This gem of a memoir was first published in hardback in November 2006. Two printings sold out in a year to critical acclaim. Born in Hatfield but raised in Eire & educated at Eton & Cranwell 1940 found Tim Vigors flying Spitfires & seeing frantic & distinguished service over Dunkirk & then during the dangerous days of The Battle of Britain when he became an ace. Transferred to the Far East in January 1941 as a flight commander on 10th December he led a flight of Buffaloes to cover the sinking Prince of Wales & Repulse. Dramatically shot down burnt & attacked on his parachute he was evacuated to Java & from there to India. & this is where his h&-written account ends. Throughout the author describes his experiences in an honest refreshing way. It is a fascinating & valuable record one which is now regarded as a classic. ...

The pitch is the absolute essence of modern business. Ideas are the most valuable commodity in the modern economy & it is human skill which develops them. In pitching for new business ideas & emotional intelligence dominate. However the skills of the pitch are not only relevant to the world of business rather they apply to just about every significant personal transaction in your life... Life's a Pitch is the ultimate how-to book
- a mixture of mechanics & magic. Nothing like it has been written before. A mixture of mentoring graphics anthropology market research & modern Machiavellianism this book will prepare you for success. So whether at a sales conference in corporate conference room hell or over lunch at a glamourous restaurant Life's a Pitch tells you how to handle human transactions. A pitch is not a meeting it's a drama. A pitch is not about transferring information it's about transferring power. It is business but it is also theatre. & the results of a successful pitch are
- quite simply but rather persuasively
- money & power. Part inspirational manual for business part guidebook to a successful & happy social life Life's a Pitch is written as the result of an accumulated half century of (mostly successful) pitching by the authors. Ground-breaking & genre-busting it will transform the way you think about the art of persuasion for ever.


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In a snowbound railway station deep in the Soviet Union a stranded passenger comes across an old man playing the piano in the dark silent tears rolling down his cheeks. Once on the train to Moscow he begins to tell his story: a tale of loss love & survival that movingly illustrates the strength of human resilience. 'A novella to be read in a lunch hour & remembered for ever' Jilly Cooper Books of the Year Sunday Telegraph ...

This is Colin's story about becoming an adult at 35 years of age. From a strictly time-tabled athletics lifestyle from the age of 17 suddenly after retiring from his sporting career he had to grow up very quickly. Having created a name for himself on a world stage now he has to create a life in reality. Colin talks about the glamour of Strictly Come Dancing" & the emotional journey of " Who Do You Think You Are?" that took him back to his ancestors' roots in Panama & the Caribbean plus his motivational work with young children." ...

This title shows how the noisy atomic cloud gives rise to the orderly world of the molecular machine
- & to life itself. The cells
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In this informative & amusing book newly revised & updated Simon Hoggart provides a highly personal selection of 100 exciting & eclectic wines that are invariably good value (including 10 new ones). Life's Too Short to Drink Bad Wine is aimed at the amateur wine lover prepared occasionally to spend a little more than supermarket prices to get something special. Simon eschews pretentious 'wine-speak' yet describes his encounters with each of them so wittily you will be sure to remember them. Whether or not you have the pleasure of drinking all of the featured wines you will certainly enjoy every page. The wines are arranged alphabetically with entries interspersed with interesting features varying from how to read a wine label or on how to buy wine to an account of the Judgment of Paris when Californian wines beat the French in a blind tasting. From the 100 Simon has selected he has awarded ten of them Top 10 status. At the back of the book is an extensive source list of wine makers distributors & merchants with complete details including websites for ease of ordering. ...

A brutal killer is on the loose! Darksides mean streets are getting meaner. Theres a vicious killer abroad & Jonathan & Carnegie arent even close to catching him. But when Jonathan discovers his mother was investigating a similar crime on the day she disappeared the trail leads uncomfortably close to home. Soon he finds himself embroiled in the boroughs most dangerous secret
- & its most dangerous family.
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I was to stand trial for my life. I was twenty-two years old. I had been married for ten weeks & a widow for six. In the summer of 1914 the Empress Alexandra a magnificent ocean liner suffers a mysterious explosion on its voyage from London to New York City. On board are Henry Winter a rich banker & his young new wife Grace. Somehow Henry manages to secure a place in a lifeboat for Grace. But the survivors quickly realize it is over capacity & could sink at any moment. For any to live some must die. As the castaways battle the elements & each other Grace watches & waits. She is a woman who has learned the value of patience
- her journey to a life of glittering privilege has been far from straightforward. Now she knows it is in jeopardy & her very survival is at stake. Over the course of three perilous weeks the passengers on the lifeboat plot scheme gossip & console one another while sitting inches apart. Their deepest beliefs about goodness humanity & God are tested to the limit as they begin to discover what they will do in order to survive. The Lifeboat is a page-turning story of moral dilemmas & also the moving & haunting story of Grace a woman as unforgettable & complicated as the story she recounts.
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I was to stand trial for my life. I was twenty-two years old. I had been married for ten weeks & a widow for six. It is 1914 & Europe is on the brink of war. When a magnificent ocean liner suffers a mysterious explosion en route to New York City Henry Winter manages to secure a place in a lifeboat for his new wife Grace. But the survivors quickly realize the boat is over capacity & could sink at any moment. For any to live some must die. Over the course of three perilous weeks the passengers on the lifeboat plot scheme gossip & console one another while sitting inches apart. Their deepest beliefs are tested to the limit as they begin to discover what they will do in order to survive. ...

The RNLI is one of the best known maritime rescue organisations in the world. It receives no financial support from the British government & is supported entirely by public donations. Edward Wake-Walker the RNLIs former director of public relations tells the story of the Institution from its beginnings during the reign of Queen Victoria to the hi-tech rescue maritime organisation it has become in the 21st Century. He describes how it all began; the early lifeboats
- pulling & sailing; early lifeboat heroes
- what it took to be a volunteer in the 19th century some famous coxswains; early rescues & disasters; motorised lifeboats; the arrival of speed
- inshore & all-weather craft; the modern fleet; the modern volunteer crewmember; new areas for the RNLI
- mudflats (hovercraft) rivers beaches prevention of accidents; partners in rescue
- Coast Guard Royal Navy RAF etc; & concludes with a survivors story.




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