Over the years it was visited by a diverse hodge-podge of notables, including Davey Crockett and Charles Dickens, all who left aghast at the horrible living conditions, the poverty and the decadence of the people they found there. At their zenith, these vulgar, diseased and murderous streets housed 30,000 homeless children of all ages--the street urchins--who played, scavenged for food, fought the elements and each other, and tried to avoid the perpetual violence that routinely threatened their survival. Death was their constant competitor, and death often won. They were the discarded refuse of the great 19th century immigrant migrations to America, and they were an undesirable nuisance to the good citizens of New York. This is the story of two such children, Anna Murphy and Ben McDonald, abandoned to the streets and thrown together in a desperate attempt to achieve the impossible: to escape from Hell’s Kitchen in search of new beginnings in far and distant lands.

    Many Southerners were losing everything they had, many more people than just those few who had held slaves. While most tried to stay and hang on to the decorum of Southern gentility, a few decided that rather then lose their family farms and businesses it would be better to build a new life elsewhere. This is the story of one such group, who determined that their future and the futures of their friends and families was to be found in Texas. Jed Simpson and his partner Roscoe Sartain are joined by families from both North and South, black and white, and on the advice of a fellow Confederate, they stop in Rusk. Finding an old, now vacant, plantation, they manage to buy it and start rebuilding it as a small ranch, The Chalice. All is going better than any of them expected, until Jed’s past comes calling. Aided by friends both new and old, blood flows freely as Jed tries to put that past behind him once and for all. But the toll it takes may be too much for him as he faces down the last of his tormentors.

    Instead they live out of doors, only minimally protected from the elements, and must travel long and difficult distances each year to protect themselves against the vagaries of weather. As a consequence of the long treks each year these people fail to accumulate tools and treasurers to make their lives easier. Two young friends wish to change the migratory pattern of their people's lives by living through the winter which they call The Dark Times, instead of making the annual, long and hazardous journey southward.

    The eldest Standish boy, Tommy, was something of a changeling: he desired a different life and ruthlessly went in pursuit of his dream of the grandeur and riches of the landowners' class.His ambitions realised, Tommy, is intent on higher profits even though it risks the lives of the quarrymen. Joe, his father, fights for a union to secure fairer conditions for the men. The quarrymen are close to becoming victims as the war between father and son escalates.

    Married to a man who has little care for her, she longs for something to fill the emptiness within - and fears that she is almost out of time.When Seren meets a woman who says she can help, she thinks her dreams have come true. But the locals suspect Anwen of witchcraft, and any association with her may taint Seren too.And as Seren finds herself growing closer to Elwyn Davies, the local minister, who has made no secret of his attraction to her, she must ask herself what it will take to find happiness - and whether she is willing to pay the price . . .

    Along the way he learns the horrors of war, the evils of slavery, the plight of the slave, and the cost of freedom. By a twist of fate he becomes the pastor of a church of black slaves.

    The so-called 'Season' is beginning, a traditional period during which marriageable young ladies of the aristocracy enjoy lavish balls and are 'presented' to the monarchy as they enter high society. This year, it is 18 year old LADY MARY ASHMORE'S turn.Mary hopes that her escort to her ball will be the object of her desire: the sensitive and fiercely patriotic LORD ANDREW BUCKFORD. Although Andrew's roguish younger brother NICHOLAS has his eye on Mary, she shuns him because of his reputation as a womanizer and rumors that he is involved in activities possibly detrimental to Britain.Mary is devastated when she discovers that Andrew is deeply in love with her German-Jewish tutor RUTH HERZOG. Learning of the situation, Mary's mother, LADY CELIA, immediately discharges Ruth, sending her back to Nazi Germany. There, she is forced to live under deplorable conditions in a Jewish ghetto, a stark contrast to the German life she once knew.Shocked by Ruth's sudden departure, but aware that Mary plans a visit to relatives in Berlin, Andrew, who has joined the Royal Air Force, secures documents enabling Ruth's return to England. He pleads with Mary to deliver them to Ruth, and she reluctantly agrees. Mary's jealousy, however, gets in the way.In Berlin, Mary confronts the harsh reality of Nazi militarism, extreme anti-Semitism and the ever-present threat of Ruth's deportation to one of Hitler's death camps. In addition, she must contend with her radical cousin HEINZI who is active in the Hitler Youth movement and lusts after Mary. Nicholas surprisingly turns up in Berlin on business, and Mary gets an inkling that the mysterious project with which he is involved may prove far more powerful and important than anyone ever dreamed.After a long personal struggle, Mary realizes the harm her selfish emotions and unrequited love have caused and embarks on a dangerous plan to help Ruth escape Germany.

    

    Along with the floating grog shop and brothels come ‘war tourists’ – aristocratic gentlemen travelling to see the war first-hand.When Viscount Bullivant is taken prisoner by the Russians, it falls to Commander Kit Killigrew to negotiate his release. But the Russians suspect his lordship has vital information and before long Killigrew is a prisoner of the Third Section – the feared Tsarist secret police.In the ensuing forty-eight hours, Killigrew must escape, rescue Bullivant, steal back his yacht, sail through the treacherous Ekenäs Archipelago and take on a Russian ship with an unarmed schooner. And in Captain-Lieutenant Count Mikhail Yurievich Pechorin, he may finally have met his match… Praise for the Killigrew Novels ‘Leaves the reader breathless for his next voyage’ Northern Echo‘Action-packed and well-researched… in the vein of Forester and O’Brian but with its own distinctive flavour’ Good Book Guide‘A rollicking tale with plenty of punches’ Lancashire Evening Post‘A hero to rival any Horatio Hornblower. Swashbuckling? You bet’ Belfast Telegraph The Kit Killigrew Naval Series Killigrew of the Royal Navy Killigrew and the Golden Dragon Killigrew and the Incorrigibles Killigrew and the North-West Passage Killigrew’s Run Killigrew and the Sea Devil

    Justice is back. Seeking a greater adventure than bringing law and order to the untamed Texas frontier, Texas Ranger Jesse "Heck" Carson, along with his friend, Tommy Jergsen, enlist in the Confederate Cavalry. They are placed in a special unit tasked with stopping the murderous Jayhawkers who have been carrying on a guerilla war against civilians in Missouri. Heck and his men face the expected horrors of war, but what they didn't expect was to find themselves in the middle of a private war where they don't know who to trust and where the lines between friend and enemy mean nothing. In order to do what is right, they must make decisions that will forever change the course of their lives and which thrusts them into a battle far more violent than anything they ever expected.

     Pilot Officer Harry Rose, fresh from training and eager to prove himself, is posted to Excalibur Squadron, a Hawker Hurricane fighter unit based in southern England. In the coming weeks and months of that fateful summer, as the outnumbered RAF battle grimly with the Luftwaffe in the skies above Britain, Rose will come to know what it is to love, and will experience both the glorious euphoria of success and the desperate bitterness of loss. As his friends dwindle in number, Rose knows that it can be only a matter of time before it is his turn...

    Amid rising tensions among the Jews and the reigning Nazi party, Carl Mann--the patriarch of the Mann family--is forced to take a job in one of the scariest places imaginable: Literally in Adolf Hitler's backyard. In this unusual coming of age tale, curious young girls may say or do the wrong things, but how many times can the high-ranking German officials (and Hitler himself) look the other way? Can they survive in his backyard? This book is filled with suspense, historical detail, family life, and even a little romance. A great choice for book clubs with Book Club questions @garethompson-writer.com. The perfect gift for those who are love reading about World War II, as the setting is authentic. For middle schoolers, compare it to Diary of Anne Frank.

    Further political machinations have secured a command for this new officer. It is now up to the new Lieutenant Charles Mullins to make a success of his new command on his own.