In this insightful memoir, incidents, thoughts, and emotions of a Birmingham boyhood are carefully surveyed. The earliest memory recorded derives from the sights and sounds of the Charleston, while the last is that of a lingering kiss from a childhood sweetheart. In between is a journey of self-discovery in a rapidly expanding world-a world that soon ignited with the outbreak of the Second World War. Through the personal upheavals of an extended family in the Black Country, the changes in Eric Armstrong's life are set against a variety of overlapping contexts, from countrywide events (such as the general strike of 1926) to the disturbing events in Europe (and particularly Germany). The author recalls how he marvelled at the achievements of Amy Johnson, Charles Lindbergh, and Malcolm Campbell; he also revelled in the cinematic delights of King Kong and the dancing of Fred and Ginger. These interests and more are reflected in the nearly 200 rare and unpublished photographs found within.Deeply entrenched in cultural and social history, A Birmingham Boyhood 1923-40 evokes, with tender memory, the manners and morals of those days, reflecting the myriad changes in Birmingham (and the wider world) throughout this tumultuous period.

A History of Money and Banking in Barbados documents the development of money and commercial banking in Barbados from the date of the settlement in 1627 to the establishment of the Central Bank of Barbados in 1973. It examines the early years of barter; the introduction of British coins by the Royal Proclamations of 1825 and 1838; the issue of colonial coins (anchor money); the introduction and circulation of foreign coins; the debate over the legal tender of British silver coins and the share of the seigniorage of these coins. Armstrong examines the first banks, the Colonial Bank and the West India Bank, in the nineteenth century, the introduction of Canadian banks in the twentieth century, the expansion of Barclays Bank as well as the issue of Barbados government currency notes; the measures taken by the British government and the Caribbean governments during the Second World War to ensure an adequate supply of currency; and the agreement between Barbados, Trinidad and British Guiana (Guyana) to make their government currency legal tender in each country. Armstrong analyses the establishment and operation of the British Caribbean Currency Board and its acrimonious demise, the establishment of the East Caribbean Currency Authority, the withdrawal of Barbados from the Authority, and the establishment of the Central Bank of Barbados.

When Skyler C. Gull builds a sandcastle, he finds it missing and goes on the search for the "sandcastle thief."
This charming seaside tale will delight children of all ages.