The year is 1453. For more than a thousand years the mighty walls of Constantinople have protected the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire the furthest outpost of Christianity. But now endless ranks of Turkish warriors cover the plains before them their massive cannons trained on the ramparts. It is the most fearsome force the world has ever seen. No European army will help: the last crusaders were cut to pieces by the Turks on the plains of Kosovo. Constantinople is on its own. & treachery is in the air. Three people will struggle to determine the fate of an empire: the young Turkish Sultan returned from exile & desperate to prove his greatness; a stubborn Byzantine princess sworn to protect her city; & a mercenary captain with a personal score to settle. But of them it is the hardened soldier Giovanni Longo who will face the worst choice: just as he prepares to make his final stand he finds he has something to live for after all. From the intrigues within the Emperor's household to the Sultan's harem & the savage fights on the battlements Siege is a full-blooded historical adventure novel in the tradition of Warrior of Rome Pilgim or Crusade. ...

In the Spring of 1857 with India on the brink of a violent & bloody mutiny Krishnapur is a remote town on the vast North Indian plain. For the British there life is orderly & genteel. Then the sepoys at the nearest military cantonment rise in revolt & the British community retreats with shock into the Residency. They prepare to fight for their lives with what weapons they can muster. As food & ammunition grow short the Residency its defences battered by shot & shell & eroded by the rains becomes ever more vulnerable. The Siege of Krishnapur is a modern classic of narrative excitement that also digs deep to explore some fundamental questions of civilisation & life. ...

The unexpected arrival of Soviet troops at the end of January 1945 at the ancient fortress & garrison town of Kustrin came as a tremendous shock to the German High Command
- the Soviets were now only 50 miles from Berlin itself. The Red Army needed the vital road & rail bridges passing through Kustrin for their forthcoming assault on the capital but flooding & their own high command's strategic blunders resulted in a sixty-day siege by two Soviet armies which totally destroyed the town. The delay in the Soviet advance also gave the Germans time to consolidate the defences shielding Berlin west of the Oder River. Despite Hitler's orders to fight on to the last bullet the Kustrin garrison commander & 1 000 of the defenders managed a dramatic break-out to the German lines. The protracted siege had an appalling human cost
- about 5 000 Germans were killed 9 000 wounded & 6 000 captured & the Russians lost 5 000 killed & 15 000 wounded. Tony Le Tissier in this graphic & painstakingly researched account has recorded events in extraordinary detail using the vivid eyewitness testimony of survivors to bring the story of the siege to life.

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A book dedicated to the four sieges of Newark during the English Civil War the last of which marked the collapse of Royalist power in the Midlands. In 1642 King Charles I summoned Newark to support him which it did with men money & munitions. The city & castle where thereafter a loyal bastion of Royalist support on the edge of Parliamentarian territory. A roundhead attackin 1643 was driven off as was a desultory siege in 1644. In 1645 the Roundheads arrived in large numbers with heavy cannon & great determination. The Royalist garrison fougth back with imagination & courage turning this into a text book example of 17th century seigework. After seven months garrison surrendered ending Royalist hopes in this area of Engl&. This book follows the standard pattern set by others in the Bretwalda Battles series. The reasons for & course of the war in question are outlined then detailed analyses of weapons tactics & strategies are given with particular reference to this battle. The course of the battleis then followed with comment on what there is to see at the site today. Short biographies of the commanders are also given. The aftermath of the battle its effects & importance to the progress of the war are then described. The Bretwalda Battles" series has been running with increasing success as ebooks for some time. Now the first books in the series are being published in print format." ...

Sieges determined the course of the English Civil Wars yet they receive scant attention. In contrast the major set-piece battles are repeatedly analysed & reassessed. As a result our understanding of the conflict & of its outcome is incomplete. John Barratt in this lucid & perceptive account makes the siege the focal point of his study. As well as looking at the theory & practice of siege warfare & fortification he considers the often-devastating human impact. Using a selection of graphic examples he shows how siege warfare could ruin the lives of the soldiers
- & the civilians
- caught up in it. He examines in detail a dozen sieges using a combination of eyewitness accounts other contemporary sources archaeological surveys & other modern research. His study provides a detailed & vivid reconstruction of these often neglected episodes of civil war history.

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In traditional fairy tales the handsome prince rescues the beautiful princess from her wicked stepmother & the couple live happily ever after. But in Ruth Rendells dark & damaged contemporary universe innocent dreams can turn into the most terrible living nightmares. Teddy Brex emerges from a loveless isolated childhood as a handsome but autistic young man. Francine Hill emotionally & mentally scarred by the murder of her mother grows into a beautiful young woman who must endure the overprotectiveness of an increasingly obsessive stepmother. Teddy Brex does ride to her rescue but he is a man who has already committed two murders. In Rendells dark criminal London can anyone be trusted? ...

This title offers essential practice on the key concept of sight words. Containing 86 cards in each package these cards are sturdier than others on the market. It is suitable for children aged 5 to 6 years old. Flash Kids Flash Cards" offer essential practice in key concepts such as multiplication division the alphabet sights words & spelling. Containing 86 cards in each package these cards are sturdier than others on the market." ...

Five years after Findings" broke the mould of nature writing Sort of Books presents " Sightlines". The outer world flew open like a door & I wondered
- what is it that we're just not seeing? In this greatly anticipated sequel to " Findings" prize-winning poet & renowned nature writer Kathleen Jamie takes a fresh look at her native Scottish landscapes before sailing north into iceberg-strewn seas. Her gaze swoops vertiginously too; from a countryside of cells beneath a hospital microscope to killer whales rounding a headland to the constellations of satellites that belie our sense of the remote. Written with her hallmark precision & delicacy & marked by moments in her own life Sightlines offers a rare invitation to pause & to pay heed to our surroundings."
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Warmaster Horus has divided the Imperium in a bloody civil war but while his armies prepare for battle the Emperor himself remains curiously absent. In his place stands Malcador
- legendary Sigillite First Lord of Terra & regent to the throne & now arguably the single most powerful man in the entire galaxy. Imperial Army officer Hasani Sabbyat is seconded to Malcador's command for a secret mission into the wastelands of Gyptus & along the way he learns the truth behind the Heresy & a great deal more about the destiny of mankind. Where do Malcador's true loyalties lie?
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Ben Hartman is on holiday in Switzerland when he meets a childhood friend
- who promptly tries to kill him. In self-defence Ben
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