Memoirs Books
Gemini Books Group Ltd The Prisoner
Book SynopsisA shocking, but also wryly humorous and ultimately uplifting memoir of an ordinary man sentenced to lengthy and brutal imprisonment in Putin's Russia when he refused to give false evidence against Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
£9.49
Seagull Books London Ltd It All Tastes of Farewell: Diaries, 1964–1970
Book SynopsisContinuing where Reimann's earlier book of diaries, I Have No Regrets, left off, in 1964, this volume is a compelling and frank account of one woman’s life and loves in 1960s East Germany.It All Tastes of Farewell is a frank account of one woman’s life and loves in 1960s East Germany. As a writer, Brigitte Reimann could not help but tell a compelling story, and that is born out here in her diaries, which are gripping as any novel. She recorded only what mattered: telling details, emotional truths, and political realities. Never written for publication and first published in full in German only after the fall of the Berlin Wall, these diaries offer a unique record of what it felt like to live in a country that no longer exists, was represented for years largely through Cold War propaganda, and is still portrayed in fairy-tale Stasi dramas. Here we get a sense of lived experience as if Doris Lessing or Edna O’Brien had been allowed in with their notebooks. This volume continues where her earlier book of diaries, I Have No Regrets, left off, in 1964. It sees Reimann grow wistful and at times bitter, as her love life, her professional life, and her health all suffer. Yet throughout she retains a lively appetite for new experiences and a dedication to writing. Finally, she finds security in a surprising new love, and although she died soon after this volume ends, the novel she was writing was to become a much-read cult hit after her death. A remarkable document from a time and place that we still struggle to see clearly, It All Tastes of Farewell is unforgettable, a last gift from an essential writer. Trade Review"Following last year’s I Have No Regrets (translated by Berlin’s Lucy Jones), these books bring to life a highly talented and unconventional author, a woman determined to live life to its fullest despite the constrictions of her time. Now is a fine moment to (re)discover Brigitte Reimann. . . . [She] is a brilliant observer of social milieus, a ruthless self-analyst and often strikingly humorous." * Exberliner *Table of ContentsN
£18.99
Troubador Publishing Chase That Smile: Approaching Midlife: a
Book SynopsisA 39-year-old dad of two, Harold Cabrera is your typical sports weekend warrior, who decides to complete three big challenges before turning 40. Chase That Smile is his account of relationships, family life, good times, and hard times. Of training for three major physical challenges all in the same year - running the Paris Marathon, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and completing an Ironman triathlon - whilst in the midst of juggling a full-time job and being a parent. More than just a personal account of every challenge faced, Harold provides insight into nutrition, the importance of training plans and most importantly how he developed the right mindset needed to take on such big endurance challenges — each battle needing both physical and mental stamina. As impossible as it sounds, with a bit of grit, a positive mindset and some minor life organisation, this book will show you how much you can truly achieve!
£11.69
Troubador Publishing Highland Journey
Book SynopsisHighland Journey tells the true story of how the author and her husband befriended a young Scottish Highland bull and cow they met on a walk while living on the edge of a German city. The bull was soon sent to the slaughterhouse, but not before impregnating the cow. The couple vowed to rescue the calf from its father's fate, if it too should turn out to be a bull. Six months later a bull calf was born who the couple named Bobo. There then followed a very sharp learning curve as these two city dwellers discovered what extraordinary, sensitive and intelligent creatures cattle are, and the difficulties involved in giving them a natural home. As Bobo grew the couple decided to buy him, and so began their search for a year-round outdoor home for him, together with his kind, before he was also sent to the slaughterhouse. It was the beginning of a long journey with many highs and lows, and a varied cast of characters, human and bovine, that they met along the way.The couple's ignorance and naiveté prove to be a strength as they were not daunted by what they did not know and just faced each new battle as it came along. The stories of Bobo, his mother Rumpy, and his daughter Ginger weave in and out of the narrative as the couple struggle to give them the life that they deserve, a life that the cattle invite them to share.
£10.79
The History Press Ltd When the Wheels Come Off: More Confessions of a
Book SynopsisBrian Cunningham’s popular first book, Under the Bonnet, was a colourful and humorous collection of memories of his time as a car mechanic in the 1970s and ‘80s. When he wrote it, he was sure he had put everything of interest down, but it turns out there were quite a few escapades he’d forgotten to mention. Time, then, for part two . . .When the Wheels Come Off is a joyous return, covering what he missed first time round: cars fixed and some broken, fads and crazes, crashes and scrapes and near misses, evolutionary dead-ends in technology, underhanded practices and downright skulduggery, run-ins with management, the tools used, the cars ‘stolen’ and scrapyards visited. A lively and engaging trip back to the workshop.
£11.69
The History Press Ltd From Spitfire to Focke Wulf: The Diary and Log
Book Synopsis‘I hold the greatest respect for Len for what he achieved in the RAF’. – Gordon Mitchell, son of Spitfire designer R.J. MitchellIn May 1940, 20-year-old Len Thorne joined the RAF, as did many young men during the Second World War. After two hectic tours of operational duty as a fighter pilot, including some desperately dangerous low-level flying at Dunkirk, he was posted to AFDU (Air Fighting Development Unit) and remained there as a test pilot for the rest of the war.Fortunately for us, Len kept a detailed diary, which, set alongside his log book, tells the unique story of a test pilot tasked with developing operational tactics and testing captured enemy aircraft, such as the feared Fw 190. During Len’s career, he worked alongside some of the most famous fighter aces and his records cast light on some of the most famous flyers of the RAF, including Wing Commander Al Deere and Spitfire aces Squadron Leader ‘Paddy’ Finucane, Ernie Ryder and many others.A unique record of military aviation history, From Spitfire to Focke Wulf offers a window to this era of rapid and high-stakes aircraft development.
£13.49
Bonnier Books Ltd We Need to Talk The Number 1 Bestseller
Book SynopsisDr Tony Holohan served as Chief Medical Officer in Ireland for 14 years, but only really became known to the public during the Covid 19 pandemic. During this time his remarkable leadership skills came to the fore and he became the public face of the pandemic, helping to steer the nation through the biggest public health crisis in Ireland's modern history.However, while dealing with the most serious pandemic in a century in his professional life, he was also enduring challenges at home. His beloved wife of 25 years, Emer, was battling cancer, and died in February 2021. This remarkable book reflects on these experiences and inspires us to have those difficult conversations that ultimately make life more meaningful.
£10.44
Luath Press Ltd Whistlebare
Book SynopsisSkirly Crag: a hill in the Scottish highlands, in the heart of which nestles a very special lochan.Helen Percy's working life as a shepherd takes her away from her home in the lee of her beloved Skirly Crag for many months of the year.Forget beribboned Bo-Peep dresses. Think instead unbecoming waterproofs, the same shirt worn for a week, jeans smeared with gobs of birth-fluid and mustard-coloured lamb-skitter. Calf-length crinoline gowns are so out of fashion for the modern shepherdess!Why do I do this job, I ask myself? Why am I up at sparrow's fart each day, with no days off, a pitiful rate of pay and bosses who are variously cantankerous, cussed or crazy?Then there is a rare day on the hill when the lark rises into the clear air above Skirly Crag, thrilling the glen with its reedy melody, and all is well with the world.
£999.99
Verso Books You Cant Please All
Book SynopsisThe revolutionary upsurge of 1968-1975 jump-hopped continents with ease but finally petered out. What happened after is the subject of You Can’t Please All. Tariq Ali recounts a life committed to writing and cultural interventions. An eyewitness in Moscow to the fall of the Soviet Union, he was caught up in the intellectual excitement that had gripped the country. In Porto Alegre, Hugo Chávez invited him to visit Caracas, and the two men developed a striking friendship.Post-2001, as a founding member of the Stop the War Coalition, he became a fierce critic of the War on Terror, visiting many US cities with surprising regularity to engage in debate and discussion, inaugurating a new phase of political activism. Evident in his work is the integral part politics plays in his life. He is one of the most sought-after socialist and anti-imperialist public intellectuals on most continents.Underlying the narrative is a chain of anecdotes, reflections, jottings
£28.50
Verso Books Perdita
Book SynopsisOur marriage was, from any conventional point of view, wildly implausible; and you, my dear son, are the miraculous product of this beautiful, rather crazy, and all too brief love affair. When Dylan Riley received the devastating news that his wife, Emanuela, had cancer, he turned to writing to express the anguish and disarray brought by her worsening symptoms and then her passing. Perdita, composed for their teenage son, Eamon, is the result of this attempt to represent loss. It is at once a portrait of youth, a lyrical memoir of a marriage, and a raw and moving account of bereavement.Riley describes cancer, Perdita’s central antagonist, as a pitiless opponent, draining hope of its power and reducing it to self-delusion. Its course forces a progressive foreshortening of time. Next year might be terrible, but there can be a few good months now; tomorrow will likely be bad, but let’s focus on today.In this memoir, the disease provokes a broader
£14.24
Olympia Publishers Moving Medusa
Book SynopsisEric Flannagan Jr grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, where The Madison House Big Siblings Program became a pillar of his youth. He recalls the single decision he made to raise his hand in a class, not realizing how this transformative experience would shape his adolescence. Flannagan recounts the impact of those siblings on his upbringing, weaving together his personal experience with broader social and cultural issues. He reflects on the intersections of race, class, and privilege that impacted his childhood and how these continued to influence his outlook into adulthood. Following him through his teenage and university years, Flannagan, a natural linguist and avid traveler, discusses his life''s highs and lows, his periods of growth and transformation, and how he has emerged on the other side of the decision he made over thirty years ago.
£999.99
Olympia Publishers Hell in Paradise
Book SynopsisHell in Paradise is a personal account of my quest to find my friends after the Tsunami in the South of Thailand in 2004. A long time expat in Thailand, it tells my tale of spending 3 days in the aftermath of the devastating tsunami putting the clues together trying to determine if they are still alive. An emotional, thought-provoking book describing horrific events that touched me to my core. Even now, after 18 years, those 3 days spent in hell are still with me so vividly that it needed to be written. The story starts with how we became close friends in a very short time, and what drove me to the decision to go find them.
£999.99
Olympia Publishers The Adopted One
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£999.99
Olympia Publishers Queen Corona Coronation
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£8.54
Olympia Publishers African Tour Leaders Campfire Tales
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£5.99
Olympia Publishers Intern Life on the Ward of a Public Hospital 1973
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£8.54
Olympia Publishers The Beach Boy Volume II Aliyah
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£999.99
Olympia Publishers Child in Chaos
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£6.99
Olympia Publishers Snow As Pretty As Survival
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£999.99
Gill Books A Hundred to One: 100 convictions. 1 Million
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£16.19
Transworld A Purposeful Life
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.''The third Black woman ever to be elected as an MP, Dawn Butler is a pioneer who speaks truth to power. Famously ejected from the House of Commons for calling Boris Johnson a liar, Dawn's sense of purpose has carried her over countless hurdles to help her stand up for what is right and influence transformation, from the Met Police to the NHS.Now, for the first time she recalls the pivotal moments in her life, to give others the courage and conviction to dream big and improve the world around them. Revealing how tradit
£10.44
Troubador Publishing A Very Simple Secret: My parents, their mission
Book SynopsisJudi’s parents were on a mission to remake the world. These were the Cold War years of the 1950s and ‘60s, following a catastrophic world war and the breaking up of colonial empires. The couple had joined many others in giving up conventional careers and family life to work for Moral Re-Armament (MRA), an extensive global movement in its hey-day. Their life goal was to build a ‘hate-free, fear-free, greed-free world’. Between the ages of four and twelve Judi stayed in a series of shared homes and boarding schools while her parents travelled. Uncertain where she belonged, she dreaded being asked what her father did or where she lived, becoming anxious and guarded, almost to breaking point. The author interweaves her unusual childhood memoir with her parents’ parallel story, pieced together from contemporary archives and accounts. She offers a unique insight into the work of the controversial MRA movement, encouraging readers to draw their own conclusions. Judi Conner’s book propels readers back to the mid-20th century era when a war of ideas raged, a new world order was being fought over and high ideals came at a price.
£11.69
Troubador Publishing The Corncrake's Welcome: Memoirs of a Northern
Book SynopsisThe Corncrake's Welcome continues the story of William Hanna’s family, introduced in Voyages with my Grandfather. Spanning a hundred years, these memoirs delve into the turbulent birth of Northern Ireland, wartime Belfast, and the 1960s, when Hanna was growing up in Windsor Manse, next to the Presbyterian Church where his father was the Minister. Join the young boy, enthralled by both the orange sashes of Belfast and the green rugby jerseys of Dublin. See the teenager confronted by the Troubles, beginning to question his religious and national inheritance. Follow Hanna’s coming-of-age journey, from Ireland to Scotland, Switzerland, and France, and watch him set out on a diplomatic career in Dublin and in Brussels. Share his joy and sorrow when he returns to Ireland, after many years serving as EU Ambassador around the world; recalls his father’s historic meeting with Pope John Paul II; and makes poignant discoveries about events a century ago. Praise for Voyages with my Grandfather: ‘Beautifully written. Very moving’ Alexander McCall Smith ‘Extraordinary insight into life of Northern Ireland Presbyterians’ Gail Walker, Belfast Telegraph ‘Wonderful book. A remarkable family story very well told’ Sir Jonathan Faull
£999.99
Troubador Publishing There Is Always Hope
Book SynopsisRather than try to discover the meaning of life, you simply need to live it.On 24 January 2020, Colin's partner, Deidre, receives an unanticipated diagnosis of Stage 4 breast cancer which had spread to her lungs and liver. They are devastated by the news, and their life plans appear shattered.When Deidre's treatments begin and they come to accept their situation, they are thrust into the world of Covid 19, and fear that the consequences of the pandemic will have a disastrous effect on her care plan and their hopes of normality.As lockdown grips the planet, they are forced into isolation and must plan for even the most basic of activities. They are filled, however, with gratitude by the kindness of others and rather than surrender to fear and helplessness, they decide to meet each challenge positively.There is Always Hope is an authentic and poignant memoir written to encourage and uplift the partners of those living with cancer. It reflects the challenges faced by those surrounding the patient as they confront their inevitable feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness and adapt to their new circumstances while trying to maintain a normal life.Proceeds from the book''s sales will be donated to the Make 2nds Count charity.
£10.79
Troubador Publishing Ltd Its Not the Strongest That Survives
Book SynopsisLily Whelan was once told by a doctor that she had more chance of winning the lottery than recovering from ME/CFS.Luckily, she likes a challenge.Two years after contracting glandular fever, she ignored the fact that she had a face like a pufferfish and escaped to the University of Cambridge to achieve her dream of becoming a top scientist.But her immune system had other ideas. And a virus wasn't the only thing she found herself fighting, as she came up against a doctor that judged her health based on her thigh measurements; friends who made helpful comments such as You're not still ill, are you?; and a society that too often dismisses ME/CFS sufferers as lazy or crazy.Unable to achieve her goals, she set out to find medical answers. Along the way, she began to question her beliefs and learned that when you can't define yourself by what you do, you find out who you really are.Packed with scientific insight and practical pointers, It's Not the Strongest That Survives tells a tale of finding fulfilment, and shines a light on what it means to truly heal.
£10.44
Troubador Publishing Ltd May I Borrow Your Watch
Book SynopsisA Change man, a changed man.I knew I was a bit tired. After all, full-time employment since 1986 will do that to you. I even knew I was a bit stressed, but still something was not quite right.I sat, I waited.All that waiting. Sitting next to a rotund middle-aged lady wearing an over-tight Hello-Kitty-holding-an-AK47 t-shirt who was punching away at Candy Crush on her mobile. I stared gloomily at a television warning me about the perils of haemorrhoids, knowing full well I should be back at the office, grinding away.I was ushered into the nurse''s office less than an hour after arrival, not too bad. I got poked in both ears, a blast of light in the eyes, and my temperature was taken. And then I got my arm squeezed for the blood pressure reading.That's odd,' says the nurse. ''Let me do that again''. ''That is very odd,'' she says again. ''Would you mind just waiting there?''Mike had juggled life, love, laughter, and loss. It nearly did for him. Mike is done with his old life. Mike is alive and kicking.
£11.69
Canongate Books Foreign Fruit
Book SynopsisA sharp-sweet memoir of change, identity and hybridity. I loved it - KATHERINE MAY, author of WinteringThe orange we know, waxed in vats, gathered in red netting and stacked in supermarket displays, is not the same orange that grew from the first straggling orange grove that took root on the Tibetan plateau, part pomelo and part mandarin. The orange is a souvenir of history. Across time, it has been a harbinger of God and doom, fortune and failure, pleasure and suffering. It is a fruit containing metaphors, dreams, mythologies, superstitions, parables and histories within its tough rind. So, what happens when the fruit is peeled and each segment - each moment of history, each meaning in time - is pulled apart?In this distinct, subversive and intimate hybrid memoir, Katie Goh explores the orange as a means of understanding the world, and herself within it. What she finds is a world of violence, colonialism, resilience, survival, adaptation - and of unexpected beauty and sweetness against all odds.
£15.29
Publishing Push LTD Fancy That!
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£14.99
Olympia Publishers Liphumile Bathembu Litshonile Makhonz egoduka
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£12.59
Olympia Publishers Baby Boomer A PostWar Chronicle
£10.44
Troubador Publishing English Solitaire Cowboy Cuckoo...
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£10.79
Troubador Publishing More Lakeland Larks Laughter and Lunacies
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£8.54
The Book Guild Ltd Delirium Diaries
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£8.54
Troubador Publishing Red House to Exodus
Book SynopsisDi Castle was born at Harpenden Memorial Hospital (known as the Red House) The memoir, set in Harpenden, spans the 1950s and 1960s - a time of great social change following the Second World War. It includes her home experience, early schooldays. Subsequently, transition to grammar school was followed by secretarial training at St Albans College of Further Education. She then worked as a medical secretary at Luton and Dunstable Hospital and later at St Albans City Hospital.A The author has used research of the 1950s and 1960s to place her life in context. From starting school, Festival of Britain in 1951, the Coronation in 1953, milk and coal delivered by horse and cart, moving house, numerous pets such as rabbits, a tortoise, budgies, and even a mouse! She and her sister entertained themselves with skipping ropes, Jokari, hopscotch, a den made from runner bean canes and hessian sacks that brought our coal for our open fire and growing flowers and vegetables in our own dedicated gardens.Red House to Exodus is a humorous yet informative memoir that combines historical research of the time and area and will appeal to anyone born in the post-war period.
£12.14
Troubador Publishing Ltd Garlick
Book SynopsisWhen John Eccleston's dad went into care, his childhood home in the Lancashire countryside, Garlick House, was cleared. The contents were shabby; most of them seemed destined for charity shops or the tip. But John, for whom change had come too suddenly, decided to save as much as possible, as if his childhood itself would be lost if he did not. He brought a vanload of things down to his already crowded studio flat in London.Years have passed, John still looks after most of the old treasures that he rescued, though his wife and son aren't especially interested in them. What do these old things mean to him now? Can he recapture his childhood and the history of his family in these familiar objects and in the stories that they bring back to him? And even if he can, are the things themselves, in the end, just clutter?In this book, written as a guide to his possessions, for the benefit of his teenage son (who will inherit the lot one day), John examines a hundred and one old things. Piece by piece, he recreates a rural childhood.
£10.44
Troubador Publishing Stories of Other Worlds
Book SynopsisA unique collection of non-fiction stories drawn from the author's lifetime experiences where the author lived and worked in seven countries and visited more than fifty countries for professional purposes. The Stories are disparate and cover events in Africa, Asia and Europe.
£12.14
Troubador Publishing When Nature Nurtures
Book SynopsisWhen Nature Nurtures began its life as a short story written for a writing competition, which the author went on to win. What transpired after inspired her to share more of her nature stories and experiences and thus When Nature Nurtures was created.A cathartic and evocative book, When Nature Nurtures features ten short stories, sometimes humorous, sometimes sad, but always written with honesty. It follows some of the author's experiences fishing the tributaries rivers of the Towy, in Carmarthenshire, for the ever-elusive salmon; the collection of a swarm of bees to bring home in a car; a picnic with the prince of the palace; a hazelnut robbery; and a summer's day trip on a canal boat from the author's professional experience as a carer.Lizzy writes as she lives, with her heart on her sleeve.
£10.79
Troubador Publishing Amid the Alien Corn
Book SynopsisA memoir describing how a search for the truth about the author's enigmatic, distant mother bears witness to past and present oppression.
£12.59
Troubador Publishing The Cameramans Cut
Book SynopsisA thrilling memoir detailing the countless documentary shoots Colin Clarke experienced over his career, exploring fifty years of factual television.
£999.99
Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers PUSSIFIED
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£999.99
Icon Books Damn This War!: Between the Blitz and the Desert,
Book Synopsis'Moving, funny ... an exquisite story of love, hope, distance and, ultimately, disenchantment.' Mail on Sunday'A sad and truthful fragment of modern history' TLS'Beautifully written' Jenny UglowThe love story of Zippa and Tony is nothing without the context of the Second World War.The war introduced them - they met as blackout wardens in London. It gave them darkened streets to wander in, hand in hand, then, by sending Tony away to officer training camps, it sharpened their hunger for each other, casting a glow over his comings and goings. It turned them into schemers and wanglers against fate and army regulations. It pressed them into marriage, and when the war decided to deploy him to North Africa, it whispered the urgent question of a baby. To which Tony, thinking of the war, replied maybe not; and Zippa, thinking of the war, said yes.In spite of themselves, the war experience was changing them both, and yet both were hanging on, looking back, suspended in memory and time, and living from letter to letter.Decades later, their daughter Julie discovered their letters, and piecing them together began to create a portrait of her parents and their relationship that was completely unfamiliar to her. Vivid, honest and completely absorbing, Damn This War! is a true insight into a wartime love story.Trade ReviewMoving, funny ... an exquisite story of love, hope, distance and, ultimately, disenchantment. * Mail on Sunday *A beautifully written family story, and a moving account of the toll of war, in the desert and at home. -- Jenny UglowDamn This War is a sad and truthful fragment of modern history ... Julie Hankey remembers her parents with the wisdom of her own long years, and pays them and their times due tribute * The Times Literary Supplement *
£999.99
Hay House UK Ltd The Rise: An Unforgettable Journey of Self-Love,
Book SynopsisThe time has come for you to connect with your greatest self. The time has come for you to rise.After the tragic loss of her son and a marriage that ended in divorce and near-bankruptcy, world-renowned health and transformation expert Danette May found her life in shambles. But when her options seemed to have run out, she began to hear a voice inside her telling her it was time.Danette never predicted that her journey would take her into a world bikini competition, to a sacred healer in Costa Rica, or through a process of heart-wrenching forgiveness. But in following her soul's calling, she established her own international business and touched the lives of millions of people around the world.With raw honesty and shocking vulnerability, Danette shares her insights of self-love and forgiveness to help you manifest the fullest expression of yourself. She distills the essence of sparking your own transformation and guides you through the small daily 'hinges' that will open life's doors for you.
£12.99
Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers The Beachcomber who becomes Master of Ceremonies
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£11.69
Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers Nursing Through a Pandemic
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£999.99
Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers The Force of the Living
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£10.44
Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers Chimera A Shapeshifters Journey
£17.09
i2i Publishing Andy & Me
Book SynopsisAndy and Me: A Life for My Disabled Son is an inspiring story about one family's experience dealing with disability.
£9.45
i2i Publishing Alzheimer's!
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£7.59
