A book to put the Midlands back on the map.Everyone knows what they think of the North and South of England – the clichés abound. But what about that big, anonymous stretch of land in between: the Midlands? Despite being home to around a third of the English population, it’s a region that seems to have neither purpose nor identity. In this humorous exploration, the author – a Midlander exiled in London – sets off on a tour of the country’s belly in order to piece together his Midland heritage....
In one corner, a godless young warrior, Voltaire’s heralded ‘philosopher-king’, the It Boy of the Enlightenment. In the other, a devout if bad-tempered old composer of ‘outdated’ music, a scorned genius in his last years. The sparks from their brief conflict illuminate a turbulent age.Behind the pomp and flash, Prussia's Frederick the Great was a tormented man, son of an abusive king who forced him to watch as his best friend (probably his lover) was beheaded. In what may have been one of...
The actual course given to all secret agents in SOE before working behind enemy lines. It includes everything you needed to know to go undercover – from documents, cover stories and how to live off the land to how to get through an interrogation.The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements.In late 1942, SOE was...
‘GARDEN OF STARS by Rose Alexander is a stunning debut novel, rich in detail and brimming with emotion.’ – Books of all KindsThe Alentejo, Portugal 1934I am Inês Bretão and I am 18 years old. Now that I am finally an adult and soon to be married, I feel like my real life is about to begin. I have decided to document everything that happens to me, for my children and my grandchildren…As Sarah Lacey reads the scrawled handwriting in her great-aunt's journal on a trip to Portugal, she discovers a...
The seminal history of Ireland’s most unusual century, thoroughly updated for the new millennium.With its starting point the bloody creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, Ireland: A Social and Cultural History explores how Irish identity has shifted across eighty years of unprecedented change and violence. What was the legacy of De Valera and Sinn Fein – or of remaining neutral during the Second World War? What were the effects of the establishment of a formally recognised Republic of Ireland...
It’s Sarah and her brother against the world…When Sarah Jepson’s mother Annie dies, Sarah is left with her little brother Tommy to care for. Alone in the world, the two of them must make a life for themselves in the wake of the terrible upbringing they have endured.But when Tommy is struck down by illness, Sarah’s new life collapses. Lost in grief, she turns to the handsome Roger to save her – only to find that he is not who he seems…Waiting in the wings is George – kind, but brutally scarred,...
An amazing collection of eyewitness accounts of the British experience in World War II. First-hand narratives are drawn from every rank of the army and every corner of the conflict to create a moving and illuminating story of the greatest war of this century.Fascinating, moving, frightening, sometimes comic, this selection of eyewitness accounts has been edited into chronological order to form a magnificent oral history of the British and Commonwealth forces at war.We follow some 60 interviewees...
Introducing Sean Dillon – terrorist, assassin, hero – in his first three adventures from master storyteller Jack Higgins.EYE OF THE STORMSean Dillon is a hired killer. The IRA, the PLO, ETA – he’s worked for them all. Now, with the Gulf War raging, the Iraqis need his services for an apocalyptic strike at the heart of the West. But British Intelligence are on his trail – they have hired a killer to stalk a killer; a mortal enemy who is hell-bent on revenge. As the lightning strikes and the...
An ambitious and compelling first novel about a key moment in Irish history.November 1917. With tensions in Ireland, war in Europe and revolution in Russia, Victor Lennon returns to his home village after a long exile. Radicalised by his experiences in the Dublin Lockout and Easter Rising, Victor is a hero to many but a danger to some.Those closest to Victor know his true nature: his father, Pius, now drinking himself to death; his oldest friend, Charlie, wounded in the trenches; and the love of...