Family & Local History Quiz Book

By Mick Southwick; 60pp; 2011. 
PDF format.
Also available in Kindle format (cheapest option - and on special offer!) and in 'hard copy' format (see below).

Test your knowledge on around 700 facts spread over 39 individual quizzes, on subjects such as genealogy, social history, military history, religion, occupations, geography, heraldry and much more - all with a link to that most splendid of national pastimes: family history research. 

And if you don't know some of the answers, well, at least you've learnt something! 

Ideal for your family history society quiz nights. 

Almost any way you decide to purchase this publication, at least £1 will be donated to children's charities - more, in fact, if you take the first option below. The exception to this is the experiment we have decided to run via Amazon where it is at a super-low price of £0.77 ($0.99) on Kindle to attract, hopefully, high sales (65% of profit to charity). Please spread the word on Twitter, Facebook, etc.....

(scroll down for an extract from the book)


Option 1:
This publication is available in e-book (PDF) format by clicking on the DONATE button below and naming your own price. We would ask that you pay at least £3.00 to cover all fees ... which will still leave c.£1.28 to go to children's charities. The more you pay, the more goes to charity.

Option 2:

This book is also available in 'hard copy' format - see my personal website and follow the instructions (price £4.90, of which I will donate £1 to charity - being the majority of the net profit).

Option 3:
And don't forget the Kindle version - at a (very) cheap, fixed price of only £0.77 ($0.99)! And remember, you can purchase a Kindle version even if you don't have a Kindle by downloading the free 'Kindle for PC' application - which can be done by following the link above. Dead easy, and works a treat (it's how I manage my Kindle books - Mick S.). And 65% of royalties from all Kindle sales go to charity.

If you've come down this far looking for the extract from the book, the best bet is to go to the 'Kindle version' link above where you will see the option on the cover image to 'Click to Look Inside'. Job's a good 'un.

Dead End Hobby

Oddments from the World of Family History

By Mick Southwick; 72pp; 2011. 
PDF format.
Also available in Kindle format (cheapest option) and 'hard copy' format (see below).

Put simply, this is a ramshackle collection of the following: unusual & erroneous PR entries; witty MIs; unusual occupations; medical curiosities; sarcastic record entries; appalling living & working conditions; weird traditions; tall stories; coincidences; longevity; strange deaths; last wills, wishes & words; quotes; and other quirks of history. 72 pages of genealogical entertainment and enlightenment from BI-Gen blogger, Mick Southwick.

(scroll down for an extract from the book)


Option 1:
This is available in e-book (PDF) format by clicking on the DONATE button below and naming your own price. We would ask that you pay at least £3.00 to cover all fees ... which will still leave c.£1.28 to go to children's charities. The more you pay, the more goes to charity.

Option 2:

This publication is also available in 'hard copy' format - see my personal website and follow the instructions (price £5, of which I will donate £1 to charity - being the majority of the profit).

Option 3:
And don't forget the Kindle version - at a cheap, fixed price! And remember, you can purchase a Kindle version even if you don't have a Kindle by downloading the free 'Kindle for PC' application - which can be done by following the link above. Dead easy, and works a treat (it's how I manage my Kindle books - Mick S.). And 65% of royalties from all Kindle sales go to charity (c.£1).

If you've come down this far looking for an extract from the book, the best bet is to go to the 'Kindle version' link above where you will see the option on the cover image to 'Click to Look Inside'. Job's a good 'un.

In the News: the 1970s

By Michael Southwick; 228pp; 2012.
PDF format.
Also available in Kindle format (cheapest option).
Now (Dec 2012) available in 'hard copy' format - see 'Option 3' below.

In the News: the 1970s takes a look at eighteen of the most prominent news stories to hit the headlines during 1970-79 - from a slightly-cynical UK perspective. Michael Southwick takes you by the hand and leads you through the ups and downs, the ins and outs, as well as the seriousness and absurdity of an often underrated and lampooned decade.

If you were born before, say, the late 1960s, you should recollect most of the news stories featured herein.  You’ll remember them, but recall little in the way of actual detail - well, now's your chance to swot up. Watergate, the Moon landings, decimalisation, joining the Common Market, North Sea Oil, the ever-present threat of the Cold War and the absurdity of the Cod War. And the decade was full of giants: Ali, Amin, Lucan, Pol Pot, the Ripper and Jeremy Thorpe (who?) – plus the shenanigans surrounding lesser lights such as Anthony Blunt and Sid Vicious. Throw in the 1970 World Cup, Bloody Sunday and the world's first Test Tube Baby and we've plenty to get our teeth into.

An extensive 1970s 'News Chronology' closes the book.

(scroll down for an extract from the book)


Option 1:
This is available in e-book (PDF) format by clicking on the DONATE button below and naming your own price. We would ask that you pay at least £3.00 to cover all fees ... which will still leave c.£1.28 to go to children's charities. The more you pay, the more goes to charity.

Option 2:

A Kindle version is available at a cheap, fixed price! And remember, you can purchase a Kindle version even if you don't have a Kindle by downloading the free 'Kindle for PC' application - which can be done by following the link above. Dead easy, and works a treat (it's how I manage my Kindle books - Michael S.). And 65% of royalties from all Kindle sales go to charity (c.£1).



Option 3:
This book is now also available in 'hard copy' format via Lulu.com (website here, and the book can be found at my Lulu 'Storefront' here). You have to register (free) to use this website. If you purchase the 'hard copy' version via Lulu.com, 65% of royalties will be donated to charity (c.£1).

If you've come down this far looking for the extract from the book, the best bet is to go to the 'Kindle version' link above where you will see the option on the cover image to 'Click to Look Inside'. A restricted preview is also available at my Lulu Storefront (see previous paragraph).

Aspects of North-East History, Volume 2

By Michael Southwick; 72pp; 2009.
PDF format.
Also available in 'hard copy' format (see below).

A second collection of local history articles on the heritage of the Great North-East of England - from the Scottish border in the north to Richmond in the south.

The essays are the work of amateur local historian, Michael Southwick, known in North-East circles (by some, at least!) as the former editor of The North-Easterner Magazine. Here he reproduces a further selection of his articles for the benefit of those who may have missed them first time around.

Subjects covered include: Roseberry Topping; the Hancock Brothers; Wearmouth Bridge; Bamburgh Castle; Ferryhill; Harry Hotspur; Richmond; Wreighill; the Boldon Book; Berwick-on-Tweed; Lindisfarne; the Battle of Heavenfield; Hartlepool's monkey; and potted histories of Crook, Blanchland and Staindrop.

So sit back, relax and immerse yourself in the history of one of the most fascinating corners of England.

(scroll down for an extract from the book)


Option 1:
This is available in e-book (PDF) format by clicking on the DONATE button below and naming your own price. We would ask that you pay at least £3.00 to cover all fees ... which will still leave c.£1.28 to go to children's charities. The more you pay, the more goes to charity.

Option 2:

This book is also available in 'hard copy' format via Lulu.com (website here, and the book can be found at my Lulu 'Storefront' here). You have to register (free) to use this website. An e-version of the book is also available at Lulu.com for slightly less than the obligatory £3.00 above. If you purchase either version via Lulu.com, 65% of royalties will be donated to charity (c.£1).

No Kindle version is yet available. Let us know if you'd like one!

An extract from Aspects of North-East History, Volume 1 (the hard copy version) can be accessed at the Lulu.com website - see here, and click on preview. Remember to return to this page if you wish to purchase using the above button.

Aspects of North-East History, Volume 1

By Michael Southwick; 72pp; 2009.
PDF format.
Also available in 'hard copy' format (see below).


A collection of local history articles on the heritage of the Great North-East of England - from the Scottish border in the north to the Vale of Pickering in the south.

The essays are the work of amateur local historian, Michael Southwick, known in North-East circles (by some, at least!) as the former editor of The North-Easterner Magazine. Here he reproduces a selection of his articles for the benefit of those who may have missed them first time around.

Subjects covered include: Capability Brown; Escomb Saxon Church; Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge; The Lantern of Newcastle's St.Nicholas' Cathedral; Helmsley parish; Penshaw Monument; Description of a Coal Mine; Thomas Bewick; St.Mary's Lighthouse; Dunstanburgh Castle; Catherine Cookson biography; Place-names of the North-East; and potted histories of Haltwhistle, Belsay & Middleton-in-Teesdale.

So sit back, relax and immerse yourself in the history of one of the most fascinating corners of England.

(scroll down for an extract from the book)


Option 1:
This is available in e-book (PDF) format by clicking on the DONATE button below and naming your own price. We would ask that you pay at least £3.00 to cover all fees ... which will still leave c.£1.28 to go to children's charities. The more you pay, the more goes to charity.

Option 2:
This book is also available in 'hard copy' format via Lulu.com (website here, and the book can be found at my Lulu 'Storefront' here). You have to register (free) to use this website. An e-version of the book is also available at Lulu.com for slightly less than the obligatory £3.00 above. If you purchase either version via Lulu.com, 65% of royalties will be donated to charity (c.£1).

No Kindle version is yet available. Let us know if you'd like one!

An extract from Aspects of North-East History, Volume 1 (the hard copy version) can be accessed at the Lulu.com website - see here, and click on preview. Remember to return to this page if you wish to purchase using the above button.

The Siege & Storming of Newcastle, 1644

Edited by Michael Southwick; 40pp; 2009.
PDF format.
Also available in 'hard copy' format (see below).


How at parts the walls were blown down by cannon; how other parts were scaled by ladders; and, again, how other parts were undermined and blown down by great charges of gunpowder. All told by eye-witnesses.

... is how the original 1889 promotional blurb described this account of one of the great defining moments in the history of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Essentially an amalgam of the many and varied sources on the great event, it provided the interested Novocastrian with an easily accessible account of their town's greatest moment of peril.

But the Victorian scribe did nothing to ease the readers' way through the labyrinth of archaic terms and phrases of the sources in question - words which are now, of course, a further century out of date.

Modern-day history enthusiasts need fear not, however. For after a good deal of head-scratching, internet searching and good old-fashioned dictionary combing, amateur sleuth, Michael Southwick, has come up with a translation of sorts. Now we can all appreciate this grand old text with a good deal more ease of effort - whilst enjoying, still, much of its 'olde worlde' feel.

So step back onto the streets of seventeenth century Newcastle and wait for the Scots to do their worst...

(scroll down for an extract from the book)


Option 1:
This is available in e-book (PDF) format by clicking on the DONATE button below and naming your own price. We would ask that you pay at least £3.00 to cover all fees ... which will still leave c.£1.28 to go to children's charities. The more you pay, the more goes to charity.

Option 2:

This book is also available in 'hard copy' format via Lulu.com (website here, and the book can be found at my Lulu 'Storefront' here). You have to register (free) to use this website. An e-version of the book is also available at Lulu.com for slightly less than the obligatory £3.00 above. If you purchase either version via Lulu.com, 65% of royalties will be donated to charity (c.£1).

No Kindle version is yet available. Let us know if you'd like one!

An extract from The Siege & Storming of Newcastle (the hard copy version) can be accessed at the Lulu.com website - see here, and click on preview. Remember to return to this page if you wish to purchase using the above button.