In 1997 it seemed that things in the City could only get better. The incoming Labour government gave the Bank of England independence, it introduced a state of the art system of light-touch regulation; & it signalled that it was happy to see finance let rip.

For ten years everything went according to plan. Buoyed by a strong pound & cheered on by an excitable media, the bankers became the heroes of the age. The City embarked on a giddy programme of innovation, asset prices boomed & Britain seemed at last to have shaken off its post-war malaise. Politicians took to lecturing their European counterparts on the need to deregulate, to focus on shareholder value & to dispense with an outdated & discredited social market model.

And then in the summer of 2007 everything began to collapse. One household name after another



...

In 1997 it seemed that things in the City could only get better. The incoming Labour government gave the Bank of England independence, it introduced a state of the art system of light-touch regulation; & it signalled that it was happy to see finance let rip.

For ten years everything went according to plan. Buoyed by a strong pound & cheered on by an excitable media, the bankers became the heroes of the age. The City embarked on a giddy programme of innovation, asset prices boomed & Britain seemed at last to have shaken off its post-war malaise. Politicians took to lecturing their European counterparts on the need to deregulate, to focus on shareholder value & to dispense with an outdated & discredited social market model.

And then in the summer of 2007 everything began to collapse. One household name after another



...

In 1997 it seemed that things in the City could only get better. The incoming Labour government gave the Bank of England independence, it introduced a state of the art system of light-touch regulation; & it signalled that it was happy to see finance let rip.

For ten years everything went according to plan. Buoyed by a strong pound & cheered on by an excitable media, the bankers became the heroes of the age. The City embarked on a giddy programme of innovation, asset prices boomed & Britain seemed at last to have shaken off its post-war malaise. Politicians took to lecturing their European counterparts on the need to deregulate, to focus on shareholder value & to dispense with an outdated & discredited social market model.

And then in the summer of 2007 everything began to collapse. One household name after another



...

Growing up in a small town, Sandy Paull dreams of something better. When she lands a job with one of London's leading theatrical agencies her dreams appear to be coming true, particularly when she meets Michael Mc Cann, her handsome & dynamic boss.

Ellen Shelby, as a highly respected & successful agent, has Hollywood at her feet. But she is as insecure with relationships as she is confident with deals. & when she meets her British rival, Michael Mc Cann, there is a powerful attraction between them that they are powerless to deny.

But Michelle, the woman Michael once loved & lost, still haunts his thoughts. & when a dramatic event pulls him back into the past, a nightmare of untenable proportions begins to close in on those he loves...



...

Growing up in a small town, Sandy Paull dreams of something better. When she lands a job with one of London's leading theatrical agencies her dreams appear to be coming true, particularly when she meets Michael Mc Cann, her handsome & dynamic boss.

Ellen Shelby, as a highly respected & successful agent, has Hollywood at her feet. But she is as insecure with relationships as she is confident with deals. & when she meets her British rival, Michael Mc Cann, there is a powerful attraction between them that they are powerless to deny.

But Michelle, the woman Michael once loved & lost, still haunts his thoughts. & when a dramatic event pulls him back into the past, a nightmare of untenable proportions begins to close in on those he loves...



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Glasgow is known as the murder capital of Britain & no one understands why better than Joe Jackson. For over 30 years, Jackson worked the crime beat, first as a uniformed cop then as a seasoned murder squad detective. In this hard-hitting memoir of his most memorable cases, he reveals the reality behind chasing killers & other crooks in ...

For many years war made Sierra Leone & Liberia too dangerous for outsiders to travel through. Facing down demons from his time in Africa as a journalist, Tim Butcher heads deep into this combat zone, encountering the devastation wrought by lawless militia, child soldiers, brutal violence, blood diamonds & masked figures who guard the spiritual secrets of remote jungle communities.

On an epic journey that demands courage, doggedness & sheer luck, Butcher treks for 350 blistering miles through rainforest & malarial swamps to gain an extraordinary ground-level view of an overlooked region on the cusp of a remarkable recovery.

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