Blackstaff Press imprint: 68 books

It is the summer of 1969 and ten-year-old Mal is finding it difficult to settle into his new home, a housing estate on the outskirts of Belfast. He befriends a brash and rebellious teenager, Francy, who revels in his own status as an outsider and has set up camp in the local dump. ...

Saturday, 28 January 1967. It is a day like any other for eighteen-year-old Danny, pulling pints behind the bar of the International Hotel in Belfast, watching the comings and goings of the eccentric clientele. But ordinary days like this are almost over. The hotel has already...

Breakfast in a hotel, a stroll through town then it’s off to a meting with clients, followed by dinner and bed … what could be more routine in the life of a travelling businessman? But this is Hiroshima, no ordinary city. And for this Belfast businessman, the past is not...

In Belfast Taxi the city’s taxi drivers – of all ages and from all backgrounds – tell their stories in their own words, covering everything from the beginnings of the public-hire and private-hire industries, to the dark days of the Troubles and the vital role taxis currently play in Belfast’s...

The story of shipbuilding in Belfast is known throughout the world: the great ships, including Titanic, HMS Belfast and SS Canberra; the towering cranes; its contribution to making Belfast a great industrial city. Less well known, but just as fascinating and illuminating, is the remarkable story...

‘His tact and pacing, in the individual sentence and the overall story are beautiful … McLaverty’s place in our literature is secure.’ Seamus Heaney It is 1918 and thirteen-year-old Colm MacNeill is living happily on Rathlin Island when his security is suddenly shattered...

Marianne, Louise and Cassandra Knight were nieces of the great 19th century novelist who gave us Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Jane knew the girls well, reading and sewing with them as they grew up, and they were often the subject of her witty letters. The...

‘A drunken lunatic, a lucid guru, a hilarious storyteller and many more things besides.’ Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol) An influential music promoter and producer, Terri Hooley is the undisputed Godfather of Punk. His life has been colorful and extraordinary and was the...

In the summer of 1958 tiny Northern Ireland stood just one game away from a semi-final appearance in the World Cup against the mighty Brazil. The heroic story of this uniquely blessed squad of players, led by the peerless Danny Blanchflower, takes in the Munich Air Disaster, a fight against Sabbath...

In 1983, Interpol named Northern Ireland the most dangerous place in the world to be a police officer. In 1968, the RUC was catapulted into the Troubles. Bombs, death threats and murder became a regular part of the day job. Working right at the heart of the conflict, police officers were often...

Following the collapse of his business, Michael Faulkner and his wife moved from Scotland to a cabin on Islandmore, an uninhabited island on Strangford Lough. With no mains electricity, an erratic water supply and access to the mainland only possible by boat, life on the island...

‘Helen Lewis survived the greatest nightmare ever dreamed by man. Her story is appalling, mesmerising, and one reads with increasing gratitude for her clarity, honesty and courage.’ Ian McEwan Helen Lewis, a young student of dance in Prague at the outbreak of WW2 was herded,...

Way to Go brings together two epic motorcycle journeys, from Delhi to Belfast on a Royal Enfield, and from Chicago to LA on a Harley-Davidson. A thoughtful, hilarious, off-beat travelogue by award-winning journalist Geoff Hill. What the critics say about Geoff Hill’s travel writing...

In 1912, Carl Stearns Clancy undertook the longest, most difficult and most perilous journey ever attempted on a motorcycle. By June 1913 he had made history, becoming the first person ever to travel round the world on a motorbike. A century on, bestselling author and biker Geoff Hill recreates...