A magisterial history of the greatest & most terrible event in history from one of the finest historians of the Second World War. A book which shows the impact of war upon hundreds of millions of people around the world- soldiers sailors & airmen; housewives farm workers & children. Reflecting Max Hastings's thirty-five years of research on World War II All Hell Let Loose describes the course of events but focuses chiefly upon human experience which varied immensely from campaign to campaign continent to continent. The author emphasises the Russian front where more than 90% of all German soldiers who perished met their fate. He argues that while Hitler's army often fought its battles brilliantly well the Nazis conducted their war effort with 'stunning incompetence'. He suggests that the Royal Navy & US Navy were their countries' outstanding fighting services while the industrial contribution of the United States was much more important to allied victory than that of the US Army. The book ranges across a vast canvas from the agony of Poland amid the September 1939 Nazi invasion to the 1943 Bengal famine in which at least a million people died under British rule- & British neglect. Among many vignettes there are the RAF's legendary raid on the Ruhr dams the horrors of Arctic convoys desert tank combat jungle clashes. Some of Hastings's insights & judgements will surprise students of the conflict while there are vivid descriptions of the tragedies & triumphs of a host of ordinary people in uniform & out of it. ' The cliche is profoundly true' he says. ' The world between 1939 & 1945 saw some human beings plumb the depths of baseness while others scaled the heights of courage & nobility'. This is 'everyman's story' an attempt to answer the question: ' What was the Second World War like ?' & also an overview of the big picture. Max Hastings employs the technique which has made many of his previous books best-sellers combining top-down analysis & bottom-up testimony to explore the meaning of this vast conflict both for its participants & for posterity. ...

Seven years ago Zella Grisham was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm assault with a deadly weapon attempted murder & grand theft. After two years of fruitless negotiations Zella was sentenced to 25 years in prison mainly because she refused to give up her accomplices in a $6.8 million heist from Rutgers Assurance Corp. But Zella had played no part in that heist. PI Leonid Mc Gill had planted the evidence. All Zella had done was shoot her man her cheating husband Harry Tangelo when she'd caught him in bed with her best friend. That was a long time ago & Mc Gill has regrets. So he hires a hotshot attorney to set her free. Zella's big regret is that she tried to kill Tangelo. Mc Gill agrees to track him down but the trail leads back to Rutgers Assurance & the man who paid Mc Gill to plant the evidence is found dead. As Zella is hounded & an attempt is made on Mc Gill's life the detective realises the case is more complicated than he had ever imagined
- but can he live long enough to sort it out?
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When asked what he does Robert Fulghum usually replies that he is a philosopher & explains that what he likes to do is to think about everyday things & then to express what he thinks by writing speaking or painting. This is a collection of his favourite observations written over the years that reveal simple truths about small lives with big meanings. ...

All in Good Time is the remarkable story of George Daniels (1926-2011) the master craftsman who was born into poverty but raised himself to become the greatest watchmaker of the twentieth century. Daniels stands alone in modern times as the inventor of the revolutionary co-axial escapement the first substantial advance in portable mechanical timekeeping over the lever escapement which has dominated ever since its invention in 1759. Danielss love of mechanics embraced not only the minute however
- he was also a passionate collector & driver of historic motorcars. This revised & expanded edition of his autobiography also contains a new section that illustrates & discusses over thirty of the pocket & wrist-watches Daniels himself made over the years. Witness here the triumph of intelligence ingenuity matchless skill & singularity of purpose over the most unpromising of beginnings.
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Entertaining instructive thought-provoking & hilarious the unmistakeable voice of Deborah Devonshire rings out of this volume which combines her two collections of 'occasional' writings
- Home to Roost & Counting my Chickens. The pieces are broad & eclectic in their subjects ranging from treasures unearthed while the kitchen was being redecorated musings about the reason for the reworded town sign tourism at Chatsworth a ringside view of both John F. Kennedy's inauguration & funeral & the value of deportment. No matter what she's writing about she is always affectionate shrewd & uproariously funny.
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Television past as LP Hartley might have once said is another country. & in the early 1980s it certainly was a different beast. There were still only three channels to watch; the evenings programmes finished with the playing of the national anthem; & the biggest prize on TV was not Chris Tarrants million pounds but a speedboat on Bullseye.. . But as Tom Bromley suggests in this funny & warming memoir all that was about to change: The 1980s saw the end of the original golden era of television & the beginnings of TV as we know it today. In 1982 Channel 4 became the first new terrestrial channel for almost twenty years & by the end of the decade Rupert Murdochs Sky Television was vying to become Britains first multi-channel provider. The result of all this was that slowly but surely British viewers had more choice than ever before & the cost of this choice was the erosion of television as a shared national event. & no-one felt this change more deeply than Tom Bromley. Television played a large part in Toms childhood. His first word was two as in BBC Two & his earliest childhood memory is seeing Johnny Ball at a church fete. With great humour & affection Tom Bromley tells the story of a childhood spent with his three siblings & that other all-important family member; the television set. ...

Its the early 1980s & TV-land is a weird place to be.. . There are only three channels! Everything stops at midnight! Theres no Breakfast TV no daytime telly.. .and the biggest prize on TV is not Chris Tarrants million pounds but a speedboat on Bullseye. As Tom Bromley suggests in this hilariously funny & entertaining walk down memory lane all that was about to change. Coming our way were new channels yoof TV Dynasty Dallas TV-AM Charles & Di Scott & Charlene talking cars & a Royal Its a Knockout. By the end of the decade we were primed & ready for satellite TV multi-channels rolling news & incredibly.. .you could watch TV all the way through the night! & no-one felt this change more deeply than Tom Bromley. From Fame to the Falklands War Live Aid to Loadsamoney All in the Best Possible Taste tells the story of a childhood spent with his mum dad & three siblings & that other all-important family member; the TV. ...

Hundreds of ideas for affordable finishing touches that will enhance the elegance & individuality of your home. Caroline Clifton-Mogg looks at the principles of display & arrangement of the importance of scale & how to edit your possessions so they make the maximum impact in chapters including Pictures Mirrors & Other Wall Art Flowers & Plants Soft Furnishings China & Glass & Living (encompassing Living with Books Mantelpieces & Fireplaces Lighting & Decorative Collections). From hanging pictures to arranging quirky collections from displaying textiles to making the most of mantelpieces she shows you how to display items in an attractive way how to combine different pieces to best effect & how to create focal points in a room. Caroline proves that genuinely stylish interiors do not have to cost a fortune; it is the way items are displayed that brings them to life. ...

Martin Sturrock desperately needs a psychiatrist. The problem? He is one. Emily is a traumatised burns victim Arta a Kosovan refugee recovering from a rape. David Temple is a longterm depressive while the Rt Hon Ralph Hall MP lives in terror of his drink problem being exposed. Very different Londoners but they share one thing: every week they spend an hour at the Prince Regent hospital revealing the secrets of their psyche to Professor Martin Sturrock. Little do they know that Sturrocks own mind is not the reassuring place they believe it to be. For years he has hidden in his work ignoring his demons. But now his life is falling apart & as his ghosts come back to haunt him the only person he can turn to is a patient. Set over a life-changing weekend Alastair Campbells astonishing first novel delves deep into the human mind to create a gripping portrait of the strange dependency between patient & doctor. Both a comedy & tragedy of ordinary lives it is rich in compassion for those whose days are spent on the edge of the abyss. ...

With mounting disbelief Regan Trent realises that the death of her beloved mother has left her totally at her stepfather's mercy. But mercy is a foreign concept to Sherwyn Huntley. To this ruthless man Regan is simply an obstacle between him & the Trent fortune. Denied a place at her mother's funeral cruelly separated from her younger brother promised in marriage to a sadistic pervert Regan prefers to take her chance in the wide world. But Huntley will stop at nothing to achieve his cruel ambitions... ...