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Books > Fiction > True stories
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(Paperback)
Graham Morgan Mbe
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R368
R345
Discovery Miles 3 450
Save R23 (6%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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Graham Morgan has an MBE for services to mental health, and helped
to write the Scottish Mental Health (2003) Care and Treatment Act.
This is the Act under which he is now detained. Graham's story
addresses key issues around mental illness, a topic which is very
much in the public sphere at the moment. However, it addresses
mental illness from a perspective that is not heard frequently:
that of those whose illness is so severe that they are subject to
the Mental Health Act. Graham's is a positive story rooted in the
natural world that Graham values greatly, which shows that, even
with considerable barriers, people can work and lead responsible
and independent lives; albeit with support from friends and mental
health professionals. Graham does not gloss over or glamorise
mental illness, instead he tries to show, despite the devastating
impact mental illness can have both on those with the illness and
those that are close to them, that people can live full and
positive lives. A final chapter, bringing the reader up to date
some years after Graham has been detained again, shows him living a
fulfilling and productive life with his new family, coping with the
symptoms that he still struggles to accept are an illness, and
preparing to address the United Nations later in the year in his
new role working with the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland.
July 8, 1932, 11 PM. East Austin, an African-American district in
Jim Crow Texas. Sixty-year-old Charles Johnson is driving home from
Bible study when a car full of young white men swerves in front of
him. A brief altercation ensues. Convinced that his life is
threatened, Johnson fires his pistol and drives away. Johnson's
shot kills the unarmed, eighteen-year-old son of Albert Allison, a
prominent cotton landlord, influential in politics, and an advocate
for racial justice. Although devastated, Allison personally thwarts
a lynch mob and then insists that Austin's courts treat Johnson
fairly. Nonetheless, Allison expects fairness to execute his son's
killer. Johnson himself expects to be lynched, either by the mob or
by the court. "To Defy the Monster" shows how the confluence of
unique cultural and historical factors determines Johnson's fate
and why Allison orders his family never to speak of the matter.
From the internationally bestselling author of The Radium Girls
comes a dark but ultimately uplifting tale of a woman whose
incredible journey still resonates today. Elizabeth Packard was an
ordinary Victorian housewife and mother of six. That was, until the
first Woman's Rights Convention was held in 1848, inspiring
Elizabeth and many other women to dream of greater freedoms. She
began voicing her opinions on politics and religion - opinions that
her husband did not share. Incensed and deeply threatened by her
growing independence, he had her declared 'slightly insane' and
committed to an asylum. Inside the Illinois State Hospital,
Elizabeth found many other perfectly lucid women who, like her, had
been betrayed by their husbands and incarcerated for daring to have
a voice. But just because you are sane, doesn't mean that you can
escape a madhouse ... Fighting the stigma of her gender and her
supposed madness, Elizabeth embarked on a ceaseless quest for
justice. It not only challenged the medical science of the day and
saved untold others from suffering her fate, it ultimately led to a
giant leap forward in human rights the world over.
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.
A devastating disaster at sea . . . an officer who refuses to hide
the truth. . . a courtroom confrontation with far-reaching
implications . . . "The Perfect Storm meets "A Civil Action in a
gripping account of one of the most significant shipwrecks of the
twentieth century.
In 1983 the "Marine Electric, a "reconditioned" World War II
vessel, was on a routine voyage thirty miles off the East Coast of
the United States when disaster struck. As the old coal carrier
sank, chief mate Bob Cusick watched his crew-his friends and
colleagues-succumb to the frigid forty-foot waves and subzero winds
of the Atlantic. Of the thirty-four men aboard, Cusick was one of
only three to survive. And he soon found himself facing the most
critical decision of his life: whether to stand by the Merchant
Marine officers' unspoken code of silence, or to tell the truth
about why his crew and hundreds of other lives had been
unnecessarily sacrificed at sea.
Like many other ships used by the Merchant Marine, the Marine
Transport Line's "Marine Electric was very old and made of "dirty
steel" (steel with excess sulfur content). Many of these vessels
were in terrible condition and broke down frequently. Yet the
government persistently turned a blind eye to the potential
dangers, convinced that the economic return on keeping these ships
was worth the risk.
Cusick chose to blow the whistle.
"
Until the Sea Shall Free Them re-creates in compelling detail the
wreck of the "Marine Electric and the legal drama that unfolded in
its wake. With breathtaking immediacy, Robert Frump, who covered
the story for the "Philadelphia Inquirer, describes the desperate
battle waged by the crew against the forces ofnature. Frump also
brings to life Cusick's internal struggle. He knew what happened to
those who spoke out against the system, knew that he too might be
stripped of his license and prosecuted for "losing his ship," yet
he forged ahead. In a bitter lawsuit with owners of the ship,
Cusick emerged victorious. His expose of government inaction led to
vital reforms in the laws regarding the safety of ships; his
courageous stand places him among the unsung heroes of our time.
"From the Hardcover edition.
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Liar
(Hardcover)
Rebecca Grayson
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R851
Discovery Miles 8 510
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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"Peter and I stared at each other, digesting the shocking news.
What was this misguided loose cannon of a prosecutor doing? Would
he really take the risk of ruining our lives without any evidence
of a crime? The answer was obviously yes.The thought of being
arrested! The very idea pierced my heart. My mind raced at hyper
speed. I had never committed a single criminal act. I was a wife, a
mother, and a hard-working professional in the field of real estate
development. After many years of faithful service, my bosses, Peter
Durkee and Jack Wood, made me an equity partner in Durkee
Development Group, a developer of golf course communities in
Naples. Now I was being accused of being a partner in crime, a
corrupt individual, an influence peddler, who had sought to bring
illegal pressure on government authorities with respect to a golf
course development called Colisseum Golf.My life had just spun
totally out of control."
Highlighted in this book are more than 250 unsolved murder cases
from across North America with rewards totalling some $5.5 million.
Investigators are hoping people will have information that will
help solve some of these cases which are on the files of police
agencies and Crime Stoppers units in the United States and Canada.
These victims and their families require justice and are hoping
those who know who is responsible will come forward and identify
the killers.
In this story based on true events, author Nelson Rodriguez
explores the effects of an online game called Mobster on its
players. Rodriguez examines how people interact with others when
they are involved-or even obsessed-with online gaming, delving into
the relationships that are built through the game-sometimes with
others who live a completely different part of the world For Sam,
the game Mobster became an extremely personal and real experience;
he began acting out his crimes in real life, without giving any
thought to the law or the lines that he was crossing. To "win," he
did everything in his power, regardless of the consequence-making
bribes and intimidating anyone he perceived was in his way. But
would he take to ultimate step and actually kill someone? Mark was
committed to his job as a police officer, and so he never imagined
that one day he would have to engage in the very acts that he had
sworn to fight. It seemed that destiny had a different path for
him-a life he never imagined for himself. Despite their strong
personal relationships, once these players get caught up in the
game, all that matters to them is the game-and everything they
cared about before is in jeopardy.
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