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'Explosive' Belfast Telegraph Chilling. Candid. Controversial. This is the voice of one man from within a dark scandal that nestled in the heart of London's Soho in the 1970s. Travelling to the big city to escape The Troubles in his native Northern Ireland, Anthony Daly accepted a job in Foyles Bookshop and began a new life in England. However, his naivety saw him quickly fall foul of predators, looking for young men to blackmail and sexually exploit. After years of hiding the secret of his abuse at the hands of some of the most influential men in the country, Anthony's trauma became harder to contain, as he witnessed revelations of historic abuse coming to light on TV and in newspapers. Then, finally, his lost voice ripped through the safe family life he had built over 40 years. With parallels to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, this is stylishly written and politically explosive. It is the haunting true story of a young man's decent into a hell designed to satisfy the powerful. A world that destroyed the lives of everyone involved. ***Previously published as Playland (2018)*** 'Tony Daly's story goes to the very heart of a corrupt and perverted establishment.' Derry Journal 'An extremely powerful and honest read that I just couldn't put down.' Waterstones staff review 'A shattering memoir' Robin Jarossi, author of The Hunt for the 60s RipperProduct Identifiers
PublisherMirror Books
ISBN-139781907324802
eBay Product ID (ePID)19046629045
Product Key Features
Book TitlePlayland: Secrets of a Forgotten Scandal
AuthorAnthony Daly
FormatPaperback
LanguageEnglish
TopicMemorials
Publication Year2018
TypeTextbook
Dimensions
Item Height216mm
Item Width138mm
Item Weight316g
Additional Product Features
Title_AuthorAnthony Daly
Topic AreaGender Issues, Sexual Abuse
Country/Region of ManufactureUnited Kingdom
Ratings and reviews
Most relevant reviews
- 06 May, 2019
Well-written, but simultaneously frustrating at the lack of evidence.
This is an incredibly well-written and at the same time frustrating memoir. Mr. Daly is describing his brief period in 1975 working in Foyle's Bookshop in London during the day, and working the Meat-Rack by night, describing an underworld network of gangsterism revolving around slot machines, rent boys and the rich and famous. It is a riveting read- takes two sittings to get through all 363 pages but unfortunately Mr. Daly has conducted original research in the course of preparing the manuscript making it difficult to tell where his memory ends and original research as begun. The usual UK establishment names crop-up as closeted homosexuals if not out-and-out paedophiles: Havers, Hayman, Oldfield, Keith Joseph etc and the same locations are trotted out such as Dolphin Square, Kincora etc. If you're a follower of the recent UK-Irish sex scandals from Kincora to Savile and all points in between there is little contained herein that you didn't already know or at least suspect. Without doing down Mr. Daly's experiences, or even his achievement with this book, the real story begins in the third part (Page 285) where all the strands of his sorrowful and occasionally touching tale suddenly make sense- the Playland trial, the cover-up, the gangsters, the arcade machine giants (Sega) and how they were/ are interlinked that I can't help feeling a trick has been missed here with this book. Nevertheless it is still well worth a read, and hopefully can act as a springboard for further researches into an undoubtedly murky area of UK-Irish History.Verified purchase: YesCondition: New
- 21 Mar, 2019
Horrific.
Frightening to learn how corrupt the system is.And the lengths that the villians go to maintain Silence!Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- 15 Sep, 2021
Title says it all.
A harrowing, but very well written and honest autobiography. Especially interesting to those of us in London's West End at the same time. Highly recommended.Verified purchase: YesCondition: New
- 16 Nov, 2024
Great book and informative
Love the book and so interestingVerified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- 14 Mar, 2020
Good reading
Verified purchase: YesCondition: New
- 23 Mar, 2018
VIP peados
Brilliantly written the scandal that won’t go awayVerified purchase: YesCondition: New
