In this inspirational follow-up to the beloved Things I Want My Daughters to Know, lifestyle philosopher Alexandra Stoddard reflects on the lessons she's learned from her daughters and offers further thoughts and words of wisdom garnered from her own life.A mother, a grandmother, and the author of more than twenty-five books on personal fulfillment, Alexandra Stoddard celebrates the wisdom of motherhood and the lessons mothers can learn from their daughters in this warm and deeply moving new book that cuts to the heart of what is important in life.Speaking from her own experience and relying on the many conversations she has had with her contemporaries and their children, Stoddard has created a wonderful gift for every mother, daughter, and mother-to-be to give, receive, and share. Bridging generations, full of timeless insights to help us pursue a life rich with happiness, love, and gratitude, The Shared Wisdom of Mothers and Daughters reminds us of everything that makes life beautiful and profound.

Foundational: The four gospels come directly fromthe ancient church and are among the primary sourcesfor the church's teachings.Familiar: Since Christian worship services began, areading from the gospels has played a central role.Studied: For over two hundred years scholars havechallenged and defended the central claims of thegospels: miracles, historical accuracy, the divinity ofJesus, and more.But Forgotten: Still, leading Bible scholar N. T.Wright reveals shocking news: We have all forgottenwhat the four gospels are about."Despite centuries of intense and heavy industryexpended on the study of all sorts of features of thegospels," Wright writes, "we have often managed tomiss the main thing that they, all four of them, aremost eager to tell us. What we need is not just a bitof fine-tuning, an adjustment here and there. We needa fundamental rethink about what the gospels aretrying to tell us."What Wright offers is an opportunity to confront thesepowerful texts afresh, as if we are encountering themfor the first time. How God Became King reveals thesurprising, unexpected, and shocking news of thegospels: this is the story of a new king, a new kind ofking, a king who has changed everything, and a kingwho invites us to be part of his new world.

Where did Beyonc get her groove?Where did Lance Armstrong get his drive?Where did Steven Spielberg get his creative vision?Every success story begins with . . . Mom When Stephanie Hirsch gave birth to her son, she began to think about the kind of person she'd like him to be: generous, family oriented, loving, courageous, and professionally accomplished maybe he'd turn out like Steven Spielberg! But what, she wondered, had Spielberg's mother done so well?What started out as one conversation with Steven Spielberg's mom became a quest to interview the mothers of some of the most talented artists, brilliant journalists, and dedicated athletes of our time.Mother Nurture is an inspiring collection of fifty-two stories filled with commonsense advice and memorable personal tales from caring mothers whose children have reached the apex of their fields, from sports, politics, and music to literature, entertainment, and business.If you're expecting, or a parent, or you just want to thank the woman who raised you, Mother Nurture is both the perfect antidote to piles of contradictory parenting advice and a celebration of the gift of motherhood.

Avery Johnson is a coach, a teacher, and sometimes even a preacher, but most of all, he is a motivator, driving his team with the same fiery passion that allowed him to earn his championship credentials as an NBA player. Growing up in New Orleans's Lafitte Housing Project, he was never the biggest, fastest, or strongest, but by the strength of his will and character, he persevered. Now he offers the lessons he learned on his journey from the bottom of the bayou to the heights of success in this inspiring book. Aspire Higher is the essential game plan for reaching your goals. Johnson begins by outlining what it takes to get to the top: determination and discipline provide the foundation that allows you to make the right decisions, on the basketball court or in the boardroom. The goal isn't just to be successful, however; it's also about caring for other people along the way. I care about you more than I care about winning, Johnson often tells his players.Avery Johnson's personal and professional experiences illuminate crucial lessons, inspiring readers just as he has inspired teammates and players. His spirited message is for anyone looking for the tools and secrets of success in business, school, sports, and more anyone looking to aspire higher.

Everyone knows the New Testament begins with the Gospel of Matthew, but how many know Matthew was actually one of the later books to be written(It wasn't even the first Gospel!) But Evolution of the Word is not your typical New Testament.Marcus J. Borg, esteemed Bible scholar and bestselling author, shakes up the order of the New Testament as we know it by putting the books in a completely new order the order in which they were written. By doing so, Evolution of the Word allows us to read these documents in their historical context. For the first time, see how the core ideas of Christianity took shape and developed over time.Borg surveys what we know of the Jewish community of Jesus followers who passed on their stories orally. Into this context emerges the apostle Paul, whose seven authentic letters become the first collected writings that would later become the New Testament. Borg offers helpful introductions for each book so that as we read through these biblical documents, spanning over a century in time, we see afresh what concerns and pressures shaped this movement as it evolved into a new religion.In this groundbreaking format, Borg reveals how a radical and primitive apocalyptic Jewish faith slowly became more comfortable with the world, less Jewish, and more pre- occupied with maintaining power and control. Evolution of the Word promises to change forever how we think about this historic work.

The critically acclaimed author of Good-bye and Amen, Leeway Cottage, and More Than You Know returns with a sharply perceptive and emotionally resonant novel about all the ways we talk about one another, the sometimes fine line between showing concern and doing damage, and the difficulty of knowing the true obligations of friendshipGossipBeth Gutcheon "Did you know that the origin of the word gossip in English is 'god-sibling'It's the talk between people who are godparents to the same child, people who have a legitimate loving interest in the person they talk about. It's talk that weaves a net of support and connection beneath the people you want to protect."Loviah "Lovie" French owns a small, high-end dress shop on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Renowned for her taste and discretion, Lovie is the one to whom certain women turn when they need "just the thing" for major life events baptisms and balls, weddings and funerals or when they just want to dish in the dressing room. Among the people who depend on Lovie's confidence are her two best friends since boarding school: Dinah Wainwright and Avis Metcalf. Outspoken and brimming with confidence, Dinah made a name for herself as a columnist covering the doings of New York's wealthiest and most fabulous. Shy, proper Avis, in many ways Dinah's opposite, rose to prominence in the art world with her quiet manners, hard work, and precise judgment. Despite the deep affection they both feel for Lovie, they have been more or less allergic to each other since a minor incident decades earlier that has been remembered and resented with what will prove to be unimaginable consequences. These uneasy acquaintances become unwillingly bound to each other when Dinah's favorite son and Avis's only daughter fall in love and marry. On the surface, Nick and Grace are the perfect match a playful, romantic, buoyant, and beautiful pair. But their commitment will be strained by time and change: career setbacks, reckless choices, the birth of a child, jealousies, and rumor. At the center of their orbit is Lovie, who knows everyone's secrets and manages them as wisely as she can. Which is not wisely enough, as things turn out a fact that will have a shattering effect on all their lives.An astute chronicler of everything that makes us human, Beth Gutcheon delivers her most powerful and emotionally devastating novel to date. Gossip is a tale of intimacy and betrayal, trust and fidelity, friendship, competition, and motherhood that explores the myriad ways we use and abuse "information" about others be it true, false, or imagined to sustain, and occasionally destroy, one another.

Recommended for viewing on a colour tablet. South America has long been known for its bountiful flora and fauna. The richness in bird life has attracted visitors from all over the world and has helped to make South America an increasingly popular wildlife tourist spot. This major new field guide to the birds of South America covers all the passerines (perching birds), with all plumages for each species illustrated, including males, females and juveniles. The text gives information on key identification features, habitat, and songs and calls. Beautiful artwork featured across 195 colour plates appears opposite the relevant text for quick and easy reference. Distribution maps are included, showing where each species can be found and how common it is, to further aid identification.

The official companion to all three seasons. The Great War has ended, but Downton Abbey is far from peaceful… A changing world has brought new challenges and new guests. Inside the walls of the Great House there is more intrigue, rivalry and romance than ever. The Chronicles of Downton Abbey take you deep into the lives of the Crawleys, their servants, lovers, friends and guests. So wander the crowded servants' quarters and peek into luxurious bed chambers. Go beneath the surface, and experience every aspect of their lives – from daily routines, dressing tables and treasure chests to their most secret hopes and fears. This definitive book explores the lives of every important member of the Downton estate. Focusing on each character individually, it examines their motivations, their actions and the inspirations behind them. An evocative source of story and background, it will take you even deeper into the secret, beating heart of the house.

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour. The ‘Great War’, from July 1914 to November 1918, was without parallel. It brought to an end four dynasties, ignited revolution, and forged new nations. It introduced killing on an unprecedented scale, costing an estimated nine million lives. It was the war that destroyed any notion of romance or chivalry in battle; it pulled in combatants from nations across the globe and shattered them, body and mind. The War involved all of the world’s great powers – the Central Powers, dominated by Germany and Austria-Hungary; the Triple Entente, lead by Britain, France and Russia; and America. World War One: History in an Hour explains the unprecedented battles on land, sea and in the air and describes the Home Front, espionage, and the politics behind them. This, for the first time in history, was ‘total war’. Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour…

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour. The Siege of Leningrad was one of the longest sieges in history and it inflicted some of the worst civilian casualties of World War Two. When Hitler declared his intention to obliterate the key city of Leningrad on 22 September 1941, he could not have foreseen the grim determination of its citizens. Over the course of 900 days, the city resisted the Germans pounding at its gates. Its survival contributed to the defeat of Nazism. But the price was heavy – over 1 million died in Leningrad from German bombs and artillery, or from disease, the cold or starvation. In its suffering Leningrad became a source of symbolic national pride, of good conquering evil. The story of the siege is one of heroic resistance and stoical survival but it also one of unimaginable suffering and extreme deprivation. THE SIEGE OF LENINGRAD: HISTORY IN AN HOUR is essential reading for all history lovers. Know your stuff: read about the Siege of Leningrad in just one hour.

This is Joan’s story, one of four stories from The Sugar Girls.During the Blitz and the years of rationing, the Sugar Girls kept Britain sweet. The work was back-breakingly hard, but the Tate & Lyle factory was more than just a workplace - it was a community, a calling, a place of love and support and an uproarious, tribal part of East London. ‘Joan had joined Tate & Lyle expressly for the social life, and she was determined to make the most of it. She could see that her old friend Peggy already had an established group of her own among the sugar girls, so she set about building a new set of friends. It wasn’t difficult for Joan, whose cheerful self-confidence, natural chattiness and naughty sense of humour acted as a magnet to those around her.’ In the years leading up to and after the Second World War thousands of women left school at fourteen to work in the bustling factories of London’s East End. Despite long hours, hard and often hazardous work, factory life afforded exciting opportunities for independence, friendship and romance. Of all the factories that lined the docks, it was at Tate & Lyle’s where you could earn the most generous wages and enjoy the best social life, and it was here where The Sugar Girls worked This is an evocative, moving story of hunger, hardship and happiness, providing a moving insight into a lost way of life, as well as a timeless testament to the experience of being young and female. Includes Joan’s own personal photographs of life as a sugar girl.

How to make it, break it, hack it, crack it. The secret history of codes and code breaking. Simon Singh’s best-selling title The Code Book now re-issued for the young-adult market. The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography. Simon Singh brings life to an amazing story of puzzles, codes, languages and riddles – revealing the continual pursuit to disguise and uncover, and to work out the secret languages of others. Codes have influenced events throughout history, both in the stories of those who make them and those who break them. The betrayal of Mary Queen of Scots and the cracking of the enigma code that helped the Allies in World War II are major episodes in a continuing history of cryptography. In addition to stories of intrigue and warfare, Simon Singh also investigates other codes, the unravelling of genes and the rediscovery of ancient languages and most tantalisingly, the Beale ciphers, an unbroken code that could hold the key to a $20 million treasure.

A rich account of the impact of the Second World War on the lives of people living in the farms and villages of Britain. On the outbreak of war, the countryside was invaded by service personnel and evacuee children by the thousand; land was taken arbitrarily for airfields, training grounds and firing ranges, and whole communities were evicted. Prisoner-of-war camps brought captured enemy soldiers to close quarters, and as horses gave way to tractors and combines farmers were burdened with aggressive new restrictions on what they could and could not grow. Land Girls and Lumber Jills worked in fields and forests. Food – or the lack of it – was a major preoccupation and rationing strictly enforced. And although rabbits were poached, apples scrumped and mushrooms gathered, there was still not enough to eat. Drawing from diaries, letters, books, official records and interviews, Duff Hart Davis revisits rural Britain to describe how ordinary people survived the war years. He tells of houses turned over to military use such as Bletchley and RAF Medmenham as well as those that became schools, notably Chatsworth in Derbyshire. Combining both hardship and farce, the book examines the profound changes war brought to Britain’s countryside: from the Home Guard, struggling with the provision of ludicrous equipment, to the role of the XII Corps Observation Unit. whose task was to enlarge rabbit warrens and badger setts into bunkers for harassing the enemy in the event of a German invasion; to the unexpected tenderness shown by many to German and Italian prisoners-of-war at work on the land. Fascinating, sad and at times hilarious, this warm-hearted book tells great stories – and casts new light on Britain during the war.

This is a free extract taken from the full version of THE SLOW FIX by Carl Honoré. What do we do when things go wrong in a fast world? Many of us go for the quick fix that delays the problem rather than solving it. To make real progress we need real solutions – we need to take time for THE SLOW FIX. People have long been in search of a quick fix. Truth is, it doesn’t work. The problems facing us today are bigger and more urgent than ever before and we need to learn to start fixing things properly, rather than settling for short-term solutions. The Slow Fix offers real, life-changing solutions to tackling these problems and extends the movement defined by Carl Honore in his global bestseller, In Praise of Slow, to offer a recipe for problem-solving that can be applied to every walk of life, from business and politics to relationships, education and health reform.

This richly illustrated short, extracted from the official book The Chronicles of Downton Abbey, focuses on the characters individually, examining their motivations, their actions and the inspirations behind them. Forwarded by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. On the face of it, the young newlyweds Sybil and Tom hope to live an unobtrusive, quiet existence in Dublin as ‘Mr and Mrs Branson’, happily waiting for the arrival of their baby. But as the gossip back at Downton Abbey shows, nothing of their way of life is normal. An earl’s daughter and a chauffeur-turned-Irish-revolutionary cannot expect an uneventful life together. ‘She doesn’t want Tom to alter,’ says Jessica Brown Findlay, who plays Sybil, ‘she loves him for his fire and passion, and his desire to change things.’ But when they come home she doesn’t want to cause unnecessary fuss – she adores her family and respects their desire to live as they wish. Unlike Tom, she sees no harm in it. Trying to keep harmony is almost more than she can bear. Purchase this ebook short and the others in the series to get closer still to the characters at Downton Abbey and to understand more about their social context – from the changing role of the aristocracy to fashion and beauty, American Anglophiles, the Suffragette movement and life below stairs in a big country house like Downton. Search for The Chronicles of Downton Abbey to purchase all shorts combined.

This richly illustrated short, extracted from the official book The Chronicles of Downton Abbey, focuses on the characters individually, examining their motivations, their actions and the inspirations behind them. Forwarded by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. It is a strange life for the likes of Carson and Mrs Hughes, sitting between the family and the servants and never completely belonging to either group. It’s easy to understand why the two of them seek refuge in each other, even in their own rather stilted fashion. ‘Carson comes from a family of soldiers and servants,’ says Julian Fellowes. ‘His grandfather was a head groom and so he’s middle-middle class – they certainly weren’t scrabbling in the gutter for food.’ Mrs Hughes gave up the idea of marriage and a family for her career as Downton’s housekeeper. This does not mean she was without ambition: a career in service was something to be proud of; the job was steady, she had respect from her colleagues and she could look forward to a reasonably comfortable retirement provided by the Downton Abbey estate, if she served the family for many years. Purchase this ebook short and the others in the series to get closer still to the characters at Downton Abbey and to understand more about their social context – from the changing role of the aristocracy to fashion and beauty, American Anglophiles, the Suffragette movement and life below stairs in a big country house like Downton. Search for The Chronicles of Downton Abbey to purchase all shorts combined.

This is Corran Purdon’s story, one of five true-life recollections from the Second World War in Tales From The Special Forces Club. The Special Forces Club is a fabled gentlemen’s club, based in the heart of London. It has a closely guarded secret: you have to be a genuine hero to be a member. Corran Purdon was a gung-ho officer in the Ulster Rifles who thirsted for action. He would volunteer for a new unit, requested by Churchill: the British Commandos. Corran was to fight in ‘The Greatest Raid of All’: the destruction of the port of St Nazaire in France. The volunteers knew it was fraught with risks. This is his story.

This is Rae’s story, one of four true stories from the book GI Brides. ‘Hey, baby, how about you and me get out of here?’ the GI asked Rae. But even if he had been Clark Gable, she wouldn’t have given him a second look. He was a Yank, and therefore not to be trusted. After being bombed out of her home in North London, tomboy Rae joins the ATS and is sent to work welding tanks near Nottingham. Despite her dislike of ‘Yanks’, a GI called Raymond wears down her resistance and she agrees to marry him. After the war, she reluctantly follows him to rural Pennsylvania, where she soon discovers his dark secret. Rae’s story is extracted from GI Brides, written by the bestselling authors of The Sugar Girls. It tells the true stories of four of the 70,000 British women who crossed the Atlantic for love after the Second World War.

Bestselling author Charlie Connelly returns with a First World War memoir of his great uncle, Edward Connelly, who was an ordinary boy sent to fight in a war the likes of which the world had never seen. But this is not just his story; it is the story of all the young forgotten soldiers who fought and bravely died for their country The Forgotten Soldier tells the story of Private Edward Connelly, aged 19, killed in the First World War a week before the Armistice and immediately forgotten, even, it seems, by his own family. Edward died on exactly the same day, and as part of the same military offensive, as Wilfred Owen. They died only a few miles apart and yet there cannot be a bigger contrast between their legacies. Edward had been born into poverty in west London on the eve of the twentieth century, had a job washing railway carriages, was con*ed into the army at the age of eighteen and sent to the Western Front from where he would never return. He lies buried miles from home in a small military cemetery on the outskirts of an obscure town close to the French border in western Belgium. No-one has ever visited him. Like thousands of other young boys, Edward’s life and death were forgotten. By delving into and uncovering letters, poems and war diaries to reconstruct his great uncle’s brief life and needless death; Charlie fills in the blanks of Edward’s life with the experiences of similar young men giving a voice to the voiceless. Edward Connelly’s tragic story comes to represent all the young men who went off to the Great War and never came home. This is a book about the unsung heroes, the ordinary men who did their duty with utmost courage, and who deserve to be remembered.

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour. The Holocaust, in which 11 million people died, was the largest atrocity of the 20th century and perhaps the hardest to understand. Approximately 6 million Jews and 5 million others including Roma people, Poles, Russian prisoners of war, political prisoners, homosexuals, people of colour, Jehovah's Witnesses, and various other minorities were first persecuted and then murdered. How, both morally and logistically, had this came to happen? From received sentiments of anti-Semitism at the beginning of the 20th century, through the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party, to the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 and finally Second World War, the victimisation of these minorities intensified beyond precedent. With the complicity of a nation hatred became policy. Under the control of sadists, bureaucrats and even ordinary soldiers, irrational acts were then enacted on an industrial scale, and with the use of concentration camps, Western Europe witnessed its most shocking treatment of humanity in modern history. Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour…

One of seven touching true stories from Wish You Were Here!, the tale of Butlin’s holiday camps. ‘When I got to the camp I felt as if I’d suddenly walked into Utopia – it was so colourful, so warm, so friendly. There were lights across the roads, there were banners fluttering in the breeze… There seemed to be laughter coming from every building.’ With grey post-WWII skies hanging low over Britain, factories lining the streets and smoke stacks dotting the horizon, there was one way that ordinary families could escape: the ever-cheerful holiday camps of Butlin’s. When Billy Butlin founded his holiday camps in 1936, they were bastions of community spirit and havens of luxury. Here, for one week, wives and mothers were freed from the toil and drudgery of housework, children ran free through the grounds, fathers and husbands hung up their work clothes. Ever-helpful redcoats were on hand all hours of the day, dinner halls ready with plentiful food for old and young alike, bars stocked to quench any level of thirst, ballrooms waiting to be flooded with shiny shoes, rustling dresses and peals of laughter. And, as the sun went down on another exhausting, happy day, a chorus line was ready to sing holidaymakers back to their beds. Rich in period detail and highly evocative, Wish You Were Here! follows the lives of seven of the camps’ key figures through the highs and lows of the holiday season: from redcoats searching for stardom to young families who returned year after year, to pensioners who rediscovered an inner youth. The laughter and tears, the loves and losses, and the fun and friendships that have lasted a lifetime – it's all here. Funny, moving and heartwarming, they are tales of swimming pools and sing-a-longs, Glamorous Grannies and bicycle rides, and of a community spirit that burned brightly in a much-loved British institution.