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‘An extraordinary life, depicted with searing honesty … A colourful journey sprinkled with delicious anecdotes’ Daily Express
‘Extraordinary … You’ll be ugly-sobbing at the end’ Graham Norton
‘It tells not just the story of his life, but also the battle for LGBT equality in the UK’ Guardian
‘A memoir to cherish’ Ian McKellen
‘A book to be savoured’ Alan Johnson
‘There are so many reasons to love this book’ Armistead Maupin
‘A beautifully written, funny memoir’ Jo Brand

Growing up in post-war East London, the son of a docker and an office cleaner, young Michael Cashman’s life changed when he was discovered, aged twelve, and transported to the West End stage. Cashman would make history – first as an actor, one half of the first gay kiss broadcast on a British soap, BBC TV’s EastEnders, and then as a campaigner and politician, founding Stonewall with Ian McKellen, and embarking on a fight for gay rights across the world that would lead him and his partner Paul Cottingham from tea in LA with David Hockney to flying the rainbow flag over the Royal Albert Hall with Elton John.

One of Them contains as many multitudes as its author: glorious nostalgia, showbiz gossip and a stirring history of a civil rights movement. And above all things, it is a love story – a tender account of a partnership that changed the world.

‘Passionate and true … A great book about love, pain and the whole damn thing’ Simon Callow
‘Brutally frank and brave’ i
‘A brave, good man’ Sheila Hancock

Publisher Review

Beautifully written, it moves with ease from a tough childhood in the East End of London through the bohemian life of an actor ending up in the world of politics, all knitted together with an unpredictable and moving love story. It made me happy and sad and all points in between -- JO BRAND Brutally frank and brave * i * Tells not just the story of his life, but also the battle for LGBT equality in the UK * GUARDIAN * Poignant reading * OBSERVER * A powerful account of public life, love and loss ... Passionate and true, illuminating, bright and breezy ... In the league of My Early Years, Charlie Chaplin's great account of late 19th-century south London - graphic, filled with smells and tastes and strange encounters ... A great book about love, pain and the whole damn thing -- Simon Callow * GUARDIAN * There is brilliance in his memoir, One of Them, and darkness, too, enough to raise it far above the normal standard of celebrity biography ... Stunning ... The lucidity of the writing is breath-taking ... He could never be accused ... in life or literature, of not doing enough * HERALD * With this memoir Michael Cashman can add "writer" to a CV that already includes "actor", "politician" and "campaigner". Apart from its important contribution to British social history, this is a book to be savoured for its own sake as a wonderful piece of descriptive writing and a rollicking good read -- ALAN JOHNSON, author of the bestselling This Boy Michael Cashman's beautifully crafted memoir left me in tears and grateful that he had the courage to lay out his almost unimaginable life with such impressive honesty ... Above all, however, this is the tenderest of love stories, a proud testament to a decades-long queer romance. There are so many reasons to love this book -- ARMISTEAD MAUPIN This book, unlike any other I've read, is a true portrait of a brave actor/politician/Lord. Michael Cashman shares his most private feelings in a memoir to cherish -- IAN McKELLEN Michael Cashman describes his journey from a cruel Dickensian childhood to the dignity of the House of Lords with brutal honesty. I was shocked, amused, and deeply moved by this life of a brave, good, man -- SHEILA HANCOCK In February, Michael Cashman, now Lord Cashman of Limehouse, tells his life story in One Of Them: From Albert Square To Parliament Square ... from East End boy and child actor to soap star, Stonewall founder, MEP and now member of the House of Lords * SUNDAY EXPRESS * [A] roller coaster memoir ... Peppered with delicious anecdotes of his encounters with celebrities * SCOTSMAN * An extraordinary account of improbable leaps of faith and changes of direction ... An amazing, complicated love story * RADIO TIMES *