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Books > Fiction > True stories
The unsung hero of the equestrian world is the riding school horse
or pony. Whether you are an Olympic showjumper, a long-distance
riding competitor, a horse racing jockey or a mum who plods out on
a Sunday, you most likely began your career on a riding school
horse. Tippy joined my riding school in 2005. This is her true
story.
Soldier Magazine's Book of the Month Fascinating... Incredibly
dangerous. The Times Gripping. Adrenalin fuelled true-life account
with all the makings of a military thriller. The action unfolds
like a Le Carre novel. Soldier Magazine 'Jihad isn't a war. It's an
objective. An aberration. If there are young women with children,
lost boys... If they are trapped in that hell and we can get them
out, don't we have a duty to do so? Every person we can bring back
is living proof that Islamic State is a failure.' Ex-British Army
soldier John Carney was running a close protection operation for
oil executives in Iraq when the family of a young Dutch woman asked
him to extract her from the collapsing 'Islamic State' in Syria.
Hearing first-hand about the naive young girls, many from the West,
who'd been tricked, sexually abused and enslaved by ISIS, he knew
only one thing - he had to get them out of that living hell. This
is the incredible true story of how - armed with AK-47s and 9mm
Glocks - Carney launched a daring, dangerous and deadly operation
to free as many of them as he could. From 2016 to 2019, he led his
small band of committed Kurdish freedom fighters into the heart of
the Syrian lead storm. Backed by humanitarian NGOs, and feeding
intel to MI6, Carney and his men went behind enemy lines to deliver
the women and their children to the authorities, to
deradicalization programmes and fair trials. Carney, a born
soldier, was moved to action by the women's terrifying stories. He
and his men risked their lives daily, not always making it safely
home... Gripping, shocking and thought-provoking, Operation Jihadi
Bride tackles the complex issue of the jihadi brides head on - an
essential read for our troubled times.
In 1940 a first-year student at Oxford gave up his legal studies to
serve his country in its time of need. He served with valour and
distinction, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross for
developing and then delivering battlewinning tactics that protected
the flanks of the D-Day landings. But Guy Hudson also saw things
that cannot be unseen, and experienced the horrors of war that
become tattooed on one's soul. This is the story of a brave and
patriotic sailor who helped sink the German battleship Bismarck,
drove his Motor Torpedo Boat into enemy harbours right under the
muzzles of Axis guns, and then pioneered radar control procedures
for the small torpedo and gun boats that careered across pitch-dark
maritime battlefields to guard the Allied landings in northern
France. It is also the story of a man who turned to alcohol to
control the darker memories created by war, and whose life and
business collapsed due to the demon of drink, before he was rescued
by his second wife. His legacy now lives on at the University of
Oxford through the Guy Hudson Memorial Trust - this biography is
his tribute.
When the tragic death of Patty Gilmore occurred, family, friends,
patients, and contemporaries-all those who were considered
advocates for Doctor Irvin Gilmore-stepped forward to support him
when he was charged with criminal homicide. He was a man who had
always shown good character and more importantly was a doctor who
possessed a profound dedication to his patients. This trait had
made him a celebrity in his community. After reading this book you
might agree or disagree with the verdict that was handed down in
1987 by the Gilmore jury. But the verdict isn't the critical aspect
of this case. It's the unknown and unanswered circumstances that
dominated this complicated case from the very beginning that has
caused it to remain a mystery to this day. Even though much of the
memory and the speculation about it will fade away, as history
always does, it will long continue to be an open case in the minds
of many. Fortunately, reading and understanding all the evidence in
the long series of events allows readers the luxury of judging
Doctor Gilmore's innocence or guilt in their own minds without the
stress of being a member of an improperly influenced jury so
prevalent in these types of celebrity cases. Rule him innocent
based on the facts, not because he was a respected and committed
family doctor. Decide if he's guilty based on the facts, not
because he was a heavy drinker who perhaps harbored jealousy over
his beautiful, much younger wife who could be hard to control.
Patty Gilmore's tragic death marked the beginning of a long,
tangled web of legal proceedings that matched a determined team of
prosecutors against a well-known & well-qualified defense
attorney.
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