From the condemned slums of Southam Street in West London to the corridors of power in Westminster, Alan Johnson`s multi-award-winning autobiography charts an extraordinary journey, almost unimaginable in today`s Britain. This third volume tells of Alan`s early political skirmishes as a trades union leader, where his negotiating skills & charismatic style soon came to the notice of Tony Blair & other senior members of the Labour Party. As a result, Alan was chosen to stand in the constituency of Hull West & Hessle, & entered Parliament as an MP after the landslide election victory for Labour in May 1997. But this is no self-aggrandizing memoir of Westminster politicking & skulduggery. Supporting the struggle of his constituents, the Hull trawlermen & their families, for justice comes more naturally to Alan than do the byzantine complexities of Parliamentary procedure. But of course he does succeed there, & rises through various ministerial positions to the office of Home Secretary in 2009. In The Long & Winding Road, Alan`s characteristic honesty & authenticity shine through every word. His book takes you into a world which is at once familiar & strange: this is politics as you`ve never seen it before. ...

In classic British crime fiction, dazzling detective work is often the province of a brilliant amateur
- whereas the humble police
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Urszula Muskus (1903-1972) spent eighteen years as a prisoner in the Gulag Archipelago. Gradually travelling eastwards on long train journeys into Siberia she was first separated from her husband & later from her two children. Before being finally freed she entered into a state of `eternal exile` at Krasnoyarsk, the Long Bridge of the title. Her book is rich in stories of other prisoners, guards, work on the steppe, bandit molls, escapees & their fate. In the course of these travels she learned the fate of those who had been left behind including her husb&. Her story has been translated & pieced together from the many fragments she left behind. It comes from a generous spirit who looked on the world with a uniquely accurate & unselfpitying eye. Urszula`s is a unique voice speaking of terrible times that are still close to our own. ...

When the farmer wakes at dawn, he can already feel the heat of the day rising & the silence from his wife hanging heavy in the air. As he sets out across his parched fields to find a missing cow, his mind starts to turn over the dreams he harbours, the cares he & his wife both carry alone, & the uneasy sense that something is about to change. Written with clarity & depth, this is a powerful novel about the fragility of life & the small, unseen moments upon which fate twists. ...

In The Long Hangover, Shaun Walker provides a deeply reported, bottom-up explanation of Russia`s resurgence under Putin. By cleverly exploiting the memory of the Soviet victory over fascism in World War II, Putin`s regime has made ordinary Russians feel that their country is great again. Shaun Walker provides new insight into contemporary Russia & its search for a new identity, telling the story through the country`s troubled relationship with its Soviet past. Walker not only explains Vladimir Putin`s goals & the government`s official manipulations of history, but also focuses on ordinary Russians & their motivations. He charts how Putin raised victory in World War II to the status of a national founding myth in the search for a unifying force to heal a divided country, & shows how dangerous the ramifications of this have been. The book explores why Russia, unlike Germany, has failed to come to terms with the darkest pages of its past: Stalin`s purges, the Gulag, & the war deportations. The narrative roams from the corridors of the Kremlin to the wilds of the Gulags & the trenches of East Ukraine. It puts the annexation of Crimea & the newly assertive Russia in the context of the delayed fallout of the Soviet collapse. The Long Hangover is a book about a lost generation: the millions of Russians who lost their country & the subsequent attempts to restore to them a sense of purpose. Packed with analysis but told mainly through vibrant reportage, it is a thoughtful exploration of the legacy of the Soviet collapse & how it has affected life in Russia & Putins policies. ...

The Long Haul is Alex Hibbert’s account of his unsupported voyage, across the icecap to the Arctic coast of Greenl&. Hibbert, & his expedition partner George Bullard, undertook four months, man-hauling 430lb sledges over 1, 374 miles
- further than any previous unsupported polar undertaking. Hibbert had devised an epic plan, with the conscious effort to undertake a trail that would return him & his companion to the raw basics of polar travel. As an isolated double act, Hibbert & Bullard had only each other to rely on for both their survival & their sanity. This account is a reflection on the mental & physical turmoil that the men endured, & a testament to the triumph of mental perseverance.
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Every nation has its founding myth, & for modern China it is the Long March. In 1934, the fledgling Communist Party & its 200, 000 strong armies were forced out of their bases by Chiang Kaishek & his National troops. Walking more than 10, 000 miles over mountains, grassland & swamps, they suffered appalling casualties & ended up in the remote barren North. Just one-fifth survived; they went on to launch the new China in the heat of revolution. A legend was born. Justified by a remarkable feat, the Long March was also a triumph of propaganda, for Mao & for the revolution. Seventy years later Sun Shuyun set out to retrace the Marchers` steps. The rugged landscape has changed little. Her greatest difficult was in wrestling with the scenes lodged in her mind since childhood, part of the upbringing of every Chinese. On each stage of her journey, she found hidden stories: the ruthless purges, the terrible toll of hunger & disease, the fate of women on the March, the huge number of desertions, the futile deaths. The real story of the March, the most vivid pictures, come from the veterans whom Sun Shuyun has found. She follows their trail through all those harsh miles, discovers their faith & disillusion, their pain & their hopes, & also recounts how many suffered even after the March`s end in 1936. ` The Long March` was an epic journey of endurance, even more severe than history books say, & courage against impossible odds. It is a brave, exciting & tragic story. Sun Shuyun tells it for the first time, as it really happened. ...

A detailed topographic map of The Long Mynd & Wenlock Edge from the Ordnance Survey Explorer series, covering Church Stretton & Craven Arms. Edition A2; Publication date February 2012 About this series: These highly detailed maps show all the administrative boundaries, settlements as small as isolated farms, the road network down to unfenced roads & country tracks, & field boundaries (hedges & drystone walls) which make navigation across the countryside much easier. Steep gradients on roads are indicated. Various landmarks, e.g. powerlines, archaeological sites, windmills, churches & lighthouses are shown & additional graphics indicate natural terrain features such as cliffs, scree, mud & vegetation variations. The contour interval is 5 metres in the lower parts of the country & 10 metres in the uplands, & spot heights are marked. Each map covers an area of 30 x 20km (i.e. approx. 19 x 12 miles), with some double-sided maps covering more, as indicated in the individual descriptions. The maps are fully GPS compatible, with the National Grid shown at 1km intervals & latitude & longitude indicated by margin ticks at 1'. The Explorer series has replaced the earlier, green-cover Pathfinder maps. The Explorer series is now complete & covers all of Engl&, Wales & Scotl&. Some sheets for popular areas like the National Parks are still branded as Outdoor Leisure (OL) maps, but are now included in this series as the cartography is the same as that in the Explorer Maps. The Explorer maps offer a substantial improvement on the Pathfinder series, with greater use of colour, larger area per map, & stronger emphasis on information for ramblers & tourists. This series is ideal for walking & other outdoor pursuits & each map shows a large amount of information for ramblers & tourists. Public rights of way are shown (except in Scotland), together with other routes with public access: National Trails & Recreational Paths, permitted paths & bridleways, & selected cycle routes. Open access land created under the Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000 is marked. Tourist information

Includes:: caravan & camp sites, Park & Ride locations, recreation/leisure/sport centres, museums, historic buildings, English Heritage & National Trust sites, rural pubs, etc. The map legend is in English only, except for the tourist information content which is also in French & German.

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The Long Mynd, Wenlock Edge, Church Stretton & Craven Arms area on a detailed topographic & GPS compatible map No. 217, paper version, from the Ordnance Survey’s 1:25, 000 Explorer series. MOBILE DOWNLOADS: this title & all the other OS Explorer maps include a code for downloading after purchase the digital version onto your smartphone or tablet for viewing on the OS smartphone app.OS EXPLORER SERIES: to see the list of all the titles in the OS Explorer series, both paper & waterproof versions, please click on the series link. The Explorer series, Ordnance Survey’s most detailed maps recommended for anyone enjoying outdoor activities, provides topographic coverage of Great Britain at 1:25, 000 on GPS compatible maps with hiking trails, cycling routes & extensive tourist information. Each printed map is available either on paper or as a waterproof & tear-resistant OS Active Map, as indicated in its title. Britain’s National Parks & other areas of particular tourist interest are presented on often double-sided OL (Outdoor Leisure) maps, whilst most standard format Explorers cover an area of 30 x 20km (approx. 19 x 12 miles). All three versions (paper, waterproof & digital) are the same & provide plenty of recreational & tourist information, indicating the traditional public right of way paths (except in Scotland where different laws apply), including bridleways & byways. National Trails & other long-distance paths are marked, as well as permissive footpaths or bridleways & on-road or traffic-free cycle routes with, where appropriate, their National/ Regional Cycle Network numbers. Boundaries of access land are clearly marked. A wide range of symbols provides additional tourist information, highlighting camping & caravanning sites, information offices & visitors’ centres, parking & picnicking places, country pubs, sport & recreational facilities including cycle hire locations & mountain biking trails, historic buildings & museums, etc. Exceptionally clear presentation of the landscape is provided by contours at 5m or in the uplands at 10m intervals, with additional spot heights plus colouring and/or graphics for different types of woodlands, orchards, heath, marshl&, scree or boulders, & other topographic features. For GPS users the maps have British National Grid lines at 1km intervals, with latitude & longitude given by margin ticks at 1`. Clearly laid out map legend

Includes:: French & German translations for the tourist information symbols.

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