A brilliant novel by Laurie Graham set in wartime London, which follows Kick Kennedy, sister of future US President JFK, as she takes London society by storm. Nora Brennan is a country girl from Westmeath. When she lands herself a position as nursery maid to a family in Brookline, Massachusetts, she little thinks it will place her at the heart of American history. But it's the Kennedy family. In 1917 Joseph Kennedy is on his way to his first million and he has plans to found a dynasty and ensure that his baby son, Joe Junior, will be the first Catholic President of the United States. As nursemaid to all nine Kennedy children, Nora witnesses every moment, public and private. She sees the boys coached at their father's knee to believe everything they'll ever want in life can be bought. She sees the girls trained by their mother to be good Catholic wives. World War II changes everything. At the outbreak of war the Kennedys are living the high life in London, where Joseph Kennedy is the American ambassador. His reaction is to send the entire household back across the Atlantic to safety, but Nora, surprised by midlife love, chooses to stay in England and do her bit. Separated from her Kennedys by an ocean she nevertheless remains the warm, approachable sun around which the older children orbit: Joe, Jack, Rosemary, and in particular Kick, who throws the first spanner in the Kennedy works by marrying an English Protestant. Laurie Graham's poignant new novel views the Kennedys from below stairs, with the humour and candour that only an ex-nursemaid dare employ.

By the bestselling author of The One Minute Manager, a business parable that teaches organizations to cope successfully with change. Every day organizations around the world launch change initiatives – often big, expensive ones - designed to improve the status quo. Yet 50 to 70 percent of these change efforts fail. A few perish suddenly, but many die painful, protracted deaths that drain the organization's resources, energy and morale. So, Who or what is killing change? That's what you'll find out in this delightful whodunit. The story features a Columbo-style detective named Agent who's investigating the murder of yet another Change. One by one, Agent interviews thirteen prime suspects, including a myopic leader named Vision; a chronically tardy manager named Urgency; an executive named Communication whose laryngitis makes communication all but impossible; and several other dubious characters. The suspects are sure to sound familiar, and you're bound to relate them to your own workplace. In the end, Agent solves the case in a way that will inspire you to become an effective Change Agent in your own organization.

Ever experienced deja vu? An enchanting and magical novel from the author of Could It Be Magic? A freak snowstorm leaves a young woman unconscious and stranded. Coming to, she has no recollection of who she is or how she happened to be stuck in the middle of unfamiliar countryside. All she recalls is the warm arms of a passing stranger coming to her rescue and carrying her to safety… She awakes in an idyllic country cottage, a cottage belonging to Vincent, a recently widowed city banker who uses it as his rural getaway. Dashing and polite, the woman can't think of a better knight in shining armour. While the housekeeper isn't best pleased abut her arrival, Vincent's six-year-old daughter Jadie, can hardly contain her excitement, chattering away excitedly. Trouble is, she's been mute for the past two years… As she struggles with flashbacks to her past, memories come back to the woman which aren't her own, bringing with them a stream of questions. What secrets does Vincent hide? Why has Jadie being silent for so long? Will she ever discover her true identity? Or is she, as Jadie believes, an angel come to save them all? An enchanting and magical novel about forgotten lives and second chances for fans of Cecelia Ahern and Sophie Kinsella.

The definitive cult, post-modern novel – a shocking blend of violence, transgression and eroticism. When Ballard, our narrator, smashes his car into another and watches a man die in front of him, his sense of sexual possibilities in the world around him becomes detached. As he begins an affair with the dead man's wife, he finds himself drawn with increasing intensity to the mangled impacts of car crashes. Then he encounters Robert Vaughan, a former TV scientist turned nightmare angel of the expressway, who has gathered around him a collection of alienated crash victims and experiments with a series of auto-erotic atrocities, each more sinister than the last. But Vaughan craves the ultimate crash – a head-on collision of blood, semen, engine coolant and iconic celebrity. First published in 1973 Crash remains one of the most shocking novels of the second half of the twentieth century and was made into an equally controversial film by David Cronenberg. Ballard’s autobiography Miracles of Life was published in 2008 and Extreme Metaphors, a collection of interviews with the author, is due out in 2012.

Illustrations in this ebook appear in vibrant full colour on a full colour ebook device, and in rich black and white on all other devices. Narnia . . . where horses talk . . . where treachery is brewing . . . where destiny awaits. On a desperate journey, two runaways meet and join forces. Though they are only looking to escape their harsh and narrow lives, they soon find themselves at the center of a terrible battle. It is a battle that will decide their fate and the fate of Narnia itself. The Horse and His Boy is the third book in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia a series that has become part of the canon of classic literature, drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over fifty years. This is a novel that stands on its own, but if you would like to return to Narnia, read Prince Caspian, the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia.

Illustrations in this ebook appear in vibrant full colour on a full colour ebook device, and in rich black and white on all other devices. Narnia . . . where a dragon awakens . . . where stars walk the earth . . . where anything can happen. A king and some unexpected companions embark on a voyage that will take them beyond all known lands. As they sail farther and farther from charted waters, they discover that their quest is more than they imagined and that the world's end is only the beginning. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the fifth book in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, a series that has become part of the canon of classic literature, drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over fifty years. This is a novel that stands on its own, but if you would like to continue to the journey, read The Silver Chair, the sixth book in The Chronicles of Narnia.

Four-year-old Lisa's world turned upside down when her step-father moved in. Most of the time he was just violent but then he started making her do things to him she knew were wrong. Soon he was visiting her at night. Lisa begged her mother for help but she just shrugged, telling Lisa he would have his way. It was the greatest betrayal of all. At first Lisa's step-father would just make her stroke and massage his feet, hitting her if she stopped, but he soon wanted more. Much more. By the time she was 12 he was regularly abusing her. One day, when Lisa turned 16, she came home to discover that her mother had swapped bedrooms with her. 'You're my girlfriend now', her step-father told her. Lisa turned to her mother for help, but was met with a shrug. She wouldn't hear a word against her husband. 'Don't blame me,' she said. Her step-father's abuse was horrific but what completely tore her apart was knowing her mother knew and encouraged it. Trapped and increasingly desperate, Lisa tried to find a way out. But her isolation was complete. A few months later her mother told her she'd arranged for Lisa and her step-father to move into a flat together down the road. It was too much for Lisa to bear. 'Please don't make me, please,' she sobbed. But her mother just ignored her. Lisa was marched around to the flat with her possessions and her nightmare was complete. Alone with her step-father, Lisa's life became even more unbearable. Then one day, finally, she got the chance she'd been looking for to escape. Lisa bravely struck out on her own, petrified her mother would find her and hand her back into the waiting arms of her step-father. But Lisa's mother had no idea how determined she was to break away…

A unique collection of essays accompany Wilfred Thesiger’s own personal photographs of the Africa he experienced as one of the world’s most celebrated explorers. While Wilfred Thesiger’s own classic writings (including ‘The Marsh Arabs’, ‘Arabian Sands’, ‘Desert’, Marsh and Mountain’, ‘The Life of My Choice’ and ‘My Kenya Days’) comprehensively cover his classic journeys amongst the Marsh Arabs in southern Iraq, or across the Empty Quarter in Arabia, they fail conspicuously to shed light on his character and motives, which have remained an enigma. Maitland’s biography had Thesiger’s support before he died in 2003, and has been written with full access, granted to no one else, to the rich Thesiger archive – vivid, intimate family correspondence, and his own letters, diaries and notebooks which are far more confiding than his scrupulously edited published accounts. Maitland investigates in depth Thesiger’s parents and family influences; his wartime experiences and the ethos of conflict; his philosophy as a hunter and conservationist; his development as a writer and photographer; his close friendships with the Arabs and Africans amongst whom he lived; and his sexuality. In all, this major biography of a great and unusual man will take its place on the shelf of outstanding lives of the great explorers.

A new psychological thriller in the Javier Falcon quartet, that includes THE HIDDEN ASSASSINS and The Blind Man of Seville. The sweltering city of Seville is still recovering from a shocking and unsolved terrorist attack but now a spectacular car crash brings to light another threat. A dead gangster and a suitcase filled with millions in cash means the prospect of a serious Russian mafia presence on Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón's beat. As a turf war erupts, Falcón finds himself and those closest to him personally targeted by the lethal forces suddenly unleashed. In the face of such a brutal attack, Falcón decides to retaliate with a ruthlessness that surprises him as much as his adversaries - but it will come at a tragic price.

C# has recently been open-sourced and C# 7 comes with a host of new features for building powerful, cross-platform applications. This book will be your solution to some common programming problems that you come across with C# and will also help you get started with .NET Core 1.1. Through a recipe-based approach, this book will help you overcome common programming challenges and get your applications ready to face the modern world. We start by running you through new features in C# 7, such as tuples, pattern matching, and so on, giving you hands-on experience with them. Moving forward, you will work with generics and the OOP features in C#. You will then move on to more advanced topics, such as reactive extensions, Regex, code analyzers, and asynchronous programming. This book will also cover new, cross-platform .NET Core 1.1 features and teach you how to utilize .NET Core on macOS. Then, we will explore microservices as well as serverless computing and how these benefit modern developers. Finally, you will learn what you can do with Visual Studio 2017 to put mobile application development across multiple platforms within the reach of any developer. What you will learn ?Writing better and less code to achieve the same result as in previous versions of C# ?Working with analyzers in Visual Studio ?Working with files, streams, and serialization ?Writing high-performant code

This book gets you started with essential software development easily and quickly, guiding you through Java's different facets. By adopting this approach, you can bridge the gap between learning and doing immediately. You will learn the new features of Java 9 quickly and experience a simple and powerful approach to software development. You will be able to use the Java runtime tools, understand the Java environment, and create Java programs. We then cover more simple examples to build your foundation before diving to some complex data structure problems that will solidify your Java 9 skills. With a special focus on modularity and HTTP 2.0, this book will guide you to get employed as a top notch Java developer. By the end of the book, you will have a firm foundation to continue your journey towards becoming a professional Java developer. What you will learn ?Compile, package and run a trivial program using a build management tool ?Get to know the principles of test-driven development and dependency management ?Separate the wiring of multiple modules from the application logic into an application using dependency injection ?Benchmark Java execution using Java 9 microbenchmarking ?See the workings of the Spring framework

Cisco Unified Computer System (UCS) is a powerful solution for modern data centers and is responsible for increasing efficiency and reducing costs. This hands-on guide will take you through deployment in Cisco UCS. Using real-world examples of configuring and deploying Cisco UCS components, we'll prepare you for the practical deployments of Cisco UCS data center solutions. If you want to develop and enhance your hands-on skills with Cisco UCS solutions, this book is certainly for you. We start by showing you the Cisco UCS equipment options, then introduce Cisco UCS Emulator so you can learn and practice deploying Cisco UCS components. We'll also introduce you to all the areas of UCS solutions through practical configuration examples. Moving on, you'll explore the Cisco UCS Manager, which is the centralized management interface for Cisco UCS. Once you get to know UCS Manager, you'll dive deeper into configuring LAN, SAN, identity pools, resource pools, and service profiles for the servers. You'll also get hands-on with administration topics including backup, restore, user's roles, and high availability cluster configuration. Finally, you will learn about virtualized networking, third-party integration tools, and testing failure scenarios. By the end of this book, you'll know everything you need to know to rapidly grow Cisco UCS deployments in the real world. What you will learn ?Set up your Lab using Cisco UCS Emulator ?Configure Cisco UCS, LAN, and SAN connectivity ?Create and manage Service profiles ?Perform various tasks using UCS ?Back up and restore Cisco UCS configuration ?Test various Cisco UCS scenarios

Over 150 recipes to help you administer your PostgreSQL database more efficiently About This Book ?Get to grips with the capabilities of PostgreSQL 9.6 to administer your database more efficiently ?Monitor, tune, secure and protect your database ?A step-by-step, recipe-based guide to help you tackle any problem in PostgreSQL administration with ease Who This Book Is For This book is for system administrators, database administrators, data architects, developers, and anyone with an interest in planning for, or running, live production databases. This book is most suited to those who have some technical experience. What You Will Learn ?Implement PostgreSQL features for performance and reliability ?Harness the power of the latest PostgreSQL 9.6 features ?Manage open source PostgreSQL versions 9.5 and 9.6 on various platforms ?Discover advanced technical tips for experienced users ?Explore best practices for planning and designing live databases ?Select and implement robust backup and recovery techniques ?Explore concise and clear guidance on replication and high availability ?See the latest details on Logical Replication and Bi-Directional Replication In Detail PostgreSQL is a powerful opensource database management system; now recognized as the expert's choice for a wide range of applications, it has an enviable reputation for performance and stability. PostgreSQL provides an integrated feature set comprising relational database features, object-relational, text search, Geographical Info Systems, analytical tools for big data and

Gain a deep understanding of the complexity of data structures and algorithms and discover the right way to write more efficient code About This Book ?This book provides complete coverage of reactive and functional data structures ?Based on the latest version of Java 9, this book illustrates the impact of new features on data structures ?Gain exposure to important concepts such as Big-O Notation and Dynamic Programming Who This Book Is For This book is for Java developers who want to learn about data structures and algorithms. Basic knowledge of Java is assumed. What You Will Learn ?Understand the fundamentals of algorithms, data structures, and measurement of complexity ?Find out what general purpose data structures are, including arrays, linked lists, double ended linked lists, and circular lists ?Get a grasp on the basics of abstract data types―stack, queue, and double ended queue ?See how to use recursive functions and immutability while understanding and in terms of recursion ?Handle reactive programming and its related data structures ?Use binary search, sorting, and efficient sorting―quicksort and merge sort ?Work with the important concept of trees and list all nodes of the tree, traversal of tree, search trees, and balanced search trees ?Apply advanced general purpose data structures, priority queue-based sorting, and random access immutable linked lists ?Gain a better understanding of the concept of graphs, directed and undirected graphs, undirected trees, and much more In Detail Java

Practical Computer Vision Projects About This Book ?Updated for OpenCV 3, this book covers new features that will help you unlock the full potential of OpenCV 3 ?Written by a team of 7 experts, each chapter explores a new aspect of OpenCV to help you make amazing computer-vision aware applications ?Project-based approach with each chapter being a complete tutorial, showing you how to apply OpenCV to solve complete problems Who This Book Is For This book is for those who have a basic knowledge of OpenCV and are competent C++ programmers. You need to have an understanding of some of the more theoretical/mathematical concepts, as we move quite quickly throughout the book. What You Will Learn ?Execute basic image processing operations and cartoonify an image ?Build an OpenCV project natively with Raspberry Pi and cross-compile it for Raspberry Pi.text ?Extend the natural feature tracking algorithm to support the tracking of multiple image targets on a video ?Use OpenCV 3's new 3D visualization framework to illustrate the 3D scene geometry ?Create an application for Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) using a support vector machine and Artificial Neural Networks ?Train and predict pattern-recognition algorithms to decide whether an image is a number plate ?Use POSIT for the six degrees of freedom head pose ?Train a face recognition database using deep learning and recognize faces from that database In Detail As we become more capable of handling data in every kind, we are becoming more reliant on visual input and what

"Key Features?Start developing immersive and interactive apps for Microsoft HoloLens ?Explore the Windows Universal Development platform for HoloLens development ?Leverage the full set of HoloLens sensors to create mesmerizing apps"

"About This Book ?Discover the secret to building highly portable apps that run on any machine with Windows Server 2016 anywhere, from laptops, desktop servers, and public or private clouds, without any changes to the code ?Build your company cost-effective, container-based apps that support large-scale, virtual cloud environments ?The most up-to-date help on the market, offering developers expert guidance in building and shipping high-quality apps, and also helping admins create infrastructure that's simple to maintain Who This Book Is For This book is for application developers with a basic programming knowledge of C#, ASP.NET, and PowerShell. IT Administrators or DevOps engineers with basic PowerShell experience can benefit by extending their learning to use PowerShell to manage containers on Windows environments and use additional management tools. What You Will Learn ?Build and deploy ASP.NET web applications as Windows Containers on Windows 10 (Desktop) and Azure using Visual Studio 2015, Docker, and PowerShell ?Build and manage custom images using Windows Server Core base OS image and Docker CLI, publish images to Docker, tag images, author Docker files, and so on ?Create enterprise-scale, production-grade container environments using Redis Cache containers and SQL Server containers with storage volumes, set up custom container networks, continuous integration, and deployment pipelines using VSTS, Azure, and Git ?Deploy a composite container environment using Docker Compose on Windows ?Learn to build applications using Microsoft's thinnest server platform - Nano Servers. Build custom Nano Server images and Nano Containers using Windows PowerShell and "

"Create real-time hybrid applications with the leader of HTML5 frameworks: Ionic Framework About This Book ?Step into the world of amazingly interactive and real-time app development using Ionic 2 ?Leverage the powerful Angular 2 along with Ionic to develop cutting edge apps ?Detailed code examples and explanations will help you get up and running with Ionic quickly and easily Who This Book Is For This book is for JavaScript developers with basic skills. No previous knowledge of Ionic is required for this book. What You Will Learn ?Understanding the world of the mobile hybrid architecture ?Scaffolding and working with Ionic templates ?Transforming a single page app to a multi-page app using Navigation Controller ?Integrating Ionic components, decorators, and services and rapidly developing complex applications ?Theming Ionic apps as well as customizing components using SCSS ?Working with Ionic Native to interface with device features, such as camera, notifications, and battery ?Building a production grade app using Ionic and Uber API to let users book a ride ?Migrating an Ionic 1 app to Ionic 2 or Ionic 3 ?Performing unit testing, end-to-end testing, and device testing on your apps ?Deploying Ionic apps to store and manage their subsequent releases In Detail Ionic makes it incredibly easy to build beautiful and interactive mobile apps using HTML5, SCSS, and Angular. Ionic also makes app development easier, faster, and more fun. This hands-on guide will help you understand the Ionic framework and how you can leverage it to create amazing real-time applications. We begin by covering the essential features of Angular 2, and then dive straight into how Ionic fits in today's world of hybrid app development and give you a better understanding of the mobile hybrid architecture along the way. Further on, you will learn how to work with Ionic decorators, services, and components, which will allow you to build complex apps using the Ionic framework. We will take a look at theming Ionic apps using the built-in SCSS setup. After that, we will explore Ionic Native, and you will learn how to integrate device-specific features, such as notifications, with the Ionic app. To complete our learning, we will be building a Rider app, using Ionic and Uber API, to book a ride. Next, you will learn how to unit test, end-to-end test, monkey test, and execute device testing on AWS Device farm. Then, we will take a look at migrating the existing Ionic 1 apps to Ionic 2 and deploy them to the App Store. The final chapter on Ionic 3 wraps up this book by explaining the new features of Ionic 3 at the time of writing this book. By the end of this book, you will be able to develop, deploy, and manage hybrid mobile applications built with Cordova, Ionic, and Angular. All the examples in this book are valid for both Ionic 2 and Ionic 3. Style and approach A step-by-step, practical approach to learning Ionic using the example of designing an online course app. Each topic is explained sequentially in the process of creating a course. This includes explanations of both basic and advanced features of Ionic. "

"Key Features ?Understand and use Vue's reactivity system, data binding, and computed properties ?Create fluid transitions in your application with Vue's built-in transition system ?Use Vuex and Webpack to build medium-to-large scale SPAs and enhance your development workflow Book De*ion Vue.js is an open source JavaScript library for building modern, interactive web applications. With a rapidly growing community and a strong ecosystem, Vue.js makes developing complex single page applications a breeze. Its component-based approach, intuitive API, blazing fast core, and compact size make Vue.js a great solution to craft your next front-end application. From basic to advanced recipes, this book arms you with practical solutions to common tasks when building an application using Vue. We start off by exploring the fundamentals of Vue.js: its reactivity system, data-binding syntax, and component-based architecture through practical examples. After that, we delve into integrating Webpack and Babel to enhance your development workflow using single file components. Finally, we take an in-depth look at Vuex for state management and Vue Router to route in your single page applications, and integrate a variety of technologies ranging from Node.js to Electron, and Socket.io to Firebase and HorizonDB. This book will provide you with the best practices as determined by the Vue.js community. What you will learn ?Understand the fundamentals of Vue.js through numerous practical examples ?Piece together complex web interfaces using theVue.js component system ?Use Webpack and Babel to enhance your development workflow ?Manage your "

"Accelerate and Automate Build, Deploy, and Management of applications to achieve High Availability. About This Book ?This guide highlights tools that offer development and deployment environments for application services ?Secure and continuously monitor your web application in order to make it highly available ?Use Visual Studio Team Services for Continuous Integration and Continuous Development to expedite your application life cycle management process ?Use Microsoft Azure App Services (Azure Web Apps / Azure Websites), PaaS offering from Microsoft to deploy web application Who This Book Is For This book is for DevOps engineers, system administrators, and developers (.net) who want to implement DevOps for their organization. You do not need to have any knowledge of VSTS or Azure App Services (Azure Web Apps / Azure Websites). What You Will Learn ?Explore the features of PaaS and aPaaS in DevOps ?Use Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) to manage versions of code and integrating VSTS with Eclipse IDE ?Understand and configure Continuous Integration in VSTS ?Review Unit Test Execution for Automated Testing ?Create different environments that can be used to continuous deploy a web application ?Configure Roll-based Access to enable secure access for Azure Web Apps ?Create and configure the App Service Environment to enhance security ?Understand the execution of the end-to-end automation process ?Conduct Performance Testing using JMeter ?Discover the different monitoring options available in Microsoft Azure Portal In Detail This book will teach you all about the Visual Studio Team Services and Microsoft Azure PaaS offerings that support Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, Continuous Deployment, and execution in the cloud with high availability, disaster recovery, and security. You will first be given a tour of all the concepts and tools that Microsoft Azure has to offer and how these can be used in situations to cultivate the DevOps culture. You'll be taught how to use and manage Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) and about the structure of the sample application used throughout the book. You will become familiar with the nitty gritty of Continuous Integration and Continuous Development with VSTS and Microsoft Azure Apps. You will not only learn how to create App service environments, but also how to compare Azure Web Apps and App Service Environments to deploy web applications in a more secure environment. Once you have completed Continuous Integration and created the Platform for application deployment, you will learn more about the final stepping stone in achieving end-to-end automation using approval-based Continuous Delivery and Deployment. You will then learn about Continuous Monitoring, using the monitoring and notification options provided by Microsoft Azure and Visual Studio Team Services. Style and Approach This book is an easy-to-follow guide filled with examples and real-world applications for gaining an in-depth understanding of Microsoft Azure and Visual Studio. This book will help you leverage Microsoft Azure and Visual Studio using real-world examples. "

From the No. 1 bestseller and author of Richard & Judy pick The Savage Garden: an award-winning crime novel set in post-war New York for fans of Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Jed Rubenfeld Long Island, 1947 The men of Long Island have fished the wild Atlantic waters over the centuries. For Conrad Labarde, recently returned from the Second World War, the nets hold a sinister catch – the body of Lillian Wallace, a beautiful New York socialite. Is it an accident or murder? Police chief Tom Hollis is convinced the roots of the tragedy lie in the twisted histories of local families. But the enigmatic Labarde insists on pursuing his own investigation. It seems the fisherman may have powerful reasons for wanting answers to the questions surrounding her death. And in this strange place where tradition meets power and riches, the truth is a rare thing indeed…