The true story, told minute by minute, of the soldiers who defeated Napoleon
- from Brendan Simms, acclaimed author of Europe:
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The partitioning of British India into independent Pakistan & India in August 1947 occurred in the midst of communal holocaust, with Hindus & Sikhs on one side & Muslims on the other. More than 750, 000 people were butchered, & 12 million fled their homes--primarily in caravans of bullock-carts--to seek refuge across the new border: it was the largest exodus in history. Sixty-seven years later, it is as if that August never ended. Renowned historian & journalist Dilip Hiro provides a riveting account of the relationship between India & Pakistan, tracing the landmark events that led to the division of the sub-continent & the evolution of the contentious relationship between Hindus & Muslims. To this day, a reasonable resolution to their dispute has proved elusive, & the Line of Control in Kashmir remains the most heavily fortified frontier in the world, with 400, 000 soldiers arrayed on either side. Since partition, there have been several acute crises between the neighbors, including the secession of East Pakistan to form an independent Bangladesh in 1971, & the acquisition of nuclear weapons by both sides resulting in a scarcely avoided confrontation in 1999 & again in 2002. Hiro amply demonstrates the geopolitical importance of the India-Pakistan conflict by chronicling their respective ties not only with America & the Soviet Union, but also with China, Israel, & Afghanistan. Hiro weaves these threads into a lucid narrative, enlivened with colorful biographies of leaders, vivid descriptions of wars, sensational assassinations, gross violations of human rights--and cultural signifiers like cricket matches. The Longest August is incomparable in its scope & presents the first definitive history of one of the world`s longest-running & most intractable conflicts. ...

The Longest Climb is the utterly compelling account of Dominic & his team`s expedition from the Dead Sea to the peak of Everest. His team Everest Max were the first ever to make this extraordinary journey. Following an old Victorian route, Dominic cycled through Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan & India on his way to Tibet & the bottom of the world`s highest mountain. From trying to find a wireless connection in Damascus & setting fire to the team`s support vehicle in order to thaw the engine in Iran, to deciding whether or not to share the little oxygen they had & risk their own lives in order to try to save another climber, & beating their Austrian nemesis Gerry Winkler to the top, The Longest Climb is a high-octane combination of the huge personal risk, fascinating cultural insight, & momentary farce that make up a major expedition. But The Longest Climb is not simply a memoir of an expedition. It is also the moving account of Dominic`s struggle to finally accept the heartbreaking loss of his father to cancer when Dominic was just six. As he fights illness, broken equipment, lack of money & the hardest season of Everest history to make the top, Dominic also discusses what has driven him up this mountain. The answers are as affecting as they are extraordinary. ...

For climber Paul Pritchard, the biggest challenge he ever faced wasn`t a mountain but the long climb back to life. Not his former life of the 1990s, when he surfed many of the world`s most treacherous rock faces. The boulder that crushed him while he was climbing the Totem Pole in Tasmania put a stop to that. A six-year struggle with hemiplegia & brain injury followed, slowly reassembling his world physically, emotionally & mentally. Progress is halting but also triumphant & often blackly humorous. Geographically, he progresses from careering downhill in Snowdonia, not entirely in control of a tricycle, via a dubious Moroccan expedition, to ascents of both Mount Kenya & Kilimanjaro. & two love affairs, one with Tasmania, where he now lives, & the other with Jane, one of the nurses who took care of him after the accident. Now married, they have a small daughter, Cadi. ” The Longest Climb” is full of life, a moving & unblinkered view of a battered climber who refuses to turn his back on the mountains. ...

The British love their booze. Ian Marchant
- bon viveur, pub singer & writer
- sets off to map the British landscape in drink.

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Andrew Mc Carthy explores the tumultuous, complicated, & circuitous route he`s travelled to finally settle down with one woman, whom he married last August. Telling this story through the lens of a series of seven exotic trips he`s recently taken all over the world (Patagonia, the Amazon, Costa Rica, Baltimore, Vienna, Kilimanjaro, Galway), he`ll write about his wanderlust-and other lusts-and connect his obsession with travel with his phobia of commitment. The story will culminate with one of the most momentous-and terrifying-days of his life: his wedding day. A thoughtfully observant writer, Mc Carthy touches on his personal life, his acting career, & his fascination with travel in a truly captivating manner. Genuine & spirited, The Longest Way Home is the fascinating story of how one man`s insight into his relationships with both the people closest to him & the places very new to him allowed him to fully commit to another person. ...

Ella`s mum is in a deep coma, having just had a new baby. That means Ella has to live with Jack, her hopeless stepfather, & cope with her tiny newborn brother, as well as worrying about Mum. The only thing that`s going right is her school project. It`s all about whales & how they sing out to each other to attract a mate
- sometimes for hours. Maybe a whale song could reach Mum, wherever she is, & bring her back to Ella & baby Samson. Surely it`s worth a try?
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Scott`s ` Northern Party` played an important role in his iconic last expedition, but how did they survive? Their tents were torn, their food was nearly finished & the ship had failed to pick them up as winter approached. Stranded & desperate, the six men dug out an ice cave with no room to stand upright. Circumstances forced them closer together & somehow they made it through the longest winter. Working from diaries, journals & letters written by expedition members, Meredith Hooper tells the intensely human story of Scott`s other expedition. ...

When the Department
- faded since the war & busy only with bureaucratic battles
- hears rumour of a missile base near the West

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