Only that she has lost something very precious.As the little boy waits in the orphanage, he hopes his mother will return.But then he finds himself on board a ship bound for Australia, the promise of a golden life ahead, and wonders: how will she find him in a land across the oceans?In Perth, a lonely wife takes in the orphaned child. But then she discovers the secret of his past. Should she keep quiet? Or tell the truth and risk losing the boy who has become her life?

    But when Jim is tragically killed in an air raid, Helen is heartbroken, her life in ruins.Battling grief and despair, Helen resolves to escape her domineering mother and rebuild her shattered world. Wartime Manchester is a dangerous place, besieged by crime and poverty. So when Helen joins the Women's Auxiliary Police Corps, working with evacuees, the destitute and the vulnerable, she finds a renewed sense of purpose. She's come a long way from her place behind the counter in the corner shop.But there's still something missing in her heart. Is Helen able to accept love and happiness and find the courage to change her life?

     Kingfisher Road - a leafy, peaceful street in the town of Vayhill. But there are whispers behind closed doors. Who is moving into Number 10?Engaged to handsome, wealthy Justin Johnston, Danielle appears to her new neighbours to have the perfect, glossy life. But not everything is as it seems...In fact, each of the other four women who live close by has a secret, and each is nursing their own private heartache.But could a gift be waiting on their doorsteps? And, by opening their front doors, and their hearts, to each other, could the women of Kingfishers Road discover all the help they need? This thirteenth and final novel from the beloved and inspiring Emma Hannigan is a life-affirming, uplifting story that celebrates the strength and joys of female friendship. Acclaim for Emma Hannigan's moving novel Letters to my Daughters: 'Wise, warm and full of joy. Uplifting and magical' Cathy Kelly 'Warm, intelligent and brilliant' Marian Keyes 'A beautiful book by an exceptional author. Lose yourself in her wonderful writing' Sinéad Moriarty

    But when she falls head over champagne bucket while celebrating her successful landing, her life is changed in an instant.  But starting over has its benefits, and as Edie relearns the basics under the watchful eye of her Aunty Josie and an entire Cornish village of new friends and neighbours, she finds love and joy she never could have imagined in the unlikeliest of places…

    1940. With the Germans about to enter Paris, Claire Bouchard flees France for England. Two years later she is recruited by the Special Operations Executive and sent back into occupied France to work alongside the Resistance. Working undercover as a teacher in Brittany, Claire accidentally befriends the wife of the German Commandant of Rennes and the blossoming friendship is about to become a dangerous mission. Knowing that thousands of lives depended on her actions, Claire begins a double life as a Gestapo Commandant’s mistress in order to retrieve vital information for the Allied invasion of France, but ghosts from her past make the deception more painful than she could have imagined. Part historical, part romance and part thriller, Conspiracy of Lies takes us on a journey through occupied France, from the picturesque villages of rural Brittany to the glittering dinner parties of the Nazi elite, in a story of courage, heartbreak and secrecy.

    On what would have been my daughter's 29th birthday, Detective Superintendent Stephen Fulcher knocked on the door and told me my beautiful Becky was dead. Found buried in a shallow grave in a remote field, Becky had been brutally murdered.'When Becky Godden-Edwards was killed, her mother Karen awoke to a world where the truth was never guaranteed; where taxi driver Christopher Halliwell got away with murder and the police officer who found her daughter was punished instead. This is Karen's story. Despite unimaginable tragedy, her love for her daughter has been unbreakable: from her despair through Becky's troubled teenage years, to the agonising eight years when Becky was missing, and then the dramatic story of how a killer's confession led to a terrible discovery. The one constant has been Karen's determination to fight for Becky, tirelessly campaigning for the truth about what happened to be heard and for Halliwell to face the consequences of his evil actions. *The murders of Becky Godden-Edwards and Sian O'Callaghan will soon be the focus of major new ITV series A Confession starring Martin Freeman as Stephen Fulcher and Imelda Staunton as Karen Edwards*

    This book contains the complete novels of Jane Austen in the chronological order of their original publication.- Lady Susan- Sense and Sensibility- Pride and Prejudice- Mansfield Park- Emma- Persuasion- Northanger Abbey- The Watsons- Sanditon

    From the worry spiral that keeps you up at 3AM, to maintaining a professional aura when you can't stand other people - this is for everyone struggling to stay afloat.Honest, relatable, funny and containing no useful advice whatsoever, take comfort in the knowledge that it's not just you, we're all as f*cked as each other.

    But now is not the time for a girl to be drawing attention to herself and she is sent away to find work dressed as a boy. Luckily a rich manor house is hiring.Yet Barrow Hall's inhabitants harbour dangerous secrets of their own, the suspicious owner is hunting for witches, and the house itself is a little too close to the sea...

    Two or three kilometres' swim away is the Greek island of Samos, now only a smudge in the moonlight.Their feet are blistered from walking, their energy is failing.They wade forward into the Aegean Sea and count one, two, three.This is the story of what happens next.This is the story of Mohammed and Zain.Brothers. Sons. Refugees.

    Superbly researched and written with gripping fluency, this lost secret of World War II espionage finally has its expert chronicler." - WILLIAM BOYD'Gripping and intoxicating, it unfolds like the best screenplay.'- NICHOLAS SHAKESPEAREThe astonishing story of the British spies who set out to draw America into World War II. As World War II raged into its second year, Britain sought a powerful ally to join its cause--but the American public was sharply divided on the subject. The Canadian-born MI6 officer William Stephenson, with his knowledge and influence in North America, was chosen to change their minds by any means necessary.In this extraordinary tale of foreign influence on American shores, Henry Hemming shows how Stephenson came to New York--hiring Canadian staffers to keep his operations secret--and flooded the American market with propaganda supporting Franklin Roosevelt and decrying Nazism. His chief opponent was Charles Lindbergh, an insurgent populist who campaigned under the slogan "America First," and had no interest in the war. This set up a shadow duel between Lindbergh and Stephenson, each trying to turn public opinion his way, with the lives of millions potentially on the line.

    A cosy hotel in a sleepy, snow-covered village should be the perfect setting for a Christmas to remember... But for Beth, returning to her childhood home after a disastrous break-up looks more like a festive fiasco. With her mum stranded in a blizzard and most of the hotel staff off sick, Beth is forced to take the reins, impress a mystery hotel reviewer, and somehow find a way to work with Nick, the very grumpy - and very gorgeous - pilot who is staying for the holidays. Between mince pie emergencies, deadly decorations, and two dozen disgruntled guests, Beth might just find a miracle under the mistletoe this Christmas... Heartwarming and hilarious, this is the perfect festive romance to curl up with this winter. Perfect for fans of Heidi Swain and Sue Moorcroft.

    Saved by a local orphanage, she knows she owes her life to the kindness of others. And she’s determined to repay her debt by working as a nurse.Strong, kind and patient, Angelina is a natural on the ward. But when war breaks out in 1914 and she is sent to The Front, her courage is tested like never before…As war rages around her, a chance meeting with a familiar soldier sends Angelina’s whole world into turmoil. Can she hold her nerve, save the men around her – and protect her heart?

    . . a rich, gripping, enchanting read. Anne’s vivid writing took me straight to the year 1400 and kept me wonderfully lost there throughout’ Joanna CourtneyPraise for Anne O’Brien‘O’Brien cleverly intertwines the personal and political in this enjoyable, gripping tale’ The Times‘O’Brien is a terrific storyteller’ Daily Telegraph‘A gripping story of love, heartache and political intrigue’ Woman Home‘Packed with drama, danger, romance and history … the perfect reading choice for the long winter nights’ The Press Association‘A gripping historical drama’ Bella

    You’ve walked past my house, and pointed, and wondered. The cat lady. All on my own, with only my five cats to keep me company. Did no-one ever tell you that you can’t judge a book by its cover?Everyone in town knows Nancy Jones. She loves her cats. She loves her tumbledown house by the sea. She loves her job in the local school where she tries to help the children who need help the most. Nancy tries hard not to think about her past loves and where those led her…Nancy never shares her secrets – because some doors are better kept locked. But one day she accepts a cat-sitting request from a local woman, and at the woman’s house, Nancy sees a photograph, in a bright-red frame. A photograph that opens the door to her painful past…Soon Nancy doesn’t know what frightens her the most: letting her story out, or letting the rest of the world in. It’s impossible to find companionship without the risk of losing it. But can Nancy take that risk again?A heart-wrenching and heart-warming story of love lost and found, and of second chances, They Call Me The Cat Lady is perfect for fans of A Man Called Ove and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

    Max is a British Territorial soldier and Zia is a Jewess from the south of France. Zia's grandmother is a wealthy socialite who owns a painting that could embarrass the Nazis. Zia is kidnapped by the Gestapo and Max is hospitalised on the same day. He awakes to find no trace of his beloved who he had planned to marry in England. The Red Cross reported that it was almost certain that Zia was trafficked across the border and delivered to Sachsenhausen Labour Camp at Oranienburg, not far from Berlin on the night of May 26th, 1939. A criminal act, regardless of the forthcoming war. The first warring Germans to step over the border onto French soil did not do so until May 13th, 1940. The Gestapo had kidnapped her 343 days before they attacked France.June 6th, 1944 - four years later, Max is one of 150,000 Allied troops headed towards the Normandy beaches. He has two options - find the woman he could never forget or kill the people responsible for her death. From the very beginning, Berlin had ordered SS Hauptsturmführer Dieter Baumann to deal harshly with their VIP captive but never to kill her. Through three concentration camps, ending in Auschwitz, Zia wishes she had been killed many times over. Traumatized, she has no idea that Max and a few unlikely friends are battling their way through Nazi occupied Europe in a crazy attempt to rescue her. Berlin tries one last ploy to get their hands on her grandmother's painting. Zia's life hangs in the balance when Max meets his own personal nemesis in the guise of an undercover Gestapo officer. This novel explores the dark depths that humans can sink to in times of war. It is for adults only and even then; it is not for readers of a sensitive disposition. Whatever you read in this novel of extraordinary graphic Holocaust content, consider this – it was immeasurably worse, a hundred thousand times so.

    It wasn't a cry, or even a sob. It came from deep in my soul... It was the sound of a mother helpless to save her child from danger. I asked the same unanswered questions over and again. Where was he? Where was my Damien?On 2 November 1996, sixteen-year-old Damien Nettles went out for the evening in his home town of Cowes on the Isle of Wight. CCTV recorded him in a chip shop at 23:40 and on the High Street just after midnight. He has never been seen since.His mother, Valerie, has spent over two decades desperately trying to find out what happened to her son. Arrests have been made, and suspects released without charge. Despite years of research by journalists and a private investigator, Damien's vanishing remains a mystery.In this hugely moving and compelling account, Valerie Nettles tells the full, perplexing story of her son's disappearance. Someone must know what happened to Damien. Will the truth ever emerge from the shadows?

    The capital is simmering with dissent. The conflict is ready to boil over.But Thomas soon has other troubles to contend with. A wealthy merchant, Sir Joseph Venell, is savagely killed; then his partner Sir Hugh Swofford plunges to his death, in the Tallant household.Suspicion falls on Thomas, who is sucked into a mire of treachery and rumour within the City of London. As the merchant struggles to clear his name, he becomes captivated by the enigmatic Elizabeth Seymour, whose passion for astronomy and mathematics is matched only by her addiction to the gaming tables.Pursued by the authorities, Thomas races to unmask the real killer who claims a third victim to implicate him further, toying with his future in a deadly cat and mouse game.In a desperate race against time, Elizabeth applies her powers of logic and deduction to unearth the clues that will point to the killer, but her way is barred by a secret message from the grave.Can she crack its code before Thomas, now a wounded and exhausted fugitive, succumbs to the chase?And, if she succeeds, has Thomas the strength to face his tormentor and win his life and reputation back?Rags of Time is the first book in an engaging and entertaining new historical crime series, set during the upheaval of the 17th Century.

    When Sofia loses her beloved teddy after a day at the beach, she is heartbroken. But the sea saw it all, and maybe, just maybe, it can bring Sofia and her teddy back together. However long it may take... Exquisite collage artwork is paired with an assured, moving text in this very special picture book.

    An impossible mission. Failure is not an option. 1943. With Nazi Germany facing defeat, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering has authorized mass production of the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, a jet-propulsion engine aircraft faster than any plane in the Allies' arsenal. But the Komet is unstable, and British Intelligence has discovered that German scientist Professor Gaerte has been tasked to fix the plane's flaw. To prevent the Komets from getting airborne, an undercover task force must infiltrate Nazi-occupied France and assassinate Gaerte.Captain Harry Walsh is one of Britain's most effective, ruthless, and unorthodox Special Operations Executive agents. Allied with an American OSS and Free French operatives, Harry leads his squad behind enemy lines where he's reunited with fellow SOE operative--and former lover--Emma Stirling. But as the team proceeds with their mission, an SS officer from Harry's past pursues the Englishman on a very personal mission of revenge . . ."Reads like the new The Day of the Jackal--swift, deadly, game over!" --John Ellsworth, USA Today bestselling author of The Point of Light "A heart-pounding thriller from cover to cover. I couldn't put it down." --James D. Shipman, author of Task Force Baum "A perfect companion for fans of the great Ken Follett." --Chuck Driskell, author of Final Mission: Zion

    Six of us and we all survived the war. And yet one knew of other families who lost all of their children.' Ruth WalkerThis is the story of the Walkers, six siblings (including the author's grandfather) who survived Blitz, battle and internment and lived to tell the tale. This ordinary family's extraordinary experiences combine to tell a new social history of World War Two. Harold was a doctor who spent a week in a coma after being bombed whilst conducting an operation in St Thomas's hospital. Glamorous Beatrice married an American airman, and was widowed just weeks before the end of the war. Peter suffered terrible torture as a Japanese POW. Edward fought with the 1/8 Punjab regiment in India. Ruth performed pioneering skin grafts as a nurse for soldiers returning from Dunkirk. And Walter fought with the 8th Gurkhas against the Japanese in Burma.Together, the stories of these ordinary yet extraordinary siblings tell the story of WW2 from the home front to Italy, Burma and Malaya, North Africa and more.

    December is always a difficult month to face without her beloved husband Gray, the days feel long and bleak, and to cap it all, she’s just lost her job. So when Nina hears that Sparrow Street’s Community Garden, one of Gray’s favourite places, is to be put up for sale she knows she must do something. Filled with purpose, she gathers the residents of Sparrow Street around her to turn the neglected patch of land into a Garden of Memories. Working with her neighbours, single mum Kelly and eighty-year-old Ada, Nina soon finds that she’s not the only lonely soul on Sparrow Street. And as the community comes together and the garden flourishes, Nina can’t help but be drawn to Irish gardener Colm with his sparkling blue eyes and kind heart, finding herself confiding in him about all her recent troubles. But just as Colm and Nina grow closer and he opens up to her about his own secret loss, Colm’s estranged wife returns from Scotland, wanting to try again. Nina knows she should let the man she’s falling for go – it’s the right thing to do. But what if fate has other plans in store? Will the beautiful garden on Sparrow Street have brought two people together only for Nina’s cautious heart to push them apart? If you love an uplifting, moving love story, then The Garden on Sparrow Street is the perfect romantic read to curl up with on a winter’s afternoon. Fans of Josie Silver and Carole Matthews will love this book! Readers are falling in love with The Garden On Sparrow Street: ‘A lovely, lovely, book. I picked it up cuddled into my chair and started reading I did not get up for hours. I left my world, entered the town, met the characters, loved every page and was sorry to reach the end of this story, say goodbye to all the characters.’ Netgalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This book is a custom-made necessity for those precious afternoons curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea and that proverbial 'good book'. This charming book would make a lovely stocking-stuffer.’ Netgalley Reviewer Readers adore Tilly Tennant: ‘I loved every minute of it… I was glued to my Kindle for a few days that's for sure!... A really brilliant read that will leave you hooked even after a few pages’ The Cosiest Corner, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Literally couldn’t put it down!… makes you laugh and tugs at the heartstrings, all in one go!... absolutely perfect!... breath-taking… made me cry and it made me laugh… filled me with festive warm feelings… Love love LOVED it!!.’ Stardust Book Reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Oozing with Christmas charm, this is the perfect book to add to your holiday reads… This was a heart-warming read… Filled with charm, snow, and Christmas, this is one book that you need to add to your list!’ Darcy’s Book Blog ‘Bloody brilliant… I loved being ba

    Each week she takes a different figure from the ancient world and tells their story through a mix of stand-up comedy and conversation.Over the course of these four series she tells the stories of Sophocles (who invents the TV detective with Oedipus - bad things happen), Virgil (who creates Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Aspasia (how to be a notorious woman in ancient Greece), Ovid (expect frottage at the races), Plato (on the chunky side, but very good at wrestling) and Sappho (a lot of gossip from over 1,000 years ago), among others.Featuring special guests including classicists Professor Edith Hall and Professor Llewelyn Morgan, novelists Stella Duffy and Ben Okri and comedians Katy Brand and Al Murray.

    Culley does an artful job of piecing together a story line that parallels what is known. Strong writing of the characters and a good dose of action and intrigue make a worthy read. H A Culley has long been a favourite of mine and this book does not disappoint. Really enjoyed this series. The books skip along at a good pace. The characters both real and fictional are brought to life in medieval Britain. ABOUT THE BOOK This novel follows on from H A Culley's successful series about the Anglo-Saxon Kings of Northumbria Many will have heard of Bernard Cornwall’s hero, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, but what of the real Uhtred? He was an Anglo-Saxon noble of the tenth and eleventh century who became Earl of Northumbria. This novel is based on Uhtred’s life. In the late tenth century Northumbria was surrounded by potential enemies: the Scots to the North, the Danes in the South of the region and Viking raiders from across the North Sea. Uhtred, the elder son of the Earl of Bernicia, fights and wins his first battle against a horde of Norsemen when he is fourteen and continues to face external enemies throughout his life. However, he has to contend with enemies within his own family as well. His father is jealous of his success and disowns him and his younger brother wants him dead so that he can succeed to the earldom. He survives several attempts on his life but then the Scots invade and besiege Durham, where Uhtred has left his wife and child believing it to be a place of safety. He must unite the disparate parts of Northumbria under his leadership if he is to stand any chance of defeating the Scots invaders and so save his family. Meanwhile, across the sea Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark and Norway, and his son Cnut make plans to invade Northumbria as a prelude to seizing the English throne.

    So when Cosmo comes to life, it is the perfect opportunity for Betty to help him overcome his fear and show him the beauty of the night. With a lantern in one hand and Cosmo’s paw in the other, join Betty on a wonderful adventure that will light up every child’s story time!

     Now Lord Barnard is dead and his son, Lord Charles, has come home from the crusades with the last of their men -- and Simon is not among them. Lord Charles claims Simon died saving his life. Melisende suspects there is more to the story. Left to fend for herself and her two young children, Melisende is determined to discover what really happened to Simon at the battle for Acre. The truth is far stranger and more unsettling than she could ever have imagined. If you enjoy true-to-life historical fiction based on real events, with all the passion, drama, and heartache of life in Medieval Europe, you’ll love The Lode Stone, written by multi-award-winning author Jane Ann McLachlan.

    His tales span the globe and range from the wickedly funny to the sad and deeply unnerving. With his perceptive take on human failings, his vivid imagination and his glorious grasp of language, Ansbro’s thought-provoking stories will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

    Darcy, feeling foolish that he came to the brink of a proposal due to an arbitrary deadline, decides to accept his aunt's request to accompany them--hoping that his decision regarding Elizabeth will make itself plain.While Anne spends her morning dutifully drinking the famed waters of Tunbridge Wells, Lizzy is pulled further into the Darcy and de Bourgh family circle. From Darcy's cousin, Lady Honoria, to his sister, Georgiana, Lizzy can't help feeling that this is a family she would like, except for Mr. Darcy! Which only makes it all the more painful when she must resolutely reject the proud head of the family...

    The story that has been told repeatedly is this: The handsome, charismatic, and popular Prince Edward was expected to marry a well-bred virgin who would one day become Queen of England when he ascended the throne. But when the prince was nearly forty, he fell in love with a divorced American woman—Wallis Simpson. No one thought the relationship would last, and when the prince did become king, everyone assumed that was the end of the affair. But to the shock of the British establishment, the new king announced his intention to marry the American divorcée. Overnight, Wallis was accused of entrapping the prince in a seductive web in order to achieve her audacious ambition to be queen. After declaring that he could not rule without the woman he loved, the king abdicated, and his family banished him and his new wife from the country. The couple spent the rest of their days in exile, but happy in their devoted love for each other. Now, Anna Pasternak’s The Real Wallis Simpson tells a different story: that Wallis was the victim of the abdication, not the villain. Warm, well-mannered, and witty, Wallis was flattered by Prince Edward’s attention, but like everyone else, she never expected his infatuation to last. She never anticipated his jealous, possessive nature—and his absolute refusal to let her go. Edward’s true dark nature, however, was no secret to the royal family, the church, or the Parliament; everyone close to Edward knew that beyond his charming façade, he was utterly unfit to rule. Caught in Edward’s fierce obsession, she became the perfect scapegoat for those who wished to dethrone the troubled king. With profound insight and evenhanded research, Pasternak pulls back the curtain on one of the darkest fairy tales in recent memory and effortlessly reveals “a host of intriguing insights into a misunderstood woman” (Kirkus Reviews).

    Between two world wars, he became the laureate of cricket by doing the same with words.In The Great Romantic, award-winning author Duncan Hamilton demonstrates how Cardus changed sports journalism for ever. While popularising cricket – while appealing, in Cardus’ words to people who ‘didn’t know a leg-break from the pavilion cat at Lord’s’- he became a star in his own right with exquisite phrase-making, disdain for statistics and a penchant for literary and musical allusions.Among those who venerated Cardus were PG Wodehouse, John Arlott, Harold Pinter, JB Priestley and Don Bradman. However, behind the rhapsody in blue skies, green grass and colourful characters, this richly evocative biography finds that Cardus’ mother was a prostitute, he never knew his father and he received negligible education. Infatuations with younger women ran parallel to a decidedly unromantic marriage. And, astonishingly, the supreme stylist’s aversion to factual accuracy led to his reporting on matches he never attended.Yet Cardus also belied his impoverished origins to prosper in a second class-conscious profession, becoming a music critic of international renown. The Great Romantic uncovers the dark enigma within a golden age.

    Rambling across the rolling fields of Hampshire, along the bustling streets of London and around the golden crescents of Bath, Jane Austen's England is the perfect companion for any Janeite planning a pilgrimage. Functionally arranged by region, each chapter tracks down the most iconic scenes from both the big and little screen, as well as the key destinations where Jane lived, danced and wrote. Descriptions of each location are interspersed with biographical anecdotes and local history. Subsections focus on various stately homes that have been featured in every adaptation of every novel, from the beloved Pride and Prejudice television series (1995, Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth) to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016). With a compilation of websites, seasonal opening hours and tour details, this compact book contains everything you need to immerse yourself in Austen.

    Thinking Betty was in the bath Graham was watching a late-night programme on Channel 4 called Footballers with Their Shirts Off when she unexpectedly came in on the trail of the hairdryer.'I didn't know you were interested in football,' said Betty.No one must ever find out that Graham is 'not the marrying sort'. Certainly not his wife, or his mother. As sex, blackmail and fanatical tidiness take over the West Yorkshire parish of Alwoodley, an unlikely caper unfolds.Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.

    He grows up in fields and woods, and he is happy, he thinks. When K is eleven, the city reclaims him. He returns to an unknown mother and a part-time father, trading the fields for flats and a community that is alien to him. Slowly, he finds friends. Eventually, he finds love. He learns how to navigate the city. But as he grows, he begins to realise that he needs more than the city can provide. He is a man made of pieces. Pieces that are slowly breaking apart.That Reminds Me is the story of one young man, from birth to adulthood, told in fragments of memory. It explores questions of identity, belonging, addiction, sexuality, violence, family and religion. It is a deeply moving and completely original work of literature from one of the brightest British writers of today.

    Having survived the retreat to and evacuation from Dunkirk, he volunteered for the newly formed Commandos and took part in their first operation, the raid on the Lofoten Islands. He fought and was captured in Tunisia. He went on the run before his POW camp at Fontanellato was taken over by the Nazis after the September 1943 Italian armistice. He spent six months on the run in the Apennine mountains aided by brave and selfless Italians. Many of whom were actively fighting their occupiers. He eventually reached Allied lines but not before several of his companions were tragically killed by both German and American fire.On return to England he immediately signed up for the invasion of North West Europe and despite being wounded eventually fought through to Germany.It is thanks to his son's research that Major Young's story can now be told. It is an inspiring and thrilling account which demands to be read.

    Antony Coulthard was the privately educated son of wealthy parents with a degree in modern languages from Oxford. Fred Foster, the son of a bricklayer, had left school at 14. This mismatched young pair hatched a plan to disguise themselves and simply walk out of the camp, board a train, and head straight into the heart of Nazi Germany. This audacious plan involved 18 months of undercover work, including Antony spending 3 hours each evening teaching Fred German. They set off for the Swiss border via Germany, but when they reached the border town of Lake Constance, with Switzerland within their reach, Antony crossed over into freedom, while Fred’s luck ran out. What happened to them both next is both heartbreaking and inspiring.

    Businessman and meteorologist Geoffrey de Roussier is passionate about his weather station and railways, yet little of his passion seems to filter through to his shy, naïve young wife, Rebecca. Following his tragic demise, Rebecca discovers that Geoffrey’s railroad investments have failed, leaving her penniless. As the past threatens to engulf her, Rebecca realises she has to make a choice. Gwilym Llewellyn, Geoffrey’s trusted friend and advisor, has an emotional debt to repay to Geoffrey and meets Rebecca to offer her a solution. Meanwhile Rebecca has found passion in another direction … One man will save her from destitution, the other will offer her the love and excitement that she aches for. Whom will she choose? The book has a wonderful setting in Cardiff, South Wales. If you like a good mix of a charming, evocative depiction of the Victorian era and a modern-thinking heroine then Rebecca’s Choice is the novel for you. This is Heidi Gallacher’s debut novel, a historical Victorian romance of 62,000 words. Pick up ‘Rebecca’s Choice’ today to lose yourself in this wonderful story!

    Robert Graves was fascinated by what he saw as his work's connection to a lost world of deeply buried folkloric memory. He is a shapeshifter; a seer; a chronicler of battles fought, by sword and with magic, between the ancient kingdoms of the British Isles; a bridge between old Welsh mythologies and the new Christian theology; a 6th-century Brythonic bard; and a legendary collective project spanning the centuries up to The Book of Taliesin's compilation in 14th-century North Wales. He is, above all, no single 'he'.The figure of Taliesin is a mystery. But of the variety and quality of the poems written under his sign, of their power as exemplars of the force of ecstatic poetic imagination, and of the fascinating window they offer us onto a strange and visionary world, there can be no question. In the first volume to gather all of the poems from The Book of Taliesin since 1915, Gwyneth Lewis and Rowan Williams's accessible translation makes these outrageous, arrogant, stumbling and joyful poems available to a new generation of readers.

    One man catches her eye and she cannot forget him. The following day she receives an urgent message to contact the local priest: he needs her help.   Miranda is a photography student in Berlin in 1989 as the Wall falls. Trapped in an abusive relationship, her one hope for escape is an old postcard of the village her grandmother, Detta, was born in. As Miranda flees through the rubble of the Berlin wall and into the East, she begins to suspect she’s being followed by the Stasi.  Two very different timelines; two women who share a history and a dark secret. Can they save each other now the time has come to reveal it?Acclaim for Clare Harvey's novels: 'Had me enthralled' Kate Furnivall ‘Will delight all those who love a good wartime story’ Dilly Court 'A gripping story' Julie Cohen 'An exceptional talent' Kate Rhodes 'A triumph' Jill Mansell 'Heartwarming, enjoyable and full of surprises' Elizabeth Chadwick ‘A real page-turner’ Ellie Dean

    A masterpiece."--Edmund de Waal, ceramic artist and author of The White RoadThe impact of Walter Gropius can be measured in his buildings--Fagus Factory, Bauhaus Dessau, Pan Am--but no less in his students. I. M. Pei, Paul Rudolph, Anni Albers, Philip Johnson, Fumihiko Maki: countless masters were once disciples at the Bauhaus in Berlin and at Harvard. Between 1910 and 1930, Gropius was at the center of European modernism and avant-garde society glamor, only to be exiled to the antimodernist United Kingdom during the Nazi years. Later, under the democratizing influence of American universities, Gropius became an advocate of public art and cemented a starring role in twentieth-century architecture and design.Fiona MacCarthy challenges the image of Gropius as a doctrinaire architectural rationalist, bringing out the visionary philosophy and courage that carried him through a politically hostile age. Pilloried by Tom Wolfe as inventor of the monolithic high-rise, Gropius is better remembered as inventor of a form of art education that influenced schools worldwide. He viewed argument as intrinsic to creativity. Unusually for one in his position, Gropius encouraged women's artistic endeavors and sought equal romantic partners. Though a traveler in elite circles, he objected to the cloistering of beauty as "a special privilege for the aesthetically initiated."Gropius offers a poignant and personal story--and a fascinating reexamination of the urges that drove European and American modernism.

    All that changes when her dog, Tigger, starts digging at a wall in the basement. The rank smell gives way to a medieval relic pertaining to witchcraft and superstition. But, in this modern age, such things can be seen for what they are: pure hokum...Can't they?"

    A village matriarch tries to hold her family together...Her grieving son finds a new life in the Cretan Resistance...A naive English soldier unwillingly finds the warrior in himself...And a fanatical German paratrooper is forced to question everything he thought he believed in. The lives of four ordinary people are irrevocably entwined and their destinies changed forever as each of them confronts the horrors of war and its echoes down the decades.

    

     Nesta was a consort to King Henry I, wife to Gerald of Pembroke and the captive-lover to Owain of Poweys. She is thought to be the original mother to the Tudor and Stuart Dynasties which Princess Diana and John F Kennedy are both descendants.

     The birth of a new dynasty is on the horizon... England, 1469-1509 The Wars of the Roses are raging and England is in turmoil with the ongoing power-struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster. As the throne is wrested between Henry VI of Lancaster and Edward IV of York, young Henry Tudor grows up in exile. A powerful threat to one faction and a symbol of hope for the other, Henry Tudor is moulded by his battled-hardened uncle Jasper and his power-hungry mother, Margaret Beaufort into the king he will one day become. How will Henry prove his worth as heir to the throne? Will he live up to his uncle’s expectations? He must fulfill his destiny to finally unite the red rose and the white… Tudor Dawn is the first thrilling historical adventure novel in the Tudor Saga Series, chronicling the rise and fall of one of England’s most powerful royal families. THE TUDOR SAGA SERIES BOOK ONE: Tudor Dawn BOOK TWO: The King’s Commoner BOOK THREE: Justice For The Cardinal BOOK FOUR: A Clash of Seymours BOOK FIVE: The Queen In Waiting BOOK SIX: The Heart Of A King

    After nights of bombing, it’s decided that they’ll join the over 800,000 children who’ve already been evacuated during Operation Pied Piper. They board a train not knowing where they’re going or who will take them in.The long, crowded train ride is less than pleasant. Thankfully they make two allies, Sam and Molly. Upon arriving in Leek, the evacuees are herded off the train and paraded down the street like sheep. Joyce and her sister are terrified they won’t be chosen.Eventually, a family welcomes them. As they adjust to all the changes, they find the people of Leek aren’t so accepting to all the evacuees. Sam’s host is dark and abusive. As the girls help plan his escape, they discover this sleepy little community holds a dark secret...

    When their boat sinks, and Omar finds himself alone, with no hope of rescue, it seems as if his story has come to an end. But it is only just beginning. Because in the end, a little hope makes a big difference… A thrilling adventure inspired by the classic story of Gulliver’s Travels, this is also a gripping modern narrative of rescue and refuge, from a writer at the height of his powers. A book about breaking down walls, at a time when many are trying to build them. And a timeless reminder of humanity’s infinite capacity for good… even when those humans are very small indeed.

    470 kilometres. Twenty-one days. Welcome to the Hezbollah Hiking Club . . . At a boozy, cricket-filled afternoon at Lord's, Dom Joly convinces his two closest friends to agree to the unthinkable: a challenging hike across Lebanon, from the Israeli border in the south, along the spine of the country's mountain range, all the way to the Syrian border in the north. For Joly it is something of a homecoming, having grown up in Beirut. It was a happy childhood, though he did go to school with Osama bin Laden.Arriving in Lebanon armed with copious amounts of Vaseline - and no walking experience, bar taking the dog for the occasional stroll - Dom, Chris and Harry don't quite know what they've got themselves into. Joined by their bemused chaperone Caroll, they meet a variety of characters along the way including Ali, a stony-faced Hezbollah Museum guide who seems unperturbed by circling Israeli jets, and part-time Londoner Raf, who challenges Dom and the boys to a brain-freeze drinking contest. From a hair-raising creep along the 'Valley of the Skulls' to accidentally flashing an unsuspecting Ethiopian cook, the three friends just about manage to keep going.With more than a smattering of persiflage and some cringe-worthy moments, The Hezbollah Hiking Club is a big-hearted, witty and affectionate love letter to Lebanon and its rich history with a meditation on family and homeland at its heart. Written with Dom's trademark humour, it is a paean to both the simple joys of friendship and to growing old disgracefully.

    Britain faces German invasion. A race is on to wreck Hitler's plans led by RAF Bomber Command's No. 5 Group, commanded by the famous 'Bomber' Harris. Two aqueducts, huge water bridges on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, along which the Germans are bringing invasion barges and supplies to the Channel coast, are identified as crucial to stopping Hitler. Can they be destroyed? A motley collection of daredevil British and Australian airmen are ordered to try, including Guy Gibson of later Dambusters fame. They are in a race against time, for every day that the aqueducts remain standing, the Germans gather to invade. At the same time, the British race to develop a new kind of bomb that can be dropped on the aqueducts, and scientists face almost insurmountable technical and obstacles. By mid-August 1940 eleven aircrews, flying old, slow and poorly armed Hampden bombers, have completed training for the raid. On the night of 12 August they launch from Lincolnshire, split into an attacking and diversionary force. They face desperate odds against a huge concentration of German flak guns, enemy night fighters and searchlights, and must fly suicidally low, slow and level to release the new bombs. In a raid with many similarities in personnel, target and weapon to the much more famous Dambusters Raid of 1943, the plucky band of outnumbered and outgunned airmen press home their assault on the aqueducts. If they fail, the Germans will probably be landing on the coast of southern England within a few weeks, but if they succeed, they may change the course of history and help to save their country from invasion and occupation. This is the untold and completely forgotten story of 'The Bridge Busters', the first Dambusters and their suicide mission just before the Battle of Britain began.

     Terrorism is seen as a special category of crime that has blinded us to the obvious - that it is, almost always, male violence. The extraordinary link between so many tragic recent attacks is that the perpetrators have practised in private before their public outbursts. In these searing case studies, Joan Smith, feminist and human rights campaigner, makes a compelling and persuasive argument for a radical shift in perspective. Incomprehensible ideology is transformed through her clear-eyed research into a disturbing but familiar pattern.From the Manchester bomber to the Charlie Hebdo attackers, from angry white men to the Bethnal Green girls, from US school shootings to the London gang members who joined ISIS, Joan Smith shows that, time and time again, misogyny, trauma and abuse lurk beneath the 'justifications' of religion or politics. Until Smith pointed it out in 2017, criminal authorities missed this connection because violence against women is dangerously normalised. Yet, since domestic abuse often comes before a public attack, it's here a solution to the scourge of our age might be found. Thought-provoking and essential, Home-Grown will lift the veil on a revelatory truth.For fans of Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez and Misogynation by Laura Bates.

    . .Adrift on the Tides of War • PATRICK WELLANDOlivia Manning’s Balkan trilogyHands off the Handlebars • SUE GEERoald Dahl, BoyOne of the Regulars • LINDA LEATHERBARROWPenelope Fitzgerald, The Means of Escape’Tis Better to Have Loved and Lost? • CHRISTOPHER RUSHAlfred, Lord Tennyson, In MemoriamThe Sound of Chariots • SUE GAISFORDThe Roman Britain novels of Rosemary SutcliffPorridge and the Shorter Catechism • MORAG MACINNESF. M. McNeill, The Scots KitchenChallenging the Old Gang • MICHAEL BARBERNoel Annan, Our AgeHauntings • MICHÈLE ROBERTSDorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy NightHitting the Nail on the Head • YSENDA MAXTONE GRAHAMThe poetry of Jan StrutherThe Twilight Hour • MIRANDA SEYMOURPeter Davidson, The Last of the LightAt War with Churchill • ANTHONY LONGDENField Marshal Lord Alanbrooke, War DiariesLost in the Fens • JULIE WELCHThe detective stories of Edmund CrispinWinning on Points • JACQUELINE WILSONNoel Streatfeild, Ballet ShoesWord Magic • TIM MACKINTOSH-SMITHBecoming a writer

    Grace harbors a secret, one which she fears might change the nature of their relationship forever. Unsure of how he will respond, she has decided to tell him upon his return knowing that to do so risks losing him forever. Seven hundred miles away in Berlin, war-weary firefighter Karl is haunted by the images he’s seen both on the home front and in Russia. Now he takes command of a group of teenage auxiliaries who find themselves on the front lines of Germany’s defenses against a nightly rain of fire. On a call, he meets Ursula, a young woman who lives near his station. Karl quickly finds himself falling for her, unaware that she is playing a dangerous game, one which might place his own life in danger. As the raid unfolds, they face choices which will forever change them, and those they love.

    But little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this long-awaited first biography, Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and penetrating insight.Soden has discovered troves of unpublished letters and manuscripts, and recorded moving interviews with Tippett's friends and colleagues. He paints a portrait of a powerful intellect and infectious personality: charming, stubborn, and great fun. But he also uncovers the sorrows and secrets that Tippett stowed away beneath his cheerfulness, not least the darker reaches of some tempestuous and often tragic love affairs.Soden's achievement is to have enriched our understanding not only of Tippett but of his times. Figures such as T.S. Eliot, E.M. Forster, Barbara Hepworth, and W.H. Auden jostle in the cast list. An Edwardian world of gaslight and empire cedes to turmoil and warfare; one startling revelation is the extent of Tippett's involvement in the fiery left-wing politics of the 1930s. The narrative roves from the mining villages of the north, blighted by unemployment, to a cell at Wormwood Scrubs, where Tippett was imprisoned as a conscientious objector. Later chapters uncover his operas' game-changing attitudes to gay and civil rights, against a backdrop of the Cold War and the Space Race. And singing from the page comes the music, through which Soden charts an exquisitely written course, offering lucid readings of Tippett's most famous works while resuscitating forgotten masterpieces. The result is a landmark in the study of twentieth-century culture, simultaneously an astonishing feat of scholarship and a story as enthralling as in any great novel.

    She was pounding the shells, hard, with the palm of her hand on the flat of a knife.Bewitched by ‘the sort of girl who’d batter your heart like a thrush with a snail on a stone’, a woman overlooks the one who really loves her.A seaside community is overwhelmed when the sea begins to expel its life forms. But the villagers would rather raise the sea wall, whatever the cost, than confront their past mistakes.A woman’s beloved garden withers as the baby inside her flourishes. When the pregnancy reaches its end, the progeny is not as she expects.A widower feels like his life might have been a quiet nothing, but he’ll end it with the flight he’s always dreamed of. Even that fails, but instead of indignity, in the attempt he finds peace.Perceptive, intriguing, and beautifully told, Chloe Turner’s debut collection explores the themes of love, loss, the little ways we let each other down, and how we can find each other again.

    So equipped with a screwdriver, bad memories and a fixing of desperation, Len sets about reclaiming the one part of her that's still his. It won’t be easy. But then nothing has been easy for Len.

    A family man who ran afoul of the Nazis, Josef Jakobs was ill-prepared for an espionage mission to England. Captured by the Home Guard after breaking his ankle, Josef was interrogated at Camp 020. Rejected as a double-agent, he was then prosecuted under the Treachery Act and executed by firing squad on 15 August 1941. It would seem to be an open and shut case, yet Josef’s MI5 file suggests otherwise. Faced with the threat of a German invasion in 1940-41, MI5 used promises and threats to break enemy agents, extract valuable intelligence and occasionally turn them into double agents. Evidence in his file suggests that the German Intelligence Service set Josef up to fail; sacrificed as a 'canary in the coal mine' to test MI5’s double-cross system. The Spy in the Tower tells the untold story of one of Nazi Germany’s failed agents. It calls into question the legality of Britain’s wartime espionage trials and the success of its double-cross system.

    Yet the charismatic and headstrong young knight Sir Lamorak looks up to him in particular, despite more obvious choices. When Lamorak catches his mother’s eye, Gaheris knows there’s trouble brewing. Soon he finds himself at the centre of family tensions, deceit and tragedy. Can he prevent the bloodshed that seems inevitable? Kari, Sperring, the award-winning author of Living With Ghosts and The Grass King’s Concubine, delivers a powerful tale of passion and intrigue featuring some of the lesser known members of King Arthur’s court.

    This cheerful, collectible treasury makes a wonderful gift for the reader in your life and reminds us that simple gifts of the heart and memories made with loved ones truly are the most meaningful of all. With additional pieces from Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Hans Christian Andersen, and more, A Classic Christmas will become a precious holiday keepsake—a token to be enjoyed by the whole family for years to come.  Perfect as a stocking stuffer or as a host or hostess gift Hardcover, giftable size for readers Makes a lovely keepsake companion to A Vintage Christmas: A Collection of Classic Stories and Poems Includes hopeful and encouraging Christmas stories

    Von Ribbentrop was an often isolated figure among the Nazi elite. In his final report from London von Ribbentrop informed Hitler that he was convinced that Great Britain would fight for its position in the world. He went on to play a key role forging the short-lived pact with Stalin's Soviet Union.Far from being uncritical, the author, now in his 90s, sets out to paint an objective picture of his father's role. His unique position throws fascinating light on the unfolding dramatic events leading up to, and then the execution of, the Second World war. While the author briefly describes his personal experiences including his war service with the SS, it is the insight this work provides into top level decision making at the heart of the Third Reich that will appeal most to both historians and laymen.

    Perfect for fans of Michael Morpurgo and John Boyne. World War II has begun. Brigit has been evacuated to Wales from her home near the aeroplane factories of Coventry. But when it's revealed that her father is German, Brigit runs away to join her mother in a very special training camp, where Churchill is building a secret army of spies and saboteurs known as the Special Operations Executive.Brigit and her mother soon find themselves on the front line in Nazi-occupied France, where they search for double agents and meet with danger at every turn in their efforts to support the French resistance. But no-one will suspect Brigit is a spy, will they? After all, who would suspect a child?Featuring characters from The Silver Hand, this page-turning adventure sheds new light on the Second World War and will have readers gripped from start to finish.

    The protagonist in most any plot wants something and must overcome obstacles in his or her way. The stories in this collection include the editors’ picks from the five-year archive of online literary journal Brilliant Flash Fiction, as well as a series of 300-word stories shortlisted in the FEED US Writing Contest, conducted June 1 – September 1, 2019. Flash at its finest.What is flash fiction? A story told in 1,000 words or less. Flash fiction might not represent a complete story, but instead describes an unforgettable moment or situation, bordering on prose poetry. The best short fiction leaves the reader with a "flash" of inspiration, revelation, and/or strong emotional response.Once you’ve sampled the flash contained in this book, you are welcome to explore Brilliant Flash Fiction online at brilliantflashfiction.com, where international writers submit their work for quarterly publication.

    The chance meeting with Gabi in Queen Mary's Garden, Regent's Park, is only the start of a series of unworldly events for aspiring writer James Cockburn, which will involve him first in a murder investigation and treasure hunt in St Ives, Cornwall, and then in the increasingly frenetic machinations of politicians and mobsters in both the human dimension and fairyland.

    One pact with the Devil. One chance at love. Elizabeth Murray has been condemned to burn at the stake. As she awaits her fate, a strange, handsome man visits her cell. He offers her a deal: her soul in return for immortality, but what he offers is not a normal life. To survive Elizabeth must become Death itself.Elizabeth must ease the passing of all those who die, appearing at the point of death and using her compassion to guide them over the threshold. She accepts and, for 500 years, whirls from one death to the next, never stopping to think of the life she never lived. Until one day, everything changes. She – Death – falls in love.Desperate to escape the terms of her deal, she summons the man who saved her. He agrees to release her on one condition: that she gives him five lives. These five lives she must take herself, each one more difficult and painful than the last.

    A country clergyman born in 1840, Kilvert spent much of his time visiting parishioners, walking the lanes and fields of Herefordshire and writing in his diary. Full of passionate delight in the natural world and the glory of the changing seasons, his diaries are as generous, spontaneous and vivacious as Kilvert himself. He is an irresistible companion.This new edition of William Plomer’s original selection contains new archival material as well as a fascinating introduction illuminating Kilvert’s world and the history of the diaries.‘One of the best books in English’ Sunday Times'Kilvert has touched and delighted (and mildly shocked) readers of his diaries ever since they were first published. New readers are in for a treat' Alan Bennett

    Though they might reflect the character of the politician, they reveal only a part of the man. What we know less about are the characteristics that Winston Churchill revealed when he was out of the public eye.Much has been written about Churchill, and of the important world leaders, politicians, high-ranking military personnel with whom he interacted.  But Churchill also required a vast staff to maintain the intense pace at which he worked. When Churchill strode the world stage, the secretarial and support staff positions were inevitably filled by women.  Though extraordinarily talented and valuable to Churchill and his work, these women remain unheralded. He was not an easy employer. He was intimidating, with never-ending demands who would impose his relentless and demanding schedules on those around him.  And yet these women were devoted to him, though there were times in his political career in which he was decidedly unpopular.  Many reflect upon their years working for him as the best years of their lives.Intelligent and hard-working, these women were far from sycophants.  Just as Churchill was no ordinary Prime Minister, these women were not ordinary secretaries. Indeed, in today’s terms their titles would be much grander, as their work encompassed ultra-secret documents and decrypting and reading enemy codes.A treasure trove of insight and research, Working with Winston reveals the man behind the statesman and as well as brings long-overdue recognition to the “hidden army” that, like Churchill, was never off-duty.

    But cracking the Nazis’ codes was only the start of the process. Thousands of secret intelligence workers were then involved in making crucial information available to the Allied leaders and commanders who desperately needed it.   Using previously classified documents, David Kenyon casts the work of Bletchley Park in a new light, as not just a codebreaking establishment, but as a fully developed intelligence agency. He shows how preparations for the war’s turning point—the Normandy Landings in 1944—had started at Bletchley years earlier, in 1942, with the careful collation of information extracted from enemy signals traffic. This account reveals the true character of Bletchley's vital contribution to success in Normandy, and ultimately, Allied victory.

    I am prepared to sell you one million Jews: Goods for blood . . . Blood for goods." These were the chilling words uttered by one of the most notorious Nazi bureaucrats, SS Colonel Adolf Eichmann, to a young Jewish businessman called Joel Brand in the spring of 1944. Brand embarked on a desperate mission to persuade the Allies to barter with Eichmann—and failed. 400,000 Hungarian Jews were taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau packed in cattle trains, gassed, and then incinerated. For decades after 1945, many blamed the Allies for callously abandoning a million Hungarian Jews to their fate. Christopher Hale presents a new account of the "Brand Mission" based on evidence in the national archives of Germany, Hungary, Britain and the U.S. Hale reveals that Eichmann’s offer formed one part of a monstrous deception designed to outwit the leaders of the last surviving Jewish community in Europe. The deception was more complex and—from the German point of view—more successful than any equivalent operation mounted by the British secret service.

    When Daisy got married, she knew nothing of a police wife's struggles - the way secrecy and violence seep into the home. But over the years she finds ways to exist. She builds a fierce bond with her daughter, Linda, and together they escape reality and enter the twilit fantasy of the movies whenever they can.Brighton, 1998. Linda is lost and still reeling from the horror of her mother's death a decade before. While clearing out the family home, she finds three letters to Daisy, from a man she'd never once mentioned.Meanwhile Lucas, her deaf teenage son, is obsessed with his support worker, and relearning the sign language he shared with his Nanna. As the language comes back, so do memories of his early childhood. Will his remembering what really happened ten years ago save his family . . . or destroy it?A grandmother, a mother, a son, bound together by love, tragedy, and the one place they can escape to - The Electric.

    Known to contemporaries as 'Cat's Eyes' and by the height of his success in July 1941 as the 'Lone Wolf', Flt Lt Stevens was the RAF's highest scoring nightfighter pilot with fourteen victories. What makes his story unique is that all this was achieved without the aid of radar or another crew member. Instead Flt Lt Stevens used extraordinary skill, instinct and innate marksmanship.Tragically his success was cut short by his untimely death on the night of 15/16 December 1941 - three days after his DSO was gazetted. The tributes paid to him after his death demonstrate the impact he had upon night fighting. Described as 'one of the greatest nightfighter pilots who ever fought in Fighter Command' by Sir Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State for Air and with Air Vice-Marshal B. E. Embry also crediting 'his high standard of courage and skill as a nightfighter pilot' as a contribution to the final defeat of the enemy at night - it is not hard to see why Stevens was greatly admired by his peers.Thanks to over twenty years of painstaking research by Terry Thompson and a rich resource of documentation and photography, Andy Saunders is now able to tell the exceptional story of one of Britain's finest night-flying pilots of the Second World War. This extraordinary biography will be eagerly devoured by military aviation enthusiasts and students of air warfare and Second World War alike.

    Still reeling from the ravages of the Great War, its people were desperate to rebuild their lives in a newly safe and stable era. But only a year later, the fateful decisions of just a few men had again led Europe to war, a war that would have a profound and lasting impact on millions of innocent people.From the bestselling historian Frederick Taylor, 1939: A People's History draws on original British and German sources, including recorded interviews, as well as contemporary diaries, memoirs and newspapers. Its narrative focuses on the day-to-day experiences of the men and women in both countries trapped in this disastrous chain of events and not, as is so often the case, the elite. Their voices, concerns and experiences lend a uniquely intimate flavour to this often surprising account, revealing a marked disconnect between government and people; few ordinary citizens in either Britain or Germany wanted war.Precisely for that reason, 1939: A People's History is also an interrogation of our capacity to go to war again. In today’s Europe, an onset of uncertainty, a looming fear of radical populism and a revelatory schism are dangerously reminiscent of the perils of the autumn of 1938. It is both a vivid and richly peopled narrative of Europe’s slide into the horrors of war, a war that nobody wanted, and, in many ways, a warning; an opportunity for us to learn from our history and a reminder that we must never take peace for granted.

    He was just 20 years old, but due to the deprivations of camp life felt 40 when he was liberated 2 ½ years later. At the end of the war, as the Soviet Army was advancing, German authorities decided to evacuate the PoW camps and march the internees westward. The March took a harrowing toll on the already undernourished and ill-equipped PoWs. The winter was the worst for nearly 50 years, reaching temperatures as low as -25C. The conditions made marching treacherous, especially as the columns of 200-300 PoWs often had to march up to 30kms a day across fields and through deep snow. Night-time billets were equally difficult and food often unobtainable. Many PoWs died during this appalling time. His diaries are not only a compelling insight into the despair and struggle, but also the hope and camaraderie that comprised his wartime experience. They also are an interesting reflection on the disenchantment felt by so many after the war in Europe ended, and the suspicion that future conflicts were just around the corner.