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Books > Biography > Historical, political & military
Van al die gebeure in die Kaapkolonie gedurende die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog het die teregstelling van Hans Lötter, asook dié van kmdt. Gideon Scheepers, die meeste emosie onder Afrikaners ontketen. Lötter en sy mederebelle in die Kolonie het die verbeelding van die plaaslike bevolking aangegryp en die Britte maande lank hoofbrekens besorg. Sy gevangeneming, verhoor en teregstelling deur ’n Britse vuurpeloton op Middelburg, Kaap, het groot woede en verontwaardiging veroorsaak en hom verewig as Boeremartelaar in die Afrikaner-volksoorleweringe. Nou word sy boeiende verhaal vir die eerste keer volledig vertel.
HENRY V reigned over England for only nine years and four months, and died at the age of just thirty-five, but he looms over the landscape of the late Middle Ages and beyond.
The victor of Agincourt was remembered as the acme of kingship, a model to be closely imitated by his successors. William Shakespeare deployed Henry V as a study in youthful folly redirected to sober statesmanship. In the dark days of World War II, Henry's victories in France were presented by British filmmakers as exemplars for a people existentially threatened by Nazism. Churchill called Henry 'a gleam of splendour in the dark, troubled story of medieval England', while for one modern medievalist, Henry was, quite simply, 'the greatest man who ever ruled England'.
For Dan Jones, Henry is one of the most intriguing characters in all medieval history, but one of the hardest to pin down: a hardened warrior, yet also bookish and artistic; a leader who made many mistakes, yet always triumphed when it mattered. As king, he saved a shattered country from
economic ruin, and in foreign diplomacy made England a serious player once more. Yet through his conquests in northern France, he sowed the seeds for calamity at home, in the form of the Wars of the Roses.
Dan Jones's life of Henry V stands out for the generous amount of space it allots to his long royal apprenticeship - the critical first twenty-six years of his life before he became king. It is an enthralling portrait of a man with a rare ability to force his will on the world. But, above all, it is an unmissable account of England's greatest king from our bestselling medieval historian.
People interested in the history of India's partition invariably
ask the same question: Why did Pakistan happen? Or, what was the
Pakistan idea? Focusing on M. A. Jinnah's political career, this
book addresses the issue of whether he had a secular or religious
vision for Pakistan, or perhaps something in between? Pakistan as a
country has yet to find its proper place in the world. Logically,
it is assumed that if we can reach a consensus on Jinnah's thought,
then we can also resolve the long-standing question of what kind of
state Pakistan was meant to be, and thus how it should develop
today. Pakistanis are tired of self-serving politicians,
landlordism, nepotism, the rise of religious fundamentalism,
corruption, economic instability, and the semi-predictable cycle
between incompetent bureaucratic and military regimes. Hence for
Pakistanis more than anyone else, the debate over Jinnah is a
highly emotive subject, and at its heart is a battle of ideas.
Pakistanis are really trying to work out something much bigger than
Jinnah's place in history. They are trying to find their own
historical identity as well. A well researched and
thoroughly-indexed book that has earned its place amongst the
leading political commentaries on contemporary Pakistan.
Born into working class poverty in the North of England in 1925,
Eddie Davies' personal account illustrates the remarkable and
colourful lives led by many 'ordinary people'. From a succession of
dead-end and downright dangerous jobs, through a ferocious (though
often hilarious) World War II, back to Blighty and then off to
central Africa for more hair-raising adventures. All this well
before I even met the man who was to become father-in-law and
grand-dad to my kids. We should be grateful that there are those
prepared and able to describe their journey through a rapidly
changing world - a world that has all but disappeared as we hurtle
towards an uncertain future. No doubt there will be similar shared
memories for many of the older ones amongst us, and a damn good
read for the rest!
WINNER OF THE LINCOLN FORUM BOOK PRIZE "A Lincoln
classic...superb." -The Washington Post "A book for our
time."-Doris Kearns Goodwin Lincoln on the Verge tells the dramatic
story of America's greatest president discovering his own strength
to save the Republic. As a divided nation plunges into the deepest
crisis in its history, Abraham Lincoln boards a train for
Washington and his inauguration-an inauguration Southerners have
vowed to prevent. Lincoln on the Verge charts these pivotal
thirteen days of travel, as Lincoln discovers his power, speaks
directly to the public, and sees his country up close. Drawing on
new research, this riveting account reveals the president-elect as
a work in progress, showing him on the verge of greatness, as he
foils an assassination attempt, forges an unbreakable bond with the
American people, and overcomes formidable obstacles in order to
take his oath of office.
On 20 January 1973, the Bissau-Guinean revolutionary Amílcar Cabral was killed by militants from his own party. Cabral had founded the PAIGC in 1960 to fight for the liberation of Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde. The insurgents were Bissau-Guineans, aiming to get rid of the Cape Verdeans who dominated the party elite.
Despite Cabral’s assassination, Portuguese Guinea became the independent Republic of Guinea-Bissau. The guerrilla war that Cabral had started and led precipitated a chain of events that would lead to the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, toppling the forty-year-old authoritarian regime. This paved the way for the rest of Portugal’s African colonies to achieve independence.
Written by a native of Angola, this biography narrates Cabral’s revolutionary trajectory, from his early life in Portuguese Guinea to his death. It details his quest for national sovereignty, beleaguered by the ethnic-based identity conflicts the national liberation movement struggled to overcome.
During nine years in the British Army, Shaun Pinner deployed on
operations around the world, and trained in Survival, Evasion,
Resistance and Escape. He never imagined that he would be one day draw
deep on that training as a prisoner of the Russians ...
But when Pinner fell in love with and married a Ukrainian woman, the
couple made their home in Mariupol. Missing the camaraderie and purpose
he'd relished in the Royal Anglian Regiment he joined his adopted
country's military as a sniper instructor.
Four years later, the section he led was on the frontline when Vladimir
Putin's forces launched their invasion.
Outnumbered and outgunned in the fiercest fighting seen in Europe since
the end of the Second World War, Pinner's troops staged a fighting
retreat back to Mariupol to join the remarkable, defiant last stand
that captured the world's imagination. At the height of the battle,
Pinner's wife urged him to 'Live. Fight. Survive.'
He fought on. Until, ordered by President Zelensky to save themselves,
his platoon made a break for it. The enemy was waiting. Pinner was
captured.
Over the months the followed, the former British soldier required every
ounce of strength, resolve, ingenuity and dark humour to see him and
his fellow prisoners of war through the savage mental and physical toll
meted out by his ruthless captors. But he refused to be broken.
Live. Fight. Survive. is the breathtaking story of a soldier fighting
for his home and family: an unforgettable account of superhuman
courage, resistance and defiance in the face of overwhelming odds. And
a stirring testament to the power of the human spirit.
The collected letters, speeches, etc. written by Abraham Lincoln.
Marx's study of the events leading to the coup d'etat of "Napolean
the Little" on December 2, 1851, written within a few weeks of the
coup, is one of the first works by Marx in which he states his
theory of history. [Facsimile reprint edition.]
Shortlisted for the James Cropper Wainwright Prize 2022 for Nature
Writing - Highly Commended Winner for the Richard Jefferies Award
2021 for Best Nature Writing 'A rural, working-class writer in an
all too rarefied field, Chester's work is unusual for depicting the
countryside as it is lived on the economic margins.' The Guardian
'An important portrait of connection to the land beyond ownership
or possession.' Raynor Winn 'It's ever so good. Political,
passionate and personal.' Robert Macfarlane 'Evocative and
inspiring...environmental protest, family, motherhood
and...nature.' Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground, Costa
Novel Award Winner 2021 Nature is everything. It is the place I
come from and the place I got to. It is family. Wherever I am, it
is home and away, an escape, a bolt hole, a reason, a place to
fight for, a consolation, and a way home. As a child growing up in
rural England, Guardian Country Diarist Nicola Chester was
inexorably drawn to the natural landscape surrounding her. Walking,
listening and breathing in the nature around her, she followed the
call of the cuckoo, the song of the nightingale and watched as red
kites, fieldfares and skylarks soared through the endless skies
over the chalk hills of the North Wessex Downs: the ancient land of
Greenham Common which she called home. Nicola bears witness to, and
fights against, the stark political and environmental changes
imposed on the land she loves, whilst raising her family to
appreciate nature and to feel like they belong - core parts of who
Nicola is. From protesting the loss of ancient trees to the
rewilding of Greenham Common, to the gibbet on Gallows Down and
living in the shadow of Highclere Castle (made famous in Downton
Abbey), On Gallows Down shows how one woman made sense of her world
- and found her place in it.
John Woolman (1720-1772) was the child of Quaker parents, and from
his youth was a zealous member of the Society of Friends. His
"Journal," published posthumously in 1774, describes his way of
life and the spirit in which he did his work.
John Woolman (1720-1772) was the child of Quaker parents, and from
his youth was a zealous member of the Society of Friends. His
"Journal," published posthumously in 1774, describes his way of
life and the spirit in which he did his work.
A study of the life of Abraham Lincoln, from childhood to his
assassination. Preface by Basil Williams. Includes a chronology,
index, and biographical notes.
Few philosophers are more often referred to and more often
misunderstood than Machiavelli. He was truly a product of the
Renaissance, and he was as much a revolutionary in the field of
political philosophy as Leonardo or Michelangelo were in painting
and sculpture. He watched his native Florence lose its independence
to the French, thanks to poor leadership from the Medici successors
to the great Lorenzo (Il Magnifico). Machiavelli was a keen
observer of people, and he spent years studying events and people
before writing his famous books. Descended from minor nobility,
Machiavelli grew up in a household that was run by a vacillating
and incompetent father. He was well educated and smart, and he
entered government service as a clerk. He eventually became an
important figure in the Florentine state but was defeated by the
deposed Medici and Pope Julius II. He was tortured but eventually
freed by the restored Medici. No longer employed, he retired to his
home to write the books for which he is remembered. Machiavelli had
seen the best and the worst of human nature, and he understood how
the world operated. He drew his observations from life, and he was
appropriately cynical in his writing, given what he had personally
experienced. He was an outstanding writer, and his work remains
fascinating nearly 500 years later.
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