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Stalingrad Survivor
These startling memoirs offer a rare insight into the experiences of a prisoner of war within the brutal Russian camp system. The book begins with the capture of Austrian infantryman Wolfram ‘Wolfie’ Redler amid the chaos following the fall of Stalingrad. It recounts the forced march eastwards and his transportation to Siberia during the merciless Russian winter. Stricken with typhus, he somehow manages to survive this ‘death camp’. The story continues with his transfer to a labour camp, describing in harrowing detail the deprivations endured by Redler and his comrades. That he, or anyone, was able to survive is nothing short of a miracle. Brutality, starvation, disease, and hard labour took their toll on over ninety per cent of the troops who were captured in those first few months of 1943. Translated into English for the first time, this honest and unflinching account is a stark reminder of the cruelty of war. However, the great lesson of this book is not how we die, but how we live. Despite the suffering he witnessed and endured, ‘Wolfie’ remained a man who showed everyone around him what it truly means to live.
Sex and Sexuality in Ancient Greece
The debt of Ancient Greece to our own society has long been recognised. However, there is another side to the culture that bequeathed us such gifts as democracy, medicine, art and sports, one that does not glitter so much. Sex and Sexuality in Ancient Greece plunges headfirst into a society that holds very different values to our own, an alien world whose top God committed adultery whilst in the guise of a swan, where Spartan brides were dressed up as boys to consummate their marriage, doctors believed women were inside out men with wandering wombs that attacked their internal organs and Olympic athletes fought literally to the death for the chance to win a crown made of leaves. It’s time to ask the hard questions: were women really so devalued that they were locked up in their homes, was every man in ancient Athens homosexual and what’s with all the hardcore pornography on everyday crocker? ex and Sexuality in Ancient Greece seeks to answer these questions and many others, whilst trying not to flinch as it explores a topic that is both provoking and fascinating. You will never look at Ancient Greece in the same way again.
On the Trail of the Kray Twins
The Kray Twins aka Ronnie and Reggie ruled London’s Gangland underworld during the 1960s with a ruthlessness rod of iron that still shocks yet captivates young and old alike to this very day. Their calculated rise to power involved fear, extortion, violence and murder as-well as developing a cult like celebrity status, which thrived in the heart of the swinging 60s nightclub scene and beyond. Although some may say their story may have been told many times over, the crime scene locations and background in which their lives unfolded and evolved has been largely abandoned to the past. For the first time in over half a century we can finally uncover what still remains of Britain’s most notorious brothers in crime and using the original police reports, eyewitness testimony and files from the public archives we aim in this book to separate fact from fiction to present the real story behind the ‘Firm’. True crime and social historians Richard C Cobb and Mark Davis return to the Krays old stomping ground in East London and take the reader behind the scenes on a step by step journey through the avenues and alleyways of their “Manor”As the past meets the present, they uncover key locations forgotten in time and present the truth about the rise and demise of the Kray brothers. From humble East End beginnings, to becoming the Godfathers of London's underworld, to their eventual downfall culminating in life imprisonment. Cobb and Davis explore the most charismatic part of East London, uncovering a cockney culture and a personality that has never left the area, where even today the shadow of the Krays still lurk around every corner embedded in the very streets they virtually owned. The Legend is everything…
The Forgotten Heroes of the British Suffrage Movement
The Forgotten Heroes of the British Suffrage Movement investigates the struggle for women’s right to vote through the eyes of some of the lesser-known activists. It delves into the themes, events and political issues that formed the bases of the movement and seeks to highlight the sacrifices made in the process of winning female enfranchisement. It begins with a look at the early campaigners and organizations that led the way at a time when the concept of women voting was seen as nothing more than a quaint idea. The book charts how for some, progress was deemed too slow which led to the introduction and gradual increase in militant tactics, culminating in arson attacks and a bombing campaign. Forgotten Heroes also takes a fascinating deep dive into the myriad of different identities that made up the women of the suffrage movement. They came from all walks of life, supported different political parties, had various sexual preferences and some even came from other races. Despite this diversity, in a period spanning a little under one hundred years, women banded together and fought a political war. They gave up their time, money, freedom, health and even their lives for an objective that today is taken for granted as a basic human right, the entitlement for women in the UK to vote on the same terms as men.
The Vineyard Venture
Imagine leaving your comfortable life in middle England for a land of glorious hot summers, romantic scenery and exquisite cuisine, to live off the fruits of your own labour on a vineyard in south-west France. If it sounds too idyllic to be true, it probably is!In July 1986, Nigel Reay-Jones and his wife Georgea sold their house in the Cotswolds and moved, with their five small children, to Château de Commarque, a dilapidated medieval fortified farm-turned hotel-restaurant in the tiny commune of Sauternes, near Bordeaux, with a small vineyard attached in even worse condition than the house. The Vineyard Venture is the story of the Reay-Joneses' wonderfully bold endeavour to make their dream a reality. From natural disasters and baffling bureaucracy to crumbling medieval walls and hypochondriac chefs, there was plenty sent their way to derail it. But time and again, the Reay-Joneses proved they were made of sterner stuff. This book, a brilliantly entertaining account written after a decade of laughter, adventure and, without hyperbole, momentous struggle, is a tale for winelovers, Francophiles and dreamers. It is the story of a life lived off the beaten path… down a bumpy track and at the end of a narrow lane in one of Bordeaux’s smallest and most revered wine-producing areas.
Colditz: The Escapes
For the first time, this book chronicles all the daring escapes from Oflag IV-C Colditz Castle. By late 1939, the German Blitzkrieg offensive had swept up a number of prisoners of war who were housed in forts and purpose-built camps. To the committed escape artist this was an initiation test, and many officers made light work of regaining their freedom, however finding passage to safety was difficult and recapture was often the outcome. Gradually Allied officers became such persistent planners of escape that the German High Command required an escape-proof prison, deep in Eastern Germany. Colditz Castle, with it’s rich history and imposing walls, provided such a place. The Polish were amongst the first prisoners to be incarcerated at Colditz. On 7 November 1940 the first British contingent arrived to join the men who were already stationed at the camp known as Oflag IV-C, including the Laufen Six with Major Pat Reid. Gradually more Allied officers arrived, including Belgians, French and Dutch, all of whom were all branded as ‘troublesome or persistent escape artists’. They made up a community of committed officers hell-bent on escape with a wide variety of skills to exchange and hone, and there was also an escape by the Indian national, Dr Biren Mazumdar. The inmates also included Prominente who were political prisoners such as Giles Romilly, the nephew of Winston Churchill. These men were amongst the bravest to serve in the Second World War and risked everything to ensure maximum disruption to the German war machine. Over the next four years there were 183 recorded escape attempts. The security officer at Colditz, Reinhold Eggers, established a museum in the Castle with exhibits, disguises and forged identity papers to educate his guards and prevent further escapes. Vital resources were diverted to guarding these men and the effort, time and money required to track down the men who escaped harmed the war effort of Nazi Germany.
The Hula Painted Frog
**This is a story of environmental hope.****It is a story of resilience.****It is a story of… a frog.**In the 1950s, measures to control malaria led to the destruction of the Hula painted frog’s unique marshy habitat along the River Jordan in Israel. Decades passed, and after trying many times to find the frog, scientists declared the species extinct. But in 2011, the frog leaped into the scientific spotlight when it reemerged in the waters of a small nature preserve. Against all the odds, the species had managed to survive, hidden from humans for more than fifty years in the grass and mud. This delightful picture book tells the story of the frog’s miraculous return from the brink of extinction. Told from the perspective of one of the frogs, it is a heart-warming cautionary tale that will inspire children to care for and help protect the environment. Maya Gonen is an illustrator and graphic designer who prefers projects with social, environmental, or meaningful added value. She works with both traditional and digital techniques and is always happy to embark on new creative adventures. In 2024, a wordless picture book she illustrated was a finalist in the Silent Book Contest and exhibited at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Maya has a background in photography and co-founded an artist collective earlier in her career.
The Battle of Leuctra, 371 BC
After defeating a coalition of Athens, Thebes, Persia, and other Greek city-states at the end of the Corinthian War in 387 BC, Sparta tyrannized all of Greece with nearly unchecked power. But her empire had been hollowed by the cost of generations of war and a most unfavourable trend in demographics: a sharp decline in Spartan soldiers and citizens. With Sparta's infirmity came a desperately tighter grip on Greece. And Sparta’s renowned king, Agesilaus II, held a special hatred for Thebes. After conquering the city in 382 BC, Sparta dismantled Thebes and intended to permanently eliminate their Theban problem. Thebes, though, was stubbornly resilient in the face of Sparta’s cruelty and not only survived Spartan occupation, but soon overthrew Sparta and aimed to shatter her empire. Against the odds, Thebes succeeded. Her victory boiled down to the indomitable spirit of two men: the irreproachable general Epaminondas and the cunning statesman Pelopidas. The two formed a local resistance movement that first liberated their home from Spartan oppression in 378 and then challenged Sparta’s empire outright in the Theban-Spartan War. By 371 at the Battle of Leuctra, their vision of a free Thebes and broken Sparta was realized, and the infamous Spartan war machine was at long last defeated. For the first time since the age of mythology, Thebes reigned supreme over Greece. Leuctra was the lynchpin of the new Theban Hegemony, and began a new era of empire in Greece, and the first power in centuries that was not Athens or Sparta.
The Southern Railway 1923 - 1935
The Southern Railway was the smallest of the ‘Big Four’ railway companies created under the Railways Act 1921 having a route mileage of 2,129 miles stretching London in the north to Plymouth in the south and from Ramsgate in the east to Padstow in the west. Its ships served France and the Channel Islands. Its principal revenue came from passengers and not goods traffic unlike the other three companies. In many ways it was the most progressive of the four being the only one to go for extensive electrification. This volume covers the years 1923 from the Company’s formation to 1935 and the completion of the first stage of the main line electrifications. As well the electrification of the Southern’s entire suburban system and the beginning of the main line electrifications the years saw a number of other major works including the re-signalling of Waterloo Station and the rebuilding of stations in Hastings, Dover and Southampton along with improvements to Southampton Docks. The Railway had to fight growing competition from bus and coach operators for domestic services and airlines for international services. The Company invested in both bus companies and in Imperial Airways and later participated in Railway Air Services. Its motive power was varied with at the formation of the company some locomotives dating back to mid 1860s and some only recently built. To these were added a variety of classes including the less than successful Lord Nelson Class and the very successful Schools Class.
Everest Surgeon
This is the first biography of Michael Ward (1925–2005): mountaineer, surgeon, scientist, explorer and writer. Amongst his many accomplishments, it describes – from his unique perspective – the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953, when he was expedition doctor. Before this, he instigated the 1951 Reconnaissance Expedition, which discovered the route climbers would take to Everest’s summit after poring over forgotten maps and aerial photographs. During the ground-breaking 1960–61 Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition, he led the first ascent of the iconic Ama Dablam, notably during winter, a climb considered years ahead of its time. As an explorer, he was one of the first Europeans to travel through, and map, the remote northern regions of Bhutan, while conducting a medical survey of its inhabitants. He went on to write the first textbook on mountain medicine, which remains in print today. In 1981, just as China was opening up following its turbulent Cultural Revolution, Ward organised and led an expedition there, which made the first ascent of Mount Kongur. The following year, the Royal Geographic Society awarded him its highest honour, the Founder’s (Gold) Medal. Ward climbed with some of the legends of mountaineering: Eric Shipton, Ed Hillary, Tenzing Norgay and Chris Bonington; and this book relates many stories during his time with them. It also contains never-before published material, including Ward’s view of some controversial incidents during that history-making climb of Everest, as his widow allowed full access to his expedition diaries and his unpublished, hand-written autobiography.
In the Service of the Sultan
While the Americans were fighting in Vietnam, a struggle of even greater strategic significance was taking place in the Middle East: the Sultanate of Oman guards the entrance to the Arabian Gulf, and thus controls the movement of oil from that region. In the 1960s and 70s, the Communists tried to seize this artery and, had they succeeded, the consequences for the West and for the Middle East would have been disastrous - and yet, few people have ever heard of this geo-political drama at the height of the Cold War. In the Service of the Sultan tells, first-hand, the largely unknown story of a small number of British officers who led Muslim soldiers in this hard-fought anti-insurgency war which has shaped today's Gulf. After outlining the historical, geographical and political background, the book describes military action in a stark and mountainous environment, including operations with irregular forces and the SAS as well as action in the air and at sea. The book gives a gripping, moving, funny account of all these and paints a powerful and illuminating picture of the realities of war. It will appeal to all who are interested in the Cold War and relationships between the Western and the Arab worlds. Politics, history, irregular warfare, religion, international affairs: all are ingredients in this absorbing, informative read. In the light of the current insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is also timely to be reminded how a rare victory was won over Communist guerrillas.
Tracing Your Ancestors Using Newspapers
Unlock the captivating stories hidden within the pages of historical newspapers and bring your ancestors back to life with Tracing Your Ancestors Using Newspapers. Newspapers have long been an invaluable, yet often underused, resource for genealogists. Thanks to ongoing digitisation, it is now easier than ever to search for ancestral articles from the comfort of your own home, but finding meaningful results isn’t always as simple as entering a name into a search box — and even when you do, how can you be sure the article is really about your ancesto? his book guides you through the process of uncovering, understanding, and interpreting newspaper articles that feature your ancestors. You'll explore the wide range of stories that can be found, from court proceedings and military exploits to lost pets, acts of bravery, letters to the editor, and unexpected community involvement. Along the way, you'll learn how to assess the reliability of articles, trace relatives across regions and continents, and make the most of ever-expanding online archives. As well as identifying specific mentions of your ancestors, newspapers offer unparalleled context. They can help you understand the world your relatives lived in — what news they read, what challenges they faced, and how their lives were shaped by the events of their time. From scandal and gossip to marriage announcements and heroic deeds, newspapers preserve the everyday voices of the past in vivid detail. Packed with expert advice, practical guidance, and inspiring real-life examples, Tracing Your Ancestors Using Newspapers will help you deepen your research, break down brick walls, and discover the people behind the names on your family tree.
Adolf Hitler - A Harmadik Birodalom Führere
Rengeteget írtak életéről, tetteiről, személyiségének lényege mégis rejtély marad. Ez az osztrák származású, német állampolgárságú férfi mozgósította a tönkrement Németországot, és saját sorsával azonosította a nemzet kollektív sorsát. Soha, semmilyen demokratikus választáson nem ért el abszolút többséget, mégis megszerezte a kulcsfontosságú támogatást ahhoz, hogy kancellár és államelnök lehessen. Miután hatalomra került, felszámolta országában a demokráciát, és új típusú, kíméletet nem ismerő, messianisztikus becsvágyú diktátorrá vált. Olyan háborút robbantott ki, amely alapjaiban rendítette meg a világot, s az első két évben elképesztő könnyedséggel valósította meg minden katonai célját, sőt, 1941-ben csak a britek ellenállása akadályozta meg abban, hogy egész Európa ura legyen. Ám nagyravágyása, téveszméi odáig hajszolták, hogy egyszerre szállt szembe a Szovjetunióval és az Egyesült Államokkal, és mérhetetlen, erőszakos gőgje végül katasztrófába sodorta. Mire pályája és élete véget ért, példátlan borzalmakat és pusztítást okozott a világnak.
Ileana of Romania
Princess Ileana of Romania (1909–1991), known later in life as Mother Alexandra, was the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand I of Romania and his consort, Queen Marie. Kind, intelligent, and beautiful, she was exalted among the royal courts of Europe and the darling of the Romanian people. She married Archduke Anton of Austria in 1931 and made Schloss Sonnberg her home before returning to Romania during World War II, where she converted the famous Bran Castle into a hospital for wounded soldiers. Exiled after the Soviet occupation of 1944, she eventually settled near Boston, Massachusetts, where Senator John F. Kennedy helped her on the path to citizenship. Having pawned the magnificent Vladimir Sapphire Kokoshnik crown, once the possession of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, to buy a home and raise her six children in relative security, life could have taken a predictable course from then on—but not so for the princess. In 1961 she travelled to France to train as a monastic, and six years later founded a monastery in Ellwood, Pennsylvania. During the quiet decades that followed, she gradually revealed to intimate friends the startling secrets her mother had told her about the murder of her relatives, the Romanov family, by the Bolsheviks on July 16, 1918. Ileana of Romania: Princess, Exile and Mother Superior is both a narrative of an extraordinary life and an unveiling of new evidence pertaining to one of the great mysteries of the twentieth century. It is a story of war and struggle, the complete upending of an old order, and of finding peace at the end of it.
Understanding WW2
As oral history gains long-overdue recognition, its power to illuminate the past has never been more vital. From buried time capsules to the preserved voices, letters, diaries, photographs and films of those who lived through history’s most pivotal moments, this book explores how personal testimony shapes our understanding of truth. Split into six main chapters and focussing on the Second World War years, Andrew Sangster starts by analysing personal letters from key players on both sides – Himmler, Rommel and Patton – before exploring the diaries of Lord Alan Brooke, Goebbels and Galeazzo Ciano, to name but a few. The final chapters explore the significance of the recorded notes from the Nuremberg Trials, before explaining the merits of autobiographies written after the fact. With honesty and clarity, the author reveals the challenges historians face – how memories can shift, how documents can be altered and how autobiographies, even in their sincerity, must be handled with care. Still, within these fragile records lie invaluable insights: motives, emotions and the human reactions that traditional archives often overlook. Balanced and engaging, Understanding WW2 is an essential guide to the promise and pitfalls of oral history – and a compelling reminder that the voices of ordinary men and women are as crucial to our collective memory as those of the famous and powerful.
Operation Spider’s Web
It was a lazy Sunday morning in Russia on 1 June 2025. The war with Ukraine had been going for over three years. That morning 117 Ukrainian drones rose up from the back of four trucks deep inside Russia itself and started flying towards their targets – a number of Russian airbases. They were Ukrainian made Osa (‘Wasp’) quadcopters. They were packed in crates of around twenty-seven drones each and driven across the country in the back of cargo trucks. The unsuspecting Russian truck drivers thought they were delivering materials for pre-fabricated houses. Instead, several of the drivers were asked to pull over at a local gas station or parking lot, and then suddenly the cover of the cargo container came off and more than two dozen drones took off towards a nearby air base. The Russian drivers were taken completely by surprise. The drones then attacked the Russian bombers at four air bases across the vast expanse of Russia, from a base above the arctic circle near Murmansk, to the heart of European Russia, out to the middle of Siberia, near Lake Baikal. Large old Russian strategic bombers, like Tu-95s and Tu-22s came under attack, along with Russia’s valuable Airborne Early Warning and Control Beriat A-50s. Maybe two dozen planes were attacked by the drones on three of the airfields, and it appears that over a dozen were destroyed. This attack stunned Russia, as this was their strategic bomber force. Not only was it being used to regularly strike at Ukrainian infrastructure and cities, but these were the nuclear-capable strategic bombers that were an important part of their Strategic Deterrent Forces. Some Russians, in shock, equated it to a Russian Pearl Harbor. This book explores the full story of a covert attack that has changed the rules of military warfare forever.
The Bard of Colour, Robert Rose
Born of private means, educated and eloquent, Robert Rose was once a fixture in the literary circles of 19th-century Manchester and Liverpool, but now nearly erased from history. Rose wrote poetry tinged with longing, loss, and quiet resistance. This deeply researched biography brings Rose back into the light, uncovering his words, his world, and the legacy he left behind. Though many questions remain, his story of displacement, artistic ambition, and the struggle for recognition resonates powerfully today. The Bard of Colour, Robert Rose brings Rose out of obscurity and into the light. This compelling biography explores his work, his world, and the prejudice he faced, offering a rare window into Black British life in the Victorian era.
The Social Life of a Georgian Novelist
Stored away and forgotten for 200 years, the private journals of Elizabeth Hervey (1749–1820) vividly describe her life and times. Her teenage years were spent in luxury at Fonthill Splendens, home of her stepfather, Alderman William Beckford. She married a handsome army officer who turned out to be a gambler, and with him fled abroad to escape his creditors. Soon widowed and with two small children, she returned to England, and after a brief affair with a political radical poet, settled in London. Intelligent, independent and well-educated, Herveybecame associated with Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill set and the Bluestockings. Every day she wrote her journal, vividly describing theatre visits, family dramas, servants, friends, society gossip, politics, her visits to country houses and lengthy tours at home and abroad. As a novelist she was first published in 1788, launching a career that, while earning her a living, put strain on her relationship with her half-brother, William Beckford, author of the classic gothic novel Vathek and builder of the infamous Fonthill Abbey. Theirs was a complex relationship, marred by literary rivalry, and after a quarrel in 1798 they never met again. Over the years Hervey’s social network widened to include Lord Byron, Richard and Maria Cosway, the Duchess of Devonshire, Eva Garrick, Lady Hamilton and Sarah Siddons. Yet just as vivid in her journals are her accounts of her household servants, her relationship with her sons, her problems with ill health (and drastic remedies) and her financial ups and downs. As a lively and entertaining window into late Georgian society, there are few sources to rival Elizabeth Hervey’s journals.
When In Rome
Since the time of ancient Rome, science has explained many phenomena, including the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. But the Romans, who built the first roads, aqueducts, baths, and security walls, didn’t have the comfort of an earth sciences textbook. They needed the powerful beings of religious imagination to explain why the world doesn’t end when winter comes and the food sources die. The story of Pluto and Proserpina explains why the world is warm one moment and freezing six months later. Pluto, the god of the underworld, falls madly in love with Proserpina, daughter of the harvest goddess Ceres. Ceres, whose good will powers agriculture, goes on a climate-ravaging rampage, flooding and scorching the earth’s food crops. In her grief, she brings humanity to the edge of starvation. But the gods need humanity. So Pluto brokers a deal with Ceres to share Proserpina. When she is with her mother, the world is spring and summer. When she is with Pluto, Ceres moderates her grief into a survivable winter. When in Rome is a new look at Roman gods, such as Pluto, Ceres, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus, as well as heroes like Hercules, Perseus, Jason, and Medea. Author Lynn Hamilton mines original Roman sources — Ovid, Apuleius, Virgil, and Hyginus — to uncover what is most enduring in this canon of ancient stories.
Najpredávanejší autori v tejto kategórii: Dominik Dán, Joanne K. Rowling, Freida McFadden, Elle Kennedy, Stephen King.




























