How do you convince men to charge across heavily mined beaches into deadly machine-gun fire? Do you appeal to their bonds with their fellow soldiers their patriotism their desire to end tyranny & mass murder? Certainly
- but if youre the US Army in 1944 you also try another tack: you dangle the lure of beautiful French women waiting just on the other side of the wire ready to reward their liberators in oh so many ways. Thats not the picture of the Greatest Generation that weve been given but its the one Mary Louise Roberts paints to devastating effect in What Soldiers Do". Drawing on an incredible range of sources including news reports propaganda training materials official planning documents wartime diaries & memoirs Roberts tells the fascinating & troubling story of how the US military command systematically spread
- & then exploited
- the myth of French women as sexually experienced & available. The resulting chaos
- ranging from flagrant public sex with prostitutes to outright rape & rampant venereal disease
- horrified the war-weary & demoralized French population. The sexual predation & the blithe response of the American military leadership also caused serious friction between the two nations just as they were attempting to settle questions of long-term control over the liberated territories & the restoration of French sovereignty. While never denying the achievement of D-day or the bravery of the soldiers who took part " What Soldiers Do" reminds us that history is always more useful
- & more interesting
- when it is more honest & when it goes beyond the burnished beauty of nostalgia to grapple with the real experiences & real mistakes of the people who lived it."






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Why will there never be another Bradman? How do you win 33 games in a row? Why did Zidane lose his rag on the world's stage? Foraying deep into sport's leftfield Ed smith asks the questions we rarely ask of our teams & players. When is cheating really cheating? Is the free market good for sport? Can talent be a curse? Does luck matter? His answers often controversial & always thought provoking will delight anyone who has ever wondered why sport matters. ...

In What the Dog Saw" Malcolm Gladwell covers everything from criminology to spaghetti sauce to show how the most ordinary subjects can illuminate the most extraordinary things about ourselves & our world. Looking under the surface of the seemingly mundane he explores the underdogs the overlooked the curious the miraculous & the disastrous & reveals how everyone & everything contains an incredible story. " What the Dog Saw" is Gladwell at his very best
- asking questions & finding surprising answers. "A global phenomenon...there is it seems no subject over which he cannot scatter some magic dust". (" Observer"). " Gladwell makes the world seem fresh & exciting again". (" Evening Standard"). " Comes exuberantly close to.. .what goes on inside other peoples heads". (" Daily Telegraph"). "A dizzying array.. .his writing talks to all of us". (" Guardian"). " Consistently absorbing.. .captivating". (" Independent"). " Gladwells storytelling qualities & his eye for the human drama.. .make this so compelling". (" Sunday Times"). Author journalist cultural commentator & intellectual adventurer Malcolm Gladwell is a staff writer for the " New Yorker" magazine. His first book " The Tipping Point" captured the worlds attention with its theory that a curiously small change can have unforeseen effects. His other international bestselling books are " Outliers" which looks at the stories of exceptional individuals & reveals the secrets of their success " Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" & " What The Dog Saw" a collection of his most provocative & entertaining " New Yorker" pieces."
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Michele Hanson grew up an 'oddball tomboy disappointment' in a Jewish family in Ruislip in the 1950s
- a suburban Metroland idyll
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Oink! said the cats.. . With all the MOOing & HISSing & BAAAing & CLUCKing the farmyard is full of noise. But when Hefty Hugh & Lanky Len hatch a plot to steal the fine prize cow its the quietest animal of all who saves the day! Spot the glittery ladybird on every page of this wonderful rhyming tale from the creators of the bestselling The Princess & The Wizard" & " Sharing A Shell"." ...

Oink! said the cats.. . With all the MOOing & HISSing & BAAAing & CLUCKing the farmyard is full of noise. But when Hefty Hugh & Lanky Len hatch a plot to steal the fine prize cow its the quietest animal of all who saves the day! Spot the glittery ladybird on every page of this wonderful rhyming tale from the creators of the bestselling The Princess & The Wizard" & " Sharing A Shell"." ...

Two crafty robbers hatch a cunning plan to steal the farmer's fine prize cow. But the quietest tiniest creature in the farm has a plan of her own & things are going to get noisy; very noisy. With 10 amazing animal sounds this book is a whole farmyard of fun! ...

A must-have sticker activity book for fans of the bestselling blockbusting picture book WHAT THE LADYBIRD HEARD! Packed with colouring-in join-the-dots word puzzles & reusable stickers this great-value pocket money book is perfect for either rainy days or school holiday entertainment. ...

Something is waiting in the dark... The stunning new thriller from the bestselling author of Velocity & Breathless. Billy Lucas ...

What the Water Gave Me contains fifty-two poems in the voice of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Some of the poems are close interpretations of Kahlos work while others are parallels or version homages where Petit draws on her experience as a visual artist to create alternative paintings with words. More than just a verse biography this collection explores how Kahlo transformed trauma into art after the artists near-fatal bus accident. Petit with her vivid style her feel for nature & her understanding of pain & redemption fully inhabits Kahlos world. Each poem is an evocation of how art works on the pain spectrum laced with splashes of ferocious colour. ...