Her family dated back to the group's origins in the first half of the nineteenth century, and her father was a high-ranking minister. However, as an intelligent, inquiring child, Stott was always asking dangerous questions and so, it turns out, was her father, who was also full of doubt. When a sex scandal tore the Exclusive Brethren apart in 1970, her father pulled the family out of the cult. But its impact on their lives shaped everything before and all that was to come.The Iron Room (named for the windowless meeting houses made of corrugated iron where the Brethren would worship) is Stott's attempt to understand and even forgive her father: a brilliant, charismatic, difficult, and at times cruel man who nonetheless inspired his daughter with his love of literature, film, and art and with his passion for life.

    It has been translated into every major language on Earth and dozens of minor ones; it has spawned entire genres of animation, and had more books written about it than all but a handful of American Presidents. Even its minor characters have become iconic, and the titular family is recognizable in almost every corner of the planet. It is a definitive and truly global cultural phenomenon, perhaps the biggest of the television age. As of this writing, if you flip on FOX at 8pm on Sundays, you will see a program that bills itself as "The Simpsons". It is not "The Simpsons". That show, the landmark piece of American culture that debuted on 17 December 1989, went off the air more than a decade ago. The replacement is a hopelessly mediocre imitation that bears only a superficial resemblance to the original. It is the unwanted sequel, the stale spinoff, the creative dry hole that is kept pumping in the endless search for more money. It is Zombie Simpsons.

    We are in an age of abundance, overspending, mass consumerism, Dollar Tree hauls, and poor food choices. We have storage units for all our "stuff" and we are over our heads in debt and soaking in stress. This book is short but filled with inspiration and tips to overhaul the families lifestyle to one of simple, humble living, and sustainability. This is the way we live debt free and under one very small paycheck for a family of four. We live like middle class although by the government charts we are just above the poverty line. Ha! How silly. We eat organics, drink good coffee and dress well, living in a charming cottage and drive fairly attractive cars. We are happy, healthy and thriving. How do we live well on so little? I stay home to tend to the family, cook almost everything from scratch, and my front and back yards are now kitchen gardens. Brew up some coffee and come join me to see just how this lady does it.

    In this sumptuous global tour of modern gardens, intrepid plant expert Christopher Woods spotlights 50 gardens that push boundaries and define natural beauty in significant ways. Featuring both private and public gardens, this journey makes its way from the Americas and Europe to Australia and New Zealand, with stops in Asia, Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. Along the way, you'll learn about the people, plants, and stories that make these iconic gardens so lust-worthy. As inspiring as it is insightful, Gardenlust will delight your passion for garden inspiration—and the many places it grows.

    If I did not know most of the main players I would have thought the author had a vivid and twisted imagination..”—Paul Martin Brown, author of Wild Orchids of Florida“A fascinating true story of obsession, greed, and lust for the unobtainable. Reminds me a great deal of The Maltese Falcon. This rare flower is definitely the stuff that dreams are made of.”—Ace Atkins, author of Devil's Garden and Infamous“Pittman has captured the extreme competition, unique characters, and general insanity that often typify the orchid world. The Scent of Scandal exemplifies how passion and profit can overrule common sense and the law.”—Scott Steward, former associate editor, North American Native Orchid JournalEvery year more than 100,000 people visit Sarasota’s Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, in large part to see its vast orchid collection, one of the most magnificent in the world. But the most famous orchid in Selby’s history—the one hailed as the most significant find in a century—isn't on display. It's the one that led to search warrants, a grand jury investigation, and headlines around the country.           Discovered in Peru in 2002, the Phragmipedium kovachii quickly became the most sought-after orchid in the world. Prices soared to $10,000 on the black market and otherwise rational people bent rules and broke laws in their obsessive quest to possess it.           Award-winning journalist Craig Pittman covered this fascinating story, as it happened, for the St. Petersburg Times, Florida’s largest newspaper. In this enthralling account, he unravels the tangled web of smugglers, scientists, and federal investigators to reveal who the real criminals were in this sordid affair. He also shines a spotlight on flaws in the international treaties governing trade in endangered wildlife—treaties that often protect individual plants and animals in shipping but do little to halt the destruction of whole colonies in the wild.           With candid interviews from nearly everyone involved in the case, The Scent of Scandal unspools like a riveting mystery novel, stranger than anything in Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief or the film Adaptation. Pittman shows how some people can become so obsessed—with beauty, with profit, with fame, with the desire to own a rare flower—that even the possibility of going to prison will not deter their risking everything.Craig Pittman writes about environmental issues for the St. Petersburg Times. He is the coauthor of Paving Paradise: Florida’s Vanishing Wetlands and the Failure of No Net Loss and author of Manatee Insanity: Inside the War over Florida’s Most Famous Endangered Species.

    You’ll have heard of most of these notorious criminals, but possibly not so much about one or two of them. All of them were real, ruthless hoodlums, and all had their "15 minutes of fame", leaving trails of death and mayhem behind them. Most did not live to an old age, and those that did were probably in jail. Their escapades were daring and reckless and many paid the ultimate price in the end. Volume 1 contains • Lucky Luciano –From Streetwise Kid to the Father of Organized Crime Leaving poverty ravaged Sicily for New York with his family at the age of 10; Lucky was running his own protection racket and making a name for himself whilst still in his teens. Inevitably, he moved on to become the undisputed boss of organized crime in the USA, but it was his own ‘family’s’ involvement in prostitution which landed him a jail sentence of 30 to 50 years. It didn’t end there however as he continued to run the family affairs from prison where Lady Luck visited him with an offer he couldn’t refuse. • Bugsy Siegel and “The Flamingo Hotel”Through his gambling and bootlegging operations, plus numerous ruthless contract murders, Bugsy Siegel established himself as a key member of “The Syndicate” in New York. Relocating to Las Vegas with the blessing of Lucky Luciano in 1945 to expand the organizations activities, he built the famous Flamingo Club and Casino in the desert of Las Vegas using money provided by the East Coast mobsters. The hopelessly mismanaged project went way over budget, implicating Bugsy in the ‘misappropriation’ of funds and enraging his bosses – Bugsy’s day were numbered.• Dutch Schultz – Beer Baron and Vicious Killer From the slums of New York, Dutch Schultz rose through the ranks of crime to be named “the nation’s top gangster” by the FBI. Claiming to be a good guy simply supplying people with the beer they wanted, (illegally of course), he was also responsible for killing at least two of his own men he suspected of ‘skimming’ more of the proceeds than was due to them. • Hymies Weiss - The Man Al Capone FearedEarl Wojciechowski was born on Jan 25th 1898 in Chicago, but over time became known as Hymie Weiss, eventually teaming up with Dean O'Banion the leader of the North Side Gang who he succeeded after his murder in 1924. Hymie swore to avenge his friends death and waged wore on the Torrio-Capone criminal empire, even attempting to assassinate Capone himself. Violent gun battles on the streets of Chicago were regular occurrences during this period as the gangs fought for control of the lucrative bootlegging and other rackets - things had to come to a head sooner or later. • Wilbur Underhill – The Tri-State TerrorIt took a 24 man task force to bring down Mad Dog Wilbur Underhill in the end. During 12 years of rampaging through the Southwest he was sentenced to life for a murder in Oklahoma, and received another life sentence in Kansas after escaping jail in a ten man breakout and murdering a policeman. Suspected of involvement in the famous Kansas City Massacre, Wilbur began his life of crime as a burglar, and quickly moved on to armed robbery and murder. Order your copy today..! Scroll back up for instant download

    They opened up new worlds and cast light on all the complexities she encountered in this one.She was whisked away to Narnia – and Kirrin Island – and Wonderland. She ventured down rabbit holes and womble burrows into midnight gardens and chocolate factories. She wandered the countryside with Milly-Molly-Mandy, and played by the tracks with the Railway Children. With Charlotte’s Web she discovered Death and with Judy Blume it was Boys. No wonder she only left the house for her weekly trip to the library or to spend her pocket money on amassing her own at home.In Bookworm, Lucy revisits her childhood reading with wit, love and gratitude. She relives our best-beloved books, their extraordinary creators, and looks at the thousand subtle ways they shape our lives. She also disinters a few forgotten treasures to inspire the next generation of bookworms and set them on their way.Lucy brings the favourite characters of our collective childhoods back to life – prompting endless re-readings, rediscoveries, and, inevitably, fierce debate – and brilliantly uses them to tell her own story, that of a born, and unrepentant, bookworm.

    This book will appeal not only to admirers of Khushwant Singhs writing but also to anyone Interested in the history, politics and socio economic scenario of twentieth century India.People profiled in this book include Jawaharlal Nehru, Krishna Menon, Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Amrita Sher Gil, Begum Para, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, M. S. Golwalkar, Mother Teresa, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Dhirendra Brahmachari, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, General Tikka Khan, Phoolan Devi, Giani Zail Singh and Bhagat Puran Singh.About the AuthorKhushwant singh is one of Indias best known and most widely read authors and columnists. He was founder-editor of Yojana and editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India, National Heraldand the Hindustan Times. His first book, The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories, was published in 1950 and he has published several acclaimed and bestselling books of fiction and non-fiction in the six decades since. He has also translated the work of major Punjabi and Urdu poets and writers, as well as the Japji and the Rehras: The Morning and Evening Prayers of the Sikhs.

    Love spans the great divide between us, linking two different species in a loving relationship. Cats understand humans – enough at least to satisfy their needs. A cat can lead you to the fridge, persuade you to change the brand of cat food, wake you up in the morning to make sure its breakfast isn’t late, and share your bed in cold nights. It may even know how to move you off the most comfortable chair. Cats are experts at twisting us around their little paws. But do you understand your cat? Probably not as well as it understands you. Cats are actually communicating to us all the time. With paws, tails, meows, whiskers and body postures, they have a vast and complex language that allows them to express their feelings quite clearly. This book will help you chat to your cat – in a language it understands. It will explain the cat’s basic instincts, the way it talks and what it means; how, what and when it learns. It will outline what a cat needs to have a happy home, and some of the common misunderstandings in the cat-human relationship to help you make your cat happy. It will outline some of the special needs of pedigree cats and of cats kept indoors. And finally, it will help you pamper your elderly cat. The happiness of your cat really matters, and it is very easy to put your cat at ease. With tips on litter training, combating aggression, kitten-rearing and making your home cat-friendly this book is an essential guide if you are thinking of adding a feline friend to your family. Celia Haddon spent 20 years as the Daily Telegraph pets columnist and pet agony aunt. She gained a first class honours degree in applied animal behaviour in 2010. Celia answers cat care questions in Your Cat magazine and can be found on David the Dogman’s programme on Talk Radio Europe – most Saturdays at 10.00am CET. She works as a cat behaviour counsellor in the Oxfordshire area and runs the website www.catexpert.co.uk . Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

    Thompson’s Las Vegas, with the Good Doctor as tour guide. A Lord of the Rings-like adventure in the city’s underground flood channels. A seven-day stay at a seedy motel on East Fremont Street.The stories in My Week at the Blue Angel aren’t about Steve Wynn, Cirque du Soleil, or how to play poker and they aren’t set in Caesars Palace, XS Nightclub, or a 2,000-seat showroom. They’re about prostitutes, ex-cons, and the homeless and they’re set under Caesars Palace and in trailer parks and weekly motels.In this creative-nonfiction collection, Matthew O’Brien—author of Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas—and veteran photographer Bill Hughes show a side of the city rarely seen. A side beyond the neon lights, themed facades, and motel-room doors. A side beyond the barbwire fences, “No Trespassing” signs, and midnight shadows.A side of Las Vegas many locals and visitors are curious about, but few ever explore.

    You've read the Brothers Grimm, you've watched the Disney cartoons, and you cheered as these virtuous women lived happily ever after. But real princesses didn't always get happy endings. Sure, plenty were graceful and benevolent leaders, but just as many were ruthless in their quest for power and all of them had skeletons rattling in their royal closets. Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe was a Nazi spy. Empress Elisabeth of the Austro-Hungarian empire slept wearing a mask of raw veal. Princess Olga of Kiev slaughtered her way to sainthood while Princess Lakshmibai waged war on the battlefield, charging into combat with her toddler son strapped to her back. Princesses Behaving Badly offers true tales of all these princesses and dozens more in a fascinating read that's perfect for history buffs, feminists, and anyone seeking a different kind of bedtime story.

    In Sweden children play outside all year round, regardless of the weather, and letting young babies nap outside in freezing temperatures is not only common—it is a practice recommended by physicians. In the US, on the other hand, she found that the playgrounds, which she had expected to find teeming with children, were mostly deserted. In preschool, children were getting drilled to learn academic skills, while their Scandinavian counterparts were climbing trees, catching frogs, and learning how to compost. Worse, she realized that giving her daughters the same freedom to play outside that she had enjoyed as a child in Sweden could quickly lead to a visit by Child Protective Services. The brewing culture clash finally came to a head when McGurk was fined for letting her children play in a local creek, setting off an online firestorm when she expressed her anger and confusion on her blog. The rules and parenting philosophies of her native country and her adopted homeland were worlds apart. Struggling to fit in and to decide what was best for her children, McGurk turned to her own childhood for answers. Could the Scandinavian philosophy of “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes” be the key to better lives for her American children? And how would her children’s relationships with nature change by introducing them to Scandinavian concepts like friluftsliv (“open-air living”) and hygge (the coziness and the simple pleasures of home)? McGurk embarked on a six-month-long journey to Sweden to find out. There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather is a fascinating personal narrative that highlights the importance of spending time outdoors, and illustrates how the Scandinavian culture could hold the key to raising healthier, resilient, and confident children in America.

    A sensational disappearance that made headlines around the world. A quest for truth that leads to death, madness or disappearance for those who seek to solve it. The Lost City of Z is a blockbuster adventure narrative about what lies beneath the impenetrable jungle canopy of the Amazon.After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, New Yorker writer David Grann set out to solve "the greatest exploration mystery of the 20th century": What happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett & his quest for the Lost City of Z?In 1925, Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries in history. For centuries Europeans believed the world's largest jungle concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Thousands had died looking for it, leaving many scientists convinced that the Amazon was truly inimical to humans. But Fawcett, whose daring expeditions inspired Conan Doyle's The Lost World, had spent years building his scientific case. Captivating the imagination of millions round the globe, Fawcett embarked with his 21-year-old son, determined to prove that this ancient civilisation--which he dubbed Z--existed. Then his expedition vanished. Fawcett's fate, & the tantalizing clues he left behind about Z, became an obsession for hundreds who followed him into the uncharted wilderness. For decades scientists & adventurers have searched for evidence of Fawcett's party & the lost City of Z. Countless have perished, been captured by tribes or gone mad. As Grann delved ever deeper into the mystery surrounding Fawcett's quest, & the greater mystery of what lies within the Amazon, he found himself, like the generations who preceded him, being irresistibly drawn into the jungle's green hell. His quest for the truth & discoveries about Fawcett's fate & Z form the heart of this complexly enthralling narrative.

    Kennedy, the response has been: Why would the U.S. national-security establishment — that is, the military and the CIA — kill Kennedy? As Douglas P. Horne details in this ebook, JFK’s War with the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated, the answer is because Kennedy’s ideas about foreign-policy collided with those of the U.S. national-security establishment during the height of the Cold War. In the eyes of the military and the CIA, Kennedy’s policies posed a grave threat to national security.Horne served as Chief Analyst for Military Records for the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB). This was the federal agency that Congress established to secure the disclosure and release of JFK-related records and documents after the public outcry generated by Oliver Stone’s movie JFK. Horne is the author of Inside the Assassination Records Review Board: The U.S. Government’s Final Attempt to Reconcile the Conflicting Medical Evidence in the Assassination of JFK, a five-volume work that focuses primarily on the autopsy of Kennedy’s body that was conducted by the U.S. military.

    Along the way, Ted details his late ’60s stint as an unlikely star with the sunshine pop outfit Harpers Bizarre and his grind-it-out days as a Warner Bros. tape listener, including the life-altering moment that launched his career as a producer: his discovery of the Doobie Brothers. Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer’s Life in Music takes us into the studio sessions of No. 1 hits like “Black Water” by the Doobie Brothers and “Jump” by Van Halen, as Ted recounts memories and the behind-the-scene dramas that engulfed both massively successful acts. Throughout, Ted also reveals the inner workings of his professional and personal relationships with some of the most talented and successful recording artists in history, including Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, Lowell George, Sammy Hagar, Linda Ronstadt, David Lee Roth, and Carly Simon.