"I was first drawn to working in oncology while I was a student nurse at St Thomas' Hospital in London. There I met a woman who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and showed such strength and fortitude in the face of her diagnosis that it left a strong impression on me."She said that, despite all the information that had been provided by the professionals and the internet, she would love to be able to dip in and out of a book that had useful advice for newly diagnosed patients, based on the experiences of other patients. The idea for this book was born."I decided to pursue this and canvassed the opinions of other patients, asking if they felt having such information available in this format would have been beneficial. The response was very positive and so I set about compiling and distributing a questionnaire to both NHS and private patients."Written by patients to help others learn from their experiences, compiled by Alison Bailey, a Breast Care Specialist Nurse

'The Perfect Scapegoat' is the true story of a naive twenty year- old girl unwittingly caught up in an investigation into alleged child sexual abuse. Jessie has spent almost five years working for a busy family with three children. Overnight her world is shattered when one of the children is suspected of having been sexually abused, and questions are being asked. From this moment on Jessie's life will never be the same again. She is caught up in a distressing police investigation and the devastation worsens with the involvement of the social services. Jessie soon realises that she is faced with an extremely serious and potentially life-changing situation. 'The Perfect Scapegoat' tells Jessie's very personal and at times heart-wrenching account of the abuse investigation and her struggle for many years after to fight for justice and a normal life.

Mike Ledingham has been a farmhand, soldier, real estate salesman, small business operator, armed security guard and caregiver. Once a Grunt is an offbeat collection of 10 short stories loosely based on his experiences in the Infantry and the SAS and beyond. They reflect his keen enjoyment of the funny side of life, his total lack of respect for bullies and self-important wallies, and his deep empathy with the underdog.

Richard Westcott has written this book to record, mainly for the benefit of the next generation, some of the history of his family and, in particular, of the struggles and difficulties his forebears encountered when living and working in the farming communities around the foothills of Exmoor in more challenging days. By collating and assembling his own and relatives' recollections of the last century and material from local history, he has painted an intriguing portrait of 20th century life on and around Exmoor. He also tells how he left the area to further his career and became a successful city financier, while never losing contact with his West Country roots.

Fifteen years on from Anthony Holden's undisputed classic BIG DEAL, the poker world has changed beyond recognition. When Holden played in the 1988 World Series of Poker there were 167 entrants competing for a prize of $270,000. At the 2006 WSOP, where this book climaxes, there were 8773 players and a first prize of some $12 million - the richest in any sport. What happened in the years between BIG DEAL and BIGGER DEAL is simple: thanks to the Internet and television there has been a worldwide explosion in the popularity of poker. The game even has a new respectable image, much to the disgust of die-hard players. Gone are the seedy, smoky rooms of the Horseshoe, and celebrities now crowd the tables at huge Las Vegas tournaments: Martin Sheen, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are all dedicated players. In the UK, LATE NIGHT POKER draws some 2 million viewers (Holden was banned from the last series for doing too well). In BIGGER DEAL, Holden is your guide - and the only guide you'll need - to the world of new poker as he prepares to enter the WSOP once again. Will he win the title? Place your bets ...

Exploring Toronto's history through tantalizing true tales of romance, marriage, and lust. Toronto's past is filled with passion and heartache. The Toronto Book of Love brings the history of the city to life with fascinating true tales of romance, marriage, and lust: from the scandalous love affairs of the city's early settlers to the prime minister's wife partying with rock stars on her anniversary; from ancient First Nations wedding ceremonies to a pastor wearing a bulletproof vest to perform one of Canada's first same-sex marriage ceremonies. Home to adulterous movie stars, faithful rebels, and heartbroken spies, Toronto has been shaped by crushes, jealousies, and flirtations. The Toronto Book of Love explores the evolution of the city from a remote colonial outpost to a booming modern metropolis through the stories of those who have fallen in love among its ravines, church spires, and skyscrapers.

This book by ex pro diver Jim Limbrick is a tribute to all 58, 20th Century professional divers who lost their lives whilst playing their part in effecting the extraction of oil and gas from UK northern waters, specifically the North Sea, during the years 1971 to 1999. Diving and Offshore background is given, with all deceased diver's names and nationalities, fatality dates, diver's ages, accident locations, platforms, employers, equipment used, water depths, and details of accidents, all as far as is known, or can be told. With subsequent Safety Regulations and recommendations, this book is a must for all those people interested in diving, and especially budding divers of any persuasion.

'This is a book about art, dance, sex, the legalisation of prostitution, and joie de vivre...' Artist, musician and writer Lee Huxley has paid for sex with more than 500 women in pursuit of his unrealisable ambition to make love to 'every earthly representative of Aphrodite' - every example of feminine beauty on the planet. In this account of his philosophy, he explains his obsession with the fair sex and why he believes patriarchal religions and feminist extremists have converged in our times to demonise prostitution. Every woman I desired was a book I craved to read and add to my library. I had freed myself from the puritanical shackles of Victorian England...God does not torture his creatures in hell. God is sex. God is men and women making love and experiencing the greatest joy of life, whether it's in prostitution or marriage, whether it's for procreation or recreation.

The 1931 excavation season at Olynthus, Greece, ushered a sea change in how archaeologists study material culture-and was the nexus of one of the most egregious (and underreported) cases of plagiarism in the history of classical archaeology. Alan Kaiser draws on the private scrapbook that budding archaeologist Mary Ross Ellingson compiled during that dig, as well as her personal correspondence and materials from major university archives, to paint a fascinating picture of gender, power, and archaeology in the early twentieth century. Using Ellingson's photographs and letters as a guide, Kaiser brings alive the excavations led by David Robinson and recounts how the unearthing of private homes-rather than public spaces-emerged as a means to examine the day-to-day of ancient life in Greece. But as Archaeology, Sexism, and Scandal clearly demonstrates, a darker story lurks beneath the smiling faces and humorous tales: one where Robinson stole Ellingson's words and insights for his own, and where fellow academics were complicit in the theft.

What it's really like on the frontline of humanitarian aid It's the early 1990s and three young people are looking to change their lives, and perhaps also the world. Attracted to the ambitious global peacekeeping work of the UN, Andrew, Ken and Heidi's paths cross in Cambodia, from where their fates are to become inextricably bound. Over the coming years, their stories interweave through countries such as Rwanda, Bosnia, Somalia and Haiti - war-torn, lawless places where the intervention of the UN is needed like nowhere else. Driven by idealism, the three struggle to do the best they can, caught up in an increasingly tangled web of bureaucracy and ineffectual leadership. As disillusionment sets in, they attempt to keep hold of their humanity through black humour, revelry and 'emergency sex'. Brutal and moving in equal measure, Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures) explores pressing global issues while never losing a sense of the personal. Deeply critical of the West's indifference to developing countries and the UN's repeated failure to intervene decisively, the book provoked massive controversy on its initial publication. Kofi Annan called for the book to be banned, and debate was sparked about the future direction of the UN. Brilliantly written and mordantly funny, it is a book that continues to make waves.

"The New Dubliners is an exciting new experiment and a fascinating read." (Dublin Book Festival) *** "The style is fresh and the lives are interesting, often fascinating." (Dublin Review of Books) *** The New Dubliners is about life in the Irish capital as experienced by people from other countries - life that could be similar to the one you have lived yourself, or completely different, but nonetheless one that is always authentic and, hopefully, never cliched. It is not about rain or Guinness. Nor is it about whether coffee in Ireland is worse than coffee in Italy, or whether Irish tomatoes are not as big and juicy red as Polish tomatoes. What it is about is love, sex, addiction, successes and failures. It is also about walking along the beach on a sunny day, and about drinking wine on a moonlit roof terrace. It is about life in all its glory and misery, however pretentious this might now make it sound. *** The author of the book, a new Dubliner himself, has lived in Ireland since 2007, and has worked here as a teacher of English, teacher trainer, director of studies, translator, interpreter and writer of educational materials. The book is based not only on his own experiences and observations, but also on those of other new Dubliners that he had met over the years. *** Some extracts from the book can be found here: www.thenewdubliners.com. An extended extract is available in Dublin Review of Books: http: //www.drb.ie/new-books/The-New-Dubliners.

Running isn't a hobby, it's a way of life. Runners run to be the best they can be, to challenge who they are, to inspire others and to champion their cause. From the woman who ran for three and a half days without sleep, to the 61-year-old man who broke records in an 875-km ultramarathon, this collection of unforgettable stories will inspire anyone who's ever pounded the pavement to keep on running and enjoy every minute of this liberating sport.

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.

Following the success of his collections of stories from funeral directors, schoolteachers, doctors, and lawyers, folklorist William Lynwood Montell presents a new volume of tales from Kentucky sheriffs. Montell collected stories from all areas of the state to represent the diversity of social and economic backgrounds in the various communities the officers serve. Tales from Kentucky Sheriffs covers elections, criminal behavior, and sheriff's mistakes in a lighthearted and often humorous manner. The book includes accounts of a drunk driver who thought he was in a different state, a sheriff running a sting operation with the U.S. Marshals, and a woman reporting a tomato thief in her garden. Other accounts involve procedural errors with serious consequences, such as the tale of a sheriff who mistakenly informs a man that his son has committed suicide. Together, these firsthand narratives preserve important aspects of Kentucky's history not likely to be recorded elsewhere.

Elizabeth Simcoe's diary, describing Canada from 1791 to 1796, is history written as it was being made. Created largely while she was seated in canoes and bateaux, the diary documents great events in a familiar way and opens our eyes to a side of Canadian history that is too little shown. During her time in Upper Canada (now Ontario), Mrs. Simcoe encountered fascinating figures, such a explorer, Alexander Mackenzie, and Mohawk Chief, Joseph Brant. She took particular interest in the First Nations people, the social customs of the early settlers, and the flora and fauna of a land that contained a mere 10, 000 non-Natives in 1791. The realm she observed so vividly was quite alien to a woman used to a world of ball gowns, servants, and luxury in England, but the lieutenant-governor's wife was made of stern stuff and embraced her new environment with relish, leaving us with an account instilled with excitement and delight at everything she witnessed.

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.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER--NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK Known to millions of readers of The Perfect Storm as the captain of the Hannah Boden, sister ship to the Andrea Gail, Linda Greenlaw is also known as one of the best sea captains on the East Coast. Here she offers an adventure-soaked tale of her own, complete with danger, humor, and characters so colorful they seem to have been ripped from the pages of Moby Dick. "A beautiful book . . . a story of triumph, of a woman not only making it but succeeding at the highest level in one of the most male-dominated and most dangerous professions." -- Douglas Whynott, The New York Times Book Review "An authentic, insightful account of the intensity of captaining a crew of strong men in an ocean which does what it wants." -- Daniel Hays, co-author of My Old Man and the Sea "A crystal-clear account of fishing the Grand Banks in a modern swordfish boat. Greenlaw is an excellent captainand an excellent writer." -- John Casey, author of Spartina