Autobiography: historical, political and military Books

Book SynopsisThis book, originally published in 1914, is a unique telling of the life of Cleopatra. The author, a well-learned historian of his time, offers a truer glimpse of the queen if we can rid ourselves of the influence of any one period and ignore that aspect of morality that has developed in us by contact with the age in which we live. Good and evil are relative qualities defined largely by public opinion, and it must always be remembered that certain things considered good and evil today may have the acceptance and denunciation of yesterday and tomorrow. The author does not presume to offer an apology for the much-maligned Queen, but he describes the events of her troubled life fairly. The actions of Cleopatra will, without any particular advocacy, assume a character that is no uglier than that of every other actor in the strange drama surrounding her life.

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Book SynopsisThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was originally published in 1791. It has been republished many times. This important document is as relevant today as when it was first published. It provides a first-hand account of one of the most remarkable men in American history.

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Book SynopsisWilliam Grattan was a young Irish Lieutenant who served in the famous Connaught Rangers [the 88th regiment] in some of the hottest engagements of the Peninsular War. Adventures with the Connaught Rangers 18091814 is a memoir of his service with the 1st Battalion of the 88th regiment. Vividly written and accompanied by maps, this is one of the most famous fighting memoirs of the Peninsula War.

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Book SynopsisTheodore Roosevelt was a fascinating man. This autobiography, written a hundred years ago, presents his life and career from his own perspective.Table of ContentsPreface; Boyhood and Youth; The Vigor of Life; Practical Politics; In Cowboy Land; Applied Idealism; The New York Police; The War of America the Unready; The New York Governorship; Outdoors and Indoors; The Presidency; Making an Old Party Progressive; The Natural Resources of the Nation; The Big Stick and the Square Deal; Social and Industrial Justice; The Monroe Doctrine and the Panama Canal; The Peace of Righteousness; Index.

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Book SynopsisAnnie Wood Besant (1847-1933) was a problematic and notorious figure in Victorian England, questioning and then breaking from the Anglican Church to become an atheist, women’s rights advocate, and Freethinker. As editor of her own journal, Our Corner, she responded to inquiries about her life experiences by serializing her life story, which was published in 1885. After providing a vivid account of her trial, along with Charles Bradlaugh, for the right to publish birth control literature, Besant recounts her heartbreaking trial for custody of her daughter. With a critical and historical introduction by Carol Hanbery MacKay, this Broadview Edition includes comparative passages from An Autobiography, written in 1893 after Besant’s conversion to Theosophy. Contemporary reviews, excerpts from publications about issues such as Socialism and trade unionism, and additional examples of Besant’s writing about secularism and labour reform are also included.Trade Review“This important edition brings Annie Besant’s first autobiographical work back into print. Written before her conversion to Theosophy, Autobiographical Sketches details Besant’s remarkable spiritual and political transformation from wife of a Christian clergyman to celebrated campaigner for Freethought, secularism, women’s rights, and birth control. Carol Hanbery MacKay’s splendid introduction and supplementary materials offer an illuminating context for students and scholars alike. Altogether, the volume is a major contribution to the literature of feminism, autobiography, religion, and radical politics.” — Elizabeth Miller, University of California Davis“‘Naughty Annie’ (as the press called her) has been ill served by biographers and critics. This meticulous edition of her fascinating first foray into autobiography—before her extraordinary but quintessentially Victorian passage from secularism and Socialism to Theosophy and India—not only allows her to speak again for herself as a woman and a public figure, but, through the rich array of reviews, speeches, essays, and extended passages from her later Autobiography, also allows us to understand her against the full backdrop of her life and the times she helped to change.” — Joss Marsh, University of IndianaTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroduction: Annie Besant’s First Foray into Self-WritingAnnie Besant: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextAutobiographical Sketches (1885)Appendix A: Publication of Autobiographical Sketches (1884-85) and Aftermath Reviews of Autobiographical Sketches Unsigned review, “Contemporary Literature: History and Biography,” The Westminster Review (July 1886) G.W. Foote, “The Latest Apostle of Socialism,” Progress: A Monthly Magazine of Advanced Thought; Annie Besant, Rejoinder”; and Foote, “Reply to Mrs. Besant’s Rejoinder” (1886) “Foreword” of W.T. Stead, “Mrs. Annie Besant,” The Review of Reviews (October 1891) From Annie Besant, Why I Don’t Believe in God (1887) From Annie Besant, Why I Became a Theosophist (1889) From Annie Besant, 1875 to 1891: A Fragment of Autobiography (1891) Appendix B: Publication of An Autobiography (1893) and Critical Response “Preface” to An Autobiography (1893) Selected parallel passages and entries from new sections Parallel passages (to Autobiographical Sketches) Entries from new sections in An Autobiography Reviews of An Autobiography Unsigned review, “Mrs. Besant’s Apologia,” The Westminster Budget (December 1893) “Calcar,” “Mrs. ‘Annie’ Besant’s Apology,” Vanity Fair (December 1893) Unsigned review, “Annie Besant,” Pall Mall Gazette (December 1893) Unsigned review, “Recent Biography,” The Athenaeum (February 1894) Review essay by W.E. Gladstone, Annie Besant’s reply, and letter from Gladstone to Digby Besant From Gladstone, “True and False Conceptions of the Atonement,” The Nineteenth Century (September 1894) From Annie Besant’s reply, The Nineteenth Century (June 1895) Letter from Gladstone to Digby Besant (October 1894) Appendix C: Contemporary Issues Charles Knowlton, “Philosophical Proem,” The Fruits of Philosophy: An Essay on the Population Question (1832; rev. ed. 1877) From The Married Women’s Property Acts (1870; 1882) and Amendment Acts (1874; 1893) An Act to amend the Law relating to the Property of Married Women (1870) An Act to amend the Married Women’s Property Act of 1870 (1874) An Act to consolidate and amend the Married Women’s Property Act (1882) An Act to amend the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882 (1893) Socialism: For and Against, A Written Debate between Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant, Our Corner (1887) Charles Bradlaugh, “Socialism: Its Fallacies and Dangers” (March 1887) Annie Besant, “Socialism: Its Truths and Its Hopes” (April 1887) Sidney and Beatrice Webb, “Preface,” The History of Trade Unionism (1894) Appendix D: Concurrent Issues as Seen by Annie Besant Annie Besant, The Political Status of Women (1874) From The Secular Song and Hymn Book (1875) and from “Two Secular Burial Services” (1875) Annie Besant, “Preface,” The Secular Song and Hymn Book Lyrics attributed to Besant in The Secular Song andHymn Book Annie Besant, “Burial Service” Annie Besant, “Landlords,Tenant Farmers, and Laborers,” National Reformer (1877) From Annie Besant, The Law of Population (1877) and Theosophy and the Law of Population (1896) Annie Besant, “Chapter I: The Law of Population,” The Law of Population Annie Besant, from the final two paragraphs of Theosophy and the Law of Population Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisOn Language, Memory, and Illness. As Tony Gorry recalls scenes from his earliest childhood and adolescence, he weaves his present reality with these images to unlock meaning hidden in the remembered moments. On their surface they may appear ordinary, but as this book reveals, they point the way to a life well lived. Gorry also remembers events at which he was never present: the evening his parents first met, his fathers World War II experiences. He explores these recollections -- not really memory at all -- and finds them as important to the way he understands his life as those he actually lived through. At the centre of the book Gorry writes about his decision to study Greek in his late sixties; he wanted to read Homer in the original. As he began to learn the ancient language, Gorry, one of the first Ph.D.s in Computer Science from MIT, also came to realise that he was going to have to slow down in order to learn well. With careful introspection about his past and courage in the face of his current cancer treatment, Gorry offers a compelling narrative about how to discover significance in ones life.

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Book SynopsisMy brother officers. Are they human? Thus reads the first journal entry of twenty-three-year-old John Verney, graduate of Eton and Oxford, lover of modern art and literature, who has, almost on a whim, joined a part-time cavalry regiment of the British Army in 1937. At the outbreak of World War II two years later, Verney arrives in the Middle East and there learns, almost in spite of himself, to be a soldier. In 1943, he becomes a parachutist and leads a drop into Sardinia to attack German airfields. His adventures there -- two weeks wandering through enemy territory, his capture, and his eventual escape -- are brilliantly told. Woven into the fabric of this narrative of a young man growing reluctantly to maturity and coming to terms with military life, are Verneys thoughts and feelings about his wife, Lucinda, and the child he has never seen, and his longing to return to them.

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Book SynopsisOn July 28, 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne''s wife Sophia and daughters Una and Rose left their house in Western Massachusetts to visit relatives near Boston. Hawthorne and his five-year-old son Julian stayed behind. How father and son got along over the next three weeks is the subject of this tender and funny extract from Hawthorne''s notebooks.'At about six o''clock I looked over the edge of my bed and saw that Julian was awake, peeping sideways at me.' Each day starts early and is mostly given over to swimming and skipping stones, berry-picking and subduing armies of thistles. There are lots of questions ('It really does seem as if he has baited me with more questions, references, and observations, than mortal father ought to be expected to endure'), a visit to a Shaker community, domestic crises concerning a pet rabbit, and some poignant moments of loneliness ('I went to bed at about nine and longed for Phoebe'). And one evening Mr. Herman Melville comes by to enjoy a late-night discussion of eternity over cigars.With an introduction by Paul Auster that paints a beautifully observed, intimate picture of the Hawthornes at home, this little-known, true-life story by a great American writer emerges from obscurity to shine a delightful light upon family life—then and now.

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Book SynopsisPerfectly blending a vast historical scope with intensely individual viewpoints, this stirring collection of stories brings a man-on-the-ground perspective to a huge range of military history, with stories of a quarter-century of war from nearly every corner of the earth, including Europe; the Pacific; mainland Asia; a tense confrontation in Guantanamo Bay during the Cuban Missile Crisis; POW camps in Germany, Japan, and California; and the San Joaquin Valley home front from the 1940s through the 1960s. These 72 highly individualized narratives of combat, military service, and the personal sacrifices of war -- penned by ordinary San Joaquin Valley residents and buttressed with more than 100 personal photographs -- bring commentaries from soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, nurses, ambulance drivers, and civilians. In simple, direct, and authentic language, with stories both horrific and touching, this volume perfectly illustrates the personal side of war.

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Book SynopsisThe George W Bush Presidency reshaped American politics through its policies and its use of executive power. This volume engages fundamental debates about the Bush (43) presidencys expansive interpretation of executive power, primarily in foreign and national-security policy, but also more generally for leadership and policy making. It examines presidential elections and party realignments in the early twenty-first century and their consequences for White House policy-making. It analyses how the Bush administration pursued initiatives in faith-based programs and homeland security, and established organizational structures that would endure well beyond his presidency. The volume also examines how the Bush (43) presidency established an enduring legacy in American politics through the Supreme Court and the Office of the First Lady. It concludes with an assessment of how these many areas of executive action and influence continue to direct presidential governance. By examining their evolution, this volume reveals choices and constraints in American politics today that derive from President Bushs leadership.

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Book SynopsisThis is a remarkable story, not just about the extraordinary achievements of a family, but about the power of the individual to spur innovation, even when the consenTrade ReviewWith a foreword by James Cameron.

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Book SynopsisOne of the world's leading anthropologists assesses the work of the founder of structural anthropologyAs a young man, Maurice Godelier was Claude Lévi-Strauss's assistant. Since then, Godelier has drawn on this experience to develop a profound and intimate grasp on the writings of his former teacher, one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Meticulously researched, Lévi-Strauss: A Critical Study of His Thought will prove indispensable to students of Lévi-Strauss and to structural anthropologists more generally. It is a compelling and comprehensive study destined to become the definitive work on the evolution of Lévi-Strauss's ideas, at the heart of which lies his analysis of kinship and myth.Trade Review“All would agree on the influence of the voluminous oeuvre of Lévi-Strauss within the history of the Human Sciences. To come to terms with it, we need a reliable guide, such as this. Students of kinship, myth, or mythical thinking may disagree with some of Godelier’s positions, but have here a splendid basis on which to build.” —Nick Allen, University of Oxford“Maurice Godelier, eminent French anthropologist, surveys and assesses, sympathetically and critically, the mass of writings on kinship and mythology of another eminent French anthropologist, Claude Lévi-Strauss. This deep engagement of the one with the other is, for readers, both a pleasure and a powerful tool.” —Thomas R. Trautmann, Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan “Cuts through the fog of commentary surrounding the legacy of this most enigmatic of scholars, to address Lévi-Strauss’s legacy in its own, properly anthropological terms. The book is a joy to read.” —Tim Ingold, University of Aberdeen

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Book SynopsisEarly in the morning of 4 March 2015, a fierce knock at the door heralded the start of a new chapter in Harvey Proctor's almost continuous relationship with the police and media, when officers from the Metropolitan Police raided his home in connection with Operation Midland, Scotland Yard's investigation into allegations of a historic Westminster paedophile ring.In Credible and True - words famously used by the police to describe the allegations of Proctor's traducer - the former Conservative MP talks frankly about his life in and out of Parliament, from the struggles and controversy surrounding his resignation in 1987 to the numerous homophobic attacks endured since - one of which, revealed here in horrific detail for the first time, was a very nearly successful attempt on his life.Finally, he speaks candidly about his most recent embroilment in Operation Midland, of being the victim of a 'homosexual witch-hunt' that has all but destroyed his reputation, adding to the topical debate about police lack of due process in the post-Savile world of 'guilty until proven innocent'.Trade Review"This is the first book to be written - the first full, personal account - by someone on the receiving end of a horrific and shameful police scandal. The argument is incredibly strong; the facts are astonishing; the story is compelling." - Matthew Parris; "I have read no more painful account of the value of the presumption of innocence, or of the cruelty that comes without it." - Lord Ken Macdonald QC; "Credible and True will be an important reference book when historians research the era in which the fundamental tenet of the British justice system - 'innocent until proven guilty' - was inverted by the police. It takes great courage to stand up to the misdirected weight of the state. Harvey Proctor had that courage." - Paul Gambaccini; "Harvey Proctor's memoir carries a deadly serious message about victimisation ... This book is extraordinary." - Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisIn 1991, Vladimir Yakunin, a Soviet diplomat and KGB officer, returned from his posting in New York to a country that no longer existed. The state that he had served for all his adult life had been dissolved, the values he knew abandoned. Millions of his compatriots suffered as their savings disappeared and their previously secure existences were threatened by an unholy combination of criminality, corruption and chaos. Others thrived amid the opportunities offered in the new polity, and a battle began over the direction the fledgling state should take. While something resembling stability was won in the early 2000s, today Russia's future remains unresolved; its governing class divided. The Treacherous Path is Yakunin's account of his own experiences on the front line of Russia's implosion and eventual resurgence, and of a career - as an intelligence officer, a government minister and for ten years the CEO of Russia's largest company - that has taken him from the furthest corners of this incomprehensibly vast and complex nation to the Kremlin's corridors. Tackling topics as diverse as terrorism, government intrigue and the reality of doing business in Russia, and offering unparalleled insights into the post-Soviet mindset, this is the first time that a figure with Yakunin's background has talked so openly and frankly about his country.Trade Review"Vladimir Yakunin, a former Putin insider and loyalist, has broken the Kremlin code of silence and gives an incomparable lowdown on life and politics at the top." Robert Service, Emeritus Professor of Russian History, St Antony's College, Oxford:

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Book SynopsisYou are not an executive who can make and enforce decisions. You are a legislator who votes on making laws. You are not a counsellor, a housing officer, benefits clerk, bank or trading standards officer, but you are often expected to provide a new home, sort out benefits, provide a loan or settle a dispute about a computer game bought for little Jimmy that doesn't work. You are, in fact, a 21stcentury Member of Parliament representing about 125,000 good folk from your constituency by taking your seat in probably the finest parliament in the world (despite what you may read or hear in the media). You are elected by a simple majority from roughly 50,000 people who mark their `X' by your name at a general election, hoping that you will be able to make a difference somehow. Then, when as a new MP, you walk through the Members Lobby filled with a vision of how you will leave your mark on this place and this nation, what you are almost certainly unaware of is that your constituents, your government, the press and the very institution of the Palace of Westminster have other plans for you. So it was for Nick de Bois in May 2010 when, with an unimpressive and insecure majority of 1,682, he began the journey of a life time, meeting head-on the bizarre, the inexplicable, the touching, the shocking, the vitally important and, thank god, lots of utter nonsense as well.

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Book SynopsisPatrick Wright’s memoir opens on a diplomatic crisis. A growing number of countries are threatening to boycott the Commonwealth Games in protest of the British government’s handling of South African apartheid. And the problems only get worse. Patrick Wright was one of the pre-eminent diplomats of his day, putting him at the forefront of some of the late twentieth century’s most important global events. His six years at the FCO found him dealing with the backlash from the Falklands War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, strained relations with the EU, the First Gulf War and, perhaps most challenging of all, the `fire and glares’ of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Lord Wright’s account is not only an essential documentation of a significant historical period, but witty and entertaining throughout. He revels in gossip, despairs at the mischievous press `painting lurid pictures of Britain versus the Rest’, recalls numerous amusing scenarios and is rather brutal in his assessment of various high- profile political figures.

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Book SynopsisAs a key player during the election campaign and transition, and Donald Trump's press secretary for the first seven months in the White House, Sean Spicer found himself on the front line between Trump and the press - regularly jousting with the media and having to explain the President's policy decisions and comments to America and the world. The Briefing taps into Spicer's first-hand experience in the front row of the Trump campaign and presidency, shedding new light on the most controversial moments, sharing stories of the personalities involved and, ultimately, setting the record straight.

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Book SynopsisDuring his campaign for President in 2016, Senator Bernie Sanders stated over and over again that the future of America was dependent upon its willingness to start a political revolution. Real change never occurs from the top down - it always happens from the bottom up. That's what he said when he ran for President, and that's what he believes now more than ever. At a time of massive and growing wealth inequality, with the US moving closer and closer to an oligarchic form of society, and in the shadow of the most reactionary Presidency in the history of the Republic, Sanders is calling for an unprecedented grassroots political movement to stand up to the greed of the billionaire class and the politicians they own. And the good news is, progress is being made. In this important new book, America's most popular political figure speaks about what he's been doing to oppose the Trump agenda and strengthen the progressive movement, how America can go forward as a nation and the impact that can have on the global stage. In an era that leaves many would-be liberal and progressive voters feeling frustrated about politics, Bernie Sanders shows what he stands for, not just what he stands against. In this book, he details the core values of the progressive movement and translates them into the actions that will truly uplift the nation and the world.

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Book Synopsis'A multiple biography with overlapping chronology is a tricky feat and Buruma pulls it off magnificently.' Ben Macintyre, The TimesOn the face of it, the three characters here seem to have little in common - aside from the fact that each committed wartime acts that led some to see them as national heroes, and others as villains. All three were mythmakers, larger-than-life storytellers, for whom the truth was beside the point. Felix Kersten was a plump Finnish pleasure-seeker who became Heinrich Himmler's indispensable personal masseur - Himmler calling him his 'magic Buddha'. Kersten presented himself after the war as a resistance hero who convinced Himmler to save countless people from mass murder. Kawashima Yoshiko, a gender fluid Manchu princess, spied for the Japanese secret police in China, and was mythologized by the Japanese as a heroic combination of Mata Hari and Joan of Arc. Friedrich Weinreb was a Hasidic Jew in Holland who took large amounts of money from fellow Jews in an imaginary scheme to save them from deportation, while in fact betraying some of them to the German secret police. Sentenced after the war as a traitor and a con artist, he is still regarded by supporters as the 'Dutch Dreyfus'. All three figures have been vilified and mythologized, out of a never-ending need, Ian Buruma argues, to see history, and particularly war, and above all World War II, as a neat tale of angels and devils. In telling their often-self-invented stories, The Collaborators offers a fascinating reconstruction of what in fact we can know about these fantasists and what will always remain out of reach. It is also an examination of the power and credibility of history: truth is always a relative concept but perhaps especially so in times of political turmoil, not unlike our own.Trade ReviewA fascinating book, sometimes disturbing, sometimes entertaining, never dull. -- Noel Malcolm * Daily Telegraph *A multiple biography with overlapping chronology is a tricky feat and Buruma pulls it off magnificently, maintaining the distinct dramas, filleting fact from fiction with sympathy and balance, but maintaining the overarching psychological narrative. He never misses a mordant aside or a telling detail... Superb. -- Ben Macintyre * The Times *Fascinating... Buruma's powerful book is also a warning for our own times. -- Rana Mitter * Financial Times *Richly enjoyable, vital and astute -- Richard Davenport-Hines * Literary Review *Fascinating * Observer *Buruma's intriguing narrative reads like a spy thriller. * Sunday Independent *In his subtle, carefully constructed book, Ian Buruma weaves their stories into an unsettling tapestry. * Times Literary Supplement *The Collaborators is at once fascinating and frightening, an apposite tract for our increasingly mendacious, treacherous times. The accounts Ian Buruma gives of the lives and dark doings of three egregious collaborators starkly illustrate our depthless capacity for betrayal and subsequent self-justification; they are also fascinating life studies. It would be shocking to be entertained by such a book, but I was. -- John BanvilleWith impressive skill and meticulous research, Buruma has woven three very different wartime characters into a fascinating tale of alternative realities, riven by mythomania, perfidy and collusion. -- Caroline MooreheadCompulsively readable as always, Buruma has taken a riveting subject - collaboration - and delved deep into it, probing concepts of national identity, self-reinvention, loyalty and treason. -- Simon CallowThese unforgettable true stories from terrible days show ruthless survivors using all the tricks of stage farce - storytelling, double-crossing, cross-dressing - to avoid the firing squads or the gas chambers. The human comedy has never been so bleak - or so human. -- James HawesMythmakers, duplicitous self-aggrandizers and deluders star in these three wartime narratives of both East and West. Ian Buruma weaves their stories together with great skill and panache, all the while challenging "history" and our own time's elision of wish and truth. -- Lisa AppignanesiWe are slowly coming to an understanding that the Second World War is a more twisted tale than our black-and-white stories about heroes made us believe. The evil guys remain evil, but what about the good ones? Time allows us a more nuanced look, and The Collaborators does a formidable job at navigating the muddy waters of an epic battle that was a challenge to each person going through it - a challenge that truly makes for an interesting history. -- Norman OhlerAt a time when manifold forms of authoritarianism are on the rise, this book could not be more welcome and necessary. By masterfully exploring the complicity, guilt and ambivalence pervading three parallel lives in imperial Japan, Nazi Germany and occupied Holland, Buruma conjures up and richly evokes a thick web of history, allowing contemporary readers to understand how easy it is to condone systematic violence and untold suffering in the name of misguided ideals. -- Ariel DorfmanBuruma sifts through his subjects' complex, multinational backgrounds in fluid prose and brings a welcome measure of sympathy to their lives without minimizing the repercussions of their actions. It's a captivating portrait of what happens when survival turns into self-deception. * Publishers Weekly *Meticulously, relentlessly, Buruma dissects these collaborators' contradictory and self-serving accounts and cross-references with other sources to get closer to the truth. A powerful exploration of complicity, ambivalence, and the human capacity for deception and self-rationalization. * Library Journal *Table of Contents1: PARADISE LOST 2: IN ANOTHER COUNTRY 3: MIRACLES 4: A LOW, DISHONEST DECADE 5: CROSSING THE LINE 6: BEAUTIFUL STORIES 7: THE SHOOTING PARTY 8: THE ENDGAME 9: FINALE 10: AFTERMATH

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Book SynopsisIn this poignant memoir, Naina Yeltsina, the wife of the first president of Russia, recounts the compelling story of her life, from her earliest childhood memories and the time when she met and became engaged to Boris Yeltsin, her companion of over fifty years, to the birth of her daughters and her experiences as First Lady of Russia. Always shy of the limelight, and rarely giving interviews when her husband was in office, Naina Yeltsina provides the reader with a glimpse into her personal life, whilst offering at the same time a behind-the-scenes look at the epochal events that unfolded around her, including the first Russian presidential elections, the August 1991 coup and the fall of the USSR. Rich with intimate details and full of anecdotes, My Life with Boris is the chronicle of a life lived at the very heart of twentieth-century history.

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Book SynopsisLove her or hate her Edwina Currie falls comfortably into that category of celebrity you simply cannot ignore. The first edition of her diaries explosively revealed her affair with former Prime Minister John Major. This second volume, which begins in 1992 with her refusal to serve in Major's Cabinet, is no less revelatory about her colleagues, encounters with others in the public eye, and, of course, her extraordinary love life. It covers her life in Parliament up to the election of Blair's Labour government, but more importantly sees its subject's emergence as a mainstay in the public imagination, first as a bestselling author, then as a commentator, broadcaster, presenter and performer - most recently on the BBC's flagship entertainment show Strictly Come Dancing. Shot through with her trademark effervescence and sense of fun, Edwina Currie Diaries: Volume II documents one of the biggest characters in British public life at her saucy, scathing best. 'Frank and funny, you can't put her down' Time Out 'Few women can lay claim to the word "magnificent", but Currie is now surely one of them' Daily Telegraph

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Book SynopsisPeter Hain has lived an extraordinary life. Formerly an 'outsider' he became an 'insider', one of the last Labour government's most effective ministers. He held an array of glittering posts in the British political establishment, from key roles in the Foreign Office and the Department of Trade and Industry, to the leadership of the Commons and the brokering of the 2007 devolution settlement in Northern Ireland. But his journey to become a British Cabinet Minister started on a different continent. Growing up in Pretoria, South Africa, life changed irrevocably when a close family friend was hanged by the apartheid government. Before that, the security police had taken his activist parents away in the middle of the night. The political values he holds today spring from the injustices he witnessed growing up and which drew him into politics in the first place. As the eldest child, Hain was left to look after his younger brother and two small sisters. Thus began his career as a militant antiapartheid protester. Far from the bloated memoirs of a former government insider, this is the story of a courageous, campaigning life that is intrinsically bound up with the destiny of South Africa.Trade Review'In terms of decency and principle, he was one of the best.' Martin Ivens, Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisBrian Mawhinney, now Baron Mawhinney of Peterborough, has led an extraordinary life by anyone's standards. Born into a conservative Christian family in Belfast his life and career were continuously informed by the values of the gospel. However, his path was to take him far beyond his simple Belfast background and the legal or medical career his parents envisaged for him, and to the heights of British politics as a Government minister, and then to the heart of football administration as Chairman of the Football League. Written with his ten grandchildren in mind (to help them "understand your grandpa a little better", Mawhinney's memoirs capture at once the history of recent British politics and football, and the essential decency of the author.Trade Review'[An]Engaging life story...Mawhinney is damning about a number of football powerbrokers.' Daily Mail '[W]ritten in an easy, conversational style. It is a good read' Church Times

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Book SynopsisDom Felice Vaggioli wrote this autobiography between 1909 and 1911, after the publication in Italy of his History of New Zealand and its Inhabitants. One of the first Benedictine monks to be sent to New Zealand, he arrived in 1879 and returned home in 1887, having worked in Gisbourne, Auckland and the Coromandel. A Deserter's Adventures is Vaggioli's title, as he was a concientious objector, or "draft-dodger," as a young monk and so termed himself "a deserter." This is typical of the individual who emerges from these pages: always questioning, and always applying a strong sense of justice and fine logic to the many dilemmas he found himself in as a missionary priest in New Zealand.

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Book SynopsisIn A Chosen Path, Frank Oberle continues the amazing story of his remarkable rise from self-educated immigrant to national politician and Cabinet minister. The bestselling first volume of Frank''s autobiography, Finding Home, recounted his turbulent youth in Nazi-run Germany and his post-war immigration to Canada. After working for a year and a half--as a baker, logger and miner--he earned enough to bring his future wife, Joan, from their homeland. They eventually settled in the brand-new community of Chetwynd, BC, where he began his political life as a village councillor and later became mayor. In A Chosen Path, we travel with Frank to Ottawa after his election to the House of Commons in 1972 and follow his six-term political career, which culminated in his appointment to Cabinet in 1985--first as Minister of State for Science and Technology, then four years later as Minister of Forestry. On the way, we are treated to incisive, often witty, behind-the-scenes looks at the politicians and issues of the day, along with Frank''s straight-shooting assessments of our national leaders and the prime minister''s office. Now a thoughtful observer more than a decade removed from that maelstrom of machinations that is Canada''s capital, Frank sheds light on what is right and what is wrong in our political world.

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Book SynopsisGifted newspaperman Bogi Bjarnason fought in WWI, ran several prairie newspapers, flew airplanes and wrote poetry. His short story ''the Parson''s Dream'' was published in the company of literary work by renowned writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and W S Gilbert. This gem and a wide selection of other enduring pieces, including letters from the war, editorials, essays and poems, are brought together as an eloquent reminder of the events and issues that preoccupied a generation of Western Canadians whose dreams and sacrifices helped shape the nation''s future. From ''shuddery'' socialism to ''so-called'' Christianity, Bogi always got to the heart of a story and had fun along the way.

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Book SynopsisLife has always been a bit of a gamble for Darcy Christensen. Born in Ocean Falls in 1929, he was raised in Bella Coola Valley and Anahim Lake on the Chilcotin Plateau. The Christensen family were among the earliest white settlers on the Central Coast and West Chilcotin and his maternal grandfather, John Clayton, was the Hudson''s Bay Company''s last trading post factor in Bella Coola. For over thirty years Darcy ran the general store in Anahim Lake that had been operated by his family for over a century. In the 1970s Christensen bought a plane and took some flying lessons. Using his bush plane equipped with skis he delivered groceries to people living in the outlying area and purchased furs from trappers as far north as Babine and Takla Lake. In no time, he gained acclaim as the "Flying Fur Buyer" of the Cariboo Chilcotin. Christensen says, "All anyone had to do was wave a mink pelt at me and I''d land and buy their fur". Whether it was playing poker as a youngster with the ranch hands on the Cless Pocket Ranch, doing stunts with his aeroplane, or flipping double or nothing with customers for a grocery order in his store, Darcy has always had a penchant for gambling. He says his jousts with Lady Luck helped break the boredom and monotony of life on the frontier. This is a journey into the West Chilcotin where Christensen describes his raw and adventurous life and his friendship and encounters with such legends as Pan Phillips, Lester Dorsey, Mickey Dorsey, Domas Squinas, Fred Engebretson and Clayton Mack.

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Book SynopsisAnnie Garland Foster was born in Fredericton, NB, in 1875. She was an educator, nurse, politician, social reformer, journalist and biographer of Pauline Johnson. But she was also a bit of a mystery. In 1939, Annie wrote an autobiography titled Passing Through in which she described the challenges and adventures of her earlier life: as a co-ed at UNB in the 1890s, teaching in rural Saskatchewan and British Columbia, nursing the Great War''s wounded in Britain''s military hospitals, being elected to the City Council in Nelson, BC in 1920 and consorting with suffragettes. But despite her efforts to share her story, she was an intriguingly private person. Her memoir, peppered with pseudonyms and cryptic information, reveals more about the mysteriousness of her character than about the events of her life. Most frustrating of all is her deliberate removal of one of the most intriguing and critical chapters of her story. In this thoughtful and thorough biography, Frances Welwood begins her work where Foster abandons her tale. Welwood follows her elusive subject from Fredericton to Nelson, giving historical context to Annie''s insightful and cinematic prose. But most exciting of all, Welwood finally sheds light on the events described in the six pages excised from Passing Through: the circumstances connecting Annie to a 1926 murder trial.

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Book SynopsisA proud son of Bella Coola''s Norwegian settlers, Lorne Greenaway grew up in the Okanagan in a time when kids left home after breakfast to face the day''s adventures (and misadventures) armed with only an uncomplicated faith in their own youthful immortality. When Lorne won a pony in the Red River Cereal contest, a lifelong love of animals was born. After graduating from high school, Lorne chose to pursue a career in veterinary medicine at Guelph University, where his inclination toward practical jokes helped to temper the long and gruelling studies of a veterinary student. In this intimate memoir Lorne describes the humour, tragedies and triumphs of a large-animal veterinary practice on the cattle ranches of BC''s Interior. Not long after he had established a thriving practice, circumstances conspired to take Lorne on an eclectic journey from teaching veterinary medicine, to ranching, to exporting cattle and finally into politics. Lorne''s ten years as a member of Parliament and his subsequent time in provincial politics paint a fascinating and heart-warming picture of what one lone backbencher from the boonies can -- and cannot -- do.

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Book SynopsisThe first real look at the Canadian West Harmon''s Journal--the first published English-language journal written in B.C.-is a lively, engaging story that, unlike other early journals, captures the rough-and-tumble life of a fur trader and explorer in the western Canada of 200 years ago. Harmon''s descriptions of the cultures and customs of the people he met provide important observations of various First Nations almost before they were touched by European culture. He also details activities of the traders and explorers with whom he exchanged letters--such notable personalities as David Thompson, Simon Fraser and John Stuart. Harmon writes with honesty and often raw emotion in his accounts of his travels and adventures, and his reflections are often profound. Harmon''s Journal is the authentic 1957 edition of the journal edited by esteemed historian William Kaye Lamb.

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Book SynopsisPeppered with lively stories, literary references and pithy observations on the emerging culture and future development of the Dominion of Canada, this 19th-century travelogue is a remarkable and authentic slice of history. In these accounts of his travels in North America, Alexander Staveley Hill weaves together details of Canadian and American history with practical advice on such matters as what to wear while ranching and considerations for British investors thinking about buying ranchland. English gentleman ranchers, outlaws and whisky traders, Native cowboys and guides, practical boarding-house landladies and cheery ranchers'' wives who fed hungry travellers and put them up on the parlour are just some of the colourful characters in From Home to Home.

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Book SynopsisFrom his early days in establishing United Scientific Holdings PLC as a multi-million pound listed company to his sudden transformation into a senior civil servant as Chief of Defence Procurement at the invitation of Michael Heseltine the then Minister of Defence, followed by a move into investment banking and unexpected appointments to act as Prime Minister John Major’s Efficiency Advisor and then run the Docklands Light Railway before becoming Chairman and Chief Executive of the troubled Canary Wharf development, Peter’s career has uniquely straddled both the public and private sectors at the highest levels, invariably in troubled times. In parallel, he worked his way up the City of London’s civic hierarchy, becoming a Common Councilman, Alderman, Sheriff and finally Lord Mayor of London which gave him the opportunity to promote the image and services of the City across the globe. On return to the commercial world, he resumed his post at Deutsche Bank and subsequently joined the boards of Sainsbury’s, Deutsche Borse, IFSL, Eurotunnel, China Construction Bank and Haymarket Media Group. Breaking with insurance industry tradition, he was appointed as `an outsider’ to the Chairmanship of Lloyd’s of London. Whilst there, he was invited by Liam Fox to chair the newly formed `Defence Reform Group’ which introduced a series of important changes in the structure and workings of the MOD which became known as the `Levene Reforms’. Currently he is Chairman of the Starr Insurance Group in London and continues with a number of other directorships as well as his involvement in several charitable and philanthropic activities.Table of ContentsPreface by Rt Hon the Lord Heseltine ch pc Introduction 1. Family, Childhood and Adolescence 2. United Scientific Holdings 3. Adviser to Michael Heseltine 4. Getting stuck in at the Ministry of Defence 5. Hard Graft at the Ministry of Defence 6. Adviser to the Prime Minister 7. Canary Wharf 8. Alderman and other appointments 9. Lord Mayor of London 10. Chairman of Lloyd’s 11. Director and Chairman 12. Reflections on a Busy Life Acknowledgements Index

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Book Synopsis'Dawn Butler is a history-making, game-changing, ceiling-smashing politician.This powerful book offers a fascinating insight into both the personal and political sides of her journey.'Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London'When I was younger my parents taught me to be resilient and my brothers told me to be resistant, and now I think it's time for a revolution. Let's complete the power of three.'As the third Black woman ever to be elected as an MP, and the first elected African-Caribbean woman to become a Government Minister, Dawn Butler is a true pioneer. Famously ejected from the House of Commons for calling Boris Johnson a liar, her tireless campaigning to eradicate injustice - from the NHS to the Metropolitan Police - has changed lives. Until now, she's never talked openly about what has inspired and motivated her to persevere in the face of oppression.Drawing on lessons from her own life, Dawn shows how traditional routes to power are outdated and reveals that it's easier than we think to disrupt a broken system. From her early life to the Palace of Westminster, she shares the values, people, places and beliefs that have helped her to forge her own authentic path to power.Now she is on a mission to give others the courage and conviction to dream big and make positive change, even when everything feels broken around us.Trade ReviewA funny, lively authorial voice. There are truths here that indisputably needed telling, and an irrepressibly bouncy confidence that inspires. An unexpectedly warm and uplifting read -- Gaby Hinsliff * The Observer *Dawn Butler is a history-making, game-changing, ceiling-smashing politician whose passionate campaigning has transformed the lives of thousands. As the first Black woman to speak at the despatch box in Parliament, Dawn has inspired many others to blaze their own paths. This warm, witty and powerful book offers a fascinating insight into both the personal and political sides of her journey. * Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London *Dawn's story is testimony to her extraordinary abundance of bravery and commitment to seeking and telling the truth in every circumstance.She constantly fills those around her with hope and encouragement. I am continually inspired by Dawn's positivity and dedication to lifting her community with boldness and unwavering honesty. * Emeli Sandé *Dawn Butler writes like she lives: direct, clear, engaged, empathic, funny, principled, outspoken. She is an inspiration: her book is a triumph. * Gary Younge, author of Dispatches from the Diaspora *Dawn Butler's book is a testament to her strength and resilience. A rallying cry to rise above adversity and embrace your innate power, it's a source of inspiration and a call to action for people from all walks of life. * Kanya King, CEO & Founder of the MOBO Awards *Dawn Butler is a trailblazing politician who leads by example: the woman who first christened Boris Johnson a liar whilst others stood back, a great ally to the LGBTQIA community, and she puts that capital D into Diversity, this book is a must-read and will be an inspiration to so many. * Linda Riley, Publisher and Editor of Diva magazine *The Labour movement is where working class people do extraordinary things. None more so than Dawn, whose incredible journey is testimony to the power of solidarity in transforming lives. She has never forgotten where she comes from. * Gary Smith, General Secretary, GMB *Dawn Butler's story is one worthy of telling. How a child of the Windrush generation in a life of activism in the Trade Union movement and the wider community became an MP and Britain's first elected Black woman minister. Her courageous battle against cancer adds to a story marked by a determination to overcome all obstacles. This book deserves to be read. * The Rt Hon. the Lord Boateng CVO DL, Britain's first Black Cabinet Minister *

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Book SynopsisTHE ALL-TIME KOREAN CLASSIC OVER 1 MILLION COPIES SOLD, +100 REPRINTS Reflections from Prison is the collected letters and essays written by renowned Korean thinker Shin Young-Bok during his 20 years and 20 days as a political prisoner on a life tariff under Korea's military dictatorships. His time in prison symbolizes Korea's long period of suffering before becoming the flower of Asian democracy. The letters range from postcards, to tiny characters squeezed onto his daily ration of two sheets of toilet paper. When they were discovered by his friends and published in the Peace Newspaper, the peaceful message born out of the most painful times resonated in many hearts aching for freedom across the country. A year after its first newspaper appearance, he was released under a special pardon and his letters were published as a book in 1988. It has since sold over a million copies and become a Korean classic. The writings themselves are not overtly political since all the letters went through censorships Yet he does not hide the harshness of prison life at the rock bottom of society. They provide a window onto his personal suffering during imprisonment a life sentence, and how he pulled from it crystal-clear reflections on Korean society, history, and human relationships; finding beauty and hope in adversity. Common themes include his observations of nature, prison life , human relationships, Korean & Chinese ancient philosophical literature, poetry, calligraphy, self-cultivation, and history. Since its publication in 1987, a year before Shin's release, Reflections from Prison, has been a steady-seller in Korea. Now well-settled as a Korean classic, it still enjoys its status as a book of healing, insight, teaching and changing people through its inspiration and wisdom. With this translation, we share with readers abroad the precious experience of illumination and awakening that millions of Korean readers have enjoyed.Trade Review"The thinker I admire the most" - Moon Jae-In, President of South Korea "A thinker, a voice of his times, an opponent of mindless intrusive bureaucracy, of the rigidity of capitalism and of social inequalities" - Roger Richardson

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Book SynopsisAn amazing story of survival against all odds and a great achievement for the writer who was a teenager during World War 2, 1939-1945. This is the personal story of a family torn apart, always on the run from country to country, hiding, hoping not to be discovered and praying to survive. Lili Rebecca Kahan grew up trying to stay alive and helping others do the same. She survived dangers as a member of the underground in Budapest, often thanks to her knowledge of languages including German. There, under the Germans noses, she also helped other Jews by giving them new identities in order to escape death. Today, when survivors are leaving this world, she wants to honor the silent command of those who perished -- remember and never forget. We, the last survivors, have a solemn obligation to testify, in the name of the dead and the living, that what we endured was a gruesome reality but also a permanent warning to mankind of horrors that might still lie ahead. Former president of France Nicolas Sarkozy so aptly put it when he said, The tragedy of the Holocaust should be etched onto our consciousness as it is onto our hearts.

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Book SynopsisWithin the pages of this book lie the forgotten chapters of Bengal''s revolutionary history; the stories of those unsung heroes of our freedom struggle, whose legacies have been lost in the elusive shadows of time. What remains are their names etched on unfamiliar roadssilent reminders that are rarely acknowledged or retained in the memories of those who pass. Amidst the vibrant streets of Kolkata, there is an Upendra Nath Banerjee Road, a tribute to a fearless revolutionary and thinker and his immense contribution to our freedom movement, but few may appreciate the sacrifices of the person it honours. Memoirs of a Revolutionary, a translation of the Bengali classic, Nirbasiter Atmakatha, Upendra Nath Banerjee wrote himself.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first academic biography of Subimal Dutt, best known as India's longest serving Foreign Secretary, covering the nearly nine eventful decades of his life. It tells the story how a Bengali village boy without any connections had one of the most distinguished careers of his generation without ever forgetting his roots. Struggling all his life between professional ambition and deep spirituality, Dutt never transformed into one of those brown Englishmen' so typical of South Asia's civil servants, but remained a strictly impartial, straightforward and incorruptible officer of as he formulated it himself the vernacular type'. Intellect and discipline brought him into the Indian Civil Service and soon to Delhi, where he excelled as an outstanding administrator and moved into the field of foreign relations.

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Book SynopsisSo while the army was now led by non-fanatical professional, religious fundamentalists with little electoral clout could still openly hurl obscenities about Benazir at a PPP rally.

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Book SynopsisIn this candid account of her life, Kidwai assesses not just her own contribution to public life, but also provides an honest appraisal of the turn in fortunes of the political party she has remained a loyal member of. The reader is treated to rare glimpses into the homes, lives and the hurly-burly of election campaigns over the decades.

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