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Books > Fiction > True stories > General
Mark Purdey's life changed one day in 1984 when a Ministry of
Agriculture inspector told him he must administer a toxic
organophosphate pesticide to his dairy herd. Passionately committed
to organic farming and convinced of the harmful effects of
chemicals in the environment, he refused to comply. 'It was as if
my whole life became focused', he explained later. Before they had
a chance to prosecute, Purdey took the Ministry to court and won
his case. These experiences led him to challenge the orthodox line
on the origins of Mad Cow Disease and its human counterpart variant
CJD. Could the insecticide used in the official programme have
precipitated the spread of the disease?Purdey's quest to discover
the truth was hampered at every turn by government bureaucracies
and self-serving scientific cliques who sought to smear and
marginalize him. Dogged by dirty tricks and forced to work alone as
something of a scientific sleuth, he struggled to reveal hidden
interests and dangerous secrets. His supporters included many
members of the public, as well as Prince Charles and the poet Ted
Hughes. The latter wrote to him expressing 'a million
congratulations'.Increasingly sceptical of the official narrative,
Purdey was certain that toxic environmental factors would provide
answers, and so embarked on a self-funded worldwide odyssey to
investigate. "Animal Pharm" follows him on these eco-detective
trails to locations as diverse as Iceland, Sardinia, Colorado and
Australia. Purdey uncovers contamination from industry, munitions,
pesticides, nuclear experiments and natural geology, linking these
with the emergence of a range of neurodegenerative diseases. His
research is at once compelling and disturbing, helping to create a
paradigm shift in our understanding of the relationship of
pollutants to disease and health.
A guide to all things aphrodisiac, Edible Pleasures is the perfect
book to whet the appetite and satiate the senses. aimed at the more
discerning gourmand, Edible Pleasures offers an irresistible guide
to the unbreakable bond between food and love. From the poetic to
the philosophical, the absurd to the abstruse, indulge in
scientific, gastronomic and cultural histories, accompanied by an
a-z of aphrodisiacs with a side order of seductive recipes.
lovingly combining delicacies from The Taste of a Kiss by Martial
to Madame Pompadour's Asparagus Tips, by way of South Park's Hot
Salty Chocolate Balls, Edible Pleasures is bound to be the
definitive textbook on food, passion, love and desire.
Police spokesperson and former TV journalist McIntosh Polela has
been on our screens for many years. But behind his seemingly
unfazed demeanour, a troubled past haunts him. His parents
disappeared when he was a little boy, leaving him and his sister
Zinhle to suffer years of brutal abuse. When the truth of his
parents' disappearance is revealed, the teenage McIntosh makes a
fully functioning gun from found object which he keeps for the day
when he finds his father. He knows that he must come face to face
with the man who robbed him of his childhood. McIntosh has to
confront his father about his mother's brutal death. How can he
possibly forgive, when his father remains a remorseless brutal and
heartless monster?
Scottish Family Legends is a treasure trove of true tales written
by people from all over Scotland. These stories were collected by
Scottish Book Trust as part of a nationwide project to encourage
people to get writing, inspired by their remarkable relatives.
These tales recall lives domestic and military, urban and rural,
work-a-day and extraordinary - but never boring! Bursting with
drama, heartache, celebration, character, warmth, gratitude, love
and loss, Scottish Family Legends is a celebration of the people,
places and events that make up our collective heritage - it is
truly a book to be treasured.
Running's Strangest Tales is a fascinating collection of weird and
wonderful stories from the world of running, from the earliest
marathon to today's high-tech, apped-up approach. Within these
pages you'll find the bizarre story of the Norwegian footballer
forced to miss a crucial World Cup qualifier after colliding with a
moose on his morning jog, the American ultra-marathoner who had all
his toenails removed to improve his running, and why some runners
at the 2015 Tokyo marathon were wearing GPS-enabled, edible
bananas, complete with LEDs and incoming Twitter updates. Packed
with tales that are so odd you'll hardly believe them, this book
makes the perfect gift for all running enthusiasts, from the
seasoned marathoner to the park jogger, and those who only ever run
a bath. Word count: 45,000
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Eclipse
(Paperback)
Nicholas Clee
1
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R524
R439
Discovery Miles 4 390
Save R85 (16%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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In the bestselling tradition of Seabiscuit, the extraordinary true
story of the world's most famous racehorse, and the rogue who owned
him.
Epsom Downs racetrack, 3rd May, 1769: a chestnut with a white blaze
scorches across the turf towards the finishing post, leaving his
rivals in the dust. Awestruck, his spectators know they are in the
presence of greatness.
This is a vivid portrait of high society and low life, of
passionate sport and ferocious gambling. It's the story of
Eclipse's owner, an adventurer who made his money through roguery
and gambling -- a rank outsider who went on to become a national
celebrity -- and of his horse, which went on to become the
undisputed champion of horse racing; founded dynasties that
dominated the bloodstock market in every country where
Thoroughbreds raced; and whose influence was such that ninety-five
percent of horses racing today are Eclipse's male-line descendants.
An incredible journey of life lessons, grief and unexpected
friendship changes the life of a young Midwestern boy who
accidentally kills his beloved dog during a backyard baseball game
in the summer of 1963. In his grief, he reaches out to the most
powerful family in the world, President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy
who give Mark a gift that changes his life. This true story not
only gave this boy a dog to fill the void of his loss, but an
unexpected friendship with the most iconic woman of the 20th
century: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In a series of unlikely divine
interventions, Mark shares the journey and fulfillment of his love
for dogs, brought back to life by a remarkable little dog,
Streaker. Just as amazing is the long-term friendship Mark develops
with Jacqueline, and how God used that friendship to mentor him.
That sense of divine calling led Mark to opportunities of great
service for the Kingdom of God, while at times dangerous,
incredibly rewarding and important. Streaker may have been a mutt,
but his simple bloodline showed Mark that anyone puts their
giftedness in God's hands, and allows God to use them, amazing
things happen.
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
Susanne Defoe suffered parental violence and bullying at school on
a daily basis throughout her childhood, finding comfort only with
her pet rabbits: "One of my first memories was of climbing into the
rabbit hutch and snuggling down into the straw to sleep... I just
stayed there until they found me. I was only two and a half and I
was missing for almost two hours." Desperate to escape from her
controlling father and ignorant mother, she found herself pregnant
at fifteen by a boy who turned out to be a waster who spent all his
wages in the pub. This is the story of how Susanne struggled to
escape from a life of abuse, cruelty and ignorance to try to gain
some self-respect and a decent life for herself and her four
daughters.
As a senior aeronautical engineer with Britain's flagship airlines
in the 60s, 70s and 80s, it was engineer and playboy Nazie El
Masry's job to keep these man-made birds in perfect flying
condition. Turbulent Times and Clear Skies is the story of his
colourful exploits in the most glamorous industry of all, as he
defeated the odds to build an international aviation business of
his own - with offices in Singapore, Miami, Holland and the UK.
From the crew and pilots' parties to which he supplied contraband
liquor and introductions to the wildest international hotspots in
Libya, Tunis, Casablanca and Europe; to his early adventures
wheeling and dealing in 1970s Britain, along the way Nazie has
rubbed shoulders with slum landlords, show girls, heads of state
and movie stars. This is also the story of an Egyptian childhood
and a young man who lost his father but found happiness.
One day a woman of average means waltzes by a jewellery shop window
and spots a GBP20,000 diamond necklace. She can't get it out of her
head. Eventually she gets the idea of sharing it with friends,
persuading them to chip in a grand each to buy the necklace. This
is the true story of 13 ordinary women, and one extraordinary
adventure. The Necklace is the amazing true story of thirteen women
who didn't want to give up on their dreams. They clubbed together
to buy a gorgeous diamond necklace, agreeing that each of them
would have it for four weeks at a time. They would meet every month
to find out what the necklace (now dubbed 'Jewelia') had been up
to. The club had some rules: if someone went to Paris, they got the
necklace. At least once, everyone had to wear the necklace whilst
making love. After two years, the necklace had been loaned out to
nieces, grandmas, friends and granddaughters. It had been worn by
brides and colleagues and sisters and friends. And when it was
their turn for the necklace the women of Jewelia wore it for both
the daily routines and special events of their lives, to teach
school, to work in the farmer's market, to go fishing and
skydiving. It started something. The Necklace is the story of how
an object of desire became a catalyst for connection, friendship
and more. It's like Calendar Girls, only maybe a bit more
glamorous, glitzy and sparkling.
Born a humble village boy in Pakistan's Swat Valley, Sher Khan had
the curiosity, the intelligence and the determination to succeed in
a career in medicine, becoming a senior registrar in a UK hospital.
Sensitive, wide-ranging and often very funny, Sher's story portrays
the life of a wise and kind man - a village boy who became a world
traveller, an expert in nuclear medicine and a philanthropist who
has done his best to overcome the inequity and suffering he sees
around him. Dismayed at the dishonesty, favouritism and
profiteering that have pervaded Pakistan since independence, he
talks freely of the power struggles and posturing which have
riddled his homeland's affairs over the past half century. A
colourful description of a vanished world and of the new world that
is replacing it.
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Bad Blood
(Paperback)
Julie Shaw
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R255
R120
Discovery Miles 1 200
Save R135 (53%)
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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It's 1971 and seventeen-year-old Christine is about to give birth
to her son. When her family throw her out, Christine has the
biggest fight of her life to bring up her son safe on the infamous
Canterbury Estate in Bradford, rife with crime, alcohol and drugs,
a place where family is everything and nothing. It's Friday evening
on the Canterbury Estate in Bradford and Christine, who's been
rushed to hospital by her friend, Josie, is on the maternity ward
giving birth. She's 17 and terrified. Not just of the pain, which
is ripping her in two, but because she knows that once the baby
arrives, her family is never going to speak to her again. Her
beautiful baby boy is about to start a chain of events that will
lead to tragedy - and only her own family can save her.
This book covers the author's flying career from the finish of
World War II until his final appointment as CO of the Naval Test
Squadron at Boscombe Down. Having had an outstanding wartime record
'Mike' Crosley became heavily involved with the introduction of
Britain's first carrier-borne jet aircraft. The book explains how
modern techniques, such as the angled flight deck, steam catapult
and deck landing mirror sights were developed and tested. At
Boscombe down he developed the 'hand's-off' launch technique for
the Buccaneer which saved it from probable cancellation at a very
difficult time for British naval aviation.
Redmond O'Hanlon describes his extraordinary three-week trip on an
Orkney trawler as it journeys far into the north Atlantic in search
of its catch. Young skipper Jason Schofield has a 2 million pound
overdraft on his boat, the Norlantean, which is why he has to go
out in a Category One Force 12 hurricane when the rest of the
Scottish fleet has run for shelter. O'Hanlon may not be much help
when it comes to seamanship - in the words of one of the crew, he
doesn't know his arse from his tit - but he is able to wax lyrical
on the amazing deep-sea fish to be found north of the Wyville
Thomson Ridge: greater argentine, flying squid, blue ling, the
truly disgusting hagfish and many other exotics. Combining humour
with erudition, O'Hanlon has written a vivid and compulsively
readable account of a journey that for sheer terror beats all his
previous adventures.
Not Just the Wife of the General Manager is a rollicking memoir of
one woman's life on outback cattle stations, and an homage to the
many unsung women like her. It was the 1980s and Sally Warriner was
in her early 20s when she returned from a backpacking sojourn and
hitchhiked to Australia's far north. But instead of moving back to
Canberra as planned, she stayed. After marrying a cattle station
manager, Sally lived and worked with him on various stations until
she was 50, injecting herself into the lives of the characters who
inhabited these isolated places. With wit and sass, Sally tells the
story of how she was so much more than just a wife of a station
manager (despite what the blokes of the top end thought). Among
other things, she was a nurse (dealing with local accidents,
assisting the Flying Doctor service and making emergency 400 km
round trips through the outback with sick children), a mother
(bringing up several children, not all her own), a travel agent, a
social secretary, a host and an organiser (including of Kerry
Packer's New Year's Eve parties). This is a story about adventure,
resilience, the unexpected journeys we need to go on to find
ourselves, and having the courage to do something for yourself. In
Sally's words: 'Life's like that, fellas. You may spend a lifetime
trying to find yourself but, at the end of the day, it's there all
along.'
Bringing to life the fabulous, colorful panorama of New Orleans in the first flush of the jazz era, this book tells the story of Buddy Bolden, the first of the great trumpet players--some say the originator of jazz--who was, in any case, the genius, the guiding spirit, and the king of that time and place.
In this fictionalized meditation, Bolden, an unrecorded father of Jazz, remains throughout a tantalizingly ungraspable phantom, the central mysteries of his life, his art, and his madness remaining felt but never quite pinned down. Ondaatje's prose is at times startlingly lyrical, and as he chases Bolden through documents and scenes, the novel partakes of the very best sort of modern detective novel--one where the enigma is never resolved, but allowed to manifest in its fullness. Though more 'experimental' in form than either The English Patient or In the Skin of a Lion, it is a fitting addition to the renowned Ondaatje oeuvre.
This epic saga of brotherhood and rivalry, of loyalty and
treachery, of victory and death, forms part of the indelible core
of classical Chinese culture and continues to fascinate modern-day
readers. In 220 EC, the 400-year-old rule of the mighty Han dynasty
came to an end and three kingdoms contested for control of China.
Liu Pei, the legitimate heir to the Han throne, elects to fight for
his birthright and enlists the aid of his sworn brothers, the
impulsive giant Chang Fei and the invincible knight Kuan Yu. The
brave band faces a formidable array of enemies, foremost among them
the treacherous and bloodthirsty Ts'ao Ts'ao. The bold struggle of
the three heroes seems doomed until the reclusive wizard Chuko
Liang offers his counsel, and the tide begins to turn. Romance of
the Three Kingdoms is China's oldest novel and the first of a great
tradition of historical fiction. Believed to have been compiled by
the play-wright Lo Kuan-chung in the late fourteenth century, it is
indebted to the great San-kuo chi (Chronicles of the Three
Kingdoms) completed by the historian Ch'en Shou just before his
death in 297 CE. The novel first appeared in print in 1522. This
edition, translated in the mid-1920s by C. H. Brewitt-Taylor, is
based on a shortened and simplified version which appeared in the
1670s. An Introduction to this reprint by Robert E. Hegel,
Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at Washington
University, provides an insightful commentary on the historical
background to the novel, its literary origins and its main
characters.
From Americas #1 true crime writer and "New York Times" bestselling
author comes her most engrossing book ever: a 14-year saga of
treachery, jealousy, and murder, about two women who learned the
truth too late about Dr. Bart Corbin of Atlanta.
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