"Oneness" The Unity of Opposites: Innovative Transformation

This book is a take on ‘Paradise to Hell’ real-life stories, about real-life under-performing businesses located in real-life countries, operating in real-life industries at a time of real-life challenges in the name of innovative transformation. My life as an international business consultant; Impresario. From India to Indonesia. From Bangladesh to Australia. From Silicone Valley to Malaysia. From the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere. From West to East. From on-shore to off-shore. From debt to equity, from low cost, low skilled staff, to high cost, high skilled staff. From single function to multi-function, from life to death. In the life of a ‘dare devil’, frequent flier, international consultant – in what seems like a personal battle with ISIS.

A B C of Indian Astrology

Dr Ravindra Sharma has been a medical surgeon all his life yet has maintained a deep and abiding interest in astrology, having learnt it from several experts in the field such as his father, uncle, maternal grandfather and many others.

Astrology is an ancient science which attempts to unravel the mystery of the ever-changing drama of human life. It largely succeeds in doing so on the basis of planetary influences.

As a beginner, when one is looking for a book about astrology, one finds that most of them are either too simple or too difficult to read and absorb. This is a unique book in English language, concise yet comprehensive, that encompasses the entire gamut of the fundamentals of astrology in an easy-to-understand style and systematic manner.

Life-long pursuit of astrology for well over six decades has enabled the author to understand and relate to the fluctuating, often unexpected, even contradictory and at times intriguing events in one’s life. It has stood by him as a dependable companion, a friendly guide and an additional dimension.

The author believes the book will prove an interesting and absorbing read, a worthy and reliable companion and an added support. It is bound to provide the reader the thrill, the excitement, the joy and the satisfaction of discovering the dynamics of events in his life.

A Book of Rather Strange Animals

From the creator of the hugely popular @StrangeAnimals on Twitter comes A Book of Rather Strange Animals – a collection of one hundred remarkable animal specimens from around the world. With fascinating descriptions of nasty feeding habits, bizarre mating rituals and shocking defence mechanisms, you will marvel at both the splendour and gruesomeness of nature.

Meet the lizard that shoots blood from its eyes, the isopod that replaces the tongues of fish, the bug that stacks the corpses of ants on its back and the amphibian that looks like a penis.

Come and discover the world’s most peculiar species!

A Clarinet Almanac

More than 60 years’ experience in playing the clarinet has led to a very personal and idiosyncratic review of the repertoire. From the point of view of being both a player and a programmer the author has endeavoured to find works for unusual combinations involving the clarinet. This book includes a few orchestral solos and several vocal works (both chamber and operatic), but it is focussed on chamber music and includes gems from the repertoire for the standard wind quintet. The clarinet features as a solo instrument, in duos with a surprisingly large variety of instruments and in mixed trios, quartets and so on to larger ensembles. During the course of one year the reader will be exposed to 366 works, probably some unfamiliar, by 245 different composers. The author hopes it will whet the appetites of students, teachers and concert organizers alike.

A Glimpse of North Sudan

North Sudan is a largely unknown, thought-to-be-unsafe land. A Glimpse of North Sudan aims to correct that. This book is far more than a travelogue. From diaries and photographs of a safe, non-alcoholic, wonderful holiday, it tells of a short tour of a smiling poor people with an ancient, frequently violent history, pyramids and tombs in royal cemeteries with wonderful paintings and reliefs to behold. It is a largely desert country but where the Blue and White Niles combine to form a majestic life-giving river on its way to the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, there are descriptions of black Sudanese pharaohs of Egypt, the lifestyle of a Bedouin family along with British involvement in ruling the country (a section on the Battle of Omdurman led by Kitchener with a young, ambitious Winston Churchill in the ranks) and of the civil wars since independence in 1956. Finally, it suggests a way out of the cul-de-sac of poverty and deprivation. This book is a must-read for the general-interest reader of a forgotten, though fascinating, land.

A Midwife's Memoir

Following a long career as a midwife and then a community midwife, Carol retired in 2016, but she found she missed the excitement of bringing new life into the world, the joy and fulfillment of helping mothers to be, and the sheer pleasure of working in a small community.

She decided to record her experiences in this book as a tribute to all the wonderful mums and dads she gave help and advice to; some of the highs and lows, amusing and sometimes heart-breaking stories, and the unusual and unexpected events that occurred during that long career.

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!

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.

A Taste of Lebanon

‘In this book, I bring to life the stories behind the recipes, exploring the culture behind the ingredients and the poetry of their stories through a playful translation of language. It is a fusion of words and food; a cultural education.
‘Each recipe in this collection is inextricably linked to a memory or story from my colourful past; from watching a Lebanese neighbour cooking tomato paste on woodfire to exchanging recipes with my friends at college. My food expands the repertoire of Lebanese cooking by importing from the multicultural melting pot of contemporary London.
‘This is a celebration of seasonal fresh produce, family connections and friendships, and takes you back to basics. Something as simple as “Baked Potato with Kibbeh Spice” is a celebration of ingredients, flavour, and rural village life. This is food to nourish, to share, to enjoy, and to show the healing power that good food has on our lives.’
Mervat Chahine

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.

An American Comedian Lost In Bavaria

Travelling is one of the great pleasures in life. You are completely anonymous which means you can act like an idiot, say stupid things, wear a big ugly T-shirt, then go home and brag about how savvy you are. But when you live in a foreign country, you’re an idiot 24 hours a day. The language is the first hurdle, good luck with that. The few things you get right celebrate them, post them on FB for your friends to see. So they think you’re doing well in your new life living abroad. After a few years, your friends will say things like “I could never live in a foreign country” and you will become defensive. “Good, then don’t move here.” But don’t give up on acclimating, over time things will get better. You will start to learn new words in another language, then use them inappropriately which will make people laugh. You’ll make new friends who you can’t talk to because a simple sentence takes forever, and no one has an hour to listen to you. People will start to wave to avoid talking to you. If you’re lucky some will speak your language and you’ll stick to them like glue. You’ll know you’re beginning to fit in when you stop asking for ketchup. But no matter what you do or how long you stay, you’ll always be a fish out of water.

An Old Contemptible and An Irish Pasha

This is a true story of the adventurous times and heroism of Lt Colonel T W Fitzpatrick, a latter-day hero of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a mixture of Lawrence of Arabia, Sharpe and Hornblower but with much, much more! There are numerous different facets to his adventures, including his army experiences, police exploits, handling of riots, assassinations, terrorism and murder, along with his interactions with kings, popes, prime ministers and parliaments.

This biography takes the reader on a thrilling journey, packed with adventure, from rural Ireland to India, back to Ireland, to England, to France during World War I, and then onto the Middle East: Palestine, Transjordan and Egypt in World War II. He has blood-curdling adventures in Alexandria, Cairo and Eritrea. Finally it's back to Britain and ministerial shenanigans in the corridors of power.