The battle of El Alamein saw the shattering of Germanys hopes for victory in North Africa & from this point on the end was inevitable. In the six months that passed before the final surrender there was much hard fighting as the defeated German & Italian armies sought to hold off the encroaching Eighth Army. Rommel his health suffering fought a number of major actions during this campaign before his forces settled into the pre-war French defensive position the Mareth Line. All the way he was pursued by an increasingly confident Eighth Army under the command of General Montgomery although he was unable to outflank the retreating German & Italian forces decisively & Rommel was even able to divert forces to inflict a sharp defeat on the newly arrived US forces at Kasserine Pass in February 1943. This was one of Rommels last acts in the Desert War as his health problems forced his return to Germany shortly afterwards. The stage was now set for the last great battle of the Desert War as the veteran formations of the British Eighth Army took on their foes in the Afrikakorps for one last time in the major set-piece battle for the Mareth Line. ...

The extraordinary true story of the Red Queen. Born in the midst of the Wars of the Roses Margaret Beaufort became the greatest heiress of her time. She survived a turbulent life marrying four times & enduring imprisonment before passing her claim to the crown of England to her son Henry VII the first of the Tudor monarchs. Margarets royal blood placed her on the fringes of the Lancastrian royal dynasty. After divorcing her first husband at the age of ten she married the kings half-brother Edmund Tudor becoming a widow & bearing her only child the future Henry VII before her fourteenth birthday. Margaret was always passionately devoted to the interests of her son who claimed the throne through her. She embroiled herself in both treason & conspiracy as she sought to promote his claims allying herself with the Yorkist Queen Elizabeth Woodville in an attempt to depose Richard III. She was imprisoned by Richard & her lands confiscated but she continued to work on her sons behalf ultimately persuading her fourth husband the powerful Lord Stanley to abandon the king in favour of Henry on the eve of the decisive Battle of Bosworth. It was Lord Stanley himself who placed the crown on Henrys head on the battlefield. Henry VII gave his mother unparalleled prominence during his reign. She established herself as an independent woman & ended her life as regent of England ruling on behalf of her seventeen-year-old grandson Henry VIII. ...

Divorced at ten a mother at thirteen & three times a widow. The extraordinary true story of the Red Queen Lady Margaret Beaufort matriarch of the Tudors. Born in the midst of the Wars of the Roses Margaret Beaufort became the greatest heiress of her time. She survived a turbulent life marrying four times & enduring imprisonment before passing her claim to the crown of England to her son Henry VII the first of the Tudor monarchs. Margarets royal blood placed her on the fringes of the Lancastrian royal dynasty. After divorcing her first husband at the age of ten she married the kings half-brother Edmund Tudor becoming a widow & bearing her only child the future Henry VII before her fourteenth birthday. Margaret was always passionately devoted to the interests of her son who claimed the throne through her. She embroiled herself in both treason & conspiracy as she sought to promote his claims allying herself with the Yorkist Queen Elizabeth Woodville in an attempt to depose Richard III. She was imprisoned by Richard & her lands confiscated but she continued to work on her sons behalf ultimately persuading her fourth husband the powerful Lord Stanley to abandon the king in favour of Henry on the eve of the decisive Battle of Bosworth. It was Lord Stanley himself who placed the crown on Henrys head on the battlefield. Henry VII gave his mother unparalleled prominence during his reign. She established herself as an independent woman & ended her life as regent of England ruling on behalf of her seventeen-year-old grandson Henry VIII. ...

Margaret Mellis (1914-2009) was an artist of diverse skills: a painter a maker of collages & reliefs & a sculptor. She was a key figure in British Modernism & with her first husband the author & critic Adrian Stokes was pivotal in establishing the influential artists colony in St Ives. Surprisingly relatively little has been written about Mellis. This book which incorporates groundbreaking new research is the first comprehensive monograph on this important artist. After first meeting Adrian Stokes in Paris Mellis moved to London to be near him & studied with Stokes at the Euston Road School. The pair married in 1938 & moved to Cornwall in 1939 where they set up house in Carbis Bay. Here they entertained some of the leading literary & artistic luminaries of the day. During her St Ives period Mellis work developed from painting to collage & relief under the tutelage of Ben Nicholson & Naum Gabo. She returned to a more realistic form of painting when her marriage came to an end & she left Cornwall in 1946. Following a period in France with the artist Francis Davison whom she married in 1948 the couple settled in Suffolk in 1950. Here Mellis continued her exploration into colour & form. The shifts & developments within her oeuvre brought in large-scale abstract paintings in the 1960s & culminated in an extended series of dynamic & original constructions made from driftwood which first began to appear in 1980. Skillfully unravelling the complexities of Mellis oeuvre in the context of her fascinating life Andrew Lambirth presents an unrivalled account of a truly remarkable artist & woman. Including a wealth of visual material which illustrates Mellis unique vision Margaret Mellis combines insightful analysis with outstanding imagery & as such is essential reading for anyone interested in Modern British Art. ...

Margaret Rutherford was without a doubt one of Britain's best-loved comic actresses. But behind the kindly serene front Rutherford presented to the world lay a life of trauma & repeated nervous breakdown
- the legacy of the legacy of family tragedy that saw her father murder her grandfather during a bout of mental illness & her depressive mother later kill herself. Andy Merriman's acclaimed biography intrigued & shocked readers with these revelations when it was published in hardback. Now out in paperback it is also a portrait of one of our most individual actresses. Rutherford appeared in such thoroughly English classics as Blithe Spirit The importance of Being Earnest Passport to Pimlico & I'm All Right Jack! But above all she was Miss Marple in four films
- & entirely created for the screen the role of Agatha Christie's elderly & fearless private detective that subsequent actresses like Joan Hickson & Geraldine Mc Ewan have continued. Rutherford first played Miss Marple at the age of 70 & insisted on wearing her own clothes to feel right in the part. Above all this was a vulnerable woman whom no-one failed to like & respect notable again & again for quiet acts of kindness whose life story has great appeal to everyone who appreciates both classic English comedy & simple human decency.

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Not For Turning is the first volume of Charles Moore's authorized biography of Margaret Thatcher the longest serving Prime Minister of the twentieth century & one of the most influential political figures of the postwar era. Charles Moore's biography of Margaret Thatcher published after her death on 8 April 2013 immediately supersedes all earlier books written about her. At the moment when she becomes a historical figure this book also makes her into a three dimensional one for the first time. It gives unparalleled insight into her early life & formation especially through her extensive correspondence with her sister which Moore is the first author to draw on. It recreates brilliantly the atmosphere of British politics as she was making her way & takes her up to what was arguably the zenith of her power victory in the Falklands. (This volume ends with the Falklands Dinner in Downing Street in November 1982.). Moore is clearly an admirer of his subject but he does not shy away from criticising her or identifying weaknesses & mistakes where he feels it is justified. Based on unrestricted access to all Lady Thatcher's papers unpublished interviews with her & all her major colleagues this is the indispensable fully rounded portrait of a towering figure of our times. ...

Unquestionably a phenomenon of the 20th century's political landscape both in Britain & the wider world Margaret Thatcher's significance in Britain's social history is considerable. Her political career began at a time when it was unusual for women to take an active part in politics but doubly so within the Conservative party of which she became leader. Fifteen years after she left office Margaret Thatcher's policies are still hotly debated & interest in her approaches
- her ' Thatcherism'
- is unabated. This book presents a unique visual perspective of an iconic & controversial figure.

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When Margaret Thatcher unexpectedly emerged to challenge Edward Heath for the Conservative Party leadership in 1975 the public knew her only as the archetypal Home Counties Tory Lady more famous for her hats than for any outstanding talent: she had a rich businessman husband sent her children to the most expensive private schools & sat in Parliament for Finchley. Yet almost overnight she reinvented herself. Journalists who set out to discover where she came from were amazed to find that she had grown up above a grocers shop in Grantham. Within weeks of her becoming Tory leader an entirely new image was in place based around the now famous corner shop beside the Great North Road; the strict Methodist upbringing; & her father who taught her the Victorian values which were the foundations of her subsequent career. In the first volume of the first full-scale biography of Margaret Thatcher since her fall from power
- & the first thoroughly to explore her early life
- John Campbell re-examines the mythology & suggests a more complex reality behind the idealised picture accepted by Lady Thatchers early biographers. He portrays an ambitious & determined woman ruthlessly distancing herself from her roots until the moment in 1975 when they suddenly became a political asset.

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This title is presented on 2 C Ds. In interviews ranging from 1975 to 1990 Margaret Thatcher talks about being a woman in politics; managing men & women; her response to the media attacks she received in the early days of her career & the importance of wearing the right clothes. She also recalls her memories of home including working in her father's grocery shop; the radio & TV programmes she enjoyed (including The Two Ronnies") & following sports like cricket & tennis. Also mentioned are the time she met her husband Denis; her worries about her son Mark when he went missing in the Sahara desert; her interest in science & her love of porcelain & sculpture. Lastly she discusses her stamina & her worst moment as Prime Minister (during the Falklands War). "BBC Archive Voices" is shining a light on the icons of our time. "BBC Archive Voices" features interviews with some of the key figures from the fields of entertainment sport politics & literature
- many of which haven't been heard since their original transmission. This is a unique window into the past & is a chance for us to hear those who contributed to the richness of our cultural heritage. With access to the entire archive of BBC Radio & television we can now witness some of the most lively entertaining & informative encounters in BBC broadcasting. Due to the age & nature of this archive material the sound quality may vary."
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The first volume of John Campbell's biography of Margaret Thatcher was described by Frank Johnson in the Daily Telegraph as 'much the best book yet written about Lady Thatcher'. That volume The Grocer's Daughter described Mrs Thatcher's childhood & early career up until the 1979 General Election which carried her into Downing Street. This second volume covers the whole eleven & a half years of her momentous premiership. Thirteen years after her removal from power this is the first comprehensive & fully researched study of the Thatcher Government from its hesitant beginning to its dramatic end. Campbell draws on the mass of memoirs & diaries of Mrs Thatcher's colleagues aides advisers & rivals as well as on original material from the Ronald Reagan archive shedding fascinating new light on the Reagan-Thatcher 'special relationship' & on dozens of interviews. The Iron Lady will confirm John Campbell's Margaret Thatcher as one of the greatest political biographies of recent times. ...