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Books > Fiction > True stories > General
German South West Africa 1906, Australian horse trader Cyril Blake is executed in cold blood by the Kaiser’s soldiers.
Sydney, the present day. Blake’s great-great nephew, recently widowed Nick Eatwell, is approached by South African journalist Susan Vidler who is investigating his ancestor’s mysterious demise.
Intrigued and looking for distraction, Nick discovers a long-lost manuscript which tells how Blake stayed in South Africa after serving in the Anglo Boer War and joined the Nama people in their rebellion against the Germans in South West Africa, modern-day Namibia.
In Munich, historian Anja Berghoff, researching the origin of the wild ‘ghost’ horses of Namibia, stumbles across intriguing letters from Irish-German spy Claire Martin, with whom Blake had an affair.
As Nick and Anja’s paths cross, they find themselves racing through southern Africa and time on the trail of a legend.
But they’re not alone. Someone else is chasing these ghosts of the past, looking for clues to a hidden treasure worth killing for.
Ghosts of the Past is based on a true story.
IN 12 YEARS, MICHELLE LYONS WITNESSED NEARLY 300 EXECUTIONS. As a
reporter and then spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice, Michelle was a frequent visitor to Huntsville's Walls
Unit, where she recorded the final moments of death row inmates'
lives before they were put to death by the state. Michelle
witnessed some of the most notorious criminals, including serial
killers, child murderers and rapists, speak their last words on
earth, while a cocktail of lethal drugs surged through their veins.
Misgivings began to set in as the execution numbers mounted. She
came to know and like some of the condemned people she saw die, and
began to query the seemingly arbitrary nature of the death penalty.
Do executions actually make victims of us all? 'Haunting, dark and
hard to put down' Houston Chronicle 'A portrait of what it's like
to be surrounded by death... a memoir of perseverance in the face
of routine tragedy' The Daily Beast
Hazel Hendry is a remarkable woman. She worked tirelessly raising
money for charities, and particularly for TEARFUND, including
walking the form of a cross from John Oa Groats to Lands End and
from Ramsgate to Fishguard in Wales. When the Croatian War began,
the founder of TEARFUND, George Hoffman, told her, a Hazel, the
people of Croatia need your helpa . So she raised money to send
over 50 lorries, full of much needed supplies of food, furniture,
medical equipment and toiletries, into Croatia. She travelled
personally with many of them during and after the war. Hazel
delivered aid right to the Front Line risking her life to help
people who had lost their homes, livelihoods, and families. This
book is about her experiences during those dangerous years, and the
people who helped her and those that she helped. It is based on
journals which she kept at the time and later recollections of
particular people and events. As such, it is a vivid account of how
the Croations in the War Zone suffered at the hands of the Chetniks
who would attack their villages while leaving neighbouring villages
in Croatia where Serbs lived unscathed. Some of the details that
she recalls are not for the squeamish, but the way in which her
faith supported her throughout this period shines through on every
page.
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Skye
(Paperback)
Kate Ripley
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R221
Discovery Miles 2 210
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Follow the story of a dog named Skye, who really was found in a
skip and after many adventures, her return home after six years.
This heart warming true tale is a tribute to the power hope, and of
the microchip!
The book contains stories on various subjects, starting with the
contemplations of passengers in an airplane during a fictitious
flight on various situations in their life, through the memories
captured by ZS during his study and work, as well as stories based
on pub talks and on the imagination of the author.
Daughter. Wife. Mother. Mystic. Discover the life of this fifteenth
century merchant's wife from King's Lynn who despite being unable
to read or write created the first autobiography in English.
Explore Margery's world of visions, pilgrimages and the constant
threat of being burned for heresy.
a RA ALISER UN RA VE A 75 ANSa Ca est le rA (c)cit da une aventure
extraordinaire, la rA (c)ussite da un circuit de la Suisse A pied,
A vA (c)lo et en kayak, en suivant au plus prAs la ligne frontiAre.
Une distance totale de prAs de 2a 500 km et 120a 000 m de dA
(c)nivelA (c) (environ 13 fois la hauteur de la Everest!) parcourue
en 115 jours en 2015 et 2016, dans des conditions parfois
dangereuses, hors des sentiers battus. Au cours de cette pA
(c)riode, la auteur a escaladA (c) un peu plus da une centaine de
sommets et un nombre A (c)quivalent de cols sur la frontiAre, y
compris des sommets mythiques comme le Mont Rose et le Cervin; il a
fait de la randonnA (c)e dans le Jura, le Tessin et les Grisons et
du kayak sur le lac LA (c)man et le Rhin. Ca A (c)tait aussi un
exploit, A 75 ans! Le livre comprend des sections sur la
contrebande et des exemples de retrait des glaciers, ainsi qua une
trentaine da A"histoires de frontiAreA", qui constituent une source
da informations prA (c)cieuse sur la histoire et la gA (c)ographie
de la frontiAre suisse.
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire celebrated its
centenary year in 2017. In the past one hundred years, the order
has gone from a way of rewarding men and women of all walks of life
for service during the Great War to one of the most recognisable
orders in the world.
After losing his wife to cancer and suffering mental health
problems, Jamie Rogers knew that things could be made better.
Sharing stories of other bereaved fathers, interleaved with
information regarding hospice help, this book is designed to dispel
some of the myths surrounding hospice care.
The journal of an Englishman's solo trip across Northern India Have
you ever considered visiting the Taj Mahal or exploring the pink
city of Jaipur? Or maybe a trek to see a tiger in the wild is more
to your taste? Join me on my adventures where I encounter colourful
temples, tempting curries and eventful drives along some of the
world's most dangerous roads.
Having skippered and delivered in excess of 750 Motor Cruisers over
the past 40 years, totalling a distance equivalent to 29 times
around the world, has provided me with a number of adventurous and
sometimes hair-raising stories to tell. Thankfully, I have lived to
tell the tales! "Homeward Bound" starts with daily notes of the
author's last single-handed voyage from the south of France to the
south coast of England. In between these notes he recalls some of
his memorable adventures, which he tells in such a way that the
reader could almost be there with him, often experiencing how
quickly a difficult situation at sea can turn into a disastrous
one. Although showing the serious side of sailing there is also a
fair amount of humour in his writing. An enjoyable and entertaining
read.
Eager Traveller was written for the grandchildren of the author in
order that they should see how different life was fifty years ago.
It is the story of a London child, dominated by a stern father, who
spent much of her time in the company of loving relatives. On
leaving school her father sent her into private service where she
was the lowest of the low, and made to take orders from all and
sundry. She enjoyed the travels of the great families and their
families and their servants as they moved about the country
following the huntin', shootin' and fishin' seasons. She married a
farm worker and as there was little money she was unable to travel,
so she became an "Armchair Traveller" until chance and someone's
bad luck took her abroad for the first time at the age of
forty-one. From then on travel came frequently and the greatest
adventure came in 1971 when she took her family behind the Iron
Curtain into Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. They found kind and
happy people who, although they had known great sufferings, showed
kindness to the "Engleski". A strong psychic thread runs through
the story
Whatever happens in life, Rosemary Solomon has an amazing gift for
finding God in there somewhere. Rosemary's Ramblings is a
light-hearted look at the kind of everyday experiences that life
throws at all of us. In this, her first book, she offers a
collection of 45 Ramblings, each a short story in themselves. The
book has appeal across the board. No previous knowledge of faith,
God or the bible is required. Reverend Rosemary Solomon is a
Minister of Word and Sacrament in the United Reformed Church. She
shares her home and her life with her husband Jeff and greyhound
Blackie (and God!).
Journalist Kate Young decided to combine the trip of a lifetime
with a wacky writing challenge to raise money for the Earl
Mountbatten Hospice on the Isle of Wight. Starting from
post-Olympic Beijing, she lost her soul to the Mongolian steppes;
survived the hurly-burly of Ulaanbaatar; escaped amorous advances
near Lake Baikal and made it to the Tsarist majesty of Moscow in a
poignant trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
This is a compelling story about the brave recovery of a man whose
early life was full of hopelessness, who nevertheless overcame many
barriers so that he could become a normal member of society. The
author grew up in Surrey in a large working class family in which
problems were an everyday occurrence. From an early age life became
increasingly difficult due to a traumatic accident when he was
three years old, and later when at the age of twelve he was
sexually abused. Before the age of twenty-one he contracted a major
neurological illness called Dystonia. For many years thereafter, he
became addicted to prescribed medication which isolated him from
mainstream society. His problems were further exacerbated by a term
in prison. His recovery was arduous and painful and it took many
years before he found his way back to normal life through
University education, social work training and friendships. The
book is an inspiring read that will give hope and courage to many
others who have experienced similar setbacks in life.
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