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Holes in the Ground: War and Ore
When Thomas Longois Lefoy is sent to Tangiers to investigate a German plot involving Moroccan phosphates, he uncovers a sinister Soviet Union involvement in the Asturias miners’ strike of 1934 and its unforeseen consequences for Andoni Arriola, a Basque metallurgist. As he delves deeper into the case, he finds himself caught in a web of intrigue involving the Spanish Civil War, the injury and death of British intelligence agents, and the protection of Britain’s interests in the iron and copper mining industries. As he travels from Tangiers to Gibraltar, Huelva, and Bilbao, he witnesses the devastating effects of civil war and the destruction of open-cast mining. Along the way, he encounters Heinrich Rathenau, a German industrial chemist seeking refuge, and becomes embroiled in a dangerous game of espionage and political maneuvering that reveals the high stakes of international trade and the human cost of war.
£18.99 -
George and the Briton
Mark is a young British sailor who is deployed to Antioch in Syria as part of a delegation to brief the Emperor Diocletian on the liberation of Britain from a usurper. By coincidence, he meets the Tribune Constantine who introduces him to a fellow Roman Army officer, George. Mark can write in Latin so George appoints him as his clerk.
Mark is tasked to keep an account of the operations of the ‘special forces’ unit that George commands on the front line of the Eastern Roman Empire. He also keeps his own private diary and is required to provide Constantine, who is a member of Diocletian’s personal staff, with periodic accounts of operations.
As George achieves some extraordinary results and Diocletian manages to stabilise the Roman Empire following a generation of chaos and uncertainty, a new problem arises. Diocletian’s deputy, Caesar Galerius, starts seeing Christianity as a subversive religion. This becomes a challenge for George, his family, and some members of his unit.
This is the tale of Constantine and George, told through the eyes of a young soldier’s diary.
£14.99 -
George (The Teenage Years)
This is an introduction of George to the masses. He is the representative of a whole lost generation (lost to the government and the British public) who have recently been in the news as the revelation of who they are comes out.
George tells the story of an 11-year-old Windrush boy who arrived in England from the island of Jamaica in 1965. The story is narrated in third-person and speaks of the boy’s first experience of being in a cold country, the absence of an introduction to his new family, the difficulties he faces as a new boy in a new school, the struggles to find his place, his resistance in conforming to stereotypical expectations and his fights to maintain the self-pride and independence he learnt from his early years in Jamaica.
As George progresses through the school and struggles to assimilate, he moves from being the outsider to become a cultural educator and a facilitator of his peers and brings together the different groups within his association. However, he has difficulty reconciling his family and church life with his secular associates. Through the boy’s eyes, the narrator depicts how it was at that time for the West Indian immigrant community in London and the group of unnoticed children whom they brought from the islands, how they mixed and associated with each other, their embryonic family and the indigenous population.
£12.99 -
Forgotten America
Sensational work of literature. Eminent of its time. While turning each page, readers go on a riveting journey of the self. Every chapter is an adventure with characters that readers cannot help but to develop a paradoxical relationship with. A heartfelt piece the author created to shed light on how easily we forget that others’ problems may be our own problems.
£12.99 -
For All Time
Would the actions of someone born nearly two hundred years ago affect the lives of those today? Writer Ellie Fuller was about to find out as she sifted through the journals, letters and keepsakes of Liza Marchant, and as she wrote, she began to sense all the magic of a bygone age.
Was Liza the scarlet woman that she had been labelled or was she someone who had many twists and turns in her life, one who subsequently became an inspiration to those around her and continued to do so from beyond the grave?
Ellie begins to see her, feel her and even smell her, and she becomes quite unnerved by the experience, but when her brother Eddy has the same dreams, they both know that they must lay Liza to rest by accurately piecing together her life story and following the routes that she took so many years ago.
£20.99 -
Fleeting Images from a Bloodied Past
Ships against the sea! Was…STILL IS, a threat to all the vessels who sail upon her, and especially so, an ever-present threat to the crews who do their duty and put their lives in harm's way. Of violent storms, tempests… All the unpredictable hell of crosswinds, headwinds and tailwinds, roaring madly like some frenzied monster, changing direction, attempting to plunge the man-made object under the vengeful, towering and swamping thunderous waves, against which so many hardy ships have foundered, perished and been lost. The fact that the CSS Alabama came through such a storm and survived this maelstrom is testimony to the meticulous skills and concentrated painstaking patience and hard work of Laird's well-led and well-managed shipbuilding workforce and professional seamanship, that ensured the crew's safe passage and escape from this seaborne wretchedness. Warships, which survived incredible battle experience, and - at war's end - were reviewed for conversion, replacement or the breaker's yard was a consideration. Not all, however, because the fate of HMS Zealous continued in a new page of history, when she was transferred to the Israeli Navy. Later, in 1967, whilst out on patrol in the Eastern Mediterranean, she was suddenly attacked by Egyptian warships equipped with superior firepower. The new crew of this old warhorse knew that the fate of their emerging and vibrant new nation, fighting to retain her hard-fought existence, was dependent upon their spirited defence. Despite the fact that they were up against Soviet-supplied STYX surface-to-surface missiles, against which they had no defence, they steered into battle, undaunted. With battle pennants flying, they bravely challenged the enemy. Their fearlessness and courage shone in the face of certain destruction and ultimate sacrifice. The Cammell Laird scenario is riveting and strikingly dramatic…
£11.99 -
Finger of Suspicion
This novel depicts events that happened to officers from Strathclyde Police covering the periods between 1990 and 2003. The names have been changed in most circumstances to protect those involved but the detail within the stories reflect events that happened and written by me in my own words as an interpretation of what I recall.
Being a police officer during this time was rewarding and I met many lovely people whilst I worked there and still remain friends with many of them.
Policing during that era was difficult and drugs were a major scourge in the deprived areas in the north of Glasgow and many families lost loved ones through overdose or other serious drug related illnesses. The criminal gangs operated in these areas ruled by fear with many drug dealers only doing it to repay a debt.
The stories provide an insight into a behind the scenes look at how investigations are managed and the characters involved in running them. It is a sad depiction of life at the front end of policing, dealing with death and misery. More alarmingly, it will discuss the lack of support provided by senior officers towards other lower level colleagues.
The author used every power of strength and determination to set the record straight with some of the events and was helped by a few other like-minded friends. It is a story of belief in one another and colleagues involved in these incidents all looked out for one another—which didn’t always happen but I am glad we did!
£12.99 -
Elizabeth's Search
A British nurse on holiday in Germany just prior to the second World War meets a German officer. Their relationship develops and they intend to get married. Unfortunately, the second World War intervenes.
Both are determined to find each other after the war. The girl, Elizabeth, searches for him with the help of a group of American army personnel.
The German officer, Carl, evades capture by the British army in Italy. The British army wants to interrogate him about his services in the German army, both before the war and during the war.
Carl is helped in this evasion by the men in his unit and eventually reaches Germany, his home.
He goes looking for Elizabeth, whom he knows is with the British army medical services.
The interrogation group in the British army assume he will make for his home, so they search for him in that part of Germany. During the course of their search, their man accidently discovers a group of war criminals trying to escape from Germany and is held prisoner.
Carl, at the request of the occupation authorities, helps to bring the group to justice.
£12.99 -
Crossroads in Time Philby and Angleton A Story of Treachery
A never-before-told account of the infamous relationship between the notorious British spy and Soviet agent Harold “Kim” Philby and the CIA’s Associate Director of Operations for Counter Intelligence, James Jesus Angleton. Readers will be drawn into the plot and story line of this historical thriller and real-life spy story. It’s an exciting and fast-paced retelling that promises to shine a light on this major moment in the Cold War. Readers are invited to draw their own conclusions about the events revealed in this book.
£15.99 -
Chasing Crows
Approaching the end of his long life George suffers a number of strokes. These bring on memories and make him reflect on an eventful and at times terrifying life that has spanned over 70 years of world events. Seen through his eyes and sometimes the eyes of those around him and close to him we stand as spectators as he and his beloved wife Rachel battle the curse of dementia and old age. The ever-present crows on the farm act as a backdrop and are eerie fellow watchers to this moving story of love, life and loss.
Following the seven ages of man and woman we see George as a young boy during World War Two with Italian prisoners of war and suffering bombing raids from the Luftwaffe on the munitions railway line that runs alongside his father’s farm.
£11.99 -
Broken Link
Owen Link, working as a hitman for the mob had one job to do, little did he know this job would lead to his undoing.
Now on the run from the mob and the law, Owen must prove that although several murders he may have committed, this one was not done by his hand. Running out of options Owen turns to an old friend, Robert, for help. Now working for the F.B.I. Robert would hold Owen’s fate in his hands.
Going against his better judgement Robert decides to help, unaware this would uncover secrets he thought had been buried long ago. Keeping Owen out of jail, however, would prove difficult when Robert and his partner Charlie, realize that this murder holds many similarities to their existing case. Now on the case, will Robert help Owen escape, or use him to save himself from the demons of his past?
£12.99 -
Bright Shadow
This is the story of Katherine Plantagenet, self-proclaimed “daughter, sister and aunt of kings” who endures extraordinarily traumatic reversals of fortune, as her life swings through wealth and adversity. A glittering future as an English princess is swept away by the untimely death of her father, Edward IV, and the usurpation of her brother Edward V's throne. Surrounded by murderous intrigue, conspiracy and ambition, Katherine and her sisters fear what lies in store … The pragmatic marriage of the eldest, Bessy, to the victor of Bosworth, Henry Tudor, brings an uneasy peace to Katherine's young life but the shadows of suspicion and rebellion continue to swirl around her.
Katherine witnesses first hand the events that plague her brother-in-law's reign. As a political expedient, she is given in marriage to William Courtenay, heir to the Earl of Devon, but Henry Tudor's paranoia soon falls upon her beloved young husband who is imprisoned in the Tower. An intelligent and resilient woman, in a world where men hold all the power, Katherine fights her way alone through a tense decade that ends in personal tragedy. With a vow of celibacy as her chosen route of self-preservation, Katherine continues to tread a wary path of survival ... until the charming Benedict Haute enters her life. However, the failure of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon to produce a living son changes the way any Plantagenet is viewed by the king; Katherine knows her royal blood could cause trouble for her family.
£21.99