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The Glorious Guinness Girls: A story of the scandals and secrets of the famous society girls
By Emily Hourican. 2020
'If, like me, you have binge-watched Bridgerton then this book is bound to be your cup of tea' Scribbles by…
Kat'Fans of Downton Abbey will adore this, and it would be surprising if the book weren't made into a luscious mini-series' The Sunday TimesThe Top Ten Bestseller. Discover the extraordinary world of the Bright Young Things...The Glorious Guinness Girls are the toast of London and Dublin society. Darlings of the press, Aileen, Maureen and Oonagh lead charmed existences that are the envy of many. But Fliss knows better. Sent to live with them as a child, she grows up as part of the family and only she knows of the complex lives beneath the glamorous surface. Then, at a party one summer's evening, something happens which sends shockwaves through the entire household. In the aftermath, as the Guinness sisters move on, Fliss is forced to examine her place in their world and decide if where she finds herself is where she truly belongs. 'A captivating and page-turning novel about a fascinating family. Fantastic' Sinéad Moriarty'The Glorious Guinness Girls has already been compared, and rightly so, to Downton Abbey. The two share a delicious comfort-blanket quality, only in the book's case, you do not need to wait until Sunday evenings before availing of its escapist properties. The story combines the intimacy of a family drama, set against the most opulent of backdrops, with sweeping historical themes. The tragic fragility of so many of the Guinness Girls' set - that ability to burn bright, but burn fast, is perfectly captured here' Irish Independent'A must for all Downton Abbey fans, The Glorious Guinness Girls is a gorgeous book, a captivating tale about a young girl caught up in the lifestyle of a family that continues to fascinate - the Guinness Family. A joy to read' Swirl and Thread'Evoking the decadence of The Great Gatsby and the elegance of Downton Abbey... an enthralling tale, a fascinating drama' Kirsten Alexander, New York Times bestselling author'With undeniable appeal for fans of Julian Fellowes of Belgravia and Downton Abbey renown, Hourican's lively tale captures the spirit of the times via the buzz-worthy foibles of attractive, wealthy socialites' BooklistSet amid the turmoil of the Irish Civil War and the brittle glamour of 1920s London, The Glorious Guinness Girls is inspired by one of the most fascinating family dynasties in the world - an unforgettable novel of reckless youth, family loyalty and destiny.Never in Finer Company: The Men of the Great War's Lost Battalion
By Edward G. Lengel. 2018
It was one of the most heroic events in American military history. Here is the larger-than-life story of World War…
I's "Lost Battalion" and the men who survived the ordeal, triumphed in battle, and fought the demons that lingered.In the first week of October, 1918, six hundred men attacked into Europe's forbidding Argonne Forest. Against all odds, they surged through enemy lines--alone. They were soon surrounded and besieged. As they ran out of ammunition, water, and food, the doughboys withstood constant bombardment and relentless enemy assaults. Seven days later, only 194 soldiers from the original unit walked out of the forest. The stand of the US Army's "Lost Battalion" remains an unprecedented display of heroism under fire.Never in Finer Company tells the stories of four men whose lives were forever changed by the ordeal: Major Charles Whittlesey, a lawyer dedicated to serving his men at any cost; Captain George McMurtry, a New York stockbroker who becomes a tower of strength under fire; Corporal Alvin York, a country farmer whose famous exploits help rescue his beleaguered comrades; and Damon Runyon, an intrepid newspaper man who interviews the survivors and weaves their experiences into the American epic. Emerging from the patriotic frenzy that sent young men "over there," each of these four men trod a unique path to the October days that engulfed them--and continued to haunt them as they struggled to find peace.Uplifting and compelling, Never in Finer Company is a deeply moving and dramatic story on an epic scale.Boldness Be My Friend
By Richard Pape. 1953
"Escape... escape... escape... by God!"' was his constant exhortation. "Never mind hunger pains, discomfort, or any other agony. Let escape…
become your passion, your one and only obsession until you finally reach home."'Shot down over Berlin in 1941, Richard Pape's saga of captivity is a story of courage unmatched in the annals of escape. Four escapes took him across the breadth of German-occupied Europe; to Poland and Czechoslovakia; to Austria and Hungary. Aggressive and impetuous, his adventures sweep the reader along on a torrent of excitement.For nine years, Carwyn Jones was at the helm of Welsh politics. As First Minister from 2009 to 2018, he…
led the governance of an increasingly devolving Wales through turmoil and success.Not Just Politics follows Carwyn from his roots in a small corner of Wales and childhood brought up as a Welsh speaker in Bridgend, to the 1980s miners' strike which inspired a career in politics. After graduating with a degree in law from Aberyswyth, Carwyn juggled being a barrister and local councillor while also caring for his wife Lisa, who was diagnosed with leukaemia shortly after their marriage. As part of the first cohort of Welsh Government Ministers, Carwyn has been at the heart of the growing shift from Westminster to Cardiff, and as First Minister he oversaw landmark moments that put Wales firmly on the world stage.Hitler's Last Plot: The 139 VIP Hostages Selected for Death in the Final Days of World War II
By Jeremy Dronfield, Ian Sayer. 2019
Revealed for the first time: how the SS rounded up the Nazis' most prominent prisoners to serve as human shields…
for Hitler in the last days of World War IIIn April 1945, as Germany faced defeat, Hitler planned to round up the Third Reich's most valuable prisoners and send them to his "Alpine Fortress," where he and the SS would keep the hostages as they made a last stand against the Allies. The prisoners included European presidents, prime ministers, generals, British secret agents, and German anti-Nazi clerics, celebrities, and officers who had aided the July 1944 bomb plot against Hitler--and the prisoners' families. Orders were given to the SS: if the German military situation deteriorated, the prisoners were to be executed--all 139 of them.So began a tense, deadly drama. As some prisoners plotted escape, others prepared for the inevitable, and their SS guards grew increasingly volatile, drunk, and trigger-happy as defeat loomed. As a dramatic confrontation between the SS and the Wehrmacht threatened the hostages caught in the middle, the US Army launched a frantic rescue bid to save the hostages before the axe fell.Drawing on previously unpublished and overlooked sources, Hitler's Last Plot is the first full account of this astounding and shocking story, from the original round-up order to the prisoners' terrifying ordeal and ultimate rescue. Told in a thrilling, page-turning narrative, this is one of World War II's most fascinating episodes.Sunburn: The unofficial history of the Sun newspaper in 99 headlines
By James Felton. 2020
'An astonishing piece of work' James O'Brien'This book was a delight. Funny, scathing and witty' Ian Dunt You should buy…
this book if: a) you dislike the Sun, but have never actually read it to know why and/or b) you're still not sure how we got into this mess. Using his famed on-the-nose commentary, Twitter legend James Felton has dissected 99 of the most outlandish stories the Sun (for a long time the biggest-selling British newspaper) has run since it became a tabloid in 1969, hoping to answer once and for all whether the press has reflected - or manipulated - the British people over the last 50 years. Included: joke-riddled and illustrated analyses of the Sun's most infamous stories about celebrities, war, royals, crime, the LGBTQ+ community, migrants, the EU, politics, bacon sandwiches and page 3.Not included: A blindfold. We suggest reading through your fingers instead. 'James Felton makes me laugh like a bellend' Robert Webb'James Felton makes me laugh every day' Marina Hyde'James never fails to make me laugh and then think, then laugh some more' Dermot O'LearyThomas Cromwell: The untold story of Henry VIII's most faithful servant
By Tracy Borman. 2014
'This deeply researched and grippingly written biography brings Cromwell to life and exposes the Henrician court in all its brutal,…
glittering splendour.' Kate Williams, IndependentThomas Cromwell's life has made gripping reading for millions through Hilary Mantel's bestselling novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. But who was the real Cromwell? In this major new biography, leading historian Tracy Borman examines the life, loves and legacy of the man who changed the shape of England forever.Born a lowly tavern keeper's son, Cromwell rose swiftly through the ranks to become Henry VIII's right hand man, and one of the most powerful figures in Tudor history. The architect of England's break with the Roman Catholic Church and the dissolution of the monasteries, he oversaw seismic changes in England's history. Influential in securing Henry's controversial divorce from Catherine of Aragon, many believe he was also the ruthless force behind Anne Boleyn's downfall and subsequent execution. Although for years he has been reviled as a Machiavellian schemer who stopped at nothing in his quest for power, Thomas Cromwell was also a loving husband, father and guardian, a witty and generous host, and a loyal and devoted servant. With fresh research and new insights into Cromwell's family life, his household and his close relationships, Tracy Borman Tracy Borman tells the true story of Henry VIII's most faithful servant.Politics and the Slavic Languages (Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe)
By Tomasz Kamusella. 2021
During the last two centuries, ethnolinguistic nationalism has been the norm of nation building and state building in Central Europe.…
The number of recognized Slavic languages (in line with the normative political formula of language = nation = state) gradually tallied with the number of the Slavic nation-states, especially after the breakups of Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. But in the current age of borderless cyberspace, regional and minority Slavic languages are freely standardized and used, even when state authorities disapprove. As a result, since the turn of the 19th century, the number of Slavic languages has varied widely, from a single Slavic language to as many as 40. Through the story of Slavic languages, this timely book illustrates that decisions on what counts as a language are neither permanent nor stable, arguing that the politics of language is the politics in Central Europe. The monograph will prove to be an essential resource for scholars of linguistics and politics in Central Europe.A Brief History of Spain: Indispensable for Travellers
By Jeremy Black. 2019
Despite being relatively brief, this very readable history covers environmental, political, social, economic, cultural and artistic elements, and is very…
open to regional variations and to the extent that the history of the peninsula and of its political groupings was far from inevitable. Its tone is accessible, supported by boxes providing supplemental information, and is perfect for travellers to Spain.Empire of Democracy: The Remaking of the West since the Cold War, 1971-2017
By Simon Reid-Henry. 2019
'A dense narrative and a wealth of examples' Literary Review'Reid-Henry narrates this story with elegance and gusto' Washington Post'[Reid-Henry] conveys…
an important message: Individual political action must become accountable to society's interests' Kirkus'Reid-Henry's scholarship is impressive, gathering a wide range of historical anecdotes and referencing a diverse set of thinkers' Publishers Weekly The first panoramic history of the Western world from the 1970s to the present day: Empire of Democracy is the story for those asking how we got to where we are.In this epic narrative of the events that have shaped our own times, Simon Reid-Henry shows how liberal democracy, and Western history with it, was profoundly re-imagined when the postwar Golden Age ended. As the institutions of liberal rule were reinvented, a new generation of politicians emerged: Thatcher, Reagan, Mitterrand, Kohl. The late twentieth-century heyday they oversaw carried the Western democracies triumphantly to victory in the C old War and into the economic boom of the 1990s. But equally it led them into the fiasco of Iraq, to the high drama of the financial crisis in 2007/8, and ultimately to the anti-liberal surge of our own times.The present crisis of liberalism enjoins us to revisit these as yet unscripted decades. The era we have all been living through is closing out, democracy is turning on its axis once again. As this panoramic history poignantly reminds us, the choices we make going forward require us first to come to terms with where we have been.Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth
By Iain MacGregor. 2019
'As convoluted and deadly as the plot of a novel by John le Carre, but all too real' Daily Mail,…
Must Reads'With a gripping narrative and vivid interviews with those on all sides whose lives were directly affected by that grim symbol of the East-West divide that poisoned Europe for almost half a century, [MacGregor] has made an important contribution to the history of our times' Jonathan Dimbleby'Captures brilliantly and comprehensively both the danger and exhilaration that I and other reporters, soldiers, and people experienced intersecting with the wall - a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the Europe we have inherited' Jon SnowA powerful, fascinating, and ground-breaking history of Checkpoint Charlie, the legendary and most important military gate on the border of East and West Berlin where the United States and her allies confronted the USSR during the Cold War.As the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall approaches in 2019, Iain MacGregor captures the mistrust, oppression, paranoia, and fear that gripped the city throughout this period. Checkpoint Charlie is about the nerve-wracking confrontation between the West and the Soviet Union that contains never-before-heard interviews with the men who built and dismantled the Wall; lovers who crossed it; relatives and friends who lost family trying to escape over it; German, British, French, and Russian soldiers who guarded its checkpoints; CIA, MI6 and Stasi operatives who oversaw secret operations across its borders; politicians whose ambitions shaped it; journalists who recorded its story; and many more whose living memories contributed to the full story of Checkpoint Charlie. A brilliant work of historical journalism, Checkpoint Charlie is an invaluable record of this period.A Brief History of the Mediterranean: Indispensable for Travellers
By Jeremy Black. 2020
A wonderfully concise and readable, yet comprehensive, history of the Mediterranean Sea, the perfect companion for any visitor -- or…
indeed, anyone compelled to stay at home.'The grand object of travelling is to see the shores of the Mediterranean.'Samuel Johnson, 1776The Mediterranean has always been a leading stage for world history; it is also visited each year by tens of millions of tourists, both local and international. Jeremy Black provides an account in which the experience of travel is foremost: travel for tourism, for trade, for war, for migration, for culture, or, as so often, for a variety of reasons. Travellers have always had a variety of goals and situations, from rulers to slaves, merchants to pirates, and Black covers them all, from Phoenicians travelling for trade to the modern tourist sailing for pleasure and cruising in great comfort.Throughout the book the emphasis is on the sea, on coastal regions and on port cities visited by cruise liners - Athens, Barcelona, Naples, Palermo. But it also looks beyond, notably to the other waters that flow into the Mediterranean - the Black Sea, the Atlantic, the Red Sea and rivers, from the Ebro and Rhone to the Nile. Much of western Eurasia and northern Africa played, and continues to play, a role, directly or indirectly, in the fate of the Mediterranean. At times, that can make the history of the sea an account of conflict after conflict, but it is necessary to understand these wars in order to grasp the changing boundaries of the Mediterranean states, societies and religions, the buildings that have been left, and the peoples' cultures, senses of identity and histories.Black explores the centrality of the Mediterranean to the Western experience of travel, beginning in antiquity with the Phoenicians, Minoans and Greeks. He shows how the Roman Empire united the sea, and how it was later divided by Christianity and Islam. He tells the story of the rise and fall of the maritime empires of Pisa, Genoa and Venice, describes how galley warfare evolved and how the Mediterranean fired the imagination of Shakespeare, among many artists. From the Renaissance and Baroque to the seventeenth-century beginnings of English tourism - to the Aegean, Sicily and other destinations - Black examines the culture of the Mediterraean. He shows how English naval power grew, culminating in Nelson's famous victory over the French in the Battle of the Nile and the establishment of Gibraltar, Minorca and Malta as naval bases. Black explains the retreat of Islam in north Africa, describes the age of steam navigation and looks at how and why the British occupied Cyprus, Egypt and the Ionian Islands. He looks at the impact of the Suez Canal as a new sea route to India and how the Riviera became Europe's playground. He shows how the Mediterranean has been central to two World Wars, the Cold War and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. With its focus always on the Sea, the book looks at the fate of port cities particularly - Alexandria, Salonika and Naples.The Lost Gardens Of Heligan
By Tim Smit. 2017
The glorious No.1 bestsellerUntil the First World War, the estate gardens at Heligan were one of the glories of Cornwall.…
Thereafter, through growing neglect, they slipped gradually to sleep. This is the amazing story of their rediscovery and restoration, or the Victorian vision and ingenuity which first created that subtropical paradise, and of the modern obsession and improvisation which recreated it.'This six-book series looks likely to become a landmark in historical fiction' The Times Available together for the first time,…
the first three unmissable SIX TUDOR QUEENS novels from the Sunday Times bestselling series by acclaimed author and eminent historian Alison Weir.The lives of Henry VIII's queens make for compelling and dramatic tales. They each married the same man, but Katherine, Anne and Jane were as intimately connected to each other as to the King... Walk in the footsteps of the most infamous queens in history as their extraordinary stories weave together and play out in glittering palaces, birth chambers, gilded prisons - even on the scaffold itself. ---'Shatters the many myths about Henry VIII's long-suffering first wife' Tracy Borman on Katherine of Aragon, the True Queen'A triumph of fine detail and research... offers a complex depiction of an endlessly fascinating woman' Elizabeth Fremantle on Anne Boleyn, a King's Obsession'This brilliant book is a bombshell! Jane Seymour the shy mouse type? Think again!' Kate Williams on Jane Seymour, the Haunted Queen--- KATHERINE OF ARAGON, the True Queen. ANNE BOLEYN, the King's Obsession. JANE SEYMOUR, the Haunted Queen.---SIX TUDOR QUEENS - Praise for Alison Weir:'Alison Weir makes history come alive as no one else' Barbara Erskine'Weir is excellent on the little details that bring a world to life' GuardianMadeleine
By Euan Cameron. 2019
"Immersive, nuanced, impeccably researched" IAN RANKIN"Beautifully written and moving" ALLAN MASSIE"Poignant, nostalgic and redolent of the smell of France" SIMON…
BRETTFamily history has always been a mystery to Will Latymer. His father flatly refused to talk about it, and with no other relatives to consult, it seems that a mystery it shall always remain. Until of course, Will meets Ghislaine, his beautiful French cousin, in a chance encounter that introduces him to his grandmother, Madeleine, shut away in a quiet Breton manor with her memories and secrets.Before long, Will has been plunged headlong into the life of Madeleine's great love, his longlost grandfather, Henry Latymer. Reading Henry's old letters and diaries for the first time, Will discovers an idealistic young man, full of hopes and optimism - an optimism that will gradually be crushed as the realities of life under the Vichy regime become glaringly clear.But the more Will delves into Madeleine and Henry's past, and into France's troubled history, the darker the secrets he discovers become, and the more he has cause to wonder if sometimes, the past should remain buried.It's the most wonderful time of the year - but can the East End Angels keep London safe?Meet The East…
End Angels, the newest members of Station Seventy-Five's ambulance crew . . .Frankie is trying hard to keep everything together. She can count on the support of the East End Angels, even in the face of family trouble.Winnie's beloved husband, Mac, is putting himself at risk every day in the bomb disposal unit and she's finding it hard while he's away.Bella is growing in confidence and happiness. Her friendship with Winnie's brother, James, is getting closer all the time.Christmas on the Home Front is a hard time with loved ones far away - but the women of the Auxiliary Ambulance service are making do and mending.The third novel in the acclaimed East End Angels series, following Bella, Winnie and Frankie and their lives as members of Station Seventy-Five's ambulance crew. Perfect for fans of Sheila Newberry and Katie Flynn.Readers love the East End Angels series . . . 'Wonderfully written by one very talented author . . . highly recommended''I loved reading this book . . . so looking forward to the next in the series''Reminded me of Call the Midwife''Absolutely brilliant for recreating life in London during the Blitz''A very well-written and researched, warm-hearted book . . . with a bit of romance!'*Don't miss Rosie Hendry's brand new novel, THE MOTHER'S DAY CLUB, coming 18th February 2021 and available now to pre-order*The Snares of Memory
By Juan Marsé. 2016
In January 1949 on an otherwise unremarkable day in an unremarkable Barcelona neighbourhood cinema, a prostitute is murdered in cold…
blood in the projection booth by the assistant projectionist, one Fermín Sicart.More than thirty years later, a screenwriter resolves to determine the truth behind her murder, and seeks out Fermin, who has served his time. But though Fermin remembers killing his victim, and exactly how he did it, he cannot for the life of him recall why.The Snares of Memory, by one of the great Spanish men of letters, is at once an investigation of memory, motive and murder and a pointed dig at the Spanish film industry of the second half of the twentieth century.Before & After: The Incredible Story of the Real-life Mrs Wilson
By Alison Wilson. 2019
Aged nineteen, Alison McKelvie was a self-confessed romantic, immersed in books and poetry, and dreaming of beauty, truth and love.…
In 1940, whilst working as a secretary at MI6, Alison met Alexander Wilson. Thirty years her senior, Alexander was worldly and charismatic. An intense affair quickly led to marriage and two children. But the Wilsons' lives then spiralled into the depths of poverty. Alexander was sacked, imprisoned twice, and then declared bankrupt. His lack of reliability was a hefty emotional burden for Alison to bear. Nevertheless, she loved her husband unreservedly and stuck by him through thick and thin.In 1963, Alexander died suddenly of a heart attack. Alison's world imploded when she discovered that their life together had been built upon layer after layer of deception. Who was Alexander Wilson? How well had Alison really known him? Slowly the lies were unravelled: Alexander had been a novelist, spy and, devastatingly, a bigamist. Alison was the third of four wives, her children two of seven.The inspiration for critically-acclaimed drama Mrs Wilson, Before & After is the powerful and poignant memoir of Alison Wilson. 'Before' peels back the complex layers of a marriage steeped in lies, and the shattering heartbreak which followed. 'After' tells of an intensely-felt redemption through religion. Before & After is, first and foremost, a love story, but it is also an account of one extraordinarily strong woman's deep, unwavering faith.Growing Up with Ireland: A Century of Memories from Our Oldest and Wisest Citizens
By Valerie Cox. 2019
'An incredible portal to our past' The Sunday TimesOn 7 January 1922, Ireland became a free state. Born into that…
era of turbulence and hope were the twenty-six women and men whose stories and memories of a lifetime are captured by cherished Irish journalist Valerie Cox. From living memory come stories of the arrival of electricity, story-telling at 'rambling houses', raising a family in an earlier era, the scourge of TB, the big snow of 1932 and hiding out when the Black and Tans raided. These evocative pieces reflect both a simpler time and a tougher one, where childhood was short and the world of work beckoned from an early age.Growing Up With Ireland is a compelling portrait of an Ireland in some ways warmly familiar, and in others changed beyond recognition, from those who were there at the beginning.'A comprehensive and evocative insight into a century of Irish life ... a valuable record' Irish ExaminerThe Crown in Crisis: Countdown to the Abdication
By Alexander Larman. 2020
In December 1936, Britain faced a constitutional crisis that was the gravest threat to the institution of the monarchy since…
the execution of Charles I. The ruling monarch, Edward VIII, wished to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson and crown her as his Queen. His actions scandalised the Establishment, who were desperate to avoid an international embarrassment at a time when war seemed imminent.An influential coalition formed against him, including the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, his private secretary Alec Hardinge, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the editor of The Times. Edward seemed fated to give up Wallis and remain a reluctant ruler, or to abdicate his throne. Yet he had his own supporters, too, including Winston Churchill, the Machiavellian newspaper proprietor Lord Beaverbrook and his brilliant adviser Walter Monckton. They offered him the chance to remain on the throne and keep Wallis. But was the price they asked too high?Using previously unpublished and rare archival material, and new interviews with those who knew Edward and Wallis, The Crown in Crisis is the conclusive exploration of how an unthinkable and unprecedented event tore the country apart. This seismic event has been written about before but never with the ticking-clock suspense and pace of the thriller that it undoubtedly was for all of its participants. Painstakingly researched, incisively written and entirely fresh in its approach, The Crown in Crisis brings the events of that time to thrilling life, and in the process will appeal to an entirely new audience.