Books By The Founder
Fail Smart – A bold manifesto on the power of failure as a catalyst for growth. This book challenges conventional thinking, showing how setbacks can be leveraged for learning, resilience, and ultimate success. https://amzn.eu/d/2kxiJKj
Grumpy, And Proud – A candid, humorous, and unapologetic reflection on embracing one's inner curmudgeon. This book celebrates the wisdom of experience, the freedom of speaking one's mind, and the value of standing firm in a world obsessed with people-pleasing. https://amzn.eu/d/2BrgZJM
Dumb by Design – A cutting critique of the modern education system, exposing how it suppresses ambition, critical thinking, and real-world preparedness. This book calls for a radical transformation in teaching, learning, and leadership. https://amzn.eu/d/d2xPTMK
Schools Aren’t Startups – A reality check for education reformers who attempt to run schools like tech startups. This book explores why quick-fix, business-driven models fail in education and what truly works in building sustainable, effective learning environments. https://amzn.eu/d/iF4Ofl2
Oliver’s Story – A compelling historical romance that takes readers on a journey of love, growth, and self-discovery. Through Oliver’s struggles and triumphs, this novel explores resilience, destiny, and the pursuit of meaning. https://amzn.eu/d/iLasIO4
Fake It, Take It, and Make It - A darkly motivational blueprint for outsmarting limits, owning your ambition, and turning audacity into advantage. This book is your unapologetic guide to playing bold, rising fast, and making it count. https://a.co/d/1RtSHxv
While You Slept, They Took Over - a brutal wake-up call for teachers and school leaders trapped in performative busyness and professional autopilot. With wit, wisdom, and a 0430 battle plan, this book arms you to reclaim 546 hours a year and lead with unapologetic clarity, edge, and purpose. https://a.co/d/58OZF0a
Youth Is Wasted On The Youth - a no-holds-barred manifesto that drags the truth into the light, slaps the delusion out of your screen-soaked mind, and rebuilds your worldview brick by brutal brick. It’s the unapologetic blueprint for young people, parents, teachers, and coaches who are done playing nice and ready to raise lions, not lambs. https://amzn.eu/d/5B5Odxk
Grit to Glory - it’s a mirror, a weapon, and a wake-up call. With 61 punch-packed chapters, it arms you with brutal truths, unshakable principles, and blueprint-style strategies to master your mindset, discipline your habits, and lead the life you were born for — no fluff, no apologies, just forward. https://a.co/d/1QShkOO
Outstanding by Design - the ultimate reboot for Cambridge teachers—equipping educators with mindset, mastery, and mission to transform lessons, inspire learners, and lead with legacy. This is your full-throttle upgrade to Cambridge excellence, classroom impact, and unapologetic educational leadership. https://amzn.eu/d/buhHIob
First Words, First Care (CEFR A1–A2) – Level 1: A complete beginner-level Medical English book designed for frontline staff, interns, and support workers in hospitals and clinics. Covers greetings, forms, basic questions, and polite workplace communication—perfect for first steps into healthcare English. https://amzn.eu/d/0cvXwf9
Comfort Through Conversation (CEFR B1) – Level 2: This intermediate-level book helps medical staff build confidence in handling patient interactions, complaints, and instructions. Ideal for nurses, carers, and reception staff who need to speak clearly, calmly, and competently in daily situations. https://amzn.eu/d/gd7HcQF
Explain to Empower (CEFR B2) – Level 3: A professional-level resource for teaching medical explanations, procedures, and patient education with clarity and accuracy. Perfect for clinicians and trainers preparing learners for real-world conversations and confident communication. https://amzn.eu/d/8hNEkRg
The Language of Leadership in Medicine (CEFR C1) – Level 4: An advanced-level book for senior nurses, trainers, and healthcare professionals navigating high-stakes clinical communication. Covers leadership, ethics, intercultural dialogue, and crisis language for those ready to lead with words that matter. https://amzn.eu/d/2j61vx7
Character Over Curriculum: the bold, brutally honest PSHE blueprint for schools and youth leaders who dare to teach identity, ambition, and integrity louder than grades or filters. With 36 catalytic chapters, it's a full curriculum reboot that rebuilds character from the inside out — for the ones who refuse to shrink to fit. https://amzn.eu/d/iod1nU8
1SiB: One School in a Book is the definitive step-by-step manual for founding a purpose-driven, Cambridge-aligned school from the ground up. From land selection to inspection readiness, it equips educational entrepreneurs with every tool, policy, and framework needed to build a school that lasts. https://amzn.eu/d/1xOGUb0
Speak to Move is a powerful 4-level English series designed for global logistics professionals. From beginner to leader, it equips learners with the language to operate, instruct, and lead with confidence across borders. https://a.co/d/7Ap1X8O
Detention Level Jokes: A darkly hilarious survival guide for educators — loaded with skits, fake CPD, and jokes they’ll never put in the staff bulletin. Read it when the Wi-Fi goes down and your soul gives up. https://a.co/d/dgWQUjo
Love, Lust, Lies: A soul-stripping, raw manifesto for those done performing for love, acceptance, or peace. Love. Lust. Lies. dismantles the masks we wear and helps readers reclaim the truth they were never allowed to speak. https://a.co/d/3xrLFOD
Eye on the Patient: A Veterinary Introduction to Ophthalmology (Book One): A practical, motivational introduction to veterinary ophthalmology for students, new vets, and general practitioners. Eye on the Patient is Book One of the Veterinary Ophthalmology Trilogy—designed to inspire clinical confidence and elevate everyday eye care. https://a.co/d/9fzdQb9
The Veterinary Ophthalmology Blueprint: A Clinical and Surgical Handbook for Practitioners (Book Two): A definitive guide for veterinary clinicians navigating the complexity of eye care in practice. From diagnostics to surgery, this book delivers structure, clarity, and confidence at every clinical turn. https://a.co/d/8dCTxRr
The Surgical Eye is your clinical and procedural blueprint for mastering ophthalmic surgery. From mindset to mastery, it equips vets, trainers, and teams with the skills, SOPs, and theatre tools that matter most. https://a.co/d/3IEPOx6
Echoes From The Edge: A funeral for mediocrity. Echoes from the Edge is your final warning shot from the future—you either rise now or rot forever. https://a.co/d/5eBagPZ
The Silence Between the Sentences is not a book of poems—it’s a resurrection disguised as a collection. Where ambition burns out, grief carves deep, and grace fights back, this book cuts, confronts, and rebuilds. https://a.co/d/dJkzzXh
Born to Command: A brutally honest teen leadership playbook that combines street-sharp psychology with school-aligned principles. Born to Command helps teens turn silence into strength and uncertainty into unshakable influence. https://a.co/d/ay92yuM
Teacher Fuel – CPD 101 Blueprint: The ready-to-use CPD blueprint for schools that want to build powerful teachers and powerful culture. 56 career and CPD conversations to transform the staffroom — and the learning. https://amzn.eu/d/1P2U5JB
Blue Diamond Empire Thinking: A global blueprint for building leadership-first schools, networks, and education movements that outlast trends and shape markets. Blue Diamond Empire Thinking is the definitive model for leaders ready to build and scale what comes next. https://a.co/d/0ORso9m
Energy English – Oil, Gas & Energy – (L1-4 CEFR A1-C1): Complete Edition (Levels 1-4) is the all-in-one training system for English across the global energy industry. With just under 1600 pages and full model answers, it transforms English from classroom theory into jobsite reality. https://amzn.eu/d/fG3dPpZ
Energy English – First Words, First Care: Level One (A1–A2) is the foundation course (Book 1) for safety-focused, real-world English in the energy sector. With 24 CEFR-aligned lessons and full model answers, it builds immediate confidence for new learners in high-risk workplaces. https://amzn.eu/d/9CZThhU
Energy English – Comfort Through Conversation (B1) is Book 2 in the Energy English series — designed to help intermediate learners lead toolbox talks, follow safety checklists, and speak clearly in daily site situations. Includes 24 CEFR B1 lessons with full model answers and industry-ready communication tools. https://amzn.eu/d/fyvz2MD
Energy English – Explain to Empower (B2) is Book 3 in the Energy English series, designed for professionals who need to explain faults, lead handovers, and deliver updates with confidence. Featuring 24 CEFR B2 lessons and full model answers, it trains the language of control, trust, and technical fluency. https://amzn.eu/d/g04h9yi
Energy English – The Language of Leadership in Energy (C1) is Book 4 of the Energy English series — built for supervisors, auditors, and site leaders managing teams, meetings, and crises in English. With 24 CEFR C1 lessons and full model answers, this is English for command, clarity, and control. https://amzn.eu/d/b2qpQ8h
Storm Season: A brutally honest, life-saving survival manual for teens. Storm Season helps young people navigate mental storms, emotional traps, family tension, and social chaos with the tools no one else gave them. https://amzn.eu/d/d05v78m
The Deal Changed. I Didn’t: This is the book for anyone who stayed loyal to an agreement that someone else silently rewrote. Whether you were ghosted, gaslit, discarded, or demoted in someone’s priorities, this book is not about moving on — it’s about seeing clearly.
Care to Talk – OET Test Prep: Care to Talk is a no-fluff, strategic guide to Band A performance on the OET — across all four sub-tests and all 12 professions. It trains clarity under pressure, fluency with purpose, and the kind of test-clinic crossover that earns real respect. https://amzn.eu/d/4uuJW5p
Between Rice & Rules: is your unfiltered survival guide to Vietnam—where culture, chaos, and contradiction collide. Whether you’re staying thirty days or three years, this book gives you the truth most people won’t, and the tools you desperately need. https://amzn.eu/d/0Qj33Vd
Cuss Class: From the author of “Fail Smart” and “Youth Is Wasted on the Youth,” comes a no-fluff, high-voltage guide to real-world English. Cuss Class is your verbal survival manual — decoding swears, slang, sarcasm and self-defence with style. https://amzn.eu/d/90lt8S0
The Wolves We Follow: A forensic dissection of the rogue archetypes we admire and the cultural seduction of power. The Wolves We Follow is a dark, strategic, and psychologically disturbing blueprint for anyone who wants to lead without losing their soul. https://amzn.eu/d/1BhJebc
From Sofa to CEO: “From Sofa to CEO” is your no-BS blueprint for building income, impact, and independence — without followers, funding, or fluff. This isn’t a dream journal. It’s a weaponised system for escaping wage slavery from your Wi-Fi connection. https://amzn.eu/d/dmh08G6
ChatGPT in Education: delivers a plug-and-play AI leadership blueprint for schools, universities, and MATs, designed for immediate execution and cultural transformation. This is your inspection-proof, policy-aligned Operating Manual to lead AI integration with authority, confidence, and zero excuses. https://amzn.eu/d/8m3Kt0H
Congratulations, You’re Now the Enemy: The Principal’s Survival Playbook: Carl Halford writes leadership and education playbooks that strip away the fluff and arm readers with practical, battle-tested strategies. His works blend Ofsted/DfE alignment with global leadership realities, giving leaders the clarity, confidence, and tactical edge to thrive under pressure. https://amzn.eu/d/aiofOJ6
Reference Rebellion: Exposes the silent career-killer hiding in plain sight — outdated references. Carl Halford tears down the broken hiring system and replaces it with a future-proof model that values who you are becoming, not who you once were. https://amzn.eu/d/hORPgM0
Fat to Fit isn’t another diet fad — it’s a battle plan. Carl Halford (CHKZ) combines science, psychology, and spiritual grit to help you go from excuses to execution, and from tired to truly toned. https://amzn.eu/d/fD3sSFI
Seduction & Power Games: A dangerous, witty, and practical guide to spotting and resisting manipulation in love, work, and life. Seduction & Power Games exposes the hidden playbook of charm and control — and arms you with tools to fight back. https://amzn.eu/d/3bq0VH0
Desires, Dollars & Deceptions: exposes the six human drives that built empires—and shows you how to ethically use them to build your own. A provocative, strategic, no-fluff manual for anyone who wants to monetise human nature without manipulation. https://amzn.eu/d/5VcNAev
Prepared, Not Paranoid is a civilisational handbook equipping families to live with courage, culture, and resilience in times of both peace and crisis. A practical and philosophical guide, it blends survival skills with timeless wisdom to prepare the next generation with dignity, not fear. https://amzn.eu/d/2fsB5iZ
The Parachute: Life will drop you — but what you’ve packed will determine how you land. The Parachute is your guide to living with faith, resilience, and clarity so you can fall with courage, land with wisdom, and rise with legacy. https://amzn.eu/d/4O1oB88
Ticket to Nowhere is a transformative guide through life’s detours, helping readers move from confusion to clarity, from wandering to wisdom. With raw storytelling and practical tools, Carl Halford equips you to find — and stay on — the right track. https://amzn.eu/d/85eNFOk
Grace in Motion is your global passport to elegance—teaching the art of presence, confidence, and refined etiquette across cultures. A timeless companion for leaders, entrepreneurs, and cosmopolitans who want to move with quiet authority in any circle. https://amzn.eu/d/ctq3uMA
The Lantern in the Dark - A manifesto of hope for orphans, carers, and changemakers, The Lantern in the Dark blends lived truth, psychology, and practical frameworks to turn wounds into wisdom. It is both a guidebook and a rallying cry: You are not forgotten, and you were born to rise. https://amzn.eu/d/28jdSap
Kill the Comfort – a no-fluff manifesto that delivers 50 brutal truths to strip away excuses, crush illusions, and ignite lasting change. Each chapter is a battle-tested tool to break free from comfort and build a life that matters. https://amzn.eu/d/6vYeOFx
Chews Wisely – Book One equips veterinary professionals with the knowledge, structure, and tools to perform dentistry safely and confidently in general practice. The first in the CHKZ Clinical Mastery Trilogy, it’s a hands-on guide to better oral care and a higher clinical standard. https://amzn.eu/d/0SL5gWZ
Tooth & Trouble – Book Two challenges veterinary professionals to think beyond the surface, combining real-world case studies with powerful diagnostic reasoning tools. It’s where dentistry meets ethics, communication, and clinical leadership. https://amzn.eu/d/iuN9oiu
The Final Extraction – Book Three closes the CHKZ Clinical Mastery Trilogy with surgical precision, ethical clarity, and legacy in mind. It transforms the experienced practitioner into a leader — one who cuts with conscience and teaches with purpose. https://amzn.eu/d/5V1c7PB
The Global Hospitality Passport: A complete life and language survival system for hospitality workers abroad — combining English fluency, cultural intelligence, and emotional mastery in one passport-style guide. From the kitchen floor to the career door, it’s the book that helps you work smart, stay safe, and succeed with respect. https://amzn.eu/d/eNjHAU6
Bottles Words, Across the Table: Learn to speak wine with clarity, confidence, and connection. Bottled Words, Across the Table teaches global wine professionals the real English of hospitality, tasting, storytelling, and sales. https://amzn.eu/d/1pU5w5K
At Last! – The Right Question at the Right Time redefines what it means to listen with purpose. It’s the bridge between evidence and empathy — teaching readers how to ask the questions that truly heal. https://amzn.eu/d/aDj25ws
GYST – Get Your Sh*t Together - The brutally honest, laugh-out-loud guide to sorting yourself out — fast. Roast yourself, rebuild yourself, and start living on purpose again. https://amzn.eu/d/3snKmHH
When The World Starts to Tilt: From an author with deep experience in leadership, code-shifting and institutional change, this book invites you to awaken your voice before the tilt becomes the collapse. Other titles show how to build schools, systems and policies — this one shows how memory, meaning and language shape the way our world actually leans. https://amzn.eu/d/87JXVML
Guard Your Gates: A masterclass in vigilance and integrity, Guard Your Gates exposes the anatomy of betrayal and equips leaders to protect what truly matters. Where forgiveness meets wisdom, boundaries become your greatest form of leadership. https://amzn.eu/d/1Nc1cIq
SAT 2.0 – Test Hacked: transforms panic into performance with a step-by-step mastery system that unites mindset, skill, and strategy. It’s the only SAT prep guide designed for both traditional and digital testing — and for the human behind the score.
Grammar Hammer – A witty, intelligent reinvention of grammar as thought mastery — blending psychology, leadership, and language learning into one unforgettable journey. The Grammar Hammer turns English from a subject into a superpower. https://amzn.eu/d/4pIenDl
Britain at Boiling Point (Book One) – dissects the forces dividing the United Kingdom — from political polarisation to cultural fatigue — and maps a practical path toward renewal. A gripping blend of analysis, storytelling, and civic strategy for anyone who believes the nation still has a soul worth saving. https://amzn.eu/d/hv3rWEx
Keep Calm and Coward On: A darkly funny, brutally honest field manual for leaders who refuse to hide behind silence. Keep Calm and Coward On dismantles moral pretence and rebuilds courage where it belongs — in conscience, not compliance. https://amzn.eu/d/e1PToOC
Climate Control: a sharp, satirical, and redemptive exploration of emotional regulation in an age of passive-aggression. It equips readers to lead, teach, and live with composure, courage, and calm authority in emotionally chaotic environments. https://amzn.eu/d/bHAk5Rw
The Moral Reset (Book Two): Following on from Britain at Boiling Point (Book One); this is a powerful theological, historical and cultural analysis of what happens when a nation forgets its covenant and how it can return with clarity, courage and hope. THE MORAL RESET offers a strategic, Scripture-anchored blueprint for individuals, families, leaders and institutions seeking Britain’s renewal. https://amzn.eu/d/3Quj7T8
The Reformation Blueprint (Book Three): This third book in the Britain at Boiling Point series equips readers with the moral clarity, leadership tools, and educational insight necessary to navigate and reform a rapidly shifting world. His titles (Britain at Boiling Point – Book One, The Moral Reset – Book Two) combine rigorous research with transformative frameworks designed to equip, enrich, and empower learners, leaders, and communities. https://amzn.eu/d/3WNrsdV
Education 2030: Drawing from global frameworks such as the OECD Learning Compass 2030, UNESCO Future Skills, and GoStudent 2025 Report, this work confronts the moral, psychological, and systemic collapse of modern schooling — and offers a radical reinstallation of humanity at its core through a visionary blueprint to rebuild education around empathy, agency, and moral intelligence. https://amzn.eu/d/b2TLNpc
GROW - Get Rid of Old Ways: A sharp, uncompromising field manual for dismantling comfort, rewiring courage, and taking ownership of your life with precision and wit. Bending psychology, philosophy and dry British humour to help you move from thought into disciplined action. https://amzn.eu/d/gCJs7pc
The Anatomy of Arrogant Bastards: A sharp, behavioural field manual dissecting arrogance with psychological depth, dry British wit, and leadership-grade insight. Ideal for readers who want a transformative blend of humour, cognitive science, and practical tools to navigate ego-driven people—and manage their own. https://amzn.eu/d/1Ud51ix
This Is How We Think About Learning Here: A generational guide to re-architecting learning—designed for teachers and leaders who want coherence, clarity, and learning that lasts beyond the lesson. https://amzn.eu/d/5HeE8FZ
Between Knowing & Doing: A psychologically grounded, leadership-grade book that exposes the gap between insight and responsibility in modern adult life. This work challenges intelligent readers to replace explanation with execution, and comfort with standards. https://amzn.eu/d/5bseR3Q
From Firefighting to Leadership: A governance-literate leadership manual that explains why firefighting is no longer evidence of effectiveness — and how leaders must redesign their role to remain credible, employable, and inspection-ready. Written for school leaders operating under modern accountability, not outdated hero models.
Vocabulary – Real Words for the Real World (Book 4/4): A post-CEFR, leadership-grade vocabulary and thinking manual designed for advanced English users who want clarity, authority, and global intelligence in how they speak and reason. This book moves beyond language learning into precision thinking, strategic communication, and responsible use of words in the real world. https://amzn.eu/d/ejocZR5
Why I Never Fit In (And Why That Wasn’t the Problem): A stabilising, sense-making book for capable people who have never quite fitted into performative systems. This work reframes difference not as deficiency, but as an alternative way of operating with integrity, clarity, and long-term impact. https://amzn.eu/d/01Qy5Qs
The Full Published Kindle List: Explore my full Kindle collection of transformational titles — written to provoke thought, sharpen leadership, and empower action across education, life, and legacy.
Carl Halford
CHKZ
