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A Young Girl’s War
Imagine growing up in London during World War II and being evacuated multiple times. Your simple way of life as an eight-year-old being utterly torn apart. Missing your family and being absolutely petrified that you would never see them again. Then, returning to London, to a life of sleepless nights in the air raid shelter – would it be enough protection from the relentless bombings? Would you see the sunrise in the morning, to see the sights of blown out houses down the street? A life of strict rationing and wondering if German invasion was imminent – would England ever be the same again? For Sheila Nelson, this was the harsh reality of life from 1939-1945.
£7.99 -
A Wild Life: The Edwin Wiek Story
Edwin Wiek is a true wildlife warrior. A rebel from childhood, this Dutchman is the founder of Asia's largest multispecies wildlife rescue centre, a fearless interrupter of illicit wildlife trafficking and an advisor to the Thai government on animal law reform. This was not always his life. A serious car accident led him to turn his back on a 'perfect', easy living in the fashion business in the search for meaning. He has been raided, arrested several times, injured and threatened, but his focus is unwavering. Edwin has been featured liberally on Bondi Vet, Animal Planet and National Geographic and ABC's Foreign Correspondent. He is rude, rebellious and recalcitrant, but no one has done more in Asia to give so many rescued animals as close to a wild life as possible. No holds are barred in this thorough biography of a remarkable game-changer.
£9.99 -
A War Time Childhood And This is the Way I Saw It
I am in my eighties and have enjoyed reading books all of my life. I believe that those of us who enjoy reading books should write one and this is mine.
As a child growing up during the Second World War, family members over the generations have often asked me about my memories of that time.
This is how I remember it.
£9.99 -
A View from the West Upper
This book will take Arsenal and football fans through a magical journey from spring 1995 right through to spring 2017. It describes the level of change in society whilst supporting a 21st-century football club and business.
It highlights how people interact and how we look at change, but also demonstrates how important security can be too. We explore the club’s adventure on and off the field through ambition, hope, risk and success, all cross-referenced to our daily real-life journey.
This account will make you think back to those early days of change whilst making you laugh and appreciate how fortunate we are to support this great club and business.
Regardless of how long you have been supporting Arsenal, this book will be a hugely entertaining read.
£7.99 -
A Test of Strength
From surviving childhood trauma and confiding in her doll to cope with the abuse of her father, to giving birth to a child with spina bifida at age 19, this Australian woman’s life has been marked by strength and determination. She shares her inspiring story of triumph, including her pride at winning the title of Mrs NSW in a quest to raise funds for disabled children and her bravery in facing stage three breast cancer. But her strength is tested to its limits with the heartbreaking loss of two grown children, and she shares the spiritual signs that bring her comfort during her emotional journey of writing her life’s story. This is a brutally honest and uplifting autobiography of one woman’s determination to overcome the obstacles life throws her way.
£10.99 -
A Story of Hope and Happiness
This is a story of triumph over adversity – an absorbing, thought-provoking, sometimes amusing but often heart-rending account of British businesswoman Rosemary Bidwell’s struggles to set up and run an orphanage in Sierra Leone, West Africa, for orphaned street children – youngsters whose parents had been savagely killed in a truly awful civil war.
Read how, against seemingly insurmountable odds, Rosemary founded the Cotton Tree Children’s Trust charity in 2006 and set about raising thousands of pounds through donations, sponsorship, talks and myriad fund-raising events to give 20 African children a second chance in life.
Through her charity, Rosemary provided her charges not only with a roof over their heads, regular meals, clothing and general welfare and educational support, but love and affection.
Read, too, how Rosemary had to overcome all manner of obstacles on the way to achieving her goal: everything from corruption, bribery, fraud and interrogation by police for 11 hours without diplomatic representation to being falsely accused of child trafficking and suffering a suspected heart attack and having to be airlifted home.
Despite the trials and tribulations, Rosemary has overcome the many and varied setbacks she encountered over a period of 18 years. Today, thanks to her dedication, perseverance and Christian beliefs, the Cotton Tree children can now face the future with confidence and know that they have been given an opportunity to prosper in life that, sadly, has been denied to so many other Sierra Leone children.
£12.99 -
A Slice of Life from a Vicar's Wife
Jean Jarvis was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, a market town in the East Midlands and part of the Portland estate within the Dukeries.
Her working life has been spent in schools in Worksop and Sheffield. She lived through the time when Britain was recovering from World War II. It was the time of Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets.
She met and married the curate and became his wife and mother of two children.
During this time, she met John Betjeman, a friend of her husband. She acquired his fun name, “The Smasher”.
Her love of art and music continued throughout her life, and she became a church organist. Her love of painting is a set of fourteen stations of the cross, which was on show for a short time in Derby Cathedral.
This is the story of a long and happening life, told in slices.
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A Question of Belief
Belief is rarely pure and never simple. This book explores the particular perplexities of belief as experienced by one female vicar in the Church of England. To exercise a public and representational role within any faith community will always bring its own pressures and paradoxes. Here, the author acknowledges and explores her own questions, which cover a wide range of topics from politics to preaching; from science to suffering. A constant theme of the book is the relationship between fact and truth. Fact is, of course, an important vehicle of truth, but not the only one. Symbolism, metaphor, myth, the creative arts have all conveyed the deep truths of Christianity to the author, who remains totally committed to her faith. Perhaps unsurprisingly, however, she takes a non-literalist view of belief, which she accepts will not be shared by some fellow Christians. But in her experience and understanding, to follow Christ means to seek the eternal truth which he embodied, and which will always be more elusive and intriguing than a recital of fact. And – for the author at least – more joy-giving. This is a hopeful book!
£7.99 -
A Passion to Run
After ten years of six-days-a-week training, she has gained three bronze medals in individual events and three relay medals at World Masters level, yet the competitive fire still burns brightly. She continues to train and now, as a sprint coach, she shares her passion for running to enable others to improve technically and live out their dreams. Speed is always the focus, whether her athletes are training for rugby, football, basketball, netball, hockey, track, tennis or mogul skiing.
£9.99 -
A Nice Quiet Life
This is the story of my grandfather’s life in the Merchant Navy, originally written by him during his retirement. He was a Marine Engineer from 1908 to 1945. This book describes a lifetime of adventure, hardship, and joy on all the different ships that he sailed, from grand liners to rusty hulks. He survived the two world wars, the depression of the 1930s, and at one time he even took his family to sea with him.
He sailed on the Oceanic, the Olympic, the Britannic, and almost sailed on the Titanic. During the First World War he spent some time as a volunteer tugboat engineer at the Gallipoli Landings and later saved a ship from sinking from a torpedo strike. During the Second World War he survived two shipwrecks from torpedo strikes and avoided another sinking, thanks to the Enigma code breakers. He met a whole variety of people throughout the world during his career and often gave humorous talks in many ports that he visited around the world.
This book also gives some details on the ships he sailed and a small window into the events, and the world at those times.
£8.99 -
A New Reality and One Year Without You
This book is divided into two different sections. The first section is about the time when Nan first fell ill, how we all dealt with it as a family and how we looked after Nan throughout the duration of her illness. The second section is about Nan’s passing; from the day she passed away right through the whole of the first year and how I personally dealt with it.
I felt the need to write a book about it because, whether we have faced it or are yet to, it is inevitable that everyone will experience the grief of losing a loved one at some point in their life.
More importantly, I wrote this book in the hope that my words and experiences that I share here will help someone who is currently going through what I went through.– Rianna Webster
£10.99 -
A New Home and Other Stories
What could happen when you leave behind the life you have known and travel to a faraway country? Would you go to a place where everything feels different, and no one speaks like you do? Have you ever thought about what that must be like? Join Lina and her family on their adventures to a new home. This historical memoir will take you on a road of fulfilling dreams and the troubles along the way.
£6.99