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Books > Fiction > True stories
History is filled with stories of the famous crashing to earth,
whether through an ill-judged statement, an overweening arrogance,
a lust for power or money, or simply a stroke of bad luck. Today,
more than ever, the world of the successful is littered with
'banana skins' lying in wait for the unwary, as film stars,
politicians, soldiers, scientists, business tycoons, royalty,
criminals, sports idols and others make that fatal decision, gaffe
or slip. It covers 220 fascinating entries. Packed in a gift size,
it is highly illustrated in colour. It is ideal travel and present
book. It tells the stories behind the stories. "The Hidden Secrets"
- this beautifully illustrated book charts the hidden secrets
behind some of the biggest 'banana skins' of all time - the
riveting stories of 200 figures who fell from grace - some for
ever, some for a while, some evoke sympathy, a great many do not.
On April 15, 1920, five bandits robbed and killed a paymaster and
his guard in a Boston suburb. The police charged Nicola Sacco and
Bartolomeo Vanzetti with the crime. They were local immigrant
workers associated with a detested anarchist group. A year later, a
jury convicted Sacco and Vanzetti of murder during a period of
anti-communist hysteria in America. They were executed after six
years of failed appeals, despite proven misconduct by prosecutors
and the judge and a confessed participant in the crime who swore
that the two Italians were not involved. Worldwide protests
erupted. Millions claimed the two were framed and executed for
their political beliefs.Author Ted Grippo takes the reader through
the trial, disclosing and examining new documents and other
recently discovered evidence supporting a conspiracy to frame Sacco
and Vanzetti. While the debate over their guilt may continue for
some, "With Malice Aforethought" will end the argument for many.* *
* *"A comprehensive history of shocking abuses of the criminal
justice system that resulted in the conviction and execution of
Sacco and Vanzetti." -Greg Jones, former First Assistant US
Attorney"An important story revealing the treatment of Italian
immigrants in 1920s America."-Bill Dal Cerro, President, Italic
Institute of America.
Principles of Interrogation discusses the effective and efficient
application of professional attitudes and procedures in
Interrogation. It places much emphasis on the efficient planning of
Interrogation for the achievement of maximum best possible results,
focusing on National Security Issues.
It was Christmas 1942 when eleven young women boarded the troopship
Strathaird and braved the attentions of U-Boats in the deep
Atlantic. Borrowing a cricketing phrase, they called themselves the
First Eleven. But they were not the first to arrive at the Special
Operations Executive's secret North African base near Algiers.
Code-named Massingham, it was formed by SOE to spearhead subversion
and sabotage in what Winston Churchill called 'the soft underbelly'
of Europe. Massingham was hidden away at the Club des Pins, a
former luxury resort nestling among pines next to a Mediterranean
beach. By the time SOE had got to work, there was little luxury
left. Setting the Med Ablaze tells the true stories of the men and
women of Churchill's secret base. Its life was short. Less than two
years after its formation, its job was done. But Massingham played
a key role in the Allied offensive in the Mediterranean islands,
Italy and France. If you enjoy historical nonfiction, this book is
for you.
"One of America's most courageous young journalists" and the author
of the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Brain on Fire
investigates the shocking mystery behind the dramatic experiment
that revolutionized modern medicine (NPR). Doctors have struggled
for centuries to define insanity--how do you diagnose it, how do
you treat it, how do you even know what it is? In search of an
answer, in the 1970s a Stanford psychologist named David Rosenhan
and seven other people--sane, healthy, well-adjusted members of
society--went undercover into asylums around America to test the
legitimacy of psychiatry's labels. Forced to remain inside until
they'd "proven" themselves sane, all eight emerged with alarming
diagnoses and even more troubling stories of their treatment.
Rosenhan's watershed study broke open the field of psychiatry,
closing down institutions and changing mental health diagnosis
forever. But, as Cahalan's explosive new research shows in this
real-life detective story, very little in this saga is exactly as
it seems. What really happened behind those closed asylum doors?
The picturesque vineyards of California's Napa Valley, one of the
world's premier tourist destinations, disguise a tangled history of
lawlessness, depravity and frontier justice. Some crimes were
committed over debts, some for retribution and others in the name
of love. Famed photographer Eadweard Muybridge killed a man for
seducing his wife but was acquitted. Other criminals were not so
lucky and met the gallows, like murderer William Roe, the state's
final public execution. From the Pomo massacre--the first criminal
case heard by the California Supreme Court--to the cold cases that
continue to haunt the region, Napa Police Detective Todd Shulman
decants the crimes of the Napa Valley, memorializing the victims
and honoring the efforts of local law enforcement.
Over the years, authors, artists and amblers aplenty have felt the
pull of the Thames, and now travel writer Tom Chesshyre is
following in their footsteps. He's walking the length of the river
from the Cotswolds to the North Sea - a winding journey of over two
hundred miles. Join him for an illuminating stroll past meadows,
churches and palaces, country estates and council estates,
factories and dockyards. Setting forth in the summer of Brexit, and
meeting a host of interesting characters along the way, Chesshyre
explores the living present and remarkable past of England's
longest and most iconic river.
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The Enigma
(Hardcover)
James Clemon, Gilles Monif
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R664
R597
Discovery Miles 5 970
Save R67 (10%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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While in Trauma Room 1, Dallas, Texas, Aubrey Rike found himself at
the center of an unparalleled time in history, and in doing so,
assumed the unscripted yet essential role of providing selfless and
heartfelt assistance to Jacqueline Kennedy.The emotional incident
Aubrey shares is at times heartbreaking, and brings unashamed tears
to his eyes as he relates those private moments with Mrs. Kennedy.
Now a poignant memory, Aubrey s experience also reveals some less
than admirable dynamics demonstrated as the result of the death of
an extraordinary leader. Sherry Fiester, Editor
_____________ THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA
ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION _____________ 'John le Carre
demystified the intelligence services; Higgins has demystified
intelligence gathering itself' - Financial Times 'Uplifting . . .
Riveting . . . What will fire people through these pages, gripped,
is the focused, and extraordinary investigations that Bellingcat
runs . . . Each runs as if the concluding chapter of a Holmesian
whodunit' - Telegraph 'We Are Bellingcat is Higgins's gripping
account of how he reinvented reporting for the internet age . . . A
manifesto for optimism in a dark age' - Luke Harding, Observer
_____________ How did a collective of self-taught internet sleuths
end up solving some of the biggest crimes of our time? Bellingcat,
the home-grown investigative unit, is redefining the way we think
about news, politics and the digital future. Here, their founder -
a high-school dropout on a kitchen laptop - tells the story of how
they created a whole new category of information-gathering,
galvanising citizen journalists across the globe to expose war
crimes and pick apart disinformation, using just their computers.
From the downing of Malaysia Flight 17 over the Ukraine to the
sourcing of weapons in the Syrian Civil War and the identification
of the Salisbury poisoners, We Are Bellingcat digs deep into some
of Bellingcat's most successful investigations. It explores the
most cutting-edge tools for analysing data, from virtual-reality
software that can build photorealistic 3D models of a crime scene,
to apps that can identify exactly what time of day a photograph was
taken. In our age of uncertain truths, Bellingcat is what the world
needs right now - an intelligence agency by the people, for the
people.
Controversial and compelling, In Cold Blood reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved. At the centre of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be reprehensible yet entirely and frighteningly human. The book that made Capote's name, In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative.
The May 1927 issue of True Detective magazine dealt with the
shooting of Tommy Evans and subsequent investigation of the case in
the Old 23rd District of Henry County, Tennessee. The True
Detective article read in part, "They told me of the existence of a
'whiskey ring, ' in which it was estimated that seventy-five
percent of the population ... was alleged to have been engaged in
this illicit whiskey business. And it was contended that (Tommy
Evans), a respectable and law-abiding citizen, member of the
minority faction in the moonshine domain, had openly defied the
moonshiners - had became a crusader against them - and died a
martyr to the cause of his convictions. Thus the motive for the
assassination of (Evans) was apparent." The magazine article quoted
a Paris, Tenn., minister, J.H. Buchanan, as saying that, "There are
twelve men in this immediate section ready to stand for
'four-square for the right, ' and there are twenty-five men over
there, and I might be able to name them, who are banded together to
protect and promulgate the liquor interests. The remaining citizens
in this district are in the middle of the road - either in sympathy
with the devil's gang, or they lack the courage to say where they
stand." It was amid such a climate that this book is set. South of
the Mouth of Sandy focuses on the Evans family that settled near
the confluence of the Big Sandy and Tennessee rivers during the
middle part of the 19th century. It traces the ancestry of Tommy
Evans and tells the story of his death on a dirt road and the trial
of his killer.
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