Maria Krehbiel-Darmstadter (1892-1943), who was killed at Auschwitz, was a highly gifted pupil of Rudolf Steiner and a member of The Christian Community. Born into a Jewish family in Mannheim, she was deported to Gurs camp in the Pyrenees on October 22, 1940, where she survived harsh conditions and helped many of her fellow inmates. Following temporary sick-leave (under police supervision) in Limonest near Lyon, and a failed attempt to flee to Switzerland, she was brought to Drancy transit camp near Paris before being taken to Auschwitz. This book offers unique testimony of an individual rooted in esoteric Christianity and Spiritual Science who found sources of inner resistance during one of history's darkest periods. As the portrait of a highly ethical and sorely tried woman amid catastrophic conditions, it describes her existential efforts to summon powers of concentration, meditation, and dedication to others, showing how these continued to inform her outlook and actions to the very end. Polish Jews in Drancy referred to Maria Krehbiel-Darmstadter as Mere Maria. They experienced her distinctive spirituality and personal qualities and a profound religiosity that retained an inner connection with the Christian sacramental world, even in the most desolate circumstances. From Gurs to Auschwitwitz adds an important voice to literature on the Holocost and shines a light on the nature of spiritual, inner resistance during the dark years of World War II in Europe.

Inspiring the film starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, and directed by Stephen Frears, Philomena is the tale of a mother and a son whose lives were scarred by the forces of hypocrisy on both sides of the Atlantic and of the secrets they were forced to keep. With a foreword by Judi Dench, Martin Sixsmith's book is a compelling and deeply moving narrative of human love and loss, both heartbreaking yet ultimately redemptive. When she fell pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to the convent at Roscrea in Co. Tipperary to be looked after as a fallen woman. She cared for her baby for three years until the Church took him from her and sold him, like countless others, to America for adoption. Coerced into signing a document promising never to attempt to see her child again, she nonetheless spent the next fifty years secretly searching for him, unaware that he was searching for her from across the Atlantic. Philomena's son, renamed Michael Hess, grew up to be a top Washington lawyer and a leading Republican official in the Reagan and Bush administrations. But he was a gay man in a homophobic party where he had to conceal not only his sexuality but, eventually, the fact that he had AIDS. With little time left, he returned to Ireland and the convent where he was born: his desperate quest to find his mother before he died left a legacy that was to unfold with unexpected consequences for all involved.

There have been many amazing heroes down through the ages. The achievements of American heroes like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln certainly resonate, but how many heroes of Jewish heritage come to mind? Each of the eleven Jewish heroes presented in this volume, some famous and others less so, overcame tremendous challenges to achieve greatness, persevering through their faith in God and belief in freedom and human dignity. Queen Esther maintained her traditions in the house of Ahasuerus for nine years while also hiding her true origins, and then orchestrated the salvation of the Jewish Persians at great personal risk. When urgent funding was needed for the Continental Army in 1781, General George Washington turned to none other than a financial genius named Haym Salomon. Felix Zandman survived World War II as a teenager by living with three others in a pit for seventeen months, and then went on to graduate from the Sorbonne and found a company that was innovational in the world of electronics and communication. Our heroes many feats and great accomplishments, and their dedication to freedom and its ideals, are truly amazing, and their stories stand the test of time.

From No.1 bestselling author Toni Maguire comes a new true story of abuse and survival. 'Small children have no say in the direction their lives take. Even before they have learnt to walk and talk, they are trained to obey' Daisy was only four when her parents told her and her older brother that they were moving halfway across the world to Australia for a better life. Leaving everything behind, including her beloved grandparents, she stepped into an unfamiliar world. Daisy's close and unbreakable bond with her disabled brother helped her navigate her new life, until tragedy repeatedly struck the family. After her parents' split and she was introduced to her new stepfather, nothing could have prepared her for what followed. All alone in 300 acres of wilderness, Daisy's only wish was to return home to her grandparents and their love. This is her true story of fear, abuse and, finally, escape.

'Captivating, a John le Carre-esque yarn' Telegraph 'A thoroughly good read' Michael Portillo, author of Portillo's Hidden History of Britain and presenter of Great British Railway Journeys 'A compelling story of courage, determination and skill' Terry Waite CBE, author of Taken on Trust The true story of a retired British army officer's private Somali-hostage rescue mission During the peak of the Somali piracy crisis, three ships - from Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan - were hijacked and then abandoned to their fate by their employers, who lacked the money to pay ransoms. All would still be there, were it not for Colonel John Steed, a retired British military attache, who launched his own private mission to free them. At 65, Colonel Steed was hardly an ideal saviour. With no experience in hostage negotiations and no money behind him, he had to raise the ransom cash from scratch, running the operation from his spare room and ferrying million-dollar ransom payments around in the boot of his car. Drawing on first-hand interviews, former chief foreign correspondent of The Sunday Telegraph, Colin Freeman, who has himself spent time held hostage by Somali pirates, takes readers on an inside track into the world of hostage negotiation and one man's heroic rescue mission.

The hilarious, heartwarming and - unbelievably - true story of Maurice Flitcroft, the World's Worst Golfer 'The story of its greatest anti-hero is just what the game needs' Spectator When 46-year-old crane driver Maurice Flitcroft chanced his way into the Open - having never before played a round of golf in his life - he ran up a record-worst score of 121. The sport's ruling classes banned him for life. Maurice didn't take it lying down. In a hilarious game of cat-and-mouse with The Man, he entered tournaments again - and again, and again - using increasingly ludicrous pseudonyms such as Gene Pacecki, Arnold Palmtree and Count Manfred von Hoffmanstel (more often than not disguised by a fake moustache). In doing so, he sent the authorities into apoplexy, and won the hearts of fans from Muirfield to Michigan, becoming arguably the most popular - and certainly the bravest - sporting underdog the world has ever known 'Hilarious' Esquire

'A raw, honest rollercoaster that touches the heart' ***** 'Kate and her family's courageous battle over the last year is told with such candour' ***** 'Written from the heart with the will never to give up hope' ***** ........................ In March 2020, Kate Garraway's husband, Derek Draper, contracted Covid-19 and was placed in a medically-induced coma. Initially, Kate was told that he would not survive. A year later he was still in hospital. Now at home but requiring round-the-clock care, he is thought to be the UK's longest-fighting Covid-19 patient. In this intimate book, Kate shares her deeply personal story. As well as recounting how the illness took hold of their lives, she writes about how she is coping with the uncertainty of their future, how she's supporting her children through this traumatic time, how she has found strength in community and how she strives to hold on to hope even at the darkest of times. Covid-19 has affected everyone across the country in so many ways and Kate hopes that by revealing her own personal experience, it will give comfort to others. By sharing the lessons she has learnt along the way, it will help us all begin to try to re-build our lives. Kate's exceptional courage, positivity and warmth shine through on every page, making The Power of Hope a truly inspiring read that will resonate with all of us whose lives continue to be touched by the virus. THIS EDITION IS UPDATED, WITH NEW MATERIAL ABOUT CARING FOR DEREK AT HOME.

"A dramatic story, ably and convincingly told . . . A chilling look at the precarious line between success and tragedy."--"Kirkus Reviews"

On May 15, 2006, a young British climber named David Sharp lay dying near the top of Mount Everest while forty other climbers walked past him on their way to the summit. A week later, Lincoln Hall, a seasoned Australian climber, was left for dead near the same spot. Hall's death was reported around the world, but the next day he was found alive after spending the night on the upper mountain with no food and no shelter.

If David Sharp's death was shocking, it was hardly singular: ten others died attempting to reach the summit that year. In this meticulous inquiry into what went wrong, Nick Heil tells the full story of the deadliest year on Everest since the infamous season of 1996. As more climbers attempt the summit each year, Heil shows how increasingly risky expeditions and unscrupulous outfitters threaten to turn Everest into a deadly circus.

Written by an experienced climber, "Dark Summit" is both a riveting account of a notorious climbing season and a troubling investigation into whether the pursuit of the ultimate mountaineering prize has spiraled out of control.

WINNER OF THE AMERICAN BOOK AWARD AND THE LA TIMES BOOK AWARD 'Masterly. Brilliantly crafted, powerfully written and deftly reported' Guardian The urgent and unforgettable true story of post-Katrina New Orleans . . . In August 2005, as Hurricane Katrina blew in, the city of New Orleans has been abandoned by most citizens. But resident Abdulrahman Zeitoun, though his wife and family had gone, refused to leave. For days he traversed an apocalyptic landscape of flooded streets by canoe. But eventually he came to the attention of those 'guarding' this drowned city. Only then did Zeitoun's nightmare really begin. Zeitoun is the powerful, ultimately uplifting true story of one man's courage when confronted with an awesome force of nature followed by more troubling human oppression. 'Eggers uses Zeitoun's eyes to report on America's reasonless post-Katrina world, Reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's documentaries, this is a true story told with the skills of a master of fiction. Immensely readable' Independent 'The stuff of great narrative non-fiction. Fifty years from now, when people want to know what happened to this once-great city, they will be talking about a family named Zeitoun' The New York Times Book Review

THE GRIPPING, TERRIFYING STORY OF A BRUTAL STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL ON THE UPPER SLOPES OF THE HIMALAYAN K2, THE WORLD'S MOST HOSTILE TERRAIN. 'Unputdownable. A portrait of extreme courage, folly and loss, leavened by a small dose of survival' Financial Times ________________ K2, August 1st, 2008. Thirty climbers are attempting the summit of the most savage mountain on Earth. They make it. But before they start their descent an ice shelf collapses, sweeping away their ropes. It is dark. Their lines are gone. They are low on oxygen. And it is getting very, very cold. How many will make it down alive? ________________ 'A gripping hour-by-hour dissection of events in the Western Himalayas over three deadly days. A fitting shelfmate to the modern classic Into Thin Air. A cracking read' Sunday Times 'The best mountain-disaster memoir since Into Thin Air' Mail on Sunday 'Stories of heroism, sadness and extraordinary endurance against all the odds [are] woven into a thrilling drama' Daily Mail

________________________________________ The only book on 9/11 to focus solely on the remarkable testimony of those inside the Twin Towers during the attacks. At 8.46 am on September 11, 2001, 14,000 people were inside the Twin Towers in New York - reading emails, making calls, eating croissants... over the next 102 minutes each would become part of the most infamous and deadly terrorist attack in history, one truly witnessed only by the people who lived through it - until now. Of the millions of words written about that unforgettable day when Al Qaeda attacked the western world, most have been from outsiders. New York Times reporters Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn have taken the more revealing approach - using real-life testimonies to report solely from the perspective of those inside the towers. 102 Minutes is the epic account of ordinary men and women whose lives were changed forever in this kamikaze act of terrorism. This unique book about unique people, includes incredible stories of bravery, courage and overcoming unbelievable odds. Immortalised in this non-fiction masterpiece are the construction manager and his colleagues who pried open the doors and saved dozens of people in the north tower; the police officer who was a few blocks away, filing his retirement papers, but grabbed his badge and sprinted to the buildings; the window washer stuck in a lift fifty floors up who used a squeegee to escape; and the secretaries who led an elderly man down eighty-nine flights of stairs. Chance encounters, moments of grace, a shout across an office shaped these minutes, marking the border between fear and solace, staking the boundary between life and death. Crossing a bridge of voices to go inside the infernos, seeing cataclysm and herosim one person at a time, Dwyer and Flynn tell the affecting, authoritative saga of the men and women - the 12,000 who escaped and the 2,749 who perished at Ground Zero on September 11th 2001 - as they made 102 minutes count as never before.

"I Am Nobody is an honest, tragic account of child sexual abuse and a powerful resource for individuals struggling with recovery. Gilhooly clearly highlights the shortcomings of the Canadian justice system's approach; hopefully, one day, the punishment will fit the crime." &#8212Sheldon Kennedy, former NHL player and author of Why I Didn't Say Anything In this raw, unflinching look at how his dream of playing hockey was stolen from him by charismatic hockey coach and sexual predator Graham James, Greg Gilhooly describes in anguishing detail the mental torment he suffered both during and long after the abuse and the terrible reality behind the sanitized term "sexual assault." Although James has been convicted of sexually assaulting some of his victims, including Sheldon Kennedy and Theo Fleury, he neither confessed in court nor was convicted of sexually assaulting many of his other victims, including Gilhooly, depriving him of the judicial closure he craved. Gilhooly also provides a valuable legal perspective-as both a victim and a lawyer-missing from other such memoirs, and he delivers a powerful indictment of a legal system that, he argues, does not adequately deal with serial sexual child abuse or allocate enough resources to the rehabilitation of the victim. Most important, Gilhooly offers hope, affirmation, and inspiration for those who have suffered abuse and for their loved ones.

* * * Special 75th Anniversary Edition * * * Hugh Sebag-Montefiore's Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man tells the story of the rescue in May 1940 of British soldiers fleeing capture and defeat by the Nazis at Dunkirk. Dunkirk was not just about what happened at sea and on the beaches. The evacuation would never have succeeded had it not been for the tenacity of the British soldiers who stayed behind to ensure they got away. Men like Sergeant Major Gus Jennings who died smothering a German stick bomb in the church at Esquelbecq in an effort to save his comrades, and Captain Marcus Ervine-Andrews VC who single-handedly held back a German attack on the Dunkirk perimeter thereby allowing the British line to form up behind him. Told to stand and fight to the last man, these brave few battalions fought in whatever manner they could to buy precious time for the evacuation. Outnumbered and outgunned, they launched spectacular and heroic attacks time and again, despite ferocious fighting and the knowledge that for many only capture or death would end their struggle. 'A searing story . . . both meticulous military history and a deeply moving testimony to the extraordinary personal bravery of individual soldiers' Tim Gardam, The Times 'Sebag-Montefiore tells [the story] with gusto, a remarkable attention to detail and an inexhaustible appetite for tracking down the evidence' Richard Ovary, Telegraph Hugh Sebag-Montefiore was a barrister before becoming a journalist and then an author. He wrote the best-selling Enigma: The Battle for the Code. One of his ancestors was evacuated from Dunkirk.

Fran Stiff is a silicone gel survivor. Implanted with silicone gel-filled breast implants in November 1981 she was told it was a 'one off' and that the implants would last a lifetime. It was the beginning of a 22-year nightmare. Intended to enhance her beauty, the procedure had the opposite result. By 1983 her right breast had become hard and deformed. The implant had ruptured and loose silicone gel had been broadcast into her breast and other bodily tissues. This was surgically removed and the implant replaced. By May 1989 her right breast had re-hardened, but this time she was unable to find a plastic surgeon willing to deal with it. They were only prepared to explant the implants, because they said the hardening would only reoccur. This would have left her with a grossly deformed chest and no breasts. She refused, deciding it was preferable to live with the deformity. She found herself progressively afflicted with major allergies and rheumatism. It was only in 1997 – 16 years after the first implantations – that she found a plastic surgeon who was prepared to tackle her problems. After a string of operations to remove the remnants of silicone gel that remained in her body and the replacement of both her implants with saline-filled ones, Fran is at last at the stage she had thought she had reached in 1981. Even her silicone gel-inspired allergies and rheumatism has begun to diminish. While silicone gel implants have been banned in the USA since 1992, their virtually unregulated use has continued in the European Union, South Africa and elsewhere. Effectively, women there have been used as lab rats by manufacturers of silicone gel breast implants to gather data for the FDA so that their products might be allowed back on the lucrative US market.

In this riveting first-person account, former Olympian and professional hockey player Eric LeMarque tells a harrowing tale of survival-of how, with only a lightweight jacket and thin wool hat, he survived eight days stranded in the frozen wilderness after a snowboarding trip gone horribly wrong. Known by his National Guard rescuers as "the Miracle Man," Eric recounts his rise to success and fame as a hockey player and Olympian, his long and painful fall due to crystal meth addiction, and his unbelievable ordeal in the wilderness. In the end, a man whose life had been based on athleticism would lose both his legs to frostbite and had to learn to walk-and snowboard-again with prosthetics. He realized that he couldn't come to terms with his drug addiction or learn to walk again by himself. He had to depend on God for his strength. Now an inspirational speaker committed to raising awareness for the dangers of drugs and crystal meth, Eric, in 6 Below, confronts the ultimate test of survival: what it takes to find your way out of darkness, and-after so many lies-to tell the truth and, by the grace and guidance of God, begin to live again.