"Tales from an Old Hack reminds us of the glory days of the local press before the internet. Reporters really did get on their bikes (or in their old cars) to go to the police station to get stories, or rush to the scene of a local incident to speak to eye-witnesses. It was the only way to get the real stories. Fake news hadn't been invented. The book is also a personal memoir - funny, poignant, sometimes surprising - of how Barbara, a teacher, grew up in Birmingham before she ended up being kissed by a Pitbull, attacked by the BNP, and chasing crashed planes in her second career as a full time journalist in West London. The day after she left school she and two friends went to Butlins Holiday Camp in Skegness for the summer, before training as teachers (the closest thing to a gap year then). Students weren't in the running to be redcoats, so they were given unattractive green overalls and told they were chalet maids. It was an education. Most surprisingly in 2016 Barbara found herself a collaborator on a Sunday Times best seller, while in 2017, she was spotted eating cake and wearing a hat at a Royal Garden Party with Mr F who features in her popular weekly column Bm@il, which is ten years old this year--Provided by publisher.