<DIV>With energy and insight, Bill Brown paints a vivid and lively picture of Britain emerging from the ruins of the war, the hunger for opportunity, the growing pace of modernization, 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, Bill Brown was a lovable kid with a nose for mischief. Left to his own devices while both his parents went out to work, if there was trouble to be had Bill would be in the thick of it. Ignoring the shaking of fists from his neighbors, 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.</DIV>