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Books > Fiction > True stories > Endurance & survival
In 1993, Andrew Brunson was asked to travel to Turkey, the largest
unevangelized country in the world, to serve as a missionary.
Though hesitant because of the daunting and dangerous task that lay
ahead, Andrew and his wife, Norine, believed this was God's plan
for them. What followed was a string of threats and attacks, but
also successes in starting new churches in a place where many
people had never met a Christian. As their work with refugees from
Syria, including Kurds, gained attention and suspicion, Andrew and
Norine acknowledged the threat but accepted the risk, determining
to stay unless God told them to leave. In 2016, they were arrested.
Though the State eventually released Norine, who remained in
Turkey, Andrew was imprisoned. Accused of being a spy and being
among the plotters of the attempted coup, he became a political
pawn whose story soon became known around the world. God's Hostage
is the incredible true story of his imprisonment, his brokenness,
and his eventual freedom. Anyone with a heart for missions,
especially to the Muslim world, will love this tension-laden and
faith-laced book.
In 2018 Captain Louis Rudd MBE walked into the history books when he
finished a solo, unsupported crossing of Antarctica, pulling a 130 kg
sledge laden with his supplies for more than 900 miles. Louis’ skills
had been honed in the SAS, on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, but
now – in the most hostile environment on earth – they would be tested
like never before. Alone on the ice, Louis battled through whiteouts,
50 mph gales and temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius. It would take all
his mental strength to survive.
In this gripping book Louis reveals how a thirst for adventure saw him
join the Royal Marines at sixteen and then pass the SAS selection
course at only twenty-two. He describes his first gruelling polar
expedition with legendary explorer Lieutenant Colonel Henry Worsley in
2011 and the leadership challenges he faced a few years later when he
led a team of Army Reservists across Antarctica. And he takes us with
him step by painful step as he pushes himself to the limit, travelling
alone on his epic and lonely trek across the continent’s treacherous
ice fields and mountains.
With edge-of-the-seat storytelling, Endurance is an awe-inspiring
account of courage and resilience by a remarkable man.
'The emotional pain of failing just felt like it was going to be a
bit worse than the physical pain of carrying on ... ' Attempting to
break long-distance running records used to be an underground
endeavour, until the virus-stricken summer of 2020 came along. Only
a few, such as the Bob Graham Round in the Lake District, had ever
broken into mainstream consciousness. But an absence of running
races thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in an unprecedented
rise in the popularity of attempts at breaking these records. In
Broken, Ally Beaven takes an entertaining look at just why 2020 was
so unusual for long-distance running. With his interest in Fastest
Known Times (FKTs) piqued, Beaven immerses himself in the scene.
His summer becomes one of spending hours in the hills feeding,
cajoling and generally trying to keep safe the runners he is
supporting, as well as following the dots of live trackers in the
middle of the night and endlessly refreshing his Twitter feed as
records tumble around the country. Through the stories of John
Kelly's epic Grand Round, Beth Pascall's record-shattering Bob
Graham Round, Donnie Campbell's mind-bending new mark for bagging
all 282 Munros, Jo Meek's new overall record for the Nigel Jenkins
Dartmoor Round and many others, Beaven brings us an inside look at
the incredible FKT machine. Broken is the story of the summer of
2020, a historic time for running in the UK.
Joe Simpson, with just his partner Simon Yates, tackled the unclimbed West Face of the remote 21,000 foot Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in June 1995. But before they reached the summit, disaster struck. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frostbitten, to tell their non-climbing companion that Joe was dead. For three days he wrestled with guilt as they prepared to return home. Then a cry in the night took them out with torches, where they found Joe, badly injured, crawling through the snowstorm in a delirium. Far from causing Joe's death, Simon had paradoxically saved his friend's life. What happened, and how they dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted when Simon was forced into the appalling decision to cut the rope, makes not only an epic of survival but a compelling testament of friendship.
'Callaghan's portrayal of a city under siege is many-layered and
brilliantly told' Sunday Times Iraq, 2014As ISIS laid terrible
siege to Mosul, a zoo on the eastern edge of the Tigris was kept
open against all odds. Under the stern hand of the zookeeper Abu
Laith, whose name - loosely translated - means Father of Lions, its
animals faced not only years of occupation, but starvation and
bombardment by the liberating forces. Father of Lions is the story
of Mosul Zoo: of resilience and human decency in the midst of
barbarism. 'Father of Lions captures, with heartbreaking poignancy,
the human cost of these conflicts' Josie Ensor, Middle East
Correspondent for the Daily Telegraphy 'Through the story of a man
who loves both lions and life, Louise Callaghan shows how humour
and defiance can counter cruelty' Lindsey Hilsum, author of In
Extremis
'Goodbye! There's my good girl.' The German got hold of Papa's arm
roughly and said, 'Come on!' They got in the car and sped away,
leaving the two breathless girls standing on the street corner,
staring at where the car had been. 'What on earth was all that
about? Why has my Daddy gone with that German?' It made no sense.
It made no sense at all. France, 1940: The British have retreated,
evacuating their forces from Dunkirk. Nell and her girls stand on
the beach on a clear day and see the outline of Dover Castle but it
will be four and a half long years before they return to Britain.
Jeanne, her sisters and their mother Nell are left to fend for
themselves in occupied France when her father is arrested by the
Nazis and taken to an internment camp.Proudly British, they have
also been raised speaking French. Nell is determined to keep going,
keep food on the table and see her girls continue in education. She
takes in washing, teaches English and tries growing vegetables but
the soil is too poor. They apply for Red Cross Parcels but are
told, as they are not behind barbed wire, they don't qualify.Yet
amid the struggles come great friendships and pleasure in the
smallest things; the rare treat of a piece of cake or tart, a
Christmas tree decorated with cotton or singing in church. Jeanne's
sisters are distinct personalities, one bookish and quiet, the
other outgoing. Letters from her interned husband Tom Sarginson and
occasional visits to see him only temporarily eases the pain of
being parted. Nell falls in love with a kindly German soldier. When
liberation comes in 1944 Nell and the girls' excitement is tempered
by a shocking event in their then home village of
Rieux-en-Cambresis. There follows an exhilarating and frustrating
stay in newly liberated Paris and the shock of arriving back in the
war weary Britain of late 1944. Nell and the Girls is a remarkable,
dramatic and heartwarming true story of a family told from the
viewpoint of young Jeanne Sarginson, later Gask.
This book of biographical profiles and stories chronicles the
astonishing courage and imagination of young people. The lives of
the seventeen young men and women profiled here, who range in age
from twelve to twenty-three at the time of their heroic deeds,
spread across oceans and continents, cultures, races, and ethnic
groups throughout 250 years. Each of their lives offers testimony
to the human capacity to endure, overcome incredible obstacles, and
choose honor, integrity, compassion, and service. The stories of
many are told here for the first time.
Among the lives depicted here are those of Melba Pattillo Beals,
one of the first African American students to attempt to integrate
a formerly all-white high school in Little Rock in 1957; Vladimir
Bukovsky, a teenager whose activities on behalf of the human rights
movement in the Soviet Union landed him in prison; Marianne Cohn,
who paid the ultimate price for her courage as a resistance fighter
in World War II France; Charles Eastman, raised as a Sioux, who was
thrust at age fourteen into an alien white world and who later
returned to his people as a physician and saved many lives at
Wounded Knee; Olaudah Equino, a West African sold into slavery in
the eighteenth century whose autobiography offers an unflinching
portrayal of the horrors of the Atlantic slave trade; and Chai
Ling, a slip of a girl who assumed leadership of the student
rebellion in China's Tiananmen Square. The heroes profiled in this
book represent ten nations-Africa, China, Cuba, Denmark, France,
Germany, Pakistan, Soviet Union, Thailand, and the United States.
Each profile concludes with a bibliography for further reading.
These engagingly written stories of young people's courage will
inspire and instruct.
"So Others May Live" is the untold story of the U.S. Coast Guard's
quiet but resolute rescue swimmers. From deep ocean caves on the
Oregon coast to the panicked and chaotic streets of post-Katrina
New Orleans, here are their stunningly heroic stories. In
startlingly clear and exceptional writing, Martha LaGuardia-Kotite
tells twelve heroic stories of the greatest maritime rescues
attempted since the program began in 1985. These feats, told
through the eyes of the heroes, reveal an understanding of how and
why the rescuer, with flight crew assistance, risks his or her own
life to reach out to save a stranger. Covering diverse
environments--oceans, hurricanes, oil rigs, caves, sinking vessels,
floods, and even Niagara Falls--"So Others May Live" is truly a
can't-put-it-down collection.
The incredible Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller from the million-copy
bestselling author of the phenomenon and 80-week Sunday Times
bestselling The Salt Path 'Beautiful, a thrill to read . . . you
feel the world is a better place because Raynor and Moth are in it'
The Times 'Winn's writing transforms her surroundings and her
spirits, her joy coming across clearly in her shimmering prose' i
'A beautiful, luminous and magical piece of writing' Rachel Joyce,
author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry _______ 'It was the
land, the earth, the deep humming background to my very being' In
2016, days before they were unjustly evicted from their home,
Raynor Winn was told her husband Moth was dying. Instead of giving
up they embarked on a life-changing journey: walking the 630-mile
South West Coast Path, living by their wits, determination and love
of nature. But all journeys must end and when the couple return to
civilisation they find that four walls feel like a prison, cutting
them off from the sea and sky that sustained them - that had saved
Moth's life. So when the chance to rewild an old Cornish farm comes
their way, they grasp it, hoping they'll not only reconnect with
the natural world but also find themselves once again on its
healing path . . . _______ 'Confirms Raynor as a natural and
extremely talented writer with an incredible way with words. This
book gives us all what we wanted to know at the end of The Salt
Path which is what happened next. So moving, it made me cry . . .
repeatedly' Sophie Raworth, BBC 'Brilliant, powerful and touching .
. . will connect with anyone who has triumphed over adversity'
Stephen Moss, author and naturalist 'Unflinching . . . There is a
luminous conviction to the prose' Observer 'Notions of home are
poignantly explored . . . wonderful' Guardian LONGLISTED FOR THE
WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2021 **Nominated for the Holyer an Gof Memoir
Award** Praise for The Salt Path 'An astonishing narrative of two
people dragging themselves from the depths of despair along some of
the most dramatic landscapes in the country, looking for a solution
to their problems and ultimately finding themselves' Independent
'This is what you need right now to muster hope and resilience . .
. a beautiful story and a reminder that humans can endure
adversity' Stylist 'The landscape is magical: shapeshifting seas
and smugglers' coves; myriads of sea birds and mauve skies. Raynor
writes exquisitely . . . it's a tale of triumph; of hope over
despair, of love over everything' The Sunday Times 'The Salt Path
is a life-affirming tale of enduring love that smells of the sea
and tastes of a rich life. With beautiful, immersive writing, it is
a story heart-achingly and beautifully told' Jackie Morris,
illustrator of The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane
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