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A Child Called Hope
A Child Called Hope
Mia Marconi
¥11.77
A dramatic debut short story from London-based foster carer Mia Marconi. An incredible chain of events that began in Italy during WWII with an illegitimate pregnancy shaped Mia’s destiny. The illegitimate child was her father, a lost soul who she idolised. Protecting him instilled in her an instinct to care for the vulnerable and, after a chance meeting with a chaotic foster family, she decided fostering was her vocation. In an incredible twist of fate, the first baby she fostered was born to an unmarried Italian girl. Then came Hope, so badly damaged by her teenage mother’s alcoholism she was in hospital for a year. Finally discharged and settled in Mia’s happy home, what happened next would make Mia question if she could carry on.
Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Patrick O’Brian
¥76.91
First time in ebook format. Sir Joseph Banks, botanist, explorer, President of the Royal Society and one of Australia's founding fathers, was among the most influential figures of the 18th and 19th centuries. As a young man, Sir Joseph Banks accompanied Captain Cook on his voyage of discovery to Australia; in later years he was instrumental in establishing Kew Gardens as the greatest botanical centre in the world, and he knew just about everybody who mattered in the scientific circles of the time. Patrick O'Brian's biography draws on much hitherto unpublished material. Far from being merely the colossus of science traditionally imagined, Joseph Banks emerges here as a warm-hearted enthusiast whose legacy survives not only in the record of his botanizing in the South Seas but in the development of the Australian continent and in the tenor and tradition of subsequent scientific enquiry.
The Stones:The Acclaimed Biography
The Stones:The Acclaimed Biography
Philip Norman
¥68.67
In 2012 the Rolling Stones celebrate their 50th anniversary. Their story – the band's meteoric rise to fame, the Marianne Faithfull, Brian Jones and Altamont scandals, the groundbreaking hits – is the stuff of twentieth century legend, and core to popular culture. But it is Norman's skills as a researcher and biographer which bring a whole new dimension to such a story. Written with the personal knowledge, trust and co-operation of the participants, this fully updated version is indisputably the best book on The Stones ever written. Norman spares no detail, covering the Jerry Hall/Mick Jagger split and the Stones' lives as tax exiles, the recording of Exile on Main St. as well as the iconic stage performances, Mick’s control of the band's affairs and his contractual disputes with managers and promoters. This a story of fame, money, drugs, booze, sex, hedonism and the greatest rock band of all time.
One Hundred and Four Horses
One Hundred and Four Horses
Mandy Retzlaff
¥69.26
‘A letter is handed to you. In broken English, it tells you that you must now vacate your farm; that this is no longer your home, for it now belongs to the crowd on your doorstep. Then the drums begin to beat.’ As the land invasions gather pace, the Retzlaffs begin an epic journey across Zimbabwe, facing eviction after eviction, trying to save the group of animals with whom they feel a deep and enduring bond – the horses. When their neighbours flee to New Zealand, the Retzlaffs promise to look after their horses, and making similar promises to other farmers along their journey, not knowing whether they will be able to feed or save them, they amass an astonishing herd of over 300 animals. But the final journey to freedom will be arduous, and they can take only 104 horses. Each with a different personality and story, it is not just the family who rescue the horses, but the horses who rescue the family. Grey, the silver gelding: the leader. Brutus, the untamed colt. Princess, the temperamental mare. One Hundred and Four Horses is the story of an idyllic existence that falls apart at the seams, and a story of incredible bonds – a love of the land, the strength of a family, and of the connection between man and the most majestic of animals, the horse.
Prisoner of War:Judy
Prisoner of War:Judy
Isabel George
¥15.60
An inspiring and heart-warming short story of canine devotion and bravery. The only dog to be officially registered as a Prisoner of War, Judy began her wartime career as a mascot aboard several Royal Navy warships. Torpedoed, shot at, sunk and almost drowned, the English Pointer survived only to be take prisoner and spend three years in Japanese camps in Sumatra. From the moment fellow inmate Frank Williams offered Judy his precious handful of rice she never left his side. Judy saved Frank’s life many times over and raised the morale of all the men in the camp. Extracted from the bestselling title The Dog That Saved My Life, this short story tells the tale of a dog like no other, a dog who was awarded an animals’ Victoria Cross for her bravery and devotion.
A Dog With A Destiny:Smoky
A Dog With A Destiny:Smoky
Isabel George
¥18.93
An inspiring and heart-warming short story of canine devotion and bravery. Smoky, a baseball-size mass of brown fur, was found in a foxhole in the depths of the New Guinea jungle in the middle of the Second World War. The soldier who found her took the Yorkshire Terrier pup back to base and sold her to Bill, the US serviceman who would adopt her, for three Australian dollars. It was the start of a partnership that saw Smoky save US war plans and ground crew from bombings and bring a life line to stranded men when she laid phone lines through pipes under the runway. Extracted from the bestselling title Beyond The Call Of Duty, this is the story of a remarkable little dog who saw no boundaries. She stayed at Bill’s side throughout the action and to the end of the war.
Loyal Unto Death:Antis
Loyal Unto Death:Antis
Isabel George
¥15.60
An inspiring and heart-warming short story of canine devotion and bravery. Rescued from the rubble of a farmhouse in France, this German Shepherd puppy became the constant companion of his saviour, Czech airman Václav Robert Bozdèch. Lying at his master’s feet, Antis flew on many missions with his handler Bozdèch as he served for first French Air Force and then the British Royal Air Force during WWII. Extracted from the bestselling title Beyond The Call Of Duty, this is the tale of the many adventures this man and dog shared before finally finding protection and a new life in Britain in 1949.
The Most Decorated Dog In History:Sergeant Stubby
The Most Decorated Dog In History:Sergeant Stubby
Isabel George
¥15.60
An inspiring and heart-warming short story of canine devotion and bravery. A stub-tailed Bull Terrier, Sergeant Stubby was recognised many times over for his bravery in the trenches of Flanders. His specially embroidered jacket, laden with medals, made him the most decorated dog in history. Extracted from the bestselling title Beyond The Call Of Duty, the story of the unofficial mascot for the 26th ‘Yankee’ Division and his rescuer Private Robert J Conroy takes us on a journey through the build up to WWI and beyond.
The Small Dog With A Big Personality:Rats
The Small Dog With A Big Personality:Rats
Isabel George
¥15.60
An inspiring and heart-warming short story of canine devotion and bravery. Rats was a stumpy, feisty, determined little terrier of mixed parentage who attached himself to British solders serving in Northern Ireland during the late 1970s. He liked to play with their boot laces and they admired his unstinting courage on patrol. The Troubles were at the height in Crossmaglen, but the little dog who felt safe in the company of soldiers, liked hitchhiking in helicopters and bore the scars of war on his body like the men, wouldn’t give up. Extracted from the bestselling title The Dog That Saved My Life, The Small Dog With A Big Personality tells the story of a courageous canine who brought ‘an oasis of friendship in a desert of sadness’.
Mummy’s Little Helper
Mummy’s Little Helper
Casey Watson
¥51.50
The fifth book from bestselling author and specialist foster carer Casey Watson. A recent census shows that there are at least 175,000 child carers in the UK, 13,000 of whom care for more than 50 hours a week. Many remain invisible to a system that would otherwise help them. Abigail is one of those children. This is her story. Ten-year-old Abigail has never known her father. Her mother, Sarah, has multiple sclerosis, and Abigail has been her carer since she was a toddler – shopping, cooking, cleaning and attending to her personal needs. When Sarah is rushed to hospital, suddenly this comes to the attention of the social services, and Abigail has nowhere to go. Though she doesn’t fit the usual profile of a child that specialist foster carers Casey and Mike Watson would take on, they are happy to step in and look after Abigail. It’s an emergency, after all – and all that’s needed is a loving temporary home, while social services look into how to support the family so that they can be reunited. But it soon becomes clear that this isn’t going to happen. Sarah’s MS is now at a very advanced stage, and the doctors are certain that there will no longer be periods of remission. Abigail’s emotional state starts to spiral out of control as she struggles to let go of the burden of responsibilities she has carried for so long. Sarah and Abigail insist that they do not need help, but with no other family to contact, social services are left with no choice but to find long-term care for Abigail, against their wishes. But Casey never gives up on a child in need, and she knows there must be another solution… Includes a sample chapter of Sunday Times bestseller Trafficked.
Last Words
Last Words
William Burroughs,James Grauerholz
¥81.03
‘Where are the snows of yesteryear. And the speedballs I useta know? Well, I guess it’s time for my Ovaltine and a long good night.’ In 1996 William Burroughs began writing a final journal. He died the following summer after a life of notoriety: godfather of the Beat writers, author of thirteen controversial novels, druggy, dangerous and bleak. Spanning the realms of personal memoir, cultural criticism and fiction, Burroughs’ diaries include anecdotes and memories, entries on his beloved cats and the joys of housekeeping, and musings on drug-taking, humanity and government cover-ups. ‘Last Words’ contains some of the most brutally personal prose in the William Burroughs canon, and the deaths of his friends, Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary, provide a window onto his own preparations for death – a quest for absolution marked by a profound sense of guilt and loss.
Confessions of a Police Constable (The Confessions Series)
Confessions of a Police Constable (The Confessions Series)
Matt Delito
¥61.51
Thieving ninjas, racist fast-food patrons, road traffic accidents, mischievous shoplifters, sudden deaths, car chases, and domestic violence – it’s all in a day’s work for London-based PC Matt Delito. Working at the front-line on the streets of London can be thrilling, frightening, rewarding, infuriating, and sometimes plain hilarious. In this eye-opening account of on-the-beat policing, Delito narrates some of his most interesting cases – from working undercover in a city club to being ambushed in the London riots – as well as taking us through the gadgets, procedures, and lingo that go with life at the other end of a 999 call. From the team that brought you the bestselling CONFESSIONS OF A GP and CONFESSIONS OF A MALE NURSE comes CONFESSIONS OF A POLICE CONSTABLE: a book that will shine a light on the gripping, touching and shocking realities of life as a city police constable. What did you do at work today?
A Thing in Disguise: The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton (Text Only)
A Thing in Disguise: The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton (Text Only)
Kate Colquhoun
¥72.40
A biography of an unsung Victorian hero, Joseph Paxton was the man behind the garden design at Chatsworth and the Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Victorians heralded a new era of creativity, a revolutionary fervour seizing all forms of design. Joseph Paxton was a leading light of this movement. Head Gardener at Chatsworth House by the age of twenty-three, encouraged by the sixth Duke of Devonshire he transformed the Derbyshire estate into the greatest garden in England. Queen Victoria came to marvel and with the development of the railway, so too did daytrippers from all over the country. His design for the Crystal Palace sealed his reputation. By the time of his death, Paxton ‘the busiest man in England’ according to Charles Dickens, could count Brunel and Stevenson amongst his friends. Horticulturalist, designer, architect – Paxton was one of the most remarkable figures of his time. The greatest age of art and industry is embodied in this compelling portrait of a Victorian hero.
Remembering Whitney:A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss and the Night the Music Died
Remembering Whitney:A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss and the Night the Music Died
Cissy Houston
¥65.16
The definitive account of Whitney Houston's astonishing life, ground-breaking career, and tragic death -- complete with never-before-seen photographs -- from the only one who truly knows the story behind the headlines: her mother, Cissy Houston. Cissy has said little publicly about Whitney's heart-breaking death. Now, for the first time, she opens up and shares the unbelievable story of her daughter's life, as well as her own, and addresses Whitney's brightest and darkest moments. A legendary Grammy Award-winning gospel singer in her own right, Cissy Houston shows how the lessons from her own musical journey helped to shape Whitney's career -- from teaching Whitney to use her voice, to keeping her level-headed throughout her meteoric rise to fame. With candor and respect, she sets the record straight about Whitney, exploring both her turbulent marriage and her misunderstood struggles with drug abuse. Cissy goes behind the tabloid headlines to show fans around the world the true, human side of a strong, successful -- yet flawed -- musical icon who died much too young.
The Medieval Anarchy:History in an Hour
The Medieval Anarchy:History in an Hour
Kaye Jones
¥18.05
Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour. Nicknamed ‘The Anarchy' for its unprecedented levels of chaos and disorder, the succession crisis that followed the death of King Henry I in 1135 resulted in England's first civil war. ‘The Medieval Anarchy: History in an Hour’ neatly covers all the major facts and events giving you a clear and straightforward overview of the plots and violence that ensued during the the nineteen-year conflict. ‘The Medieval Anarchy: History in an Hour’ is engagingly written and accessible for all history lovers. This, in an hour, is the story of ‘The Medieval Anarchy’ through the personalities, context, events and aftermath of England's first, and often forgotten, civil war. Love your history? Find out about the world with History in an Hour…
From Death Row To Glory:Caesar
From Death Row To Glory:Caesar
Isabel George
¥15.60
An inspiring and heart-warming short story of canine devotion and bravery. Eleven tracker dogs left their Army life in Australia to serve in the war in Vietnam – black Labrador Caesar was one of them. He had been rescued from death row, con*ed to serve his country and sent to fight in a war that would test every tracking skill he possessed. The binding loyalty to his handler, Peter Haran, saved the lives of man and dog many times over, despite the fact the odds were stacked against them. And when it was time to go home – only one dog made the journey. Extracted from the bestselling title The Dog That Saved My Life, this inspiring true story represents the unquestioning loyalty of man’s best friend.
Behind the Mask:The Life of Vita Sackville-West
Behind the Mask:The Life of Vita Sackville-West
Matthew Dennison
¥76.91
Aristocrat, literary celebrity, ‘Rose Queen’, devoted wife, lesbian, recluse, iconoclast – Vita Sackville-West was many things, but she was never straightforward. Her life is re-told here in a dazzling new biography. Vita Sackville-West is perhaps best known as the creator, with her husband Harold Nicolson, of the gardens at Sissinghurst Castle, now the most visited gardens in Britain. In a career spanning more than forty years, she also made her mark as a prolific and accomplished writer. She was an award-winning poet, a best-selling novelist, a biographer, a travel writer and a journalist with a huge and devoted following. Images of Vita – striking, poised, aristocratic, and intellectual – remain iconic even now. Yet these public images do not tell all. Behind the mask another, more complicated Vita lay. Here, in the first biography to be written for thirty years, Matthew Dennison reveals a renegade, brave and charismatic woman: from a lonely childhood of immense privilege in her beloved family house Knole (which she, as a woman, could never inherit), to a celebrated and affectionate marriage which was nevertheless mutually ‘open’ and strewn with passionate homosexual affairs (in Vita's case, most famously with Virginia Woolf and Violet Trefusis); from the hubbub of jewel-encrusted parties at Buckingham Palace, to the solace Vita found in nature and gardening and the eventual seclusion of her tower at Sissinghurst. Drawing on sources from archives across the globe as well as Vita's own prolific written output, Dennison traces the inspiration, triumphs and contradictions of Vita’s extraordinary life. Devoted wife, literary celebrity, 'Rose Queen', reluctant courtier, recluse, lesbian, iconoclast – Dennison deftly weaves together the myriad strands of Vita’s life to create a revealing and insightful portrait of the woman behind the mask.
The Real Lady Detective Agency:A True Story
The Real Lady Detective Agency:A True Story
Rebecca Jane
¥63.18
The true story of the Lady Detective Agency, one of the UK’s most successful female private detective services. The Agency exists for one purpose: to expose the truth. Cheating husbands, bad boyfriends and guilty consciences beware… For the first time, the Agency is opening its doors and revealing its secrets. Why won’t he ever let you use his phone? Why is he always going on about that girl from work? Is he cheating on you? There’s one way to find out – ask him. Then (when he lies) call Rebecca Jane, founder and owner of the Lady Detective Agency. The Agency exists to find the truth. Whether that means trailing a transsexual prostitute through the streets of London, following suspected cheats on stag parties, tracking down someone’s beloved three-legged cat or uncovering famous people’s affairs, Rebecca and her elite team will help. Whatever it takes. Their extraordinary dedication stems from first-hand experience of deception. Here Rebecca not only reveals her clients’ fascinating stories, but her own rollercoaster journey too – from early success to crushing failure, scandal, abuse and affairs, and ultimately to finding true love. At times heartbreaking, hilarious and eye-opening, this vibrantly-written compilation of stories introduces us to a sparkling and witty new voice in Rebecca and her crack team of female detectives who are always ready to solve any case, no matter how big or small.
Fish of the Seto Inland Sea (Text Only)
Fish of the Seto Inland Sea (Text Only)
Ruri Pilgrim
¥53.76
An extraordinary portrait of one family across the years of Japan’s greatest changes; a loving, honest, moving biography of the author’s mother. Ruri Pilgrim tells the story of her family from the 1870s to the 1950s. She begins with the formality and security of the arrangements of life for a Japanese middle-class family, living in a walled compound with their servants, following exactly the tradition inherited from their parents, with marriages arranged for the children, which continued up till World War II. By then her mother was married to an engineer and living in Japanese-occupied Manchuria. That period, with her mother’s often funny, painful experiences of learning about the Chinese and Russians with whom she now lived with her growing family, and the war seen from her point of view, is fascinating. At the end of the war, the Japanese – women, children, everyone – had to escape, walking hundreds of miles to the coast. The family returned to a Tokyo where the society, the culture, the economy was entirely overturned. The Americans were everywhere, the Japanese were unemployed, and the ways of society that they had all known had vanished. And yet somehow Ruri’s indomitable mother survived.
The Queen:History in an Hour
The Queen:History in an Hour
Sinead Fitzgibbon
¥14.81
Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour. Elizabeth II is the longest lived and, after Queen Victoria, second longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. From her coronation in 1953 to her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Queen Elizabeth II has stood on the world stage as the figurehead for Britain. The Queen: History in an Hour tells the story of the Queen Elizabeth II’s life and long reign, her royal duties, service during the Second World War, public perception and the transformation of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations under her rule. In the Diamond Jubilee year this is essential reading for Royalists and Republicans alike. Know your stuff: read about Queen Elizabeth II in just one hour.
Marlborough: Britain’s Greatest General (Text Only)
Marlborough: Britain’s Greatest General (Text Only)
Richard Holmes
¥80.25
Bestselling military historian Richard Holmes delivers an expertly written and exhilarating account of the life of John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough and Britain's finest soldier, who rose from genteel poverty to lead his country to glory, cementing its position as a major player on the European stage and saviour of the Holy Roman Empire. John Churchill is, by any reasonable analysis, Britain’s greatest-ever soldier. He mastered strategy, tactics and logistics. His big four battles, Blenheim (which saved the Holy Roman Empire), Ramilies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet were events at the very centre of the European stage. He captured Lille, France’s second city, overran Bavaria and beat a succession of French marshals so badly that one, the squat and energetic Bofflers, was rewarded by Louis XIV for only losing moderately. A coalition manager long before the phrase was invented, he commanded a huge polyglot army with centrifugal political tendencies and bending it to his will by sheer force of personality. Yet John Churchill was also deeply controversial. He accepted a pension from one of Charles II’s mistresses for services vigorously rendered. He owed his rise and his peerage to James II yet, determined to be on the winning side, he deserted him in his hour of need in 1688. He maintained regular correspondence with the Jacobites while serving William and Mary and with the French while fighting Louis XIV. He made money on a prodigious scale, but was notoriously tight-fisted, long regretting an annuity given to a secretary whose quick-wittedness saved him from capture. But in the age when commissions were bought and sold, and commanders often owed their position to the hue of their blood, he never lost his soldier’s confidence.