Welcome to a world turned upside down. One minute Doris from England is playing hide-&-seek with her sisters in the fields behind their cottage. The next someone puts a bag over her head & she ends up in the hold of a slave-ship sailing to the New World.. . In this fantastically imaginative inversion of the transatlantic slave trade
- in which whytes are enslaved by black people
- Bernardine Evaristo has created a thought-provoking satire that is as accessible & readable as it is intelligent & insightful. Blonde Roots" brings the shackles & cries of long-ago barbarity uncomfortably close & raises timely questions about the society of today."

...

Provides an examination of Britain's relationship to America. Is it a 'special' relationship? & if so what manifests that unique connection? Through an analysis of its various manifestations
- from James Bond to Winston Churchill
- this book asks what this relationship consists of.

...

George Nipe author of Last Victory in Russia" & " Decision in the Ukraine " has written a revealing & unprecedented re-analysis of the II.SS-Panzer-Korps operations during the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. Unlike all previous books on the subject which refer almost exclusively to Russian accounts of the battle " Blood Steel & Myth" makes extensive use of original German source material. In so doing he convincingly exposes the conventional wisdom which through its constant repetition over the years has assumed mythic status as being fundamentally flawed & patently untrue. Based principally on Heer & Waffen-SS combat & intelligence reports from the southern sector of the Kursk salient as well as the individual accounts of veterans the book covers in detail the daily progress of Operation Citadel. With meticulous attention to detail the author illustrates the unfavorable circumstances & erroneous command decisions which doomed Germanys last major offensive in Russia irrevocably to failure. The personal notes conversations & official orders of generals Hausser Hoth & Manstein are all closely scrutinized to shed new light on this much celebrated but incorrectly recounted clash of arms with particular attention being paid to the "greatest tank battle in history" at Prochorovka. With " Blood Steel & Myth" George Nipe sets the record straight with all the conviction of an Eastern Front historian whose veracity & impeccable scholarship have been proven time & again. " Blood Steel & Myth" is heavily illustrated with hundreds of photos (many previously unpublished) & numerous maps to provide a strong visual component to this unique account of the Kursk Offensives southern front." ...

So what is the best thing to do when the bike goes down & you suffer a patch of Road Rash? How do you prevent infection & minimise scarring? Answers to these questions & practical advice on many other medical situations are contained in this new volume from Flash Gordon the motorcycling doctor. For years Flash Gordon MD has been dispensing practical medical advice with a liberal dose of dry humor through his Medical Motorcycling column in Motorcycle Consumer News. This collection of his articles has been organised into book form & enhanced with clever illustrations by Craig Harrison to bring his valuable insights to a wider audience. As a doctor who also rides motorcycles Flash Gordon combines knowledge gained from many years of medical practice with the straightforward no-nonsense style of a veteran motorcyclist. He has the knack of explaining medical conditions & injuries in plain language that makes sense. Though the advice is directed to motorcyclists all the medical information he provides is applicable to the general public. Being acquainted with typical behaviours of motorcyclists he explains how some of these habits can lead to problems in the future. The changes needed to avoid trouble down the road are sometimes very simple. He explains what signs to look for when a 3am visit to the emergency room is entirely justified & when a wait-&-see approach is indicated. Written in an entertaining & comfortable style this book provides much valuable insight into how to deal with or prevent a wide range of health problems. ...

A beautifully written insight into the stresses strains & successes of working for the London Ambulance service. Is there anyone who hasn't wondered about the state of the occupant of an ambulance screaming along with its sirens on & blue lights flashing? Have you? & have you wondered about the other people inside the ambulance maybe fighting to save the patient's life? Or have you considered that the ambulance may be another 'maternataxi' ordered by a woman who can't be bothered to book a real cab & who then complains she can't smoke on the way to hospital? & that the medical technician inside might just be desperate to get back home from a busy shift to have a cup of tea & catch up with his blog? Meet Tom Reynolds. Tom is an Emergency Medical Technician who works for the London Ambulance Service in East London. He has kept a blog of his daily working life since 2003 & his award-winning writing is by turn moving cynical funny heart-rending & compassionate. It is never less than compelling. From the tragic to the hilarious from the heartwarming to the terrifying the stories Tom tells give a fascinating
- & at times alarming
- picture of life in inner-city Britain & the people who are paid to mop up after it.

...

Acclaimed novelist of the Italian Renaissance Sarah Dunant now takes on the era's most infamous family: the Borgias. By the end of the fifteenth century the beauty & creativity of Italy is matched by its brutality & corruption nowhere more than in Rome & in the Church. When Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia buys his way into the papacy as Alexander VI he is defined not just by his wealth or his passionate love for his illegitimate children but by his blood: he is a Spanish Pope in a city run by Italians. If the Borgias are to triumph this charismatic consummate politician with a huge appetite for life women & power must use papacy & family to succeed. His eldest son Cesare a dazzlingly cold intelligence & an even colder soul is his greatest
- though increasingly unstable
- weapon. Later immortalised in Machiavelli's The Prince he provides the energy & the muscle. His daughter Lucrezia beloved by both men is the prime dynastic tool. Twelve years old when the novel opens hers is a journey through three marriages: from childish innocence to painful experience from pawn to political player. Stripping away the myths around the Borgias Blood & Beauty is a majestic novel that breathes life into this astonishing family & celebrates the raw power of history itself: compelling complex & relentless.

...

In the western sky the bright emerald banner of the Visitor descends like a portent of annihilation. On the continent of Jacuruku the Thaumaturgs have mounted another expedition in a bid to tame the neighbouring wild jungle. Yet this is no normal wilderness. It is called Himatan & it is said to be half of the spirit-realm & half of the earth. & it is said to be ruled by a powerful entity who some name the Queen of Witches & some a goddess: the ancient Ardata. Saeng grew up knowing only the rule of the magus Thaumaturgs
- but it was the voices from that lands forgotten past that she listened to. & when her rulers launch their invasion of this jungle those voices send her & her brother on a desperate mission. To the south the desert tribes are united by the arrival of a foreign warleader a veteran commander in battered ashen mail men call the Grey Ghost. This warrior leads these tribes on a raid unlike any other deep into the heart of Thaumaturg lands. While word comes to Kazz & mercenary company the Crimson Guard of a contract in Jacuruku. & their employer? Could it be the goddess herself...
...

An uneducated youth William Booth left home in 1849 at the age of twenty to preach the gospel for the New Methodist Connexion. Six years later he founded a new religious movement which succeeded to such a degree that the Salvation Army (which it became) is now a worldwide operation with massive membership. But that is only part of Booths importance & heritage. In many ways his story is also that of the Victorian poor as he & his wife Catherine made it their lives work to battle against the poverty & deprivation which were endemic in the mid- to late 1800s. Indeed it was Catherine who although a chronic invalid inspired the Armys social policy & attitude to female authority. Her campaign against child prostitution resulted in the age of consent being raised & it was Catherine who dying of cancer encouraged William to clear the slums -- In Darkest England The Way Out. Roy Hattersleys masterful dual biography is not just the story of two fascinating lives but a portrait of an integral part of our history. ...

Here is the glorious & sinister life of Marius: patrician by birth scholar by choice & one of the oldest vampires of them all. From his genesis in ancient Rome to his present day we follow the story of this aristocratic & powerful killer. His is a tale that spans the breadth of time. When the Visigoths sack his city Marius is there; with the resurgence of the glory of Rome he is there still searching for his lost love Pandora. So prevalent is Marius that it is he who gives the dark gift to the illustrious vampire Arm&. Intertwined with the stories of a magnificent Pantheon of the undead this account of Marius is the most wondrous & mind-blowing of them all. ...

Today astonishing surgical breakthroughs are making face transplants limb transplants & a host of other previously undreamed of operations possible. But getting here has not been a simple story of selfless men working tirelessly in the pursuit of medical advancement. Instead its a bloodstained tale of blunders arrogance mishap & murder. In trying to keep us alive surgeons have all too often killed us off & life-saving solutions have often come from the most surprising places. Accompanying a BBC series Blood & Guts is an incredible story of stolen corpses medical fraud lobotomized patients
- & every now & then courageous advances that have saved the lives of millions around the world. You may think twice before going under the knife...
...