I loved Billy's Brown. The story was read well. I enjoyed the innocent of childhood but the craftiness of the time in post war.

Oh billy brown.

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wish it was longer.
a follow up would be nice.
more of this please

its an honest book.

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