The First 1,000 Days

This book traces the history of the child’s brain during the 270 days of pregnancy plus the first two years of life. Its author, the neurobiologist Yehezkel Ben-Ari, is one of the most renowned specialists in autism and childhood epilepsy. It gives us the keys to learning to detect disorders linked to brain development. Contrary to popular belief, many neurological and psychiatric illnesses occur before the age of two, particularly during pregnancy and birth! A decisive period to prepare for the health of the future child, provided you have the right information.

This great scientist also tells us the story of his life, which shaped his work as a researcher, guided by the sense of commitment and a non-conformist spirit essential to innovation in science.

The First 1,000 Days

This book traces the history of the child’s brain during the 270 days of pregnancy plus the first two years of life. Its author, the neurobiologist Yehezkel Ben-Ari, is one of the most renowned specialists in autism and childhood epilepsy. It gives us the keys to learning to detect disorders linked to brain development. Contrary to popular belief, many neurological and psychiatric illnesses occur before the age of two, particularly during pregnancy and birth! A decisive period to prepare for the health of the future child, provided you have the right information.

This great scientist also tells us the story of his life, which shaped his work as a researcher, guided by the sense of commitment and a non-conformist spirit essential to innovation in science.

A Coven of Cats

A Coven of Cats tells the true story of the author’s longstanding love affair with cats. It begins with her experiences of growing up with cats, from the age of four, and continues with the narrative of her ongoing relationship with felines, culminating in her (and her husband’s) love affairs with Burmese: animals that combine the best (and worst) features of cats, dogs and monkeys!

The book is full of humour, high drama and the tragedy of loss. The central characters are the cats but the story revolves around the intimate relationship between cats and their human staff.

A Coven of Cats demonstrates how enriching it can be for humans to share life’s ups and downs with these animals. Far from the aloofness sometimes ascribed to felines, this book shows how loving, exciting and rewarding life with cats can be.

The World According to Stoopball

In the Bronx of the 1930s, paradise for a kid was stickball in the street or roasting potatoes in a vacant lot. Nuns ran school with a firm hand, while the restless work ethic of immigrant communities shaped life at home. Long before the digital era, young people ruled the world of play. But they grew up quickly against a backdrop of war. Retired Rear Admiral (USNR) Joe Callo revisits his youth and offers insight on the pursuit of meaning in an over-circuited modern age.

The World According to Stoopball

In the Bronx of the 1930s, paradise for a kid was stickball in the street or roasting potatoes in a vacant lot. Nuns ran school with a firm hand, while the restless work ethic of immigrant communities shaped life at home. Long before the digital era, young people ruled the world of play. But they grew up quickly against a backdrop of war. Retired Rear Admiral (USNR) Joe Callo revisits his youth and offers insight on the pursuit of meaning in an over-circuited modern age.

Shattered

Shelter from the Storm

So many accounts of the years of the Chinese Cultural Revolution focus on its violence and suffering. In this unusual story, Aili describes a happy early childhood in a community whose way of life, with its beliefs and traditions, had been cultivated through centuries. With equal innocence she is able to carry the reader from the intimacy of bedtime to the spectacle of a public shaming, from the facts of foot binding to the mythology of fishermen. Naïve as she must have been, she has no real understanding of the first irruptions of Mao’s bleak communist philosophy into a stable community, and can only hint at the terror, with its re-education and punishments, which accompanied it.

Life and Death

A young girl can’t stop bleeding, a husband has just found out his wife has terminal cancer.

A twenty-five-year-old has been permanently disfigured by her abusive boyfriend. A young nurse was found hanged in her room, the note she left stating stress from work and bullying.

I and my fellow colleagues have spent years trying to save these lives, and in turn help our colleagues; sometimes we succeed, sometimes God has other plans, or things become so embroiled that we are helpless to help. More so now with the added nightmare of battling the Covid-19 epidemic, things have become unbearable. Watching the young, elderly and fellow nurses and doctors die on a daily basis. Having to wear unbearable PPE for gruelling 14 hr shifts.

This is a story of hope, pain, death, and a twist of fate so unreal that it would change my life forever. I used to think good things and luck only happened to other people, until it happened to me. First I became ill myself, nearly died, survived through the sheer hard work of my colleagues, and had a stroke of luck so freaky that it would change my life forever.

Hope floats and good things do happen if you believe hard enough.

Gropius and the Spirit of TAC

This  study describes how Walter Gropius of former Bauhaus fame transformed himself from the image of the omnipotent “Master-Builder” to the humble “Grope” of later years. Having come as an emigree from his native Germany to the US, he had to cope with quite a different office culture based on teamwork: Not the “single genius” but a collective approach to problem solving was the order of the day, coupled with a conciliatory manner of debate among equals. With that, his legendary firm “The Architects Collaborative” (called TAC for short) in Boston was to become the star of the profession in the USA, over the course of some 50 years. Thanks to the combined  talent and vigorous input of seven younger partners, the firm succeeded in gaining large commissions at home and internationally.

The well-designed school and campus buildings in New England found their equivalent in large university projects such as in Baghdad and Tunisia. Internally, the special aura at TAC was personified by a strong collective spirit of individuals in their own right. In turn, the office attracted a highly motivated staff of apprentices from all around the world. Grope’s personal charm, his humor and encouragement of young people got him life-long affection. Not the least, his pledge for the role of women in the profession left its mark on a whole new generation of architects’ offices to follow.

The author was a member of this team from 1962 to 1964 and kept in touch with Grope until his death in 1969.  An eye-witness account setting straight TAC’s merits to “Mid-Century Modernism”.

Crossing the White Line

In his debut book, Zesh Rehman, achieves the ultimate blend of autobiography and self-help guide. Do you want to learn how to take ownership of your life? Then look no further. Using his personal and professional experiences, across different continents and within an extremely competitive industry, Zesh presents twelve easy to follow guides to help you overcome obstacles, remain focussed, and excel in your chosen discipline.

He is also sharing insights into his journey, through candid accounts and extracts from his personal journal. From exploring his own journey and his ‘why’, to overcoming cultural barriers within football and society, to surviving abroad, Zesh uses his learning (and positive behaviours guides), to inspire you to take the next step and commit to overcoming your biggest challenges.

Setbacks occur in every walk of life, but it is how you react that makes the difference. Goal setting and journal keeping are just some of the techniques that are explained that you can use to apply to your own circumstances. Clear examples of how to embrace life and deal with the ever-changing situations arising are covered in detail as well learning how to remain positive to go over, around or through obstacles.

Practical and easy to follow steps that can be used as a road map to long term achievement. Read it, use it, and win – on and off the field.

Pioneers & Icons of Australian Motorsport

The author has captured in words and lavish illustrations (many of his own that have never been seen before), the stories of over one hundred men and women whose personal motor racing journeys paved the way to establish and explode this sport. They did so both locally and overseas, showing that Aussies were as good as the world’s best when it came to not only skill behind the wheel but also in the design and manufacture of the fastest cars, and in organising events of the highest level and regard.

Most of these names are extremely well known by all Aussie petrol heads-household names admired around any backyard barbecue. Just the mention of their names brings nods of respect. But you will additionally read accounts of some very significant lives and racing achievements you previously knew nothing about-and some are quite simply amazing.

There’s our first woman to race commercially overseas. Just how she got there is incredible. Then you share the exploits of an illegal inter-capital record holder who went to New Zealand to break the land speed record, the farmers whose sons and grandsons became racing dynasties, and the home-grown mechanics and car builders whose designs obliterated all competition.

Strap yourself in and hang on. It’s gonna be a bloody wild ride!

From Soul to Soukous (Via Manchester)

As the title suggests this book is a combination of personal musical memoir, travelogue and recollections of a sometime vinyl record and memorabilia collector, wannabe journalist and photographer. It traces the author’s journey both literally and metaphorically across and through a range of musical genres including those discovered during his extensive international travels. From early exposure to The Beatles through to Soul and Blues and on to the more exotic sounds and experiences from across Africa, Eastern Europe and The Middle East to Central America and beyond. However much of the focus here revolves around the Manchester music scene. Whilst there is much here to please the musical geeks with regard to collecting, it is the author’s stories and anecdotes, many involving luminaries from across the musical spectrum that truly engages the reader.

The book includes recollections from notable gigs and concerts including the infamous Derby Hall / Joy Division riot in Bury shortly before singer Ian Curtis committed suicide. This includes postscripts to that gig that are unique and unreported. But whatever your musical taste, this book contains much more. Allowing the reader to share in the author’s emotional and candid roller-coaster ride through his experiences, musical and otherwise, both near and far. From potentially dangerous encounters with Eastern European heavies, dancing on tables at Middle Eastern weddings to communally drinking ‘shake shake’ home brew in dubious African clubs!

With a vast array of unique photographs to illustrate the work, this is a must-read for any self-respecting music fan.