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Books > Fiction > True stories > Endurance & survival
The uplifting true story. A Sunday Times bestseller, shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize. The story of the couple who lost everything and embarked on a journey, not of escape, but salvation. Just days after Raynor learns that Moth, her husband of 32 years, is terminally ill, the couple lose their home and their livelihood. With nothing left and little time, they make the brave and impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset via Devon and Cornwall. They have almost no money for food or shelter and must carry only the essentials for survival on their backs as they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea and sky. Yet through every step, every encounter, and every test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable journey. The Salt Path is an unflinchingly honest, inspiring and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.
Louis Zamperini lived one of the most amazing lives imaginable. As a young boy he was a troublemaker but his will to succeed drove him on to become an Olympian at the 1936 Games. With the outbreak of war, Louis volunteered for the army and was thrust into the violent combat of the Second World War as a B-24 bombardier. While on a rescue mission Louis's plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean, leaving him stranded and drifting 2000 miles in a small raft for 47 days. Against all the odds he survived. His struggle was just beginning... Captured by the Japanese, Louis courageously endured torture in a series of prisoner-of-war camps for over two years. Not only did he survive this ordeal but he went on to spend the rest of his life helping others. Completed just days before Louis's death at age 97, Don't Give Up, Don't Give In contains a lifetime of wisdom and humour. Louis shares the wonderful lessons he has learned during his life, previously untold stories, and inspirational insights on how he overcame adversity and found the courage to never give up and never give in. Louis's story has touched millions and will forever be one of the most inspiring examples of the great resilience of the human spirit.
The incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, now a major motion picture directed by Angelina Jolie. THE INTERNATIONAL NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER In 1943 a bomber crashes into the Pacific Ocean. Against all odds, one young lieutenant survives. Louise Zamperini had already transformed himself from child delinquent to prodigious athlete, running in the Berlin Olympics. Now he must embark on one of the Second World War's most extraordinary odysseys. Zamperini faces thousands of miles of open ocean on a failing raft. Beyond like only greater trials, in Japan's prisoner-of-war camps. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini's destiny, whether triumph or tragedy, depends on the strength of his will ... Now a major motion picture, directed by Angelina Jolie and starring Jack O' Connell.
The extraordinary story of the Afghan women judges who fought for their careers and their lives, and the international network of women who helped them to escape the Taliban Combining moment-by-moment drama with an emotional story of friendship and bravery, The Escape from Kabul is also a searing insight into the captive fate of women in Afghanistan. The fact that so many were betrayed by the speed and disorganisation of British and American retreat on the fall of Kabul is well known. What is less well known is that a collection of women judges from around the world operated a successful rescue mission for the majority of female Afghan judges, and their families. In the twenty years since 2001, Afghan women had obtained legal degrees, became judges and set out to transform their country - tackling corruption, and reducing horrifying levels of violence against women and children. These educated women of power were clear targets for the Taliban. But their friends – and sister judges – from the UK, Poland, USA and ANZ were not prepared to abandon them, using WhatsApp and sheer bloody-minded persistence, they found escape routes and new homes for family after family. This is a heart stopping story of rescue; but also a moving account of ambition, public service and the difficulties of having to build a new life abroad. Veteran, best-selling journalist Karen Bartlett's compelling account also celebrates the capabilities and global power of united, working women and of the bond of a career spent in service to justice. Individuals who are often the last and only check to unbridled power, influence and violence.
Farley is an elderly Dublin man, frail in body but sharp as a tack. Waking in the middle of the night, he finds himself lying paralyzed on the cold bathroom floor. And so his mind begins to move backwards, taking us with him. As Farley unravels the warp and weft of his life, he relives its loves, losses and betrayals with the darkly comic wit of a true Dubliner. For this is also Dublin's story, the city Farley has seen through poverty and prosperity, boom and bust - each the other's constant companion during his seventy-five years.
Run for the Love of Life is a must-read for anyone who desires to escape the day-to-day sameness of our new pandemic-informed lives, or who seeks to feel alive, inspired, and filled with a renewed enthusiasm for the year ahead. It recounts the extraordinary journey of South African Erica Terblanche, an ordinary woman who manages to not only achieve – but excel – on the world stage of extreme distance-running in some of the most inhospitable and majestic landscapes across the planet. Raw, honest and infinitely human, this part-memoir, part-travel novel thunders through one exotic race location after the other, as the runners battle the elements and each other across the vastness of the Sahara, Atacama and Namib Deserts, the great Grand Canyon, Turkish Cappadocia and the Kalahari Desert, to name only a few. But more than just a book on racing, what makes this novel infinitely compelling and rewarding is that in the echoes of Erica’s story, one begins to sense the pulse of one’s own potential and long-forgotten dreams. While you may laugh, cry, and forget to take a breath at times, it is inevitable that Run will spur you on to find your own bliss, that which is buried deep within your soul and body. At its heart, Run for the love of life is a story about love, forgiveness, perseverance and growth, and about the important things in life that ultimately makes us happy. Told with wit, humour and vulnerability, it is a book that will stay with the reader long after the final page is turned.
This is the extraordinary story of Olaudah Equiano: Child slave. Soldier. Free man. Traveller. Abolitionist. Celebrity. Kidnapped as a child into slavery, Equiano spent the rest of his life fighting for his freedom. After years of slavery, working on ships that carried him across empire and into battle during the Seven Years War, he eventually managed to purchase his own freedom, and went on to become a leading figure in the early abolition movement. Published to coincide with the first attempt to abolish the slave trade in 1789, Equiano's remarkable autobiography became a sensation and turned its author into the most famous Black person in Georgian Britain. As vivid and powerful today as it was in 1789, Equiano's story is the most significant autobiographical account of slavery to emerge from Britain's centuries as a slave trading power. In this JM Classics edition, leading historian David Olusoga's introduction sets Equiano's book in its historical context, helping us to understand the man himself.
'This is an urgent and compelling account of great bravery and passion. Delphine Minoui has crafted a book that champions books and the individuals who risk everything to preserve them.' Susan Orlean, author of The Library Book In 2012 the rebel suburb of Daraya in Damascus was brutally besieged by Syrian government forces. Four years of suffering ensued, punctuated by shelling, barrel bombs and chemical gas attacks. People's homes were destroyed and their food supplies cut off; disease was rife. Yet in this man-made hell, forty young Syrian revolutionaries embarked on an extraordinary project, rescuing all the books they could find in the bombed-out ruins of their home town. They used them to create a secret library, in a safe place, deep underground. It became their school, their university, their refuge. It was a place to learn, to exchange ideas, to dream and to hope. Based on lengthy interviews with these young men, conducted over Skype by the award-winning French journalist Delphine Minoui, The Book Collectors of Daraya is a powerful testament to freedom, tolerance and the power of literature. Translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud.
Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2021 Running away from your problems doesn't solve anything - but sometimes it's more fun than dealing with them Elise was spending a lot of time crying on buses. She had just graduated from university; she had a shiny new flat, her first proper job and a budding relationship - and they were all making her utterly miserable. Sitting at work one day, she hit upon the obvious solution: Run 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain, carrying her kit on her back. Six months later Elise set off, with absolutely no ultra-running experience, unable to read a map and having never pitched a tent alone before. Over the 301 days that followed she developed a debilitating fear of farmyard animals, cried on a lot of beaches and saw Britain at its most wild and wonderful. Coasting is about putting one foot in front of the other, even when it feels impossible, and trying to enjoy it too. With heart and humour, Elise explores the thrill of taking risks and putting your trust in total strangers, and learns some home truths along the way. 'A true Great British Adventure, with humour and heart.' Sir Ranulph Fiennes 'Elise Downing has achieved the impossible - leaving you in awe at her superhuman achievements, but also convincing you that you could probably do the same.' Emily Chappell 'A hugely enjoyable jaunt around Britain, that proves that you can find adventure right on your doorstep.' Alastair Humphreys 'Elise Downing has reminded us all of the most crucial aspects of adventure: 1) You don't have to be an expert. 2) It's all about the people. 3) However hard, tough, excruciating and doubt-driven a challenge might be, at heart it's a funny, funny story.' Dave Cornthwaite 'Reading Coasting is like listening to a friend tell a tale down the pub that you can't quite believe. Elise's storytelling is hilarious, warm-hearted and wonderfully down-to-earth. It's the kind of book that makes you want to lace up your trainers and start running towards that mad idea you once had. There's no doubt that Elise's gung-ho attitude is her superpower. Her kryptonite? Cows.' Anna McNuff, author and adventurer 'Elise's irresistibly readable adventures are both ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. She's an inspiration.' Damian Hall, author and ultrarunner 'Funny and engaging and inspiring... an absolute gem.' Vassos Alexander, presenter, author and runner 'A beautifully observed and blisteringly truthful account of what happens when you decide to combine adventure and endurance. Absolutely brilliant.' Jake Tyler, author of A Walk from the Wild Edge 'An honest and exciting tale of how a dream became an awesome reality. Definitely worth a read!' Ben Smith, founder of The 401 Challenge 'I was already laughing at the Dedication and this continued all the way to the very last page. Elise Downing is a comedy genius and has a heart of gold!' Danny Bent, author, runner and founder of Project Awesome 'Elise tells her story with such good-humoured light-heartedness that you could be forgiven for forgetting that what she is describing is a feat of real endurance. Running 5,000 miles is a truly remarkable achievement, and the fact that Elise emerged from it with a smile on her face and a total lack of ego speaks wonders to her character. This is an incredible tale told with total humility. Running around the coast of Great Britain was a mad thing to do, but not buying this book would be madder still.' Tim Moss, author, adventurer and founder of The Next Challenge 'Like any epic journey worth sharing, Elise encountered the same doubts, setbacks and fears that leave many dreams stuck on the drawing board. One foot after the other, Elise set out to achieve the extraordinary many miles over. Coasting shares the literal highs and lows as she finds her rite of passage to the world of ultra-running, with an endearing vulnerability and hilarious flair that brings places to life. In the same way that countless strangers felt compelled to join her around the UK, Coasting carries the reader along and inspires us all to ask 'why not?' in pursuit of our own home-grown adventures.' Alex Staniforth, adventurer and author 'A wonderfully honest tale of courage, perseverance and self-discovery.' Dr Juliet McGrattan, author and runner 'Elise brings so much fun and energy, as well as raw honesty, to the world of adventure books, and her incredible journey is an inspiration to young (and old!) adventurers.' Jenny Tough, author, adventurer and editor of Tough Women Adventure Stories 'Thoughtful, funny and beautifully written. Just goes to show that there's a ram-spinning, swashbuckling adventure right there on your doorstep.' Huw Jack Brassington, writer, presenter and adventurer
The true story of a young lady's escape to better things. Of love, marriage and children. A tale of death and despair in a foreign land. Of fate taking a hand and joining two people in a deep and lasting love. The author has used letters and anecdotal evidence from family members who are the lead players in this story. He hopes he has done justice to the tale of their lives.
The extraordinary story of how a Derbyshire coal miner survived as an escaped POW in occupied Poland by posing as a deaf-mute for three years. A few years before Colin Marshall died in 1993 he wrote his story and gave it to his daughter Hazel. She knew he'd had an extraordinary life but she read things he had never talked about, and it seemed part of another world. Years later, after Hazel's mother Nancy died, Hazel found tucked away in a cupboard, unseen letters, postcards and photographs that her mother had saved from Colin's time in Poland during WWII. As a tribute to her dad and the Polish people who helped him, Hazel decided to turn it into a book. This true story takes the reader from Colin growing-up in a Derbyshire mining village in the 1920s: starting work at the local colliery, joining the Lincolnshire Regiment of the Royal Engineers, being called-up at the outbreak of war, captured at Dunkirk and escaping from a POW camp in Poland - to being befriended by a Polish family, in a village occupied by German soldiers. Unable at that time to speak Polish, he posed as a deaf-mute for three years to avoid capture. Any slip-up and Colin knew that his Polish friends would be shot. It is a story of courage and determination and of two Polish families who risked their lives in order to save others.
John H Cully was born in Ireland in 1952. He was educated at Newry High School, and the Universities of Wales and Greenwich, London. He has worked for many years with various International Organizations in humanitarian emergencies and disasters around the world from West and East Timor to Darfur in the Sudan. He continues to be an overseas aid worker.
This book is an account of a search in 1980 in the Nusa Tenggara Islands of Indonesia to find a suitable island for the Vietnamese Boat People to settle and start a new life. They were pouring out of Vietnam on anything that would float and thousands were perishing. The world was demanding that something be done...Most of the search was island hopping on a Balinese cow transporter made from a single tree trunk.
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