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Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Historical, political & military
When World War II came to an end the Allies competed for access to top Nazis, Walter Schellenberg being one of the most important. The British took Schellenberg into custody before the Americans or Russians could reach him. This is the first time that the transcription of the British interrogations have been made available; and Professor Doerries provides an extensive and scholarly introduction explaining the significance of Schellenberg within the Nazi Reich and the importance of the information that he provided to the Allies.
In showing how the great philosophers of human history lived and thought - and what they thought about - Peter Cave provides an accessible and enjoyable introduction to thinking philosophically and how it can change our everyday lives. With a lightness of touch, he addresses questions such as: Is there anything 'out there' that gives meaning to our lives? Does reality tell us how we ought to live? What indeed is reality and what is appearance - and how can we tell the difference? This book paints vivid portraits of an assortment of inspiring thinkers: from Lao Tzu to Avicenna to Iris Murdoch; from Hannah Arendt to Socrates and Plato to Karl Marx; from Kierkegaard and Nietzsche to Sartre to Samuel Beckett - and let us not forget Lewis Carroll for some thought-provoking fantasies and Ludwig Wittgenstein for the anguishes of a genius. As well as displaying optimists and pessimists, believers and non-believers, the book displays relevance to current affairs, from free speech to abortion to the treatment of animals to our leaders' moral character. In each brief chapter, Cave brings to life these often prescient, always compelling philosophical thinkers, showing how their ways of approaching the world grew out of their own lives and times and how we may make valuable use of their insights today. Now, more than ever, we need to understand how to live, and how to understand the world around us. This is the perfect guide.
Flashes in her Soul is the story of Jabu Ndlovu, a shop steward of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and a community leader in Imbali near Pietermaritzburg. Jabu, her husband and her oldest daughter were killed in a brutal attack on their home in May 1989. This story shows the courage and compassion with which Jabu fought against all forms of exploitation. Her story represents the experiences of thousands of women who struggled and suffered as a result of the war in KwaZulu-Natal in the 1980s and 1990s. Jabu’s story reminds us of the devastation that violence brings to families, communities and organisations. The politics and dynamics behind the violence today are not the same as in the 1980s and early 1990s, but the need remains for strong and moral leaders like Jabu to speak out and organise against the violence and the moral corruption that lies behind it. First published in 1991, this is the second book in the Hidden Voices Series. The Hidden Voices Series emerged out of an interest in left intellectual contributions towards discussions on race, class, ethnicity and nationalism in South Africa. Before and during the apartheid years, many universities were closed to existing local ideas and debates, and critical intellectual debates, ideas, texts, poetry and songs often originated outside academia during the period of the struggle for liberation. The Hidden Voices Series seeks to publish key texts, books, documents and other materials that were never published under apartheid, or seminal books that have gone out of print. We hope that these recovered, lost or forgotten voices will help reinvigorate the humanities and social sciences, and contribute to the decolonisation of knowledge production in South Africa and indeed throughout Africa.
'What joy to be at sea again, adrift on the vast Pacific, in the clutches of a gifted storyteller. Harrison Christian and the mutineers of Men Without Country held me happily captive to the very last page.' - Dava Sobel, author of Longitude 'Men Without Country shows what a writer can produce when he has real skin in the game... Harrison Christian sets the record straight on the Bounty mutiny with forensic fervour, including the before, the during - and the after.' - Adam Courtenay, author of The Ship that Never Was Full of misadventure and mystery, Men Without Country is a sweeping history of exploration and rebellion in the South Seas - told by a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian, the man who led the infamous mutiny on the Bounty A mission to collect breadfruit from Tahiti becomes the most famous mutiny in history when the crew rise up against Captain William Bligh, with accusations of food restrictions and unfair punishments. Bligh's remarkable journey back to safety is well documented, but the fates of the mutinous men remain shrouded in mystery. Some settled in Tahiti only to face capture and court martial, others sailed on to form a secret colony on Pitcairn Island, the most remote inhabited island on earth, avoiding detection for twenty years. When an American captain stumbled across the island in 1808, only one of the Bounty mutineers was left alive. Told by a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian, Men Without Country details the journey of the Bounty, and the lives of the men aboard. Lives dominated by a punishing regime of hard work and scarce rations, and deeply divided by the hierarchy of class. It is a tale of adventure and exploration punctuated by moments of extreme violence - towards each other and the people of the South Pacific. For the first time, Christian provides a comprehensive and compelling account of the whole story - from the history of trade and exploration in the South Seas to Pitcairn Island, which provided the mutineers' salvation, and then became their grave.
What's the hook? A fascinating and moving autobiographical novel. What are the themes? Different cultures, families/generations, friendship, school life and the individual vs society. Teaching points? Excellent for multicultural work, as it is set against a background of life in Japanese occupied China. Ideal for exploring narrative structure as it is told simply as a series of snapshots. Comparative work opportunities as it includes the original story of Cinderella that originated in the Tang dynasty (AD 618-908).
Containing footnotes and an extensive bibliography, this edition of Franz Mehring's classic biography is designed to assist the English-speaking reader towards a better understanding of Marx, his work and a history of Marxism. The book is divided into parts as follows: Early Years; A Pupil of Hegel; Exile in Paris; Friedrich Engels; Exile in Brussels; Revolution and Counter-Revolution; Exile in London; Marx and Engels; The Crimean War and the Crisis; Dynastic Changes; The Early Years of the International; 'Das Kapital'; The Zenith and Decline of the International; The Last Decade.
Imbokodo: Women Who Shape Us is a groundbreaking series of books which introduces you to the powerful stories of South African women who have all made their mark and cleared a path for women and girls. These books recognise, acknowledge and honour our heroines and elders from the past and the present. South African women are silent no more on the roles that we have played in advancing our lives as artists, storytellers, writers, politicians and educationists. The title 'Imbokodo' was been chosen as it is a Zulu word that means "rock" and is often used in the saying 'Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo!', which means "You Strike a Women, You Strike a Rock!" These books were made possible with the support of Biblionef and funding from the National Arts Council. In 10 Extraordinary Leaders, Activists & Protesters you will read about women who fought against colonialism and oppression. Here are the stories of women heroes through history, whose stories are connected because of a shared passion for equality and justice.
"Understanding the Cold War" is the story of a man and an epoch.
Its telling moves between detailed personal history and an Olympian
assessment of the origins, significant events, and outcome of the
Cold War. Professor Ulam describes his hometown, family, and early
education, as well as his departure, with his brother, for the U.S.
just days before the Nazi invasion of Poland would have trapped
them. Then follows reminiscences of his college and Harvard years,
all rich with anecdote and insight, and his thoughts as an
acknowledged expert on Soviet affairs. The volume offers basic
antidotes to simplistic explanations. Whether discussing the Kirov
assassination or the Moscow Trials of the so-called Trotskyist
Bloc, or the nationalist basis of disputes between China and Russia
during the Vietnam War period, Ulam avoids the sensational and the
speculative in favor of the the empirical and the evidentiary.
Thomas Cromwell has long been reviled as a Machiavellian schemer who stopped at nothing in his quest for power. As King Henry VIII's right-hand man, Cromwell was the architect of the English Reformation; secured Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and plotted the downfall of his second wife, Anne Boleyn; and was fatally accused of trying to usurp the king himself. But in this engrossing new biography, acclaimed British historian Tracy Borman reveals a different side to one of history's most notorious characters: that of a caring husband and father, a fiercely loyal servant and friend, and a revolutionary who was key in transforming medieval England into a modern state. Born in the mid-1480s to a lowly blacksmith, Cromwell left home at eighteen to make his fortune abroad. He served as a mercenary in the French army, worked for a powerful merchant banker in Florence at the height of the Italian Renaissance, and became a promising young cloth merchant in the Netherlands, then the mercantile capital of the world. But Cromwell decided to return to England and there built a flourishing legal practice. It wasn't long before Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who was the Archbishop of York and the King's closest confidant, took note of Cromwell's immense intelligence, resourcefulness, and wit, turning him into his protege. When Wolsey was put under arrest for overstepping his bounds, Cromwell both protected his mentor and supplanted him. And he accomplished what Wolsey never could: Henry's divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon and a revolution in Britain's religious life. As Henry's top aide, Cromwell was at the heart of the most momentous event of his time--from funding the translation and dissemination of the first vernacular Bible to legitimizing Anne Boleyn as queen--and wielded immense power over both church and state. The impact of his seismic political, religious, and social reforms can still be felt today. Grounded in excellent primary source research, Thomas Cromwell gives an inside look at a monarchy that has captured the Western imagination for centuries and tells the story of a controversial and enigmatic man who forever changed the shape of his country.
Vladimir Putin has turned Russia from fledgling democracy into a police state, and in 2020 a constitutional change gave him the means to stay in power until 2036. In this acclaimed political biography, former BBC Moscow correspondent Angus Roxburgh charts the dramatic fight for Russia's future under Putin. Roxburgh shows how the former KGB man evolved from reformer to autocrat, how he sought the West's respect but earned its fear and contempt. Drawing on dozens of exclusive interviews in Russia, where he worked for a time as a Kremlin insider advising Putin on press relations, as well as in the US and Europe, Roxburgh also argues that the West threw away chances to bring Russia in from the cold, by failing to understand its fears and aspirations following the collapse of communism. This updated edition includes new chapters on Putin and Donald Trump, on Russia's wars in Ukraine and Syria, and on Putin's ruthless attempt to rout all political opposition.
This is a study of the noted newspaper proprietor, publisher and editor, George Newnes and his involvement in the so-called New Journalism in Britain from 1880 to 1910. The author examines seven of Newnes's most successful periodicals - Tit-Bits (1881), The Strand Magazine (1891), The Million (1892), The Westminster Gazette (1893), The Wide World Magazine (1898), The Ladies' Field (1898) and The Captain (1899) - from a biographical, journalistic and broader cultural perspective. Newnes assumed a pioneering role in the creation of the penny miscellany paper, the short-story magazine, the true-story magazine and the respectable boys' paper, in the development of colour printing, magazine illustration and photographic reproduction, and in the redefinition of both political and sporting journalism. His publications were shaped by his own distinctive brand of paternalism, his professional progression within the field of journalism, his liberal-democratic and imperialist beliefs, and his particular skill as an entrepreneur. This innovative periodical publisher utilised the techniques of personalised journalism, commercial promotion and audience targeting to establish an interactive relationship and a strong bond of identification with his many readers. Kate Jackson employs an interdisciplinary approach, building on recent scholarship in the field of periodical research, to demonstrate that Newnes balanced and synthesised various potentially conflicting imperatives to create a kind of synergy between business and benevolence, popular and quality journalism, old and new journalism and , ultimately, culture and profit.
"Lives of the Criminals" was originally published in three volumes and sold by John Osborn on Paternoster Row. The volumes recount the lives, crimes and executions of 18th century lawbreakers. By "[setting] forth the entertainments of vice in their proper colours", the volumes were intended to provide a moral banister and reminder that, far from treading a glamorous road of pleasure, the path taken by a criminal was in fact a highway to the gallows. The original prefaces to the books, and the tales themselves, also provide insights into the history of Crown Law at the time, the grounds on which it was founded, the methods by which it prosecuted, and the judgements inflicted on criminals accordingly. This is a reprint of Arthur L. Hayward's 1927 reissue of the three volumes in one.
Shadowy geniuses whispering, Rasputin-like, into the ears of our elected politicians under a cloak of secrecy, or a crucial but undervalued cog in the machinery of government? ... Or just a rag-tag band of weirdos and misfits? Despite the acres of speculation devoted to special advisers from Alastair Campbell to Dominic Cummings, their role is much misunderstood. Who are the people Piers Morgan once called 'these miserable little creatures' and just how much influence do they have? Peter Cardwell served as SpAd to four Cabinet ministers, acting as media adviser, political fixer, troubleshooter and occasional wardrobe consultant. In this candid, compelling and frequently hilarious insider account, he reveals what the job really involves, from dealing with counter-terror emergencies in Cobra to explaining to the Justice Secretary what a dental dam is, to having your inside leg measured in a government office. Packed with advice on navigating the perks and pitfalls of the job, The Secret Life of Special Advisers will inform and entertain anyone who has ever wondered what these mysterious figures really do all day.
‘A notorious fiend’, ‘generally odious’, ‘he seems hideous, and so he is.’ Thanks to the invidious reputation of his most famous work, The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli exerts a unique hold over the popular imagination. But was Machiavelli as sinister as he is often thought to be? Might he not have been an infinitely more sympathetic figure, prone to political missteps, professional failures and personal dramas? Alexander Lee reveals the man behind the myth, following him from cradle to grave, from his father’s penury and the abuse he suffered at a teacher’s hands, to his marriage and his many affairs (with both men and women), to his political triumphs and, ultimately, his fall from grace and exile. In doing so, Lee uncovers hitherto unobserved connections between Machiavelli’s life and thought. He also reveals the world through which Machiavelli moved: from the great halls of Renaissance Florence to the court of the Borgia pope, Alexander VI, from the dungeons of the Stinche prison to the Rucellai gardens, where he would begin work on some of his last great works. As much a portrait of an age as of a uniquely engaging man, Lee’s gripping and definitive biography takes the reader into Machiavelli’s world – and his work – more completely than ever before.
'Lively history of British women aviators.' Daily Mail 'Compelling stories of female pioneers whose soaring ambition achieved firsts in the field of aviation.' Britain Magazine 'This lovely book offers a welcome and enjoyable read and provides a timely testament for these unsung pioneers of aviation.' Maggie Appleton MBE, Chief Executive Officer, RAF Museum 'A real celebration of the women who defied tradition and followed their dreams into the sky. Readable and entertaining, this book is a worthy tribute to Britain's woman aviation pioneers.' Sharon Nicholson FRAeS, Chairwoman of the British Women Pilots' Association Just eighteen months after two Frenchmen made the world's first ever flight, a fearless British woman hopped into a flimsy balloon and flew across the London sky for nearly an hour. Since then, many other remarkable British women have decided to defy traditional society and follow their dreams to get into the sky. For the first time, Magnificent Women and Flying Machines tells the stories of the pioneers who achieved real firsts in various forms of aviation: in ballooning, parachuting, gliding, airships and fixed-wing flight - right up to a trip to the International Space Station! Full of entertaining adventure, here at last is a proper record of Britain's wonderful women of the air.
Fully revised and updated, in a biography the Sunday Times described as 'a fitting epitaph to an extraordinary career', Martin Meredith details the life of Nelson Mandela, one of the most admired political figures of the twentieth century. It was his leadership and moral courage above all that helped to deliver a peaceful end to apartheid in South Africa after years of racial division and violence and to establish a fledgling democracy there. Now Meredith has revisited and significantly updated his biography to incorporate the reaction to his death, as well as giving perspective and hindsight on the man and his legacy and to examine how far his hopes for the new South Africa have been realised.
Defined in the public eye by her two high-profile marriages, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis faced a personal crossroads on the eve of 1975. Her relationship with Aristotle Onassis was crumbling while his health was rapidly declining. Her children were nearing adulthood, soon to leave her with an empty nest. Both death and scandal were about to strike yet again. But 1975 would also be a time of extraordinary growth and personal renaissance for Jackie, the year in which she reinvented herself and rediscovered talents and passions she had set aside for her roles as wife and mother. Unearthing new information from archives and original interviews, acclaimed author and journalist Tina Cassidy explores this prolific yet incredibly daunting year in the life of Jacqueline Onassis, revealing intimate stories about Jackie's projects and interests. Jackie After O is an exciting and original portrayal of the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. |
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