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The Lamb Of God
England, the 1460s: the conflict known as the Wars of the Roses, pitting Lancastrian against Yorkist, is at its height. After his terrible experiences at the Battle of Towton and the siege of Bamburgh Castle, Philip Neville is tasked with finding and escorting the recently deposed Henry VI – a man so pious and kind-hearted that many call him ‘the lamb of God’ – to London. During the period of relative peace that follows, Philip, previously disappointed in love, is at last persuaded to take a wife and make his way at court but finds it difficult to rein in his belligerent and insubordinate nature.
Despite his burning hatred for the ambitious nobles who have profited from the war, Philip remains steadfastly loyal to the new king, Edward IV. However, that loyalty is tested as never before when the alliance between the two most powerful men in the country – King Edward and Richard Neville, known as ‘Warwick the Kingmaker’ – begins to fray…
The Lamb of God is the second book in Philip Photiou’s War of the Roses trilogy. The first, The Wrath of Kings, was praised by best-selling author Philippa Gregory for its ‘intense realism and wealth of period detail’: qualities that The Lamb of God displays on every page.£3.50 -
The King's Fixer
Thomas Crookes, a depraved 15th century priest driven by an insatiable pursuit of power, resorts to murder and blackmail to rise within the medieval Church, itself rife with corruption maintaining its hold over the people by expounding the threat of hell-fire whilst tolerating iniquity and immorality in its own ranks.
Thomas, full of ambition, ingratiates himself with King Edward IV becoming his close confidant and fixer, thus thrusting him into machination and intrigue at the very heart of the kingdom.
This is medieval society in the raw with its bawdiness, brutality and violence brought to life in colourful detail. The bloody battles of Towton and Tewkesbury, the hunting, feasting, whore-houses, public executions, superstition and bustling markets all combine to make a gritty gripping story in an extremely evocative 15th century setting.
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The Journey – Prologue to Hell
The Journey – Prologue to Hell is indeed what the book’s title tells all its readers. It gives exactly the train passengers’ experience to those who’d been gathered up from their homes to be transported on it. To what, those passengers had wondered. Given false knowledge of a wonderful life they were being taken to by Nazis who’d dragged them out onto the road into waiting lorries then onto a train, they soon found that was false. They discovered the train journey didn’t lie, though; it showed its passengers the truth long before it ended.
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The Impaler Prince
In fifteenth-century Eastern Europe, Vlad III of Wallachia conducted a reign of terror. He had citizens impaled by the thousands. People were butchered on his merest whim. In his realm, and beyond it, men and women lived in dread of the Impaler Prince. And this Prince revelled in the horror he inspired.
He was a sadist, seen by some as a being of unequalled depravity, even as the Devil’s own spawn. But Vlad was also a man who had the qualities of a great leader: strength, courage, intelligence and commitment to an ideal. He was a crusader against the infidel who considered himself a true warrior of Christ.
Here, his story is told by four men whose lives overlapped with his; men who were influenced by him to the point of obsession. But it is also told by Vlad himself. The inner thoughts of the butcher of Wallachia are exposed. And there is much more to this sinister figure than many would have imagined.£3.50 -
The Hidden Spaniard
Spring 1998 –Norah, an American woman journalist, currently adrift in her life, heads to Belfast, Northern Ireland to cover the unfolding Peace Accords. In addition, she is also unravelling a family legend.In another spring, 410 years past, Spain prepares the greatest naval fleet ever assembled. Europe is abuzz with rumours of an invasion to unseat the “English Jezebel”, Queen Elizabeth I.In 1588s Celtic Ireland, a 15 year old pagan girl is an apprentice seamstress earning her way and experiencing history’s surprises as a shipwrecked, Spanish Soldier is washed ashore on a local Irish beach.“The truth must become a legend to survive,” it has been said. Did any Armada shipwrecked survivors leave any descendants in Ireland? Quite possibly.What history has downplayed, due to a collective Irish guilt, may indeed be the truth.Religion, magick and politics intertwine in this tale, as the omission of the historical truths are finally revealed.A 16th century event has echoes to our current era, when history is hijacked by the victors.Yet, eventually, “The truth will out.”Even if that truth arrives centuries later.
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The Guard Dogs of Babylon
Lewis Henry lived through the post World War II demise of European imperial adventures. After centuries of conflict, genocide and slavery of indigenous peoples to maximise profits from their colonies, the ruling powers confronted each other in a devastating war. The lessons learned from this disaster led to the adoption of more enlightened philosophies, systems of government and social institutions to avoid further destruction on a global scale. Hence, European societies were transformed into welfare states, former colonies gained their ‘independence’, and transport and communications were improved worldwide. The technological revolutions of the 21st century are now creating a global village that requires the elimination of oppression based on gender, class, race, caste and ethnicity so that people may live in peace and prosperity. This novel, by the descendant of slaves whose voices have not been heard for centuries, is a modest contribution to the creation of a better world.
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The Great History of the Manor Bouchove Part 1: Small Village in the Big World
We live in a house in the centre of a small village. With its stately façades and turret, the villagers sweetly call it châtelet. Before us, French noblesse stayed in it, gentry with impressive estates in France. During numerous holiday trips, we located and documented all of it. But that didn't give an answer to the question: How to present it in a digestible...no, into a captivating manner?
How to abridge the centuries and how to connect the turbulent history of Europe with everyday life in the village?
For that purpose, I introduced a family of estate stewards employed by the Masters of Bouchove. After all, ‘masters come and go, but stewards stay’. Besides clerks, marketers and a villain.
Thus, I got a storyline and could start processing the numerous bits and pieces of information into three volumes that give the rich history of Bouchove.£3.50 -
The Golden Threads
Nellie was brought up by her grandparents and lived in the East End of London. At the age of 19, she was able to start the job she had wanted, in a large J. Lyons & Co. Corner House tea room in London, where she became a ‘Nippy’, as the waitresses were called, where she also met her lifelong friend Connie.
Soon after she also met the love of her life, Tommy Brown, but her idyllic life was soon to change with the outbreak of WW2. The comfortable and safe routine of life was soon turned on its head.
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The Glass Bulldog
One mistake can change your life…
Exeter, 1833. Since the recent cholera outbreak and the tragic loss of his little sister, Annie, young Tom Finnimore has been struggling with poverty and a dreadful new job.
Following a lovers' quarrel, in desperation, he steals some chickens but, unfortunately, is caught in the act.
After a traumatic time in prison, Tom starts again with his first love by his side. However, life with the beautiful but foolish Mary Ann doesn’t work out and Tom is left alone again, brokenhearted.
The handsome widow Phyllis gives Tom another chance of happiness, but when her family discovers the dark secret of his criminal past, they threaten to destroy him.
On the verge of retirement, the couple realise that Tom’s past could still ruin their daughter’s happiness and prevent her from marrying the man she loves.
Can Tom find peace and redemption at last?
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The Folks from Fowlers Bay
History is not always the exact truth but a narrative flavoured by the writer’s passion and background and the time when she or he lived. It is particularly true for southern Australia's history because it was put on paper by the colonialists. It is as if the history of Australia started then, and nothing happened before. Many past stories representing the history of aboriginal Australia are lost because its people died rapidly of infectious diseases, malnutrition and wars. Even these stories may not be the exact truth because they were told and re-told many times. But somewhere within the tales and the stories, there is a truth, and I have tried to find it. Behind the glamorous reports of Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin’s maritime exploits, one can find their humanity, aspirations and failures. The history of the people that lived along the South Australian coast from the Murray River, the Encounter Bay (Ramong to the Ramindjeri people), Kangaroo Island to Port Lincoln (Kallinyalla, the Place of Sweet Water, to the Barngarla people), and along the entire west coast of the Eyre Peninsula, is at best scanty. But there are stories—interesting stories—of whalers, escaped convicts and their lives among the aboriginal people. Here, I meld these stories together in a tale of love, adventure and imagination.
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The Fallen
My name is Sath… My name is Sathariel, actually. I am one of those who people call ha-Satan. Yes, it means “adversary” in Aramaic and yes, it is “adversary of God”. But for some reason, everyone has forgotten that those who you nicknamed like this, were first and foremost the defenders of people, who stand by you before a Heavenly court. It was providence we didn’t choose. It was decided instead for us.
You, people, have given us many names, but none of them was correct, and you people, have given us functions completely unfamiliar to us. We were deities to you at first, then we became the outcasts. And we were Iyrin, the Watchers, who guard and protect you. And who decides if we’ve done our jobs well?
It would be foolish to make excuses now. Who am I to do this?
My name is Sathariel and it means “the one who is on the other side of God”. But I’m just an archivist who writes time. Every moment of time, from the beginning of time.
Who am I? I’m just one of the Brethren, one among two hundred of “the fallen”. But now... now I want to tell you our real story.
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The Enemy at Home
After the funeral, as Jack Brown stood by the grave of his father, Bill, his eyes displayed different feelings, true feelings, of anger and disgust towards his father as he muttered, “Rot in hell you old bastard.”
Jack couldn’t forgive his father for the misery he had caused him and his friend, Harold, for their arrest as deserters during World War One, when he would have known full well the penalty for desertion was the firing squad. The same went for the death of their mothers, and his sister’s escape to Canada.
Will his feelings ever get resolved?
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