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‘I want to write’.
For the youngest child and only daughter of a Halifax mill owner who had little contact with literature, it seemed to be impossible.
But with the assistance of those who recognised her determination, Phyllis Bentley became a novelist with an international reputation.
This, however, as a recently opened archive shows, was but part of her story.
She was also in demand internationally as a lecturer because of her flair for explaining difficult problems in simple terms.
She served on many committees in Halifax and elsewhere, and her wide (and sometimes amorous) contacts with leading figures in the world of literature reveal much about her and their personalities and end speculation about their sexual orientation.
Least known of all is the work she did—sometimes at considerable personal risk—during the war.
Speaking and writing, she introduced Americans to Britain and the British to America and—using her knowledge of the Dewey Decimal system—she encoded detailed information about the D-Day landing, which was secretly sent in advance to the British Embassy.
In recognition of her various achievements, she was invited to both Buckingham Palace and the White House, but hitherto, unlike most of her contemporaries, she has not had a biography.
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The Nadra Tragedy: The Maria Hertogh Controversy
A gripping, real-life drama about the two women battling for custody of a 13-year-old girl in post-war colonial Singapore is set against religious zealotry, racial tensions, and burgeoning nationalism. As a proxy conflict between East and West, this harrowing tale is steeped in prejudice and mob violence, with the resulting court battle shaking the very foundations of the British Colonial Government.
Many innocent lives were lost in the violence that followed the controversial court decision, but Maria Hertogh, also known as Nadra, was perhaps the most tragic victim. Caught between two worlds she could scarcely comprehend, the impact of the upheaval during her most impressionable years was something few of us can fathom. The author crafts a poignant and deeply researched account of the tragic affair, drawing from exhaustive investigations in both Singapore and Holland.
Over 70 years since the events unfolded, the narrative resonates with a powerful relevance, serving as a stark reminder of how the mishandling of delicate matters can precipitate the unravelling of an entire society.
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Detective Robert Finnigan, son of the infamous criminal Tony Finnigan, is no stranger to walking the line between justice and darkness.
Now, alongside his sharp and determined supervisor, Mira McShane, he faces a harrowing case: a young girl found dead under chilling circumstances.
All the evidence points to a cunning killer who lurks behind a screen, shrouded in anonymity.
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The author’s mother was a very devout Catholic and played a significant role in his decision to join the Catholic Order of Preachers. There, he fell in love with the work of Thomas Aquinas, who based Christian theology on the philosophy of Aristotle.
During the Second Vatican Council, he saw an opportunity to repeat the work of Aquinas using modern science. Since science is based on observation, this project implies that the universe is divine—a heresy for which he was expelled from the Order.
This book is a personal account of that history and a justification for the belief that the universe itself is divine. The core idea is that we could solve all our problems by ditching strange gods and facing this fact. The universe creates itself; if we interpret our knowledge of physics properly, we would arrive at a credible scientific theology.
The world has a natural intelligence far in excess of any artificial one. If we can understand how it organises life—from cells to forests—then organising world peace will be a pushover. Modern theologians must recognise that a physical point of view, rather than ancient texts, is the true source of credible theology.
Religion and politics have been bedfellows since time immemorial... The model of creation presented in this book completely rejects the imperial intent of genocidal holy wars.
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One Family’s Journey Through Ten Centuries - Book 2
King Charles I did not know that his queen’s lady-in-waiting was having an affair with John Pym, an important parliamentarian of the day. She kept Pym well informed about what the king was up to. When the king fell out with Parliament over money, Pym had Charles followed, matters descended and the king ended up under arrest at Carisbrooke Castle, where he got stuck in a window while trying to escape. He was extricated, transported to London, and beheaded. With him no longer available to hand out under-the-table government contracts to his favourite knights, feudalism died on the vine, and the middle class became firmly in control.
Oliver Cromwell was chosen to take King Charles’ place. He didn’t like Catholics, and most Irish were Catholic. And so, he stole their land, forbade their religion, and reduced them to abject poverty. They tried to live on potatoes. But in the 1830s the potato crop was very bad, and by the mid-1840s it was struck by a blight that reduced the potato to a rotten mush. Two million starving, penniless, and diseased Irish peasants fled to a tiny village of 2,400 mainly native Indians. These Torontonians took them in and cared for them, and they all then set about building a mighty industrial complex, stealthily under the nose of the Americans. One of these was a transcontinental railway of steel trains that would stretch from sea to sea, climb steep mountains, and cross deep gorges; that would transport immigrants from Europe in the thousands to settle in four new western provinces, and in 1867 unite the land masses to formally create the Dominion of Canada.
But they left the power to declare war with a few mind-midgets whom they called hereditary monarchs, and then allowed that power to be grabbed by an evil madman who, allowed free reign, almost completely destroyed the progress of nearly 400 years, and laid nearly one hundred million of the Middle Class in early graves.
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Set in the early 1980s, twins Chris and Jude enjoy an idyllic childhood in the wondrous land of Zealandia, a continent they believe exists in the year 350. But when circumstances force Jude to flee, he escapes into another world and begins to uncover shocking truths: that his entire life has been built on lies.
An avid sailor, Jude learns the art of navigation and listens to tales of those who have crossed seas before him. With his newfound love by his side, he embarks on a journey of discovery, learning that the world is round, that other continents exist, and that he possesses a unique power: the ability to perceive and understand quickly, even in the direst conditions, through his third eye.
Zealandia, Jude’s homeland, truly existed – and truly vanished.
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Young Johnny is an inventor! A very clever one! He has a vivid imagination to create ‘amazing’ and ‘out of this world’ things. His ‘big inventor’s armchair’ and his ‘red inventor’s thinking cap’ are all he needs to spark those brilliant ideas. These secret tools might just help him become the most important inventor and builder of all time. But when Johnny creates his greatest invention yet, the Garbage-Gobbler, will his life ever be the same again? What could possibly go wrong?
Johnny, the Inventor and the Garbage-Gobbler is a quirky, hilarious story about creativity, encouragement, perseverance, and personal growth.
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The Shoppa Squad - Amber's Adventures
Meet the Shoppa Squad – on the streets of your town.
Welcome to the adventures of the Shoppa Squad, a team of brilliant delivery robots from your town, all dedicated to being the best delivery team around. Read about each of their adventures in your town, making deliveries, helping people, and so much more… they love to learn, share, and work as a team, while having fun along the way.
Finley, Amber, Lilah, Freya, and Billy can’t wait to share their adventures with you.
Amber’s Adventures
Amber is the Shoppa Squad’s coolest member, always in her sunglasses and bonnet. She won’t be rushed and always delivers everything in one piece… she has never broken a single egg! But she needs to remember her job at times as she loves to play with the local children on the snowy hills, muddy paths, and water slides!
With her skis rather than wheels, Amber can deliver through ice, snow, water, or mud. Everyone loves seeing Amber as it means it’s play time!
A percentage of the profits from this book will be donated to the Crisis UK homelessness charity. Together, we will end homelessness.
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The Shoppa Squad – Freya’s Adventures
Meet The Shoppa Squad – on the streets of your town.
Welcome, to the adventures of The Shoppa Squad, a team of brilliant delivery robots from your town, all dedicated to being the best delivery team around. Read about each of their adventures in your town, making deliveries, helping people and so much more… they love to learn, share and work as a team, while having fun along the way.
Finley, Amber, Lilah, Freya and Billy can’t wait to share their adventures with you.
Freya’s Adventures
Freya is the Shoppa squad record breaker…delivering the fastest, best wheels, biggest stylish flash. The youngest and most excitable. But needs to get directions as going so fast she can often get lost!!
With her ‘need for speed’ Freya can deliver anything super-fast…so if you need something fast then Freya is on the way!!
A percentage of the profits from this book will be donated to the Crisis UK homelessness charity. Together, we will end homelessness.
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This book contains true stories from Dr. Gürpınar’s travels to various parts of the world while he was an international civil servant at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). His career spanned over events such as Chernobyl (1986), attacks of 9/11 (2001) and Fukushima (2011) which all had a huge impact on nuclear safety and security. The reverberations of this impact were felt not only in the nuclear industry but also the public at large. His first visits to countries such as the USSR, Romania, Albania, Yugoslavia and China were during the 1980s when all of these countries had some kind of socialist/communist and totalitarian regime. He visited the Iraq of Saddam, Libya of Qaddafi, Romania of Çeausescu, North Korea of Kim Jong-il, Iran of Khomeini and Syria of Assad (the father).
This book is only a small sample of those experiences that he was not able to put in his travel reports, but which are worth remembering.
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The GY4HT Concert, Prague, Spring 2023
Three magnificent millennials, 3 singing sensations, and 3 younger persons on journeys of self-discovery. Meet Tomas Moreno from Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sarah Gellner from New York City, USA; and Saddih Ziad from Jericho in the Occupied West Bank of Palestine.
Tomas, a devoted Catholic Christian, travels to stay with his great aunt in Milan, Italy. Sarah, a conservative Orthodox Jewish woman, travels to stay with her grandmother in Prague, the Czech Republic.
Through a series of unexpected events and unconditional support, Saadih, a devoted man of the Muslim faith, meets up with Tomas and Sarah in Milan and Prague.
Tomas, Sarah and Saadih are 3 close friends who not only practice interfaith respect and coexistence but do it with sincerity, dignity and humility that leaves a positive feeling with everybody they meet as they navigate daily life in new surroundings.
A love of music bonds them and quickly they create a social media frenzy and attain social media stardom. Each is a singing superstar. Everybody (well, nearly everybody) they meet along the way is inspired by the devotion and respect they have for their own and each other’s religions.
They join together to present a unique springtime musical concert in Wenceslas Square, Prague.
Happiness prevails, and the crowd goes wild until…
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There’s a bubble all around me
Meet Octavia, a little girl who lives inside a bubble—literally!
Octavia’s bubble is cosy, squishy and safe and it keeps all the scary world away, but it also stops her from making friends. One day a family comes along, taking her in—bubble and all. She starts to finally learn about play, laughter and lots of kindness, then suddenly something starts to happen. With her bubble starting to wobble until… POP!
With her bubble gone, she starts to explore the world around her, learning about all the new and exciting things it has to offer.
Sometimes the world is better when we step outside our comfort zone.
£7.99
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