Determined to serve, she became a veritable soldier, a nurse, and a one-woman relief agency operating in the heart of the conflict. Now, award-winning author Stephen B. Oates, drawing on archival materials not used by her previous biographers, has written the first complete account of Clara Barton's active engagement in the Civil War.By the summer of 1862, with no institutional affiliation or official government appointment, but impelled by a sense of duty and a need to heal, she made her way to the front lines and the heat of battle. Oates tells the dramatic story of this woman who gave the world a new definition of courage, supplying medical relief to the wounded at some of the most famous battles of the war -- including Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Battery Wagner, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Petersburg. Under fire with only her will as a shield, she worked while ankle deep in gore, in hellish makeshift battlefield hospitals -- a bullet-riddled farmhouse, a crumbling mansion, a windblown tent. Committed to healing soldiers' spirits as well as their bodies, she served not only as nurse and relief worker, but as surrogate mother, sister, wife, or sweetheart to thousands of sick, wounded, and dying men.Her contribution to the Union was incalculable and unique. It also became the defining event in Barton's life, giving her the opportunity as a woman to reach out for a new role and to define a new profession. Nursing, regarded as a menial service before the war, became a trained, paid occupation after the conflict. Although Barton went on to become the founder and first president of the Red Cross, the accomplishment for which she is best known, A Woman of Valor convinces us that her experience on the killing fields of the Civil War was her most extraordinary achievement.

    The empowering story of three women--each with her own set of problems, situations, and secrets--who share a friendship bound together by their need for each other.

    North, South, black, white, Native American, immigrant--the women in these micro-drama biographies are wives, mothers, sisters, and friends whose purposes ranged from supporting husbands and sons during wartime to counseling President Lincoln on strategy, from tending to the wounded on the battlefield to spiriting away slaves through the Underground Railroad, from donning a uniform and fighting unrecognized alongside the men to working as spies for either side. This book brings to light the incredible stories of women from the Civil War that remain relevant to our nation today. Each woman's experience helps us see a truer, fuller, richer version of what really happened in this country during this time period.

    

    She promised him that even in the afterlife if there was a way, she would help guide him to find the perfect woman to marry. "I want you to know, my son, that I will always be with you, watching over you. If it is in my power, even in the afterlife, I will guide you toward the happiness you deserve." Years later, after tiring of the search for a woman of substance among the vapid and mercenary women of society, Darcy began experiencing mysterious events, ultimately taking him on an unexpected journey to an unlikely country estate outside of London. There, he is strangely drawn to a woman far beneath society's expectations for him. Though from totally different worlds, they are attracted to each other, but due to misunderstandings and interference from those who would stand in their way, their path to happily ever after is thwarted at every turn. Will Darcy and Elizabeth find what they both desire on their own, or will they need a little help from the afterlife?

     Blood Laws The lines between illusion and reality blur as a dark romance brews between two unlikely soulmates Forbidden Bonds Can two tortured souls find solace and love in one another? Blood Heart An immortal war is brewing, and she's the key...

    ‘I can’t do it!’ I sulked. Mother sighed and shook her head. My heart sank. Of course, I’d seen the mill hundreds of times before, but now it was different – now, I was going in. I’d never seen a place so depressing; I wanted to cry.'With tales from hardworking Audrey and mischievous Maureen to high-spirited Doris and dedicated Marjorie, The Mill Girls is an evocative story of hardship and friendship from when cotton was still king. Through the eyes of these northern mill girls, we are offered a fascinating glimpse into the lives of ordinary women who rallied together, nattered over the beamers and, despite the difficult conditions, weaved, packed and laughed to keep the cotton mills spinning.

    

     When everything changes, you have to come out fighting. It’s been three years since Freddie Tyler was sent to prison, now he’s back on the streets of London and about to find out that everything has changed. As Freddie enters his West End club for the first time in years, he finds ex-girlfriend Anna Davis sitting behind his desk, confidently leading his team of men. Anna used to hate the world he lived in, but she has now become a big part of it. And she’s not about to give up running the family business easily. Anna shows a toughness Freddie has never witnessed in her before when she tells him about her new enterprise, smuggling stolen diamonds through London’s Hatton Garden. And alarm bells start ringing when Freddie meets Anna’s new partner. Cold and ruthless, Roman Gains isn’t someone Freddie trusts around the club and particularly not around Anna. Whilst tensions flare between Anna and Freddie, a new Russian firm enters their world, determined to bring the Tylers down. And when they take out one of his best men, Freddie has to take drastic action to wrestle control from Anna. But she has other ideas. And when Roman becomes Anna’s closest ally, Freddie finally reaches breaking point. Could this be the fall of the Tyler empire and the last time Freddie and Anna are on the same side?

    Drew Faust offers a compelling picture of the more than half-million women who belonged to the slaveholding families of the Confederacy during this period of acute crisis, when every part of these women's lives became vexed and uncertain.

    When Matt Cruse, the cabin boy on the luxury airship Aurora, fearlessly performs a dramatic rescue to save an old man from his damaged hot air balloon, he doesn’t know what events he’s setting in motion. Will he and the balloonist’s fiery granddaughter, Kate de Vries, be able to solve the mystery of impossible flying creatures seen among the clouds? And will they figure it out before pirates and shipwreck end their voyage forever?Pushed high into the sky by a storm over the Indian Ocean, the decrepit training ship Flotsam makes an astonishing discovery before being forced to descend. Adrift at 20,000 feet is a tattered, ice-crusted airship bearing the name Hyperion. Could it really be the legendary lost craft, now a vast treasure and a frozen mausoleum to a ghostly crew? Matt Cruse is the only member of Flotsam’s oxygen-starved crew able to remember the ghost ship’s coordinates—and it seems as if everyone in the fabulous city of Paris wants them. In Skybreaker, Matt and Kate de Vries are challenged with another thrilling adventure, this time among the icy dangers and strange wonders of the upper atmosphere.At long last, Matt Cruse is at the helm. Though it’s only a summer job piloting a humble aerocrane, he’s thrilled to be helping to build the Celestial Tower, Paris’s extraordinary gateway to outer space. But Matt’s idyllic summer is short-lived. He narrowly survives a deadly attack by the fanatical Babelites, who are opposed to humans reaching the heavens. Worse still, his nights spent stargazing with Kate de Vries must end when she’s summoned back to Lionsgate City by her parents. But then the chance of a lifetime boosts Matt’s hopes of being airborne once more. Canada wants to reach space first, and the Canadian Minister of Air has asked Kate to join the first expedition as an expert on aerial zoology. There’s a place for Matt, too—if he can pass the gruelling tests to become one of the world’s first astralnauts on board the incredible ship Starclimber.

    But how many civilian women can say they saved the lives of at least 250 downed airmen in just over two years?"Code Name Lily" takes you on an unforgettable journey from Belgium, into France, and over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain. An extremely clever and persuasive young Belgian nurse outsmarts the Nazis time and again, risking her life if she is caught, but protecting every airman she successfully aids to evade the Germans."Code Name Lily" is based on the true story of Micheline "Michou" Dumon-Ugeux, a legend in the Comet Line escape network from 1940-1944 who went only by the name of Lily. You, too, will fall in love with Lily.

    After a year on the road, they stumble into a Yorkshire village where the Wheelers, owners of the village shop, take them in. This new life is strange for Charlotte, but preferable to living with McBride or surviving on the roads. Harry Belmont is an important man in the village, but he’s missing something in his life. His budding friendship with Charlotte gives him hope she will feel more for him one day, and he will marry the woman he yearns for. When McBride discovers where Charlotte lives, his threats begin. Harry fights to keep Charlotte safe, but World War I erupts and Harry enlists. Left to face a world of new responsibilities, and Harry’s difficult sister, Charlotte must run the gauntlet of family disputes, McBride's constant harassment, and the possibility of the man she loves being killed.Can Charlotte find the happiness that always seems under threat, and will Harry return home to her?

    Following an exposé in a national newspaper, his fiancée Poppy Dunlop has broken their engagement. Heartbroken at the thought of life without Poppy, Zach drowns his sorrows and, when his agent suggests that Zach becomes a contestant in a reality TV show, Jungle Survival, he reluctantly agrees. Plunged deep in the jungle, into a bizarre mix of talent and trials, Zach meets glamour model Cleo Petra, and the cameras go crazy. Will Zach survive and be crowned Jungle King? Or will his latest exploits push Poppy further away... Caroline's books are all stand-alone stories but some characters do make appearances throughout. You might also enjoy: Coffee Tea The Gypsy & Me Coffee Tea The Chef & Me Coffee Tea The Caribbean & Me Jungle Rock "Caroline is a natural story teller with a gift for humour in her writing." Finalist, The Write Stuff, London Book Fair

    The incident brings her face to face with the less than ideal situation existing in the Bennet household and forces her to acknowledge some unpalatable truths about herself, her family and their society. These realizations compel her to take matters into her own hand and initiate some much needed changes. What are these changes? Would her sisters and family cooperate with her?What effect these changes evince on the conduct of the gentleman from Derbyshire and his friend when they come to stay at Netherfield a year down the line? How would the sudden visit of heir to Longbourn impact the unfolding events. And when a roguish Lieutenant in the militia stationed at Meryton, tries his hand at some mischief how would the young ladies handle this challenge?