Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 37574 items
SAS: Sea King Down
By Mark Aston, Stuart Tootal. 2021
The thrilling, edge-of-your-seat true story of one soldier's Special Forces operations in the Falklands War'BRILLIANT. A ROLLERCOASTER OF BLISTERING ACTION,…
SURVIVAL AND BEHIND-THE-LINES DARING' DAMIEN LEWIS________THE BIGGEST SINGLE LOSS OF LIFE FOR THE SAS SINCE WORLD WAR TWO . . .1982, the British task force sails to liberate the Falkland Islands. Aboard: SAS D Squadron, determined to make their mark.No one more so than Mark 'Splash' Aston.But they have barely seen action when their Sea King helicopter crashes in freezing South Atlantic waters, killing 22 of Mark's comrades.The last out of the sinking wreck, he suffers a broken neck. But defying medical evacuation orders, Mark sneaks off ship, re-joins his SAS comrades to land on a mountain near Port Stanley - to defend it against days of attacks by Argentine special forces . . .SAS Sea King Down is a pulse-pounding account of D-Squadron's tragic loss and subsequent heroic stand in one of the most hostile places on Earth.A story told by a man who barely survived to tell it.________'A gripping untold story of heroism, hardship and sacrifice within the SAS' BEAR GRYLLS 'Gripping, fast moving and completely authentic. A brilliant piece of work. Better than Bravo Two Zero' - Mike Rose, former Commanding Officer of the SASThe Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain 660-1649
By N A Rodger. 1997
Throughout Britain's history, one factor above all others has determined the fate of the nation: its navy. N. A. M.…
Rodger's definitive account reveals how the political and social progress of Britain has been inextricably intertwined with the strength - and weakness - of its sea power, from the desperate early campaigns against the Vikings to the defeat of the great Spanish Armada. Covering policy, strategy, ships, recruitment and weapons, this is a superb tapestry of nearly 1,000 years of maritime history.'No other historian has examined the subject in anything like the detail found here. The result is an outstanding example of narrative history' Barry Unsworth, Sunday TelegraphSad Men
By Dave Roberts. 2014
All Dave Roberts ever wanted to do (apart from collect football programmes) was to work in advertising. More specifically, to…
work for the world's best advertising agency, Saatchi and Saatchi. There was just one problem. Even when he managed to persuade someone to employ him, Dave's copywriting assignments were mainly for second hand car dealers and double glazing companies. And Leeds, Manchester and, bizarrely, New Zealand were a long way from Charlotte Street and Madison Avenue. This was the world of the Sad Men.In his sparkling new memoir, Dave tells the story of a life shaped by his love of adverts, from seeing the PG Tips chimps at the age of three to writing infamous ads such as the Westpac Rap and having David Jason plug a family restaurant. Bursting with brilliant ideas - and some pretty daft ones - it is the cautionary tale of a quest for advertising glory... and not quite ever getting there.Sabre Squadron
By Cameron Spence. 1997
With the outbreak of Gulf War hostilities a unit from 22 SAS slipped quietly over the border and into the…
enemy's backyard. It would be six weeks before any of the patrol again reached safety.Sabre Squadron recounts in graphic detail their scud-busting operations deep inside Iraq. They were operating alone and out of reach of reinforcements, with the threat of detection and its fatal consequences ever present. Yet their determination to wreak havoc behind enemy lines remained undimmed, culminating in an attack that decisively reconfirmed the regiment's awesome reputation.Cameron Spence, a senior NCO on the operation, takes you as close to the fighting SAS as you are ever likely to get, conveying the relentless tension, black humour and camaraderie punctuated by explosive, nerve-shredding action that characterized the mission.This is the true story of an SAS operation of breathtaking audacity and flair, carried out under unimaginable pressure, in the face of impossible odds._____________'A brilliantly authentic account of war with an SAS patrol, it's a fantastic read' - ANDY MCNAB, bestselling author of Bravo Two Zero'Tense and at times terrifying... a well told action story' - SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'A terrific read' - THE TIMES'Blood, guts and military macho - as authentic as anything you are likely to read' - MAIL ON SUNDAYThe Rule of Benedict (Penguin Little Black Classics)
By Carolinne White. 2008
'Idleness is the enemy of the soul'Saint Benedict's advice to monks - on everything from correct posture to the value…
of silence - has offered spiritual guidance to many for fifteen centuries. One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.The Rule of Benedict
By St Benedict. 2008
Founder of a monastery at Monte Cassino, between Rome and Naples, in the sixth century, St Benedict intended his Rule…
to be a practical guide to Christian monastic life. Based on the key precepts of humility, obedience and love, its aim is to create a harmonious and efficient religious community in which individuals can make progress in the Christian virtues and gain eternal life. Here, Benedict sets out ideal monastery routines and regulations, from the qualities of a good abbot, the twelve steps to humility and the value of silence to such every day matters as kitchen duties, care of the sick and the suitable punishment for lateness at mealtimes. Benedict’s legacy is still strong – his Rule remains a source of inspiration and a key work in the history of the Christian church.The Royal Scots: A Concise History
By Trevor Royle. 2006
The Royal Scots are Scotland's oldest infantry regiment, with a tradition that stretches back to 1633. This first concise history…
of the regiment is based largely on the recollections of several generations of Royal Scots - men like Private McBane, who carried his three-year-old son into battle at Malplaquet, and Private Begbie, the youngest soldier to serve in the First World War. These first-hand accounts take the reader through the great wars of the eighteenth century, when Britain was a rising global power, through the setbacks and the triumphs of the Napoleonic Wars and on to the glorious years of the nineteenth century. The two world wars of the twentieth century saw the Royals expand in size, and there are full accounts of its meritorious service on all the main battle fronts. More recently, the regiment has been involved in operations in the Balkans and Iraq. In 2006, in one of the most radical changes in the country's defence policy, the Royal Scots will be amalgamated into the new Royal Regiment of Scotland. Royal Scots is, therefore, a timely celebration of the British Army's most venerable regiment, right of the line and second to none.The Royal Highland Fusiliers: A Concise History
By Trevor Royle. 2007
The Royal Highland Fusiliers came into being in 1959 as a result of the amalgamation of two regiments, both of…
which had strong connections with Glasgow and the west of Scotland: The Royal Scots Fusiliers, founded in 1678 by Charles Erskine, fifth Earl of Mar; and The Highland Light Infantry, or HLI, created in 1881 as a result of the amalgamation of the 71st Highlanders and the 74th Highlanders. Two distinctive infantry traditions can be found in the names of these regiments, which have helped to form the line infantry regiments of the British Army. Fusiliers were armed with the flintlock fusil instead of the more common matchlock musket, and light infantry came into being during the Napoleonic Wars to provide the army with a corps of skirmishing sharpshooters similar to Austrian and German Jäger troops.Amongst those who have served as fusiliers or light infantrymen are Hugh Trenchard, who became Air Chief Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Winston Churchill and David Niven, who joined the HLI from Sandhurst in the inter-war years. All these traditions and personalities went into the making of a regiment whose name lives on in the 2nd battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland, which was formed in 2006 as a result of the restructuring of the infantry regiments of the British Army.Roof of the World: Man's First Flight Over Everest
By Lord James Douglas-Hamilton. 2013
On the morning of 3 April 1933, two single-engine biplanes set off on a flight into history. From their base…
near the Indian border with the mystery country of Nepal, the two young pilots, one a British Marquis and a Scottish Member of Parliament, the other a dynamic flight commander, flew towards as great a challenge as world aviation had faced to date - Mount Everest, 'Roof of the World'.The first flight over Everest was the climax of years of thought and months of intensive planning, an epoch-making event which caught the imagination of millions. News of its success reverberated throughout the British Empire to the world at large. Among the deluge of telegrams of congratulations received were those from the King and the Prime Minister. The Times of London, which had given exclusive coverage of the Expedition since its early days, carried one of its longest features ever and was excited enough to comment that the achievement was 'almost like exploring the rainbow'. Some half-a-century later that Houston-Mount Everest Expedition takes its place as one of the last great pioneering flights before the era of space travel.Roof of the World tells the remarkable story of that flight and its repercussions, among which were the growth of the British aviation industry and the creation of the country's second international airport. Using rare and unique photographs, many taken from the flight itself and giving an idea of the qualities required of the crews, Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has recreated the scene facing the pilots, one of whom was his father. He has had access to relevant diaries and personal papers presents in Roof of the World a valuable contribution to our understanding of a unique achievement in an eventful decade.Rogue Warrior of the SAS: The Blair Mayne Legend
By Martin Dillon, Roy Bradford. 1987
More than half a century after his death, Lt Col. Robert Blair Mayne is still regarded as one of the…
greatest soldiers in the history of military special operations. He was the most decorated British soldier of the Second World War, receiving four DSOs, the Croix de Guerre and the Légion d'honneur, and he pioneered tactics used today by the SAS and other special operations units worldwide. Rogue Warrior of the SAS tells the remarkable life story of 'Colonel Paddy', whose exceptional physical strength and uniquely swift reflexes made him a fearsome opponent. But his unorthodox rules of war and his resentment of authority would deny him the ultimate accolade of the Victoria Cross. Drawing on personal letters and family papers, declassified SAS files and records, together with the Official SAS Diary compiled in wartime and eyewitness accounts from many who served with him, the picture emerges of a soldier who, although a flawed hero, was unquestionably one of the most distinctive combatants of the campaigns in the Western Desert and Europe.The Rise And Fall of British Naval Mastery
By Paul Kennedy. 2017
Paul Kennedy's classic naval history, now updated with a new introduction by the authorThis acclaimed book traces Britain's rise and…
fall as a sea power from the Tudors to the present day. Challenging the traditional view that the British are natural 'sons of the waves', he suggests instead that the country's fortunes as a significant maritime force have always been bound up with its economic growth. In doing so, he contributes significantly to the centuries-long debate between 'continental' and 'maritime' schools of strategy over Britain's policy in times of war. Setting British naval history within a framework of national, international, economic, political and strategic considerations, he offers a fresh approach to one of the central questions in British history. A new introduction extends his analysis into the twenty-first century and reflects on current American and Chinese ambitions for naval mastery.'Excellent and stimulating' Correlli Barnett'The first scholar to have set the sweep of British Naval history against the background of economic history' Michael Howard, Sunday Times'By far the best study that has ever been done on the subject ... a sparkling and apt quotation on practically every page' Daniel A. Baugh, International History Review'The best single-volume study of Britain and her naval past now available to us' Jon Sumida, Journal of Modern HistoryRiding the Storm
By Duncan Bannatyne. 2013
Can money buy you happiness?A few years ago Duncan Bannatyne might have said so. He was happily married and his…
businesses were thriving. Life was good. He couldn't have known that a storm was brewing on the horizon and that he would soon face immense personal and professional struggles, including the strain of a divorce and the impact of the recession on his business empire. Riding the Storm is the inspirational account of how Duncan overcame these setbacks. It's a survival story, full of insights into how he adapted his businesses and his life to new financial realities. In it, Duncan explains exactly how a working-class boy from Clydebank built himself a multimillion-pound business empire, and talks with incredible frankness about the current strategies, goals and finances of his companies. He reveals the true nature of his feuds and friendships with the other Dragons and uses his experiences from Dragons' Den to offer advice to start-up entrepreneurs in today's market. He speaks openly about the terrible pain of his divorce and how his children's love gave him the strength to get through it. He discusses the opportunities that success has given him, from learning to dance for Sport Relief to trekking up Kilimanjaro with his daughter. And finally he explains why, in spite of having just gone through the toughest years of his life, he feels positive about the future - and why you should too.Richard I: The Crusader King (Penguin Monarchs)
By Thomas Asbridge. 2018
Richard I's reign is both controversial and seemingly contradictory. One of England's most famous medieval monarchs and a potent symbol…
of national identity, he barely spent six months on English soil during a ten-year reign and spoke French as his first language. Contemporaries dubbed him the 'Lionheart', reflecting a carefully cultivated reputation for bravery, prowess and knightly virtue, but this supposed paragon of chivalry butchered close to 3,000 prisoners in cold blood on a single day. And, though revered as Christian Europe's greatest crusader, his grand campaign to the Holy Land failed to recover the city of Jerusalem from Islam.Seeking to reconcile this conflicting evidence, Thomas Asbridge's incisive reappraisal of Richard I's career questions whether the Lionheart really did neglect his kingdom, considers why he devoted himself to the cause of holy war and asks how the memory of his life came to be interwoven with myth. Richard emerges as a formidable warrior-king, possessed of martial genius and a cultured intellect, yet burdened by the legacy of his dysfunctional dynasty and obsessed with the pursuit of honour and renown.Revelations of Divine Love
By Julian Of Norwich. 1998
Coming from a society where women were barred from serious writing and teaching, Julian, an anchorite of the great medieval…
city of Norwich, nevertheless uses her womanlines and the English vernacular of the day to describe a series of revelations which she received from God in the year 1373. She identifies the female nature of Christ's suffering and the motherhood of God, using images from domestic daily life, emphasizing the homeliness of God's love. She writes in a lively and unpretentious manner and her theology is precise without ever being pedantic.The Regiment: The Definitive Story of the SAS
By Michael Asher. 2007
From the bestselling author of The Real Bravo Two Zero comes the definitive history of the world's most elite fighting…
force - the SAS'Breathtaking bravery, astonishing feats of endurance, raids and battles described with terrific immediacy and pace. Compelling and definitive . . . will surely not be bettered' Sunday TelegraphOn 4 May 1980, seven terrorists holding twenty-one people captive in the Iranian Embassy in London's Prince's Gate, executed their first hostage. They threatened to kill another hostage every thirty minutes until their demands were met. Minutes later, armed men in black overalls and balaclavas shimmied down the roof on ropes and burst in through windows and doors. In seconds all but one of the terrorists had been shot dead, the other captured.For most people, this was their first acquaintance with a unit that was soon to become the ideal of modern military excellence - the Special Air Service regiment. Few realized that the SAS had been in existence for almost forty years, playing a discreet, if not secret, role almost everywhere Britain had fought since World War II, and had been the prototype of all modern special forces units throughout the world.In The Regiment, Michael Asher - a former soldier in 23 SAS Regiment - examines the evolution of the special forces idea and investigates the real story behind the greatest military legend of the late twentieth century.'Detailed, scathingly honest. Asher has brought the critical eye of the knowledgeable insider to his in-depth study of SAS operations and personalities' HeraldPraise for Michael Asher: 'This is the most complete picture of the Sudanese campaigns that has yet been published . . . a vigorous and engrossing narrative' Philip Ziegler, Daily Telegraph'A staggering achievement. Asher has delivered a scintillating tale of a period of history that deserves to be remembered' GuardianThe Red Arrows: The Sunday Times Bestseller
By David Montenegro. 2022
SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLERDAILY MAIL BOOK OF THE WEEKTHE FIRST OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE RED ARROWS'Heart-pounding, exhilarating . .…
. A fascinating testimony of jeopardy, cool heads and the sheer exultant addiction of flying.' SINCLAIR MCKAY'Fantastic . . . It was wonderful to read about so many old chums and truly legendary aviators. Highly recommended.' JOHN NICHOL (Twitter)'An exhilarating read! The next-best thing to taking the controls of a Hawk fast-jet. And you're much less likely to throw up.' BEN MILLER'Inspirational . . . Precision, style and dedication. The Red Arrows are the ultimate in teamwork.' TIM PEAKE'Perfectly enjoyable . . . As the Red Arrows head towards their 60th anniversary, it's clear the team's place in our hearts is secure.' DAILY MAIL'A wild ride . . . The ultimate insider guide, relating with great enthusiasm and insight what it means to be inside the cockpit as you scream through the skies at 350 to 450 miles per hour, within what feels like touching distance of your wingman, making continual nanosecond decisions that will result in certain death if you get them wrong.' TELEGRAPH, Patrick Bishop_________________________________________"Occasionally, you and the team come within read of perfection, up there in the rarefied air of the skies. You never know when those moments will come, but it's what you yearn for as a pilot."The Red Arrows represent the very best speed, agility and precision aerobatic flying in the Royal Air Force, and the people who wear those iconic red flight suits are rigorously selected not just for their flying skills, lightning-fast reflexes and nerves of steel, but for their mental resilience, courage and humility.Written by the Officer Commanding and former Red 1 Team Leader, Wing Commander David Montenegro, and full of never-before-shared tales from pilots past and present, this thrilling history is both a faithful record and a fascinating account of not only what it takes, but what it means, to be a Red Arrow._________________________________________Praise for the Red Arrows:'A lifetime's ambition . . . I still can't believe I've been in a fighter jet. It was fantastic - just to feel the G-force was spectacular.' LEWIS HAMILTON'So tight, crisp and professional' CHRIS HADFIELD'I can never quite believe that anyone can fly and aircraft with such precision' PROF. BRIAN COX'The skill level they have is just off the scale. The Red Arrows is an amazing display of quality' DAVID COULTHARDThe Real Deal: The Autobiography of Britain’s Most Controversial Media Mogul
By Richard Desmond. 2015
From the age of five, when he helped his deaf father negotiate advertising contracts, Richard Desmond has always had an…
eye for business. In The Real Deal he offers a no-holds-barred account of an extraordinary career that has taken him from cloakroom attendant at a north London club to billionaire media owner. En route he tells of his early life as a rock and roll drummer, his first steps in the world of magazine publishing as a purveyor of leisure and top-shelf titles, and finally, after decades of paying his dues building smaller brands, his arrival in the big league with the launch of OK! magazine and the acquisition of Express Newspapers, his purchase and sale of Channel 5, and his £80 million investment in the Health Lottery, combining business innovation with help for good causes. Along the way, he imparts many of the secrets of his astounding success, as well as giving his forthright opinion (and he always has one) on such diverse subjects as politicians, religion, and the similarities between being a rock and roll drummer and running a business – as well as his views on a cast of characters ranging from Alan Sugar to Victoria Beckham and from Simon Cowell to Jennifer Aniston.Often controversial, frequently revelatory, always entertaining, The Real Deal is the brilliantly frank account of a life spent at the sharp end.The Real Deal: My Story from Brick Lane to Dragons' Den
By James Caan. 2008
After dropping out of school at just sixteen, James Caan started his business life in a broom cupboard with no…
qualifications and two pieces of fatherly wisdom: 'observe the masses and do the opposite' and 'always look for opportunities where both parties benefit'. Armed with this advice, natural charm and the Yellow Pages, he built a market-leading business with a turnover of £130 million and swiftly became one of Britain's most successful entrepreneurs.From Caan's childhood as a Pakistani immigrant to the phenomenal success of his first company and beyond, The Real Deal traces both his financial and personal achievements. It offers a frank account of what success at thirty really signifies and brings us right up to the present, including his impact on Dragons' Den and what his charity work, from saving a hospital in London to building a school in Lahore, means to him. Ultimately, it is a story of learning what money is really worth, told by one the country's most insightful businessmen.Reading Clausewitz
By Beatrice Heuser. 2011
Clausewitz's On War, first published in 1832, remains the most famous study of the nature and conditions of warfare. Contemporaries…
found him 'endearing' or 'totally unpalatable', while later generations called him 'the father of modern strategical study', whose tenets have 'eternal relevance', or dismissed him as outdated. Was it really he who made the discovery that warfare is a continuation of politics? Was he the 'Mahdi of mass and mutual massacre', in part responsible for the mass slaughter of the First World War, as Liddell Hart contended? Can the idea of total war be traced back to him? Complex and often misunderstood, Clausewitz has fascinated and influenced generations of politicians and strategic thinkers. Beatrice Heuser's study is the first book, not only on how to read Clausewitz, but also on how others have read him - from the Prussian and German masters of warfare of the late nineteenth century through to the military commanders of the First World War, through Lenin and Mao Zedong to strategists in the nuclear age and of guerrilla warfare. The result is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the work and influence of the greatest classic on the art of war.Raiders (eBook Sampler): World War Two True Stories
By Ross Kemp. 2012
A free sampler of Ross Kemp's Raiders: six true stories of the most daring British operations of World War Two.This…
sampler contains the story of Operation Judgement; believed to be one of the most incredible raids of World War Two.The full ebook and hardback will be available on 25th October 2012.Six raids that changed the course of history.Operation Judgement: one of the most spectacular efforts of World War Two, where obsolete British biplanes attacked the Italian fleet in Taranto.Operation Archery: the first true combined operation carried out by all three British forces. THis successful raid persuaded Hitler that the Allies were planning a full scale invasion.Operation Biting: a cross-Channel raid into France that was the first major attack by the British Airborne Division and its first battle honour.Operation Gunnerside: a dramatic demolition assault on Hitler's atomic bomb plant in Norway.Operation Chariot: 'the greatest raid of all': the British amphibious attack on the Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German-occupied France.Operation Deadstick: the story of the first Allies into the fray on D-Day, tasked with seizing and holding two bridges to prevent an armoured German counter-attack.