A gripping account of the months before & after Stalin`s death & how his demise reshaped the course of twentieth-century history Joshua Rubenstein`s riveting account takes us back to the second half of 1952 when no one could foresee an end to Joseph Stalin`s murderous regime. He was poised to challenge the newly elected U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower with armed force, & was also broadening a vicious campaign against Soviet Jews. Stalin`s sudden collapse & death in March 1953 was as dramatic & mysterious as his life. It is no overstatement to say that his passing marked a major turning point in the twentieth century. The Last Days of Stalin is an engaging, briskly told account of the dictator`s final active months, the vigil at his deathbed, & the unfolding of Soviet & international events in the months after his death. Rubenstein throws fresh light on* the devious plotting of Beria, Malenkov, Khrushchev, & other ”comrades in arms” who well understood the significance of the dictator`s impending death;* the witness-documented events of his death as compared to official published versions;* Stalin`s rumored plans to forcibly exile Soviet Jews;* the responses of Eisenhower & Secretary of State Dulles to the Kremlin`s conciliatory gestures after Stalin`s death; and* the momentous repercussions when Stalin`s regime of terror was cut short. ...

It`s two decades since Chris Stewart moved to his farm on the wrong side of a river in the mountains of southern Spain & his daughter Chloe is preparing to fly the nest for university. In this latest, typically hilarious dispatch from El Valero we find Chris, now a local literary celebrity, using his fame to help his old sheep-shearing partner find work on a raucous road trip; cooking a TV lunch for visiting British chef, Rick Stein; discovering the pitfalls of Spanish public speaking; &, most movingly, visiting famine-stricken Niger for Oxfam. Yet it`s at El Valero, his beloved sheep farm, that Chris remains in his element as he, his wife Ana & their assorted dogs, cats & sheep weather a near calamitous flood & emerge as newly certified organic farmers. His cash crop? The lemons & oranges he once so blithely drove over, of course. ...

Told for the first time in English, Paul Preston`s new book tells the story of a preventable tragedy that cost many thousands of lives & ruined tens of thousands more at the end of the Spanish Civil War. This is the story of an avoidable humanitarian tragedy that cost many thousands of lives & ruined tens of thousands more. It has many protagonists but centres on three individuals. One, Dr Juan Negrin, the victim of what might be termed a conspiracy of fools, tried to prevent it. Two bore responsibility for what transpired. One of those, Julian Besteiro, was guilty of culpable naivety. The other, Segismundo Casado behaved with a remarkable combination of cynicism, arrogance & selfishness. On 5 March 1939, the eternally malcontent Colonel Casado launched a military coup against the government of Juan Negrin. Ironically, he ensured that the end of the Spanish Civil War was almost identical to its beginning. As Mola, Franco & the other conspirators of 1936 had done, Casado led a part of the Republican Army in revolt against the Republican government. He claimed, as they had done, & equally without foundation, that Negrin`s government was the puppet of the Communist Party & that a coup was imminent to establish a Communist dictatorship. Casado`s ambition was to go down in history as the man who ended the Spanish Civil War. Instead he ensured the Republic ended in catastrophe & shame as Negrin`s attempts to achieve an honourable & negotiated peace with guarantees for the civilian population were thwarted & Franco & his forces wreaked havoc & revenge. Madrid collapsed into civil war & two thousand people died. Refugees fled reprisals in their thousands & those who couldn`t escape met a terrible fate. Paul Preston, the leading historian of 20th century Spain, tells this shocking story for the first time in English. It is a harrowing tale of how the flawed decisions of politicans can lead to tragedy. ...

Told for the first time in English, Paul Preston`s new book tells the story of a preventable tragedy that cost many thousands of lives & ruined tens of thousands more at the end of the Spanish Civil War. This is the story of an avoidable humanitarian tragedy that cost many thousands of lives & ruined tens of thousands more. It has many protagonists but centres on three individuals. One, Dr Juan Negrin, the victim of what might be termed a conspiracy of fools, tried to prevent it. Two bore responsibility for what transpired. One of those, Julian Besteiro, was guilty of culpable naivety. The other, Segismundo Casado behaved with a remarkable combination of cynicism, arrogance & selfishness. On 5 March 1939, the eternally malcontent Colonel Casado launched a military coup against the government of Juan Negrin. Ironically, he ensured that the end of the Spanish Civil War was almost identical to its beginning. As Mola, Franco & the other conspirators of 1936 had done, Casado led a part of the Republican Army in revolt against the Republican government. He claimed, as they had done, & equally without foundation, that Negrin`s government was the puppet of the Communist Party & that a coup was imminent to establish a Communist dictatorship. Casado`s ambition was to go down in history as the man who ended the Spanish Civil War. Instead he ensured the Republic ended in catastrophe & shame as Negrin`s attempts to achieve an honourable & negotiated peace with guarantees for the civilian population were thwarted & Franco & his forces wreaked havoc & revenge. Madrid collapsed into civil war & two thousand people died. Refugees fled reprisals in their thousands & those who couldn`t escape met a terrible fate. Paul Preston, the leading historian of 20th century Spain, tells this shocking story for the first time in English. It is a harrowing tale of how the flawed decisions of politicans can lead to tragedy. ...

Simon Armitage is rightly celebrated as one of the country`s most original & engaging poets; but he is also an adaptor & translator of some of our most important epics, such as Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, The Death of King Arthur & Homer`s Odyssey. The latter, originally a commission for BBC Radio, rendered the classical tale with all the flare, wit & engagement that we have come to expect from this most distinctive of contemporary authors, & in so doing brought Odysseus` return from the Trojan War memorably to life. ...

Gore Vidal`s new collection of essays shows him still writing at his finest. His comments on the deplorable state of American politics
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On Christmas Day 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union. By the next day the USSR was officially no more & the USA had emerged as the world`s sole superpower. Award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy presents a page-turning account of the preceding five months of drama, filled with failed coups d`etat & political intrigue. Honing in on this previously disregarded but crucial period & using recently declassified documents & original interviews with key participants, he shatters the established myths of 1991 & presents a bold new interpretation of the Soviet Union`s final months. Plokhy argues that contrary to the triumphalist Western narrative, George H. W. Bush desperately wanted to preserve the Soviet Union & keep Gorbachev in power, & that it was Ukraine & not the US that played the key role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. The consequences of those five months & the myth-making that has since surrounded them are still being felt in Crimea, Russia, the US, & Europe today. With its spellbinding narrative & strikingly fresh perspective, The Last Empire is the essential account of one of the most important watershed periods in world history, & is indispensable reading for anyone seeking to make sense of international politics today. ...

This title is presented with an introduction by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. ” The Last Expedition” is Captain Scott`s gripping account of his expedition to the South Pole in 1910-12. It was meant to be a voyage of scientific discovery & a heroic exploration of the last unconquered wilderness. Scott`s expedition, carried in the Terra Nova, pitted him & his team not only against the elements but also against the Norwegian explorer, Amundsen. Ultimately, Scott was beaten by both. The journals are full of incident & drama, courage & endurance, hope & bitter disappointment. These journals were found, along with Scott`s body, several months after his death & just 11 miles from base camp & safety. ...

Meet the Hunter family: Adam, Kate, & their children Hal & Charlotte. & Prince, their Labrador. Prince is an earnest young dog, striving hard to live up to the tenets of the Labrador Pact (Remain Loyal to Your Human Masters, Serve & Protect Your Family at Any Cost). Other dogs, led by the Springer Spaniels, have revolted. As things in the Hunter family begin to go badly awry
- marital breakdown, rowdy teenage parties, attempted suicide
- Prince`s responsibilities threaten to overwhelm him & he is forced to break the Labrador Pact & take desperate action to save his Family.

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` Offers powerful insight into the barbarity the Yazidi suffered alongside glimpses into their mystical culture... this is an important book by a brave woman, fresh testament to humankind`s potential for chilling & inexplicable evil (Ian Birrell The Times) Courageous... Anyone who wants to understand the so called Islamic State should read (The Economist) With a foreword by Amal Clooney A Nobel Peace Prize nominee & the first Goodwill Ambassador the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the United Nations & winner of the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize, Nadia Murad is a courageous young woman who has endured unimaginable tragedy (losing eighteen members of her family) & degradation through sexual enslavement to ISIS. But she has fought back. This inspiring memoir takes us from her peaceful childhood in a remote village in Iraq through loss & brutality to safety in Germany. Courage & testimony can change the world: this is one of those books. ...