THE FIGHT FOR FORDHALL FARM is the astonishing story of a young brother and sister faced with an unimaginable task - escaping eviction from their home that had been in their family since the 1700s, and saving their livelihood. Ben & Charlotte's father, Arthur Hollins, ran Fordhall Farm in Shropshire from the age of 14 until his death aged 90 in 2005, and inspired his children with his zeal for organic farming. So when their landlord informed them in 2005 that they would have to achieve the seemingly impossible and raise GBP800,000 to buy the farm or face eviction, 20- and 22-year-old Ben and Charlotte refused to give in without a fight. Aided by the Community Development Manager Sophie Hopkins and volunteers from across the country, the Hollinses set up the Fordhall Community Land Initiative, which allows members of the public to buy a GBP50 non-profit share in the farm. With an appeal in national newspapers and on television, the cheques were soon flooding in as the community rallied to save this special piece of farming history. Today more than 8,000 people across the world own a stake in Fordhall, and with supporters including a number of celebrities - HRH Prince Charles, Sting, Prunella Scales and Monty Don to name a few - the farm's future has been secured for the next 100 years.

SHORTLISTED, WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK of the YEAR, 2020. When Ian Ridley's wife, the trailblazing sports reporter Vikki Orvice, died of cancer at the age of 56, he found himself plunged deep into a sadness that he expected and a world of madness that he did not. In an attempt to make sense of it all and seek some solace from the brutality of his grief and anxiety, he embarks on a summer of watching county cricket. Reliving bitter-sweet memories in places he and Vikki had visited together, he is alternately unnerved and consoled by the ebbs and flows of his mourning. But gradually, against a backdrop of the County Championship's peace and solitude - with the sun on his back and tea, cake and crossword at his side - he finds a way to survive the rhythms and cadences of his grief. The Breath of Sadness is an unflinching account of how we carry on when we are left behind, and a poignant, tender and candid exploration of love and loss.

From the author of the bestselling Philistines at the Hedgerow, a mesmerizing inside account of the high-stakes world of Manhattan residential real estate Steven Gaines takes us from New York's most expensive condominiums and co-ops to the offices of its most powerful real estate brokers to reveal the outlandish displays of ego, bad behavior, and status hunger that come into play when the best addresses in the city are on the line. With his signature elan, Gaines weaves a gossipy tapestry of brokers, buyers, co-op boards, and eccentric landlords and tells of the apartment hunting and renovating adventures of many celebrities-from Tommy Hilfiger to Donna Karan, from Jerry Seinfeld to Steven Spielberg, from Barbra Streisand to Madonna. Gaines uncovers the secretive, unwritten rules of co-op boards: why diplomats and pretty divorcees are frowned upon, what not to wear to a board interview, and which of the biggest celebrities and CEOs have been turned away from the elite buildings of Fifth and Park Avenues. He introduces the carriage-trade brokers who never have to advertise for clients and gives us finely etched portraits of a few of the discreet, elderly society ladies who decide who gets into the so-called Good Buildings. Here, too, is a fascinating chronicle of the changes in Manhattan's residential skyline, from the slums of the nineteenth century to the advent of the luxury building. Gaines describes how living in boxes stacked on boxes came to be seen as the ultimate in status, and how the co-operative apartment, originally conceived as a form of housing for the poor, came to be used as a legal means of black-balling undesirable neighbors. A social history told through brick and mortar, The Sky's the Limit is the ultimate look inside one of the most exclusive and expensive enclaves in the world, and at the lengths to which people will go to get in.

In January 2003 Asne Seierstad entered Baghdad on a ten-day visa. She was to stay for over three months, reporting on the war and its aftermath. A Hundred and One Days is her compelling account of a city under siege, and a fascinating insight into the life of a foreign correspondent. An award-winning writer, Seierstad brilliantly details the frustrations and dangers journalists faced trying to uncover the truth behind the all-pervasive propaganda. She also offers a unique portrait of Baghdad and its people, trying to go about their daily business under the constant threat of attack. Seierstad's passionate and erudite book conveys both the drama and the tragedy of her one hundred and one days in a city at war.

The intriguing story of how wireless was invented by Guglielmo Marconi - and how it amused Queen Victoria, saved the lives of the Titanic survivors, tracked down criminals and began the radio revolution. Wireless was the most fabulous invention of the 19th century: the public thought it was magic, the popular newspapers regarded it as miraculous, and the leading scientists of the day (in Europe and America) could not understand how it worked. In 1897, when the first wireless station was established by Marconi in a few rooms of the Royal Needles Hotel on the Isle of Wight, nobody knew how far these invisible waves could travel through the 'ether', carrying Morse Coded messages decipherable at a receiving station. (The definitive answer was not discovered till the 1920s, by which time radio had become a sophisticated industry filling the airwaves with a cacaphony of sounds - most of it American.) Marconi himself was the son of an Italian father and an Irish mother (from the Jameson whiskey family); he grew up in Italy and was fluent in Italian and English, but it was in England that his invention first caught on. Marconi was in his early twenties at the time (he died in 1937). With the 'new telegraphy' came the real prospect of replacing the network of telegraphic cables that criss-crossed land and sea at colossal expense. Initially it was the great ships that benefited from the new invention - including the Titanic, whose survivors owed their lives to the wireless.

Chosen by Paul Auster out of the four thousand stories submitted to his radio programme on National Public Radio, these 180 stories provide a wonderful portrait of America in the twentieth century. The requirement for selection was that each of the stories should be true, and each of the writers should not have been previously published. The collection that has emerged provides a richly varied and authentic voice for the American people, whose lives, loves, griefs, regrets, joys and sense of humour are vividly and honestly recounted throughout, and adeptly organised by Auster into themed sections. The section composed of war stories stretches as far back as the Civil War, still the defining moment in American history; while the sequence of 'Meditations' conclude the volume with a true and abiding sense of transcendence. The resultant anthology is both an enduring hymn to the strange everyday of contemporary American life and a masterclass in the art of storytelling.

Ulick O'Connor takes the reader into the heart of Irish life during the 1970s and 1980s, evoking the streets and bars of Dublin with their now legendary characters: the world of Abbey Theatre and that of the Gate Theatre of Michale MacLiammoir. He recreates the atmosphere and talk of the great Anglo-Irish country houses such as Lexlip Castle and Tullynally, where he often stayed as a guest of the Guinesses and the Longfords. He also reveals the secret part he played as a go-between for the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch.;But O'Connor's stage isn't just Irish, it is international. In New York he makes friends with Viva, the star of Andy Warhol's infamous "Blue Movie", talks to Robert Kennedy, and witnesses the anti-Vietnam protests and the growth of the Civil Rights movement. In London he appears on Wogan, he dines with Alec Waugh and Paul Bowles in Tangiers, and in Stockholm he plays a practical joke on Edna O'Brien that unhappily misfires.

The 1854 collision at sea between the American ship Arctic and the Vesta, a much smaller French steamship, set in motion one of the most harrowing events in maritime history. David W. Shaw has based this fascinating account on the firsthand testimony of the few who survived the wreck, including the Arctic's heroic captain, James C. Luce, who was forced to fight his mutinous crew as they took the lifeboats and left hundreds of passengers to suffer a cruel and painful death. Not only did 400 people -- including Luce's own frail son -- die by daybreak, but the wreck also ended the domination of the seas by the American maritime fleet for the rest of the nineteenth century.

Utterly compelling, The Sea Shall Embrace Them is a stirring slice of heretofore little-known American history. Beautifully written, it puts the reader on deck as a ship full of men, women, and children do battle both with a mighty ocean and with their own baser instincts.

For fans of Mrs Hemingway and The Paris Wife, Whitney Scharer's The Age of Light is the riveting, vivid and powerful story of the photographer Lee Miller and her lover, Man Ray. Model. Muse. Lover. Artist. Paris, 1929. Lee Miller has abandoned her life in New York and a modelling career at Vogue to pursue her dream of becoming a photographer. When she catches the eye of artist Man Ray she convinces him to hire her as his assistant. Man is an egotistical, charismatic force and they soon embark upon a passionate affair. Lee and Man spend their days working closely in the studio and their nights at smoky cabarets and wild parties. But as Lee begins to assert herself, and to create pioneering work of her own, Man's jealousy spirals out of control and leads to a betrayal that threatens to destroy them both . . . 'Powerful, sensual and gripping' - Madeleine Miller, author of Circe 'Fans of Mrs Hemingway and The Paris Wife will love this one' - Elle

My Heavens! charts the progress of the authora (TM)s own substantial observatory (with additional material from amateur constructors of large observatories elsewhere) from conception, through design, planning and construction, to using an observatory of the kind that all amateur astronomers would aspire to own.

This book tells the a oewarts and alla story of small beginnings in amateur astronomy, leading to the construction of a a oetop of the rangea observatory at a house on the edge of a country village between Oxford and London. The author is a qualified building surveyor, and looks at building the observatory from his own professional perspective. There were of course many errors, problems, technical and organizational difficulties along the way, and the author never shies away from admitting his mistakes a" and in doing so he reduces the chances of others falling into the same traps. Comparisons are made with similar large projects in the USA, taking a look at the differences and similarities in planning and building regulations, and in construction methods on both sides of the Atlantic.

Eventually an observatory materialized, set up to facilitate the taking of very high quality images of the deep sky on those special days of best seeing.

The story doesna (TM)t end with the construction of the observatory, but goes on to describe the authora (TM)s choice of equipment, setting it up, and his own techniques for obtaining superb astronomical images like the ones he shows in his book.

At a time when we are once again talking and thinking about the meaning of America, bestselling author and award-winning journalist Dan Rather provides a powerful look at Americans who struggle to achieve their desires and ambitions. With the stories of ordinary men and women accomplishing the extraordinary, Rather demonstrates how the American dream brings us together and guides us, as it has for more than 200 years.

For some, the American dream is simply to own a home or rise out of poverty. Some wish to serve God, country, or community. There are those who want to learn to read or run their own business. Still others simply wish to exercise fundamental American rights: to openly practice their religion and to speak what is in their minds and hearts.

Stirring and provocative, The American Dream illustrates that the basic American desire for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is alive and well. It also confirms what our founding fathers always believed: that we are a country of visionaries, in ways big and small.

The true story of three men and their dreams for a racehorse – seabiscuit – that symbolised a pivotal moment in American history as modern America was born out of the crucible of the Depression and the dustbowl, as the twentieth centuries greatest nation found the courage to bet on itself to win against the odds.

In 1936 the habits of 19th-century America were finally consigned to history just as Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind was published. In their place, modern America was born. But what defined this new era? Nothing more than the story of Seabiscuit, a stunted colt with asymmetrical knees that had for two years been hacked around no-good race tracks which led to permanent leg damage. Yet by 1937 Seabiscuit could draw crowds of 60,000 and had more newspaper column inches devoted to him than Mussolini, Hitler or Roosevelt, his popularity peaking during his appearances at the Santa Anita Handicap. America had gone to the races for the first time since the Depression and fallen in love with a misshapen colt of great character. Now it wanted a winner. Seabiscuit is also the story of three men: Tom Smith, a former Wild West Showman was the trainer; Red Pollard, abandoned by his poverty stricken family at a race track became the rider; and Charles Howard, a pioneer car manufacturer in San Francisco in the 1920s was the owner and financier. These three combined to create the legend of Seabiscuit and epitomise a dream for the emerging new America.

As a child Zoë may have been naïve, gauche and inexperienced but innocent she never was - even before meeting the hands-on stranger Mr. Friedmann or the unforgettable sewing lesson with her grandmother. And she moves on to a highly unorthodox schooling, star-struck by Catholic celebrity Father Raymond (who signs photos of himself for the novices) and comes to the attention of the convent militia. The heroine's zig-zag progress from childhood to maturity is a path fraught with comic misunderstandings, adult subterfuge and the perils of non-conformity.

the Story of a Young Soldier in Hitler's Wehrmacht'. 'My story is not about the rise and fall of the third Reich. My story is about me. I am neither famous nor infamous, neither a dazzling success nor a dismal failure. I am a plain and ordinary human being who was too young to be a hero.' Ollie Weiss, the author's name for himself, was born in 1924 in a small town in Germany. When his father dies on the first day of school, Ollie feels deserted in an unfair, harsh world. He joins the Hitler Youth at ten and begins to greet his mother with 'Heil Hitler' instead of 'Good morning'.When Ollie signs up for the infantry he is willing to die for his beloved Fuhrer, the saviour of his Fatherland. But his years of brainwashing quickly wear off as he reaches the brink of insanity defending a corridor west of Stalingrad. Ollie's god has betrayed him and his world is turned upside down. too Young to be a Hero is an extraordinary true story of survival, moral conflict and of heartache.

Berkeley linguistics professor John McWhorter, born at the dawn of the post-Civil Rights era, spent years trying to make sense of this question. Now he dares to say the unsayable: racism's ugliest legacy is the disease of defeatism that has infected black America. Losing the Race explores the three main components of this cultural virus: the cults of victimology, separatism, and antiintellectualism that are making blacks their own worst enemies in the struggle for success.

More angry than Stephen Carter, more pragmatic and compassionate than Shelby Steele, more forward-looking than Stanley Crouch, McWhorter represents an original and provocative point of view. With Losing the Race, a bold new voice rises among black intellectuals.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page.  It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.

Now this cult classic of gonzo journalism is a major motion picture from Universal, directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro.  Opens everywhere on May 22, 1998.

The moving true story of an ordinary Welsh woman who dreamed of breeding a race horse, and Dream Alliance, who defied the odds to become a champion and brought a community together. Janet Vokes was working behind the bar in her local working men's club in the small Welsh mining community of Cefn Fforest when she fixed upon the idea of breeding a racehorse. She'd always loved animals, having dabbled in showing whippets and racing pigeons, and her husband Brian used to be a rag and bone man with a horse of his own. Why shouldn't a working-class horse take on the high flyers in the rarified world of racing? She bought a mare for GBP350, paired her up with a pedigree stallion and helped to create a syndicate of twenty-three friends from the village - each paying GBP10 a week - to raise the resulting foal, Dream Alliance. He may have grown up on an allotment but Dream Alliance had star quality, beating all the odds to become a winner at a number of world-class racetracks. Then a terrible injury to his leg threatened not just his career but his life. Refusing to have him put down, the syndicate paid for experimental surgery and Dream Alliance went on to not only make a full recovery but win the Welsh Grand National. Funny and charming, Dream Horse by Janet Vokes is the extraordinary story of a woman who defied the snobbery of the racing world to breed a champion, and a remarkable horse who brought a community together.

Reading The Power of Talking: Stories from the Therapy Room feels as though you have joined author Stelios Kiosses at his favourite coffee shop for a chat whilst enjoying a cappuccino and slice of cake. It is a joy to read, inviting you into the psychotherapeutic world as a welcome guest to discover the process of psychotherapy, the role of the therapist, and the psychological defences we all employ. 'Being a therapist is truly a lifelong journey which we share with others towards healing.' So says Stelios Kiosses and here he presents his journey so far. Along the way, we meet Gareth, suffering from depression for many years. Then there is Helen, dealing with unresolved childhood trauma. John and Alice, experiencing difficulties in their relationship, hoping couple therapy will help. David, successfully treated for burnout / work-related stress over a decade ago, but now struggling with suicidal thoughts after the loss of his job and his mother. This case has the added resonance of the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and the need to work remotely via video. And finally, Abigail, who is struggling with hoarding and the memories and pain of sexual abuse. These stories come to life in an engaging, enthralling, and enjoyable read for therapists and the public alike.

In an educational era defined by large school campuses and overcrowded classrooms, it is easy to overlook the era of one-room schools, when teachers filled every role, including janitor, and provided a familylike atmosphere in which children also learned from one another. In Tales from Kentucky One-Room School Teachers, William Lynwood Montell reclaims an important part of Kentucky's social, cultural, and educational heritage, assembling a fun and fascinating collection of schoolroom stories that chronicle a golden era in Kentucky. The firsthand narratives and anecdotes in this collection cover topics such as teacher-student relationships, day-to-day activities, lunchtime foods, students' personal relationships, and, of course, the challenges of teaching in a one-room school. Montell includes tales about fund-raising pie suppers, pranks, outrageous student behavior (such as the quiet little boy whose first "sharing" involved profanity), and variety of other topics. Montell even includes some of his own memories from his days as a pupil in a one-room school. Tales from Kentucky One-Room School Teachers is a delightful glimpse of the history of education.

Exploring three generations of the men in his family -- his father and his two uncles, his own two brothers, and his two sons -- Bret Lott spins a sweeping true saga of the ties that bind. With quiet grace and his trademark talent for finding powerful revelations in the most unlikely places, master novelist Lott delivers a bracingly personal and honest memoir that confronts the often inexpressible complexities of contemporary maleness. Fathers, Sons, and Brothers describes not only the ways men and boys relate to one another but also how their lives evolve over decades, endlessly imitative yet varied. In the end, these essays constitute a celebration of humanity, regardless of gender -- of joy and sorrow, of intimacy and distance, of lingering secrets and universal truths.

Welcome to the world of the modern Asian American woman, where the willingness to cause "trouble" -- to stir the waters, think deeply, and go against what is expected -- is the first of many steps to self-discovery and power. Now, Phoebe Eng shatters stereotypes and offers a bold new vision for American-raised daughters like herself.

A second-generation eldest daughter, caught between cultures, codes of behavior, and colliding worlds, Eng had to learn that in order to be true to herself, conflict and tough choices were necessary. But with those, she found, came a wonderful payoff: the doors to opportunity flew open.

Serving as both guide and mentor, Eng addresses the range of issues Asian American women face, including:

• How can we deal with family expectations?

• What is "false power" and how do we recognize it in our lives?

• Can we trust one another?

• How do we build healthy relationships in the face of "geisha girl" stereotypes?

• How can we find a sense of "home"?
  

Warrior Lessons signifies a generation and goes far beyond the limiting portrayal of what Eng calls "The Good Little Model Minority Girl." At last, here is a manual for today's woman warrior as she channels her rage and cultivates her power.

Talk to women under forty today, and you will hear that in spite of the fact that they have achieved goals previous generations of women could only dream of, they nonetheless feel more confused and insecure than ever. What has gone wrong? What can be done to set it right?

These are the questions Danielle Crittenden answers in What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us. She examines the foremost issues in women's lives -- sex, marriage, motherhood, work, aging, and politics -- and argues that a generation of women has been misled: taught to blame men and pursue independence at all costs. Happiness is obtainable, Crittenden says, but only if women will free their minds from outdated feminist attitudes.

By drawing on her own experience and a decade of research and analysis of modern female life, Crittenden passionately and engagingly tackles the myths that keep women from realizing the happiness they deserve. And she introduces a new way of thinking about society's problems that may, at long last, help women achieve the lives they desire.

Truth is often stranger than fiction, especially when it comes to the workplace. In "Cube Farm, "author, Bill Blunden, recounts his three years in Minnesota, performing research and development for Lawson Software. Riddled with intrigue, duplicity and collusion, this story offers a trench-level view of a company in the throes of internal rivalry, and suffering from a string of failed projects.

If you have ever suffered at the hands of an incompetent manager, or toiled in a dysfunctional environment, then this hilarious account will appeal to you. "Cube Farm "provides "lessons learned" sections, at the end of each chapter, which delve into the basics in corporate self defense. Table of Contents THE IVY LEAGUE ADVANTAGE BLAZING A TRAIL TO MINNESOTA FIRST IMPRESSIONS THE ILLUMINATI VANISHING ACT THE KING'S NEW CLOTHES THE GREAT ESCAPE IT'S THE NATURE OF THE BEAST A FIXED FIGHT THE Y2K TIME BOMB!

Over the years, authors, artists and amblers aplenty have felt the pull of the Thames, and now travel writer Tom Chesshyre is following in their footsteps. He's walking the length of the river from the Cotswolds to the North Sea - a winding journey of over two hundred miles. Join him for an illuminating stroll past meadows, churches and palaces, country estates and council estates, factories and dockyards. Setting forth in the summer of Brexit, and meeting a host of interesting characters along the way, Chesshyre explores the living present and remarkable past of England's longest and most iconic river.