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Grossly unsanitary living conditions, cruel and abusive treatment by camp officials, the withholding of medical treatment - these were common…
experiences for refugees imprisoned at internment camps in Britain and Canada. Walter Igersheimer's memoir exposes this bleak period in the British and Canadian war record.Crafty Crooks & Conmen
Par Nigel Blundell, Sue Blackhall. 2009
From Clifford Irving and his Howard Hughes hoax to the great imposter Frank &“Catch Me if You Can&” Abagnale—a fascinating…
history of the art of the con. They&’re shrewd, cunning, devious—and charmingly trustworthy. While the criminal exploits of these tricksters, frauds, and swindlers can&’t be condoned, it&’s near-impossible not to be awed by their audacity and ingenuity. Take Victor Lustig, the &“Bouncing Czech&” who sold the Eiffel Tower—twice; John Stonehouse, a philandering politician who faked his own death to escape his sins; the impotence cure of the bizarre Dr. John Brinkley who transplanted goat testicles on gullible men; embarrassingly successful Goldman Sachs embezzler Joyti De-Laurey; or Robert Hendy-Freegard, a car salesman and serial seducer who convinced scores of women he was an MI5 agent. Here, too, are the exploits of a &“friend of the stars&” who infiltrated a royal castle; a fake Scots &“laird&” who operated from the heart of Scotland Yard; evangelists who fell from grace; and other pilferers, parasites, artful dodgers, charming bastards, femme fatales, big fat liars, and grand masters of dishonorable mention.Lightning Up: The Career of Air Vice-Marshal Alan White CB AFC FRAeS RAF
Par Alan White. 2009
Alan White served in the RAF from 1953 to 1987 roughly the period of the Cold War. His introduction to…
flying came in his University Air Squadron. This seduced him into dropping out of University and joining the RAF. He initially had success during the piston-engine stages of his training but damage to a Vampire T11 and a bad start on the Hunter Weaponry Course set his confidence back until he recovered during service with his first Hunter Squadron. The infamous Duncan Sandys' cuts of 1957 caused the closure of his squadron and he found himself towing air-to-air gunnery targets, but luckily he was then moved to instruct on the Hunter Operational Conversion Unit where he developed his solo aerobatic display skills. He was then posted to take Hunters to Singapore and form a Squadron. He became involved with the SEATO response to assist the Thai governments request against communist insurgents from Laos and spent five months at Chiang Mai camping in a paddy field. After attending Staff College he was posted to Aden at a time of growing terrorist activity. He worked with the C-in-C, Admiral Sir Michael Le Fanu. Upon his return to the UK he trained to fly the supersonic Lightning fighter and eventually was promoted to lead a squadron. There followed a period of rapid promotion and he became Station Commander at RAF Leuchars. His later appointments as Air Commodore included Director of Operations (Air Defence), Senior Staff Officer HQ 11 Group, Air Commodore Plans at HQ Strike Command (where he assisted in the Falklands conflict) until he was promoted to his final rank and appointed Deputy Commander RAF Germany and then finally he became Commandant, RAF Staff College. His account is full of interesting flying detail and the internal workings of the RAF during those dangerous Cold War days.Lucius Verus and the Roman Defence of the East
Par M. C. Bishop. 2018
&“The first biography of Marcus Aurelius&’ adopted brother and co-emperor . . . a valuable read for anyone with an…
interest in Roman history.&”—The NYMAS Review Lucius Verus is one of the least regarded Roman emperors, despite the fact that he was co-ruler with his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius for nine years until his untimely death. The later sources were strangely hostile to him and modern writers tend to dismiss him, but contemporary writings shine a more favorable light on his accomplishments. His handling of military affairs, particularly the conflict with Parthia after their invasions of Armenia and Syria, deserves a new consideration in the light of a careful reassessment of all the available source material. This volume looks at the upbringing of the boy who lost two fathers, acquired a brother, had his name changed twice, became a general overnight, and commanded the army that defeated one of Rome&’s greatest foes in the 2nd century AD. His rise to power is placed in the context of Rome&’s campaigns in the East and the part played by all—from the ordinary soldiers up to the aristocracy who commanded them—in making Lucius Verus&’s Parthian Wars a success. &“Bishop&’s background is in Roman military archaeology, and where the details of Roman warfare are concerned, he knows his subject matter backwards and forwards . . . For those who wish to understand how the Roman commanders fighting under Verus achieved success in the East, Bishop&’s book can be heartily recommended.&”—Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewThe Wild Child: The Unsolved Mystery of Kaspar Hauser
Par Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. 1996
A true crime essay examining the bizarre case of a nineteenth-century German teen, his unusual origins, and his unsolved murder.Kept…
in a dungeon for his entire childhood, Kaspar Hauser appeared in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1828 at age sixteen, barely able to walk or talk. When he was killed in 1833, his true identity and the motives for his unsolved murder became the subjects of intense speculation. This provocative essay sheds new light on this mystery and delves into fundamental questions about the long-term effects of child abuse.Previously published as Lost PrincePraise for The Wild Child“A valuable introduction to a timeless and fascinating mystery involving child abuse and murder. . . . Masson’s examination will introduce many American readers to one of the great case studies of extreme cruelty and deprivation, and of the remarkable human capacity for adaptability.” —Kirkus Reviews“A stunning piece of detective work.” —Publishers WeeklyBlack Country to Red China: One girl's story from war-torn England to Revolutionary China
Par Esther Cheo Ying. 1980
Born in pre-Revolutionary China and brought up in the Midlands, Esther Cheo Ying returned to China in 1949 after a…
traumatic childhood, convinced that there she would find the happiness and sense of belonging she longed for. Caught up in the turmoil of civil war and sympathetic to the Communist Revolution, she joined the Red Army and then stayed on to work in the new People's Republic. But despite her determination to make a new life in China could she truly be happy in a country which encouraged constant self-criticism and viewed her as a 'false foreign devil'? Black Country to Red China is an extraordinary account of life before the Cultural Revolution, but it is also a fascinating insight into one woman's struggle to come to terms with your own identity.Bertie Ahern Autobiography: The Autobiography
Par Bertie Ahern. 2009
Bertie Ahern, three times Irish Taoiseach, is often described as an enigma. The Old IRA man's son who delivered peace…
in Northern Ireland. A working class boy responsible for the Celtic Tiger. The man of faith who ushered in progressive, cosmopolitan secular Ireland. An ardent nationalist admired by European leaders. 'I know 25 per cent of Bertie Ahern', said his finance minister, Charlie McCreevy, 'and that's 24 per cent more than anyone else.'Now in this frank and revealing autobiography, Ahern gives his own account of a remarkable political life and the personal story that accompanies it. He shows the cost to his family of a life played out in the public eye and, for the first time, discloses what really happened in his final weeks in power.Here for the first time is the truth behind the man who is Bertie.Ahern has been at the cutting edge of Irish politics for over three decades. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in the Fianna Fáil landslide victory in 1977 that saw Jack Lynch returned as Taoiseach. In 1982, Charles Haughey appointed him Government Chief Whip. In volatile political times, he strongly supported Haughey during three challenges to his leadership of Fianna Fáil.In 1987, Bertie Ahern received his first cabinet portfolio as Minister for Labour. It was a time when the Irish economy was in crisis. Ireland had a higher debt per head than Ethiopia or Sudan. Unemployment stood at 16%. Ahern negotiated Ireland's first social partnership agreement, which underpinned economic recovery and put in place the foundations for a period of sustained growth. In 1991, he was appointed Minister for Finance. International commentators first began to refer to 'Ireland's Tiger economy' in this period. When Bertie Ahern left the Department of Finance in late 1994, for the first time in almost 30 years, Ireland had a budget surplus.Bertie Ahern succeeded Albert Reynolds as leader of Fianna Fáil in November 1994. Following the General Election in 1997, he became Ireland's youngest ever Taoiseach. The Ahern Era was a time of unprecedented progress in Irish society. Over the course of his tenure in office, Ireland's economy out-performed that of every other European country. For the first time ever, the number of people in employment in the State reached 2 million.Working closely with Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, Ahern won widespread acclaim for his perseverance and skill in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement, which has provided the political framework for a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.On the international stage, he was a respected figure who enjoyed an acclaimed Presidency of the European Council in 2004. He presided over the completion of the largest ever expansion of the EU and concluded negotiations on a European constitution. He is one of only five visiting statesmen to have addressed both the United States Congress and the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.At home, Ahern enjoyed phenomenal electoral support. He was the first Taoiseach since 1944 to win three successive General Elections.Bertie Ahern resigned on 6th May, 2008. He had served for ten years, ten months and ten days as Taoiseach.The Benn Diaries: 1940-1990
Par Tony Benn. 1995
The Benn Diaries, embracing the years 1940-1990, are already established as a uniquely authoritative, fascinating and readable record of political…
life. The selected highlights that form this single-volume edition include the most notable events, arguments and personal reflections throughout Benn's long and remarkable career as a leading politician.The narrative starts with Benn as a schoolboy and takes the reader through his youthful wartime experiences as a trainee pilot, his nervous excitement as a new MP during Clement Atlee's premiership and the tribulations of Labour in the 1950s, when the Conservatives were in firm control. It ends with the Tories again in power, but on the eve of Margaret Thatcher's fall, while Tony Benn is on a mission to Baghdad before the impending Gulf War.Over the span of fifty years, the public and private turmoil in British and world politics is recorded as Benn himself moves from wartime service to become the baby of the House, Cabinet Minister, and finally the Commons' most senior Labour Member.Behind the Black Door
Par Sarah Brown. 2011
In this personal memoir about life at 10 Downing Street, Sarah Brown shares the secrets of living behind the most…
famous front door in the world.Sarah gave up a successful career in business to serve the country. A passionate campaigner for women and children, she mobilised over a million people through her early adoption of Twitter.If you've ever wondered what it's like to pack for a photo call with supermodels or pause a speech in front of hundreds when the autocue fails, it's all here - from what to do when the school play clashes with a visit to the White House to what it feels like to support the man you love as he takes tough decisions to stave off global financial meltdown...Intimate, reflective, surprising and funny, Behind the Black Door takes us backstage to reveal what it's like to be an ordinary woman, wife and mother in extraordinary circumstances.Behind Enemy Lines: The Autobiography of Britain's Most Decorated Living War Hero
Par Richard Bath, Sir Tommy Macpherson. 2010
With three Military Crosses, three Croix de guerre, a Légion d'honneur and a papal knighthood for his heroics during the…
Second World War, Sir Tommy Macpherson is the most decorated living soldier of the British Army. Yet for 65 years the Highlander's story has remained untold. Few know how, aged 21, he persuaded 23,000 SS soldiers of the feared Das Reich tank column to surrender, or how Tommy almost single-handedly stopped Tito's Yugoslavia annexing the whole of north-east Italy. Twice captured, he escaped both times, marching through hundreds of miles of German-held territory to get home. Still a schoolboy when war broke out, Tommy quickly matured into a legendary commando, and his remarkable story features a dizzyingly diverse cast of characters, including Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Montgomery and Charles de Gaulle.Battles of Conscience: British Pacifists and the Second World War
Par Tobias Kelly. 2022
A ground-breaking new study brings us a very different picture of the Second World War, asking fundamental questions about ethical…
commitmentsAccounts of the Second World War usually involve tales of bravery in battle, or stoicism on the home front, as the British public stood together against Fascism. However, the war looks very different when seen through the eyes of the 60,000 conscientious objectors who refused to take up arms and whose stories, unlike those of the First World War, have been almost entirely forgotten.Tobias Kelly invites us to spend the war five of these individuals: Roy Ridgway, a factory clerk from Liverpool; Tom Burns, a teacher from east London; Stella St John, who trained as a vet and ended up in jail; Ronald Duncan, who set up a collective farm; and Fred Urquhart, a working-class Scottish socialist and writer. We meet many more objectors along the way -- people both determined and torn -- and travel from Finland to Syria, India to rural England, Edinburgh to Trinidad.Although conscientious objectors were often criticised and scorned, figures such as Winston Churchill and the Archbishop of Canterbury supported their right to object, at least in principle, suggesting that liberty of conscience was one of the freedoms the nation was fighting for. And their rich cultural and moral legacy -- of humanitarianism and human rights, from Amnesty International and Oxfam to the US civil rights movement -- can still be felt all around us. The personal and political struggles carefully and vividly collected in this book tell us a great deal about personal and collective freedom, conviction and faith, war and peace, and pose questions just as relevant today: Does conscience make us free? Where does it take us? And what are the costs of going there?'[An] excellent book' - DAILY TELEGRAPH'A moving tribute' - SPECTATORBattersea Girl: Tracing a London Life
Par Martin Knight. 2006
A couple of years ago, Martin Knight began a quest to delve into his family history. He had a head…
start on many amateur genealogists, as 30 years earlier he had produced a school project on the very subject. The project was based on the papers and oral history of his then elderly grandmother, Ellen Tregent. Martin dusted this off and began to assemble the chain of events that shaped his grandmother's life. He even made contact with several living relatives who had known Ellen or some of the people and events she described.Ellen Tregent was born in 1888 and died in 1988 - her lifetime encompassing an unprecedented century of social change and world upheaval. She was born into a poor working-class family in Battersea, London. Her grandfather had arrived from Ireland 40 years earlier to escape almost certain death as potato famine ravaged his country. In Battersea Girl, Martin Knight charts Ellen's long and eventful life and the lives of her siblings. They encounter abject poverty, disease, suicide, murder, war and inevitably death, but, equally, the spirit of stoical people who were determined to make the most of their lives shines through in this enchanting book.Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon: Feminist, Artist and Rebel
Par Pam Hirsch. 1998
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon was the most unconventional and influential leader of the Victorian women's movement. Enormously talented, energetic and…
original, she was a feminist, law-reformer, painter, journalist, the close friend of George Eliot and a cousin of Florence Nightingale. As a painter, Barbara is now recognised as a vital figure among Pre-Raphaelite women artists. As a feminist she led four great campaigns: for married women's legal status, for the right to work, the right to vote and to education. Making brilliant use of unpublished journals and letters, Pam Hirsch has written a biography that is as lively and powerful as its subject, recreating the woman in all her moods, and placing her firmly in the context of women's struggle for equality.The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
Par Benvenuto Cellini. 1998
Benvenuto Cellini was a celebrated Renaissance sculptor and goldsmith - a passionate craftsman who was admired and resented by the…
most powerful political and artistic personalities in sixteenth-century Florence, Rome and Paris. He was also a murderer and a braggart, a shameless adventurer who at different times experienced both papal persecution and imprisonment, and the adulation of the royal court. Inn-keepers and prostitutes, kings and cardinals, artists and soldiers rub shoulders in the pages of his notorious autobiography: a vivid portrait of the manners and morals of both the rulers of the day and of their subjects. Written with supreme powers of invective and an irrepressible sense of humour, this is an unrivalled glimpse into the palaces and prisons of the Italy of Michelangelo and the Medici.Augustus: The Biography
Par Jochen Bleicken. 1998
The great modern biography of Augustus, founder of the Roman EmpireBorn to a plebeian family in 63 BC, Octavian was…
a young solder training abroad when he heard news of Julius Caesar's brutal assassination - and discovered that he was the dictator's sole political heir. With the opportunism and instinct for propaganda that were to characterize his rule, Octavian rallied huge financial, military and political backing to eliminate his opponents, end the bloody turmoil that had so long wracked Rome and, finally, take autocratic control of a state devoted to republicanism. He became Augustus - Rome's first Emperor, and the founder of the greatest empire the world had ever seen.In this monumental biography, translated into English for the first time by Anthea Bell, Jochen Bleicken tells the story of a man who found himself a demi-god in his own lifetime and paints a portrait of one of the most dramatic periods of Roman history.Athelstan: The Making of England (Penguin Monarchs)
Par Tom Holland. 1915
The formation of England occurred against the odds: an island divided into rival kingdoms, under savage assault from Viking hordes.…
But, after King Alfred ensured the survival of Wessex and his son Edward expanded it, his grandson Athelstan inherited the rule of both Mercia and Wessex, conquered Northumbria and was hailed as Rex totius Britanniae: 'King of the whole of Britain'.Tom Holland recounts this extraordinary story with relish and drama, transporting us back to a time of omens, raven harbingers and blood-red battlefields. As well as giving form to the figure of Athelstan - devout, shrewd, all too aware of the precarious nature of his power, especially in the north - he introduces the great figures of the age, including Alfred and his daughter Aethelflaed, 'Lady of the Mercians', who brought Athelstan up at the Mercian court. Making sense of the family rivalries and fractious conflicts of the Anglo-Saxon rulers, Holland shows us how a royal dynasty rescued their kingdom from near-oblivion and fashioned a nation that endures to this day.Among You: The Extraordinary True Story of a Soldier Broken by War
Par Jake Wood. 2013
Among You is the gripping real-life story of a soldier serving on the front line in Iraq and Afghanistan, and…
an unforgettable, unflinching account of the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.Jake Wood lives parallel lives: encased in the glass tower of an international investment bank by day, he is also a dedicated TA soldier who serves on the front line during the invasion of Iraq, later returning to the war zone to conduct surveillance on insurgents. Disillusioned with the dullness and amorality of the banking world, he escapes back to the army for a third tour of duty. But in Afghanistan he discovers the savage, dehumanising effects that war has on both the body and the mind. Diagnosed with chronic PTSD on his return, he must now fight the last enemy – himself – in order to exorcise the ghosts of his past.Brutally honest and beautifully written, Among You brings home the harsh reality of front-line combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the courage of the troops who risk their lives for their country, as well as revealing the devastating after-effects of service.Always By My Side: Losing the love of my life and the fight to honour his memory
Par Christina Schmid. 2012
A LOVE LOST.A LIFE CUT SHORT.'From the moment I set eyes on him I adored him. The connection between us…
was so strong it went beyond everything else. His job, my job, his lifestyle, my lifestyle. All that fell away.'And then one earth-shattering day Christina's worst nightmare came true when Oz was killed on his final day of duty before flying home to his family.This is Christina and Oz's story: a story about love and loss, hope and despair and of living in constant fear. Christina's extraordinary bravery and composure is an inspiration to anyone who has ever lost someone they love.Always a Marine: The Return to Civvy Street
Par Steven Preece. 2005
In Amongst the Marines, Steven Preece vividly depicted his excessive, violent lifestyle as an elite Royal Marine Commando. Now Always…
a Marine covers the author's struggle to leave that lifestyle behind following his departure from the service. Back on civvy street for the first time in over seven years, Preece finds it extremely difficult to adapt and struggles to shake off the belligerent mentality he developed while in the Marines. Despite these difficulties, he marries and starts a family, but this positive change is not enough to turn his life around. Preece soon discovers that his tendency towards violence will not be tolerated in the civilian workplace and, after finding himself blacklisted by many companies in his area, he is forced to look for employment abroad. This quest for work takes Preece to France, where he is caught up in a hotel fire; Germany, where he is double-crossed out of his job and later teams up with an ex-SAS trooper; Morocco, where an incident lands him in jail and he is later shot at by border police; and Thailand, where he fights in a boxing ring with a former French Legionnaire and gets caught up in a business scam.Having settled back in the UK, Preece's behaviour remains excessive. He severely injures his head and suffers minor brain damage after a heavy-drinking session. Upon recovering, he looks for something else to believe in and begins training in ninjutsu, the martial art of the ninjas, who view aggression as a sign of weakness. This, combined with the love of his family, finally enables him to put his past behind him. Always a Marine is the action-packed, often shocking account of one ex-Marine's 13-year struggle to control the aggression he learnt as a serviceman in order to become a respectable civilian.