White Is Black

A patient’s journey in intensive care always starts like a tennis ball landing on top of the net, at the tipping point. Not only for the one in the bed.

Doctor Apfelstein, a specialist in the field, recounts his rise and fall; from flamboyance to custody; from the sleaziest north-east suburb of Paris where he may have killed some of his guests, to the jungle of Harley Street, and finally the flatlands of Norfolk.

He portrays the darkest recesses of his trade, the fleeting nature of life and love, and the blessings of all sorts of music: the soothing drug he needs.

When his own tennis ball lands on top of the net that separates oblivion from memories, at the tipping point, he has chosen his side. Memories. His way.

Translated from French by Brigid Purcell, PhD in European Literature, assisted by Philippe Grunstein, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London), Associate Professor of Medicine, for specific vocabulary of Respiratory Medicine and Intensive care.

White Light

Meet Andy Kent.

Husband, dad, businessman and survivor of death.

This is the story of a person’s life – the story of a life fully lived, a life touched by many others and a life that has made a difference. It hasn’t been plain sailing, and many lessons have been hard-learned along the way. From a cerebral haemorrhage he should not have survived to an impossible fund-raising walk spanning the length of the country, discover the incredible true story of a man whose mission it is to help others, whatever the cost.

Love, loss, and life combine in this inspiring account of a man who has always refused to give up, and whose determination has helped so many people.

This is Andy Kent’s story so far…

Who Do You Think You Are?

This is at once a personal memoir and the story of what it is like to grow up and live alienated from the values of the society into which one was born. In the deeply fissured modern world, many now find themselves similarly in places where rival ideologies and interests are tearing their worlds apart. This is an account of how awareness of such a world reveals itself. In South Africa apartheid succeeded in enshrining its own particular values in law. But the roots of what had brought its monstrosity into being have never been confined to South Africa. They remain plain to see in the world today: intolerance, bigotry, fanaticism – xenophobia, racism, nationalism. 

In this memoir, Hitler’s installation as German Chancellor and the rise of Nazism leads directly to the author’s early sense of not belonging: a growth in awareness of the reasons for the feeling and acute sensibility to the rifts and fractures lying beneath the surface of a comfortable domestic life. It clarifies how personal beliefs may become diametrically opposed to those of the society to which one belongs by birth. So the question of identity quickly arises: ‘Where do I fit in? Who am I?’ It was this that many Whites asked themselves in apartheid South Africa, but it is also one that increasingly must be asked by many today.

Wild Colonial Boy

This autobiographical novel narrates the journey of Dan Docherty, a young Glasgow law graduate and karate black belt, who left his traditional Catholic family in 1975 to serve in the notoriously corrupt Royal Hong Kong Police.

In Hong Kong, he learned Chinese language intensively, then drill, musketry and law. A famous Tai Chi master accepted him as a disciple and trained him to become an international full contact champion.

In this book we’ll have a few beers with colourful characters like Big Don and Mountie Dave. We’ll visit exotic locales—Manila, Macao, Singapore… We’ll witness Dan in full contact competition and in street fight action. As they say in the Hong Kong Police, “If you can’t take a joke, you shouldn’t have joined.” 

Witness To History

For almost fifty years, Mohinder Dhillon was one of Africa’s foremost news cameramen and documentary filmmakers. This book is both a personal memoir and a photographic record of the many remarkable events he covered over the course of an extraordinary career – events that were to change the course of history.
This book is much more than a collection of photographs. It offers fascinating insights into the behaviour of contemporary African leaders: Emperor Haile Selassie, Jomo Kenyatta, William Tubman, Julius Nyerere, Milton Obote, Idi Amin, Col. Gamel Nasser, Léopold Senghor, Kwame Nkrumah, Muammar Gaddafi and Robert Mugabe among them. Mohinder’s encounters with these and other leading figures of the day took place against the backdrop of the Cold War proxy conflicts that were then tearing Africa apart.
While primarily a vivid eye-witness account of the many turbulent events that shaped Africa during and immediately after the colonial era, this wide-ranging memoir also documents events that Mohinder filmed in South Yemen, Vietnam and elsewhere in the world.
To the fore throughout is Mohinder’s deep and abiding sense of compassion, both in his approach to photojournalism and as a committed humanitarian.

A Traveller in Fujian Province, China

It is said that travel broadens the mind. This is true, but it does not happen automatically. One must make the effort to observe and appreciate. One must allow oneself to be affected and changed. During his four and a half years living in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China, Greg McEnnally endeavoured to do just that, helped enormously by the people he met – and hence this book is dedicated to them. He also read as much as he could, and this also helped him come to a greater understanding and appreciation.This book describes places: cities and towns, mountains and rivers, islands and countryside, but it also endeavours to present the people and their customs. The author found the whole experience exhilarating, informative and always interesting. It is hoped that the reader will share in this.

A Wolf in the Kitchen

A Wolf in the Kitchen is the prequel to Jim’s first book, Sled Dog Gun: Aviemore Dreaming.In 1987 Jim and Cherry bought their very first Siberian Husky… Hustler.On showing him to people for the first time, they were asked the inevitable question: “Is that a baby wolf?”A year later in the Summer of 1988 a small advert in a local paper changed their lives forever. They discovered the sport of “dog sledding.”Over the next 15 years, more dogs were bought until they had eleven.What follows is the story of these years and is both highly amusing, and often downright funny.After much perseverance, and some frustration, Jim transforms these dogs into one of the fastest teams in Great Britain.With it came recognition that he never imagined, and he and his team found fame on national radio and TV and played a part in a major movie film.A lovely easy read that is suitable for all ages.

An Inside Job

An Inside Job is a gripping story of life as a chaplain inside Lincoln prison, a local jail opened in 1872. Joy Osborne writes from the heart with sensitivity and passion. The reader is drawn into a world which is generally unknown to the public. Following theological training, Joy felt God calling her beyond the church building to work inside the prison walls with some of the country’s most prolific offenders. She shared in the lives of those shunned by society and saw beyond crimes committed to the person’s humanity. Inside the busy jail, it was often ministry on the ‘hoof’, responding to an immediate crisis. Being ready with a listening ear, advice, compassion, an offer of help and prayers when requested were just part of a busy day. The challenges of prison life are portrayed in this book and are felt by the reader as they journey with Joy on an amazing walk through the prison and beyond.

An IT Contractor Life

This book is an excursus of Max’s career in both data and analytics, in general I.T., and the heavy metal underground of Italy in the mid-80s. This dichotomy has characterised Max’s adult life, which is highlighted in the book and everything Max does with his spare time. Sometime filled with sad moments, some hilarious stories and some great advice for I.T. professionals and metal heads alike, it’s mainly the story of a man like you and me who cannot say no to anybody and has a focus and resilience that only a few possess.

Animal and Client Encounters

Qualifying as a veterinary surgeon over 50 years ago, James has seen enormous changes in his work of a general practitioner. From being a student learning from James Herriot through general practice to involvement with university life, the author has had an extremely busy life that encompassed many exciting, humorous, and quite often dangerous experiences!The elation and satisfaction of successful outcomes as well as the sadness of end-of-life scenarios are all portrayed together with the hardships and rigour of working on farms in adverse weather conditions.This is balanced by the recounting of the many, often self-deprecating, humorous episodes that made up the daily life of this vet. Although gentle fun is conveyed in the majority of the stories, it is not at the expense of nor the dignity of the clients, all of whom were greatly respected.Life was never dull and the unexpected was only ever a phone call away.

An Essential Ally

Why was the ABDA Command created to defend Java? Were the losses of people and planes justified?Why were the United States’ largesse, leadership and luck alone not enough to win the war against Japan?Where and when was this war won and how did luck make this possible?What was it like living in Australia during the war against Japan?These and many other previously unanswered questions are all answered in An Essential Ally.

Burberry Days

At the end of the 1950s the 100-year-old clothing firm Burberry was a troubled company with an uncertain future, whose new owners did not know what to do with it once they had secured it.Brian Kitson joined Burberry in 1958 expecting a temporary summer job and stayed for over twenty years. His research into the company's distinguished past, encouraged by the last Mr Burberry, began to suggest a possible direction for regeneration...Written with great verve and wit, Burberry Days tells of the author's unexpected adventures as an international travelling Burberry salesman throughout the 1960s and '70s, as well as exploring the origins of the company's emblematic trench coat and the familiar house check.The book also offers some controversial reasons why Britain, with so much to offer - from the Savile Row suit, the Jermyn Street shirt and Scottish cashmere to workforce skills and great design talent - can still only count Burberry in the premier league of international fashion houses.