Hereford and Oxford in the century following the Restoration were two widely contrasting sees. Hereford was old, dating from ad 676, and large, sprawling over Herefordshire, half of Shropshire and small parts of other border counties. The Oxford diocese, on the other hand, dated from just 1542 and was compact, merely covering the county of Oxfordshire. This interesting book concerns a much-overlooked period in history, drawing on little-known original sources to build a picture of the administration of these disparate dioceses. There are fascinating insights into the working of the church courts (which controlled people's lives in a way and to an extent that would be unacceptable today), portrayals of the key figures in both sees, and an analysis of diocesan patterns of welfare and education provision. William Marshall's research also reveals that there was a strong commitment to repair - or to build new - places of worship, and to make good the damage caused to Church infrastructure during the civil wars of the 1640s. The closing chapters go on to examine the work of the bishops, their social origins, their academic standards, their efficiency and diligence. As a group, they certainly cut a more energetic and conscientious figure than has often been supposed, and for the most part, the author argues, they were competent men who saw and acknowledged the weaknesses of the Church and sought to address them. In a departure from commonly held wisdom, what emerges from William Marshall's research is that in many places the Church at the time was very much alive, and even vigorous. Its worst failings were, he claims, in its social welfare and in the tedium of its worship for the mass of the people, but here, at this time, it was certainly neither asleep nor decadent.

Our Might Always: The 355th Fighter Group in World War II is an exhaustive history in day-by-day combat diary format with over 800 rare images of the 355th including fifty color profiles of P-47s and P-51s. The 355th was third in combined German aircraft destroyed during World War II, first in ground credits, and fifth in air-to-air victory credits within the 8th Air Force. The book is extensively researched with respect to Luftwaffe units engaged, the data tables are extremely detailed and extensive for aircraft, pilots, victory credits, pilot rosters, losses, aces scores and unit awards.

The first in Marshall's unforgettable, classic series of police procedurals - suspenseful and hilarious in equal measure. Yellowthread Street is the sort of place that breeds more crime than any cops can handle. Among the gangsters and the goldsmiths of Hong Bay, Chief Inspector Feiffer and his police department had their hands full . . . tourist troubles, a US sailor turned stick-up artist, and the jealous Chinese who solved his marital difficulties with an axe. Then the Mongolian with a kukri brought an extra touch of terror to the district . . . Yellowthread Street brings to vivid life a seamy world where people called Osaka Oniki the Disemboweller, Shotgun Sen and The Chopper feel at home, a world of surreal possibility recorded with unique humour and a poignant sense of humanity.

In the seamy Hong Bay district of Hong Kong, crimes of every shape and size are commonplace. But not letter bombs. Not till Mr Leung and Mr Ramaswamy are successively spread bloodily over the office walls. When Detective Inspector Spencer narrowly escapes becoming victim number 3, the Yellowthread Street police are grimly determined to track down the culprit - before the Special Branch get to him. But unless they can find the link between the neatly timed warning letters, the ghosts in the Chinese graveyard and the strange mission of Mr Conway Kan the millionaire, the killer will go free... Gelignite is another tense and exciting drama from the pen of a master. Full of real police procedure, suspense and fine irony, but with whole extra dimensions of the surreal and the poignant, the Yellowthread Street novels have no real compare - a hidden masterpiece of crime fiction.

"With personal interviews of players and owners and with over two decades of research in newspapers and archives, Bill Marshall tells of the players, the pennant races, and the officials who shaped one of the most memorable eras in sports and American history. At the end of World War II, soldiers returning from overseas hungered to resume their love affair with baseball. Spectators still identified with players, whose salaries and off-season employment as postmen, plumbers, farmers, and insurance salesmen resembled their own. It was a time when kids played baseball on sandlots and in pastures, fans followed the game on the radio, and tickets were affordable. The outstanding play of Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Don Newcombe, Warren Spahn, and many others dominated the field. But perhaps no performance was more important than that of Jackie Robinson, whose entrance into the game broke the color barrier, won him the respect of millions of Americans, and helped set the stage for the civil rights movement. Baseball's Pivotal Era also records the attempt to organize the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Mexican League's success in luring players south of the border that led to a series of lawsuits that almost undermined baseball's reserve clause and antitrust exemption. The result was spring training pay, uniform contracts, minimum salary levels, player representation, and a pension plan--the very issues that would divide players and owners almost fifty years later. During these years, the game was led by A.B. ""Happy"" Chandler, a hand-shaking, speech-making, singing Kentucky politician. Most owners thought he would be easily manipulated, unlike baseball's first commissioner, the autocratic Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis. Instead, Chandler's style led one owner to complain that he was the ""player's commissioner, the fan's commissioner, the press and radio commissioner, everybody's commissioner but the men who pay him.""

A planeful of passengers dead from cyanide poisoning. Twelve bodies riddled with bullets in the sewers of Hong Kong. And one evil genius who outwits the cops at every turn . . . The voice on the phone is cool - and vicious. His threat: a continued escalation of terrorism until his blackmailing demands are met. For Chief Harry Feiffer and his crew at the Yellowthread Street Police Station in the most notorious section of Hong Kong, that is only the beginning of the nightmare. As the city is paralyzed with fear, and tempers within the police department reach breaking point, Feiffer is thrust into the spotlight - as the prime suspect! This title in William Marshall's acclaimed crime series offers suspense, atmosphere, and pungent humour.

Postman Lawrence Shang was watching a film called The Axeman of Shanghai when his life abruptly ended. Carpet trader Edward Peng was enjoying The Last Picture Show. Death in both cases was instantaneous, caused by a small calibre handgun used at a range of two feet. With their deaths begins a series of apparently motiveless murders in one cinema after another across the Hong Bay district of Hong Kong - and a nightmarish investigation for Harry Feiffer, Detective Chief Inspector, Royal Hong Kong Police Force, and his staff at the Yellowthread Police Station. The Hatchet Man's next victim is a sailor off an American ship. Then a German is shot in an auction room. There's an unaccountable killing on a train near the Chinese border. And the crazy old Mrs Mortimer from the Old People's Home steps in front of a tram . . . And for Harry Feiffer, time is running out. Full of real police procedure, suspense and fine irony, but with whole extra dimensions of the surreal and the poignant, the Yellowthread Street novels have no real compare - a hidden masterpiece of crime fiction.

The distinctive feature of this Federal Courts casebook, and the main difference between it and other Federal Courts books, is its systematic focus on remedial issues, especially the problems that arise when a litigant tries to enforce federal constitutional rights against state officers in the federal courts. Departing from the traditional approach of Federal Courts books, the book begins with a chapter on 1983 litigation, and includes a comprehensive treatment of habeas corpus. The book stresses economy of means, clarity of presentation, and attention to the real-world Federal Courts issues that students need to understand and anticipate. This edition covers the principal cases decided by the Supreme Court over the past four years, including Hertz Corp. v. Friend (chapter 3), Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation and Massachusetts v. EPA (chapter 4), Watson v. Philip Morris and Haywood v. Drown (chapter 7), Boumediene v. Bush, Danforth v. Minnesota, Schriro v. Landrigan, Panetti v. Quarterman, and Magwood v. Patterson (chapter 9).

In the early stages of World War Two, the Italian Forces in Abyssinia, East Africa, consisting of 200,000 troops and nearly 400 aircraft constituted a grave threat to Kenya and the Sudan. To meet this threat three South African Air Force (SAAF) fighter squadrons were deployed to East Africa to counter the attacking Italian Air Force. The three squadrons operated mostly old and antiquated bi-planes in the form of Hawker Furies, Gloster Gauntlets and Gloster Gladiators. Between then they did also operate a number of Hawker Hurricane Mk. Is, of which some still had fabric wing surfaces and two-bladed wooden propellers. These aircraft were also passed along between the various units, depending on the area that had the highest requirement. Among the three squadrons, 1 Squadron primarily used Gloster Gladiators, while 2 Squadron used Furies and Gladiators, with 3 Squadron being the primary users of the Hurricanes. These units were joined by 4 Squadron, training on Furies and Curtiss Mohawks, before moving to Egypt for operations in the Desert. 3 Squadron later converted to these Curtiss Mohawks, and eventually ended up with a mix of Mohawks, again supplemented by Gladiators. 41 Squadron, an Army-Cooperation unit, also converted to a fighter squadron after the major campaign was completed and served as a holding unit in East Africa, flying Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIs. One Detached Flight, operating Mohawks during the final part of the campaign, was renumbered as B-Flight of 3 Squadron and joined the primary unit for the last major operations in East Africa. The squadrons operated on all fronts in Somaliland and Abyssinia, and made a considerable contribution towards the victory that was achieved in that campaign. Commenting on the part, that the SAAF Fighter Squadrons played in the campaign, Sir Archibald Sinclair said: "When the Italian come to draw up a list of the factors that caused them to lose the East African Empire, they will place the South African Air Force somewhere near the top of the list". This volume covers the combat history of these fighter squadrons during the campaign, as well as the colors and markings of their aircraft. Primary sources, such as Squadron war Diaries and Pilot Logbooks. were used in the preparation of the text contained herein. This volume contains 23 full-color plates and 112 b&wphotos, indicating the people and aircraft operated by these squadrons. This volume will be followed by two further volumes, tracing the onwards history of these squadrons as well as additional SAAF Fighter Squadrons during the campaign in North Africa and Malta, and the campaign in Sicily, Italy and the Balkans. The authors have already written eight books covering the colors and markings of the SAAF and SA Army equipment in a series of booklets entitled South African Colours and Markings, numbers 1 to 8.