Bipolar Adventures

John has wrestled between sanity and insanity during a very busy professional career working for the British and American governments as an international travelling market researcher, despite his handicap of suffering a pronounced mental illness of bipolar affective disorder.

This has resulted in cycles from ecstasy to manic depression which is reflected in his candid and honest description in a humorous non-judgmental tone, and even at times of absolute despair, he has looked back over his life with a wry smile of amusement.

John hopes that you will get many laughs out of his laconic writing style, when handling the tricky subject of a mental illness. The first of a series of five short books from this new author over the near future, thus proving that truth can be more stranger and interesting than fiction.

Birthplaces of Australian Motor Racing

This book records and now preserves the history of Australian motorsport. Huge proportions of it were just on the very edge of being lost.
By the time you have read this book, you will be unbeatable at Australian motor racing trivia around any race campground fire pit or BBQ. You will know what the deadliest day was trackside in this country, the speedway promoter who discovered and named one of Australia’s biggest international rock groups, the most extreme financial car racing venue disaster of all time, why many residential roads have names the people who live there don’t appreciate, and what venue built its own railway station which is still in use today.
You will discover places worth dragging the family off to so you can take photos of rusting artefacts and sprout knowledgeable but boring nostalgic conversations. You’ll also be amazed at some of the historic car racing locations you’ve unknowingly been driving past.
How do you locate old car venues when some were utterly demolished 90 years ago, an industrial complex built on the same spot, which was in turn torn down and replaced with a university, a lake or a multi-storey housing estate?
This roll call of mine started out with two simple questions that most petrol heads in this country ask themselves sooner or later. How many car racing facilities have closed in Australia – and why?

Black Presence in Britain Through the 16th and 17th Centuries - Teacher Handbook

A black population existed in Britain long before the Windrush generation arrived in 1948. As early as the 16th century, there were evidences of black people in the royal courts of England and Scotland. Britain’s active involvement in the ‘Triangular’ slave trade saw a growth in the number of black people. Did you know that Queen Elizabeth I, alarmed at the growing black population, attempted to expel them? Find out what she did and how this impacted the lives of black people in her realm.

Discover how the increasing numbers of enslaved Africans survived during the 17th century, and how they resisted slavery. For example, do you know the name of the person on the front cover? Learn about her resistance against slavery and the resistance of other Africans in England and the British colonies.

Bloodstains on the Cocaine Trail

A homicide crisis began sweeping America after massive quantities of cocaine first began their journey into America in 1986. Drugs were trucked along the highways of the Cocaine Trail to every city in America. This influx of a deadly new drug led directly to a series of record deaths from overdoses, suicides and crime-related murders, family breakdowns and destroyed lives. Drugs are credited with driving the highest homicide rates in American history and a raging turf war between street gangs.

Crack cocaine unleashed a brutal era of violence, placing newspapers under enormous pressure to provide coverage. Relations with police were breaking down everywhere and crime coverage was in its death throes. Newspapers could not cover the homicides or give any context or explanations to such a social upheaval. Editors, reporters and police now reveal the shocking truth behind this agonizing episode in American history, when crime reporters had to re-invent journalism to get behind the police blue code. This book combines investigative journalism and narrative style to produce a rare portrait from within the secret inner world of newspapers.

Blue Baby

Where is God when calamity comes? If God is all powerful why does He allow our loved ones to suffer? When wading through hopelessness, these questions overwhelm many of us. This is the account of my own wrestling with similar agonies of the soul when I was told that my child was dying.

Jacob was diagnosed at the age of 1 with a severe congenital heart defect that was so complex it was deemed untreatable. In desperation I reached out to God after previously neglecting my relationship with Him. I had wandered into passivity, but God was waiting to comfort, strengthen and renew my faith.

This book documents Jacob’s journey through years of surgery, defying this prognosis. It also chronicles my struggle through perplexing seasons of pain, learning how a good God uses suffering for our growth, making us mature, fruitful followers. It is in the darkest times I have learnt to fear less and trust more, making me confident in His faithfulness. God did not answer my prayers for instant healing, but what He allowed in my life worked for my good.  I try to capture the way God tenderly ministered to me during those times in order to encourage others to hold fast to Him. I hope to spur on those ready to give up, to overcome and look for the shards of light that can be found in seasons of darkness.

Book It!

Entrepreneur, politician and philanthropist Dinesh Dhamija emerged from the recession-hit streets of 1970s West London to create, build and sell ebookers – one of the world’s premier travel agencies and a pioneer in the millennial dot.com boom, earning himself a £100 million fortune.

How did this son of an Indian civil servant, with no connections to the travel industry or technical background, end up with one of the most successful internet companies in Europe? How did ebookers withstand the serial catastrophes of the dot.com crash of 2000, the global travel freeze after 9/11 and the disruption of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, outlasting and out-performing its rivals?

In his candid, buccaneering autobiography, Dhamija looks back to his globe-trotting childhood, his Cambridge University education and the hair-raising, energising, eyepopping rollercoaster ride of his business career. Not content to retire gracefully into anonymity, Dhamija then focused his energies and talents on politics, where his insider tales from Brussels and the Liberal Democrat party expose the looming Brexit disaster.

His insights into philanthropy, investment and entrepreneurship offer a rich diet of advice, observation and storytelling, spiced with anecdote and perceptive details.

Among the outstanding businessmen of his generation, Dinesh Dhamija’s life story is one of adventure, risk-taking, ambition and unique achievement across multiple fields.

Prepare to be entertained!

Born into a World I Don't Belong In

For women and girls who have been misunderstood, miss-diagnosed and quite frankly missed altogether in getting an autism diagnosis – THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU.

For decades females on the spectrum went undetected causing a lifetime of struggles, anxiety, depression, missed opportunities and incorrect diagnoses. Women and girls tended to fly under the radar due to the fact that they learned from an early age how to mask, mimic and role-play in order to fit in with societal norms and expectations. Due to a lot of research in this field, there are now a lot more evidence-based theories to support the view that autism is just as prevalent in females as it is in males, but it just wasn’t picked up due to the gender difference in presentation. There still needs to be a lot more awareness and information available for women and girls who may feel different but don’t know why. Maybe they have been searching for answers in the wrong places. My mission is to help raise awareness of this condition. And who can do this better than a female on the spectrum that walks, talks and lives each day in those shoes?

Botanist, Naturalist and Adventurer

This autobiography presents the compelling and unusual story of one man’s personal journey, from high school dropout to finishing an advanced degree in Natural Science and having a successful career as an Environmental Scientist. At the height of his career, he became vice president at a major environmental firm, published four botanical reference books, taught advanced courses in botany, and was a graduate student advisor. He also took part in plant and musk oxen research in the Canadian Arctic and plant research in the Amazon jungles of Colombia. His life has been rich with hunting and fishing scuba diving adventures in remote wilderness of Alaska, Idaho and Colorado, and throughout the Northeastern US, and foraging for wild plants and mushrooms.

This book is filled with descriptions and photos of remote wilderness that few people will ever see and describes a life of successes and adventures most people only dream about. The sections on living off the land and harvesting plants and animals present methods and lore for gathering and preserving food; something that is capturing the interest of increasing numbers of people. In all, the book is presented in the context of a highly socially relevant theme: concern for the environment. This is the story of an ordinary person who ended up doing extraordinary things, and learned life lessons and spiritual insights from the journey, now collected in one place for everyone.

Boudicca – Her Place in History and the Fortunes of Her Tribe

This book, through extensive research and analysis, endeavours to reveal what actually happened when in 60 AD Boudicca was elected to lead the united British tribes in their war against Roman rule. Despite the brutal punishment she had suffered at the hands of the Roman officials, Boudicca recovered to command a brilliantly effective military campaign against the pre-eminent super power of the ancient world.

This is the story of the momentous events that culminated in the great British uprising against the Roman occupiers and their army, and challenges the credibility of the traditional ‘histories’ of Boudicca. So, while it is about Boudicca, her life and achievements, it also seeks to follow the fate of her tribal people – the Iceni. In the aftermath of the war, many migrated through Ireland to the Scottish Highlands.

Regardless of a short lived ‘golden age’, the descendants of the Iceni have suffered a succession of ethnic cleansings over 2000 years through war, famine, migration, plague, forced emigration and invading armies. Today the remnants – represented by the McEachrans, Cochrans and the many variants of these names – are scattered throughout the world and have lost the identity of their origins.

Boxer, Bouncer and Now a Doctor

It all started in a small industrial town in the north of England. Walking into a boxing gym was the start of an amazing metamorphosis for the 14-year-old. At age 20, he had developed into a 16-stone boxer, powerlifter and ferocious street fighter, with a knock-out punch in both hands. This is the story of a young man who, lacking education, immigrated to Australia at just 18 years of age only to experience the twilight world of sleaze and violence in Perth’s underbelly, confronting and often overcoming the many challenges he encountered. Returning to England at 21, he mastered his craft as a bouncer and street fighter, attended two universities, obtained three degrees and was awarded a doctorate at the age of 39.

Brain's Got the Sh*ts Again

Has your brain ever had the sh*ts? Feeling down, feeling tired, the works?

Well so had mine, until a vastly uneventful Eurotrip that led me to intense joint pain, that led me to celiac disease diagnosis, that led me to initially eating cardboard-flavoured things, that led me to tastier options, that led me to the slimey miracle that is the human gut, and to the life-affirming railroad that is the gut-brain axis. Whether your brain is constipated or has full-blown diarrhoea (I promise this book is serious once you actually buy it), this dubious title promises to share fun-facts about gut-brain health, all through real and imagined short stories that will keep you interested. If you are having doubts about trusting a sass-mouthed writer with your gut-brain health, let me try to change your mind by saying all my facts are cited through respected academic research, I’m a Neuropsychology extern and a Neuroendocrinology gut-brain researcher and I’m currently pursuing a Psychology PhD (no one said I’d catch it though).

@daphnespyropoulos

Breaking Chains – ‘The Word’

Childhood abuse and trauma has consequences: black holes, where voids are born, mental ill health acquired and self-love diminished. The cause of these voids and the power to heal them lies solely in one force alone, or lack thereof, and this force is love.

Let’s journey together sharing knowledge, vulnerabilities, synchronicities and the word of God, of pure, unconditional Love, through a memoir incorporating science, nurture, toxicity, personality and the true depths of the void. We will analyse, psychologise and be present in our own individual stories, breaking chains that bind us in order to truly heal and be set free, turning black holes into shining stars.