Israel six decades after its founding remains a nation in thrall to an original martial impulse. Born of idealism under David Ben Gurion & his proteges Dayan Sharon & Peres Israel came to prioritize security at all costs & to seize land & water whenever opportunity arose. The security state erected around the nation is the most efficient ruthless intelligent & skilful in the region. & it is very little understood. Patrick Tyler believes that the way to understand it is to understand the men & women who have created sustained & directed it. Less an anatomy of institutions & administrations than a searching biographical study of the outsize personalities who headed its operations & in consequence steered Israels course since its foundation this book is a landmark in the revelation of the inner workings of the Israeli nation-state. ...

In March & April 1942 more explosives were dropped on the tiny Mediterranean island of Malta ' smaller than the Isle of Wight ' than on the whole of Britain during the first year of the Blitz. Malta had become one of the most strategically important places in the world. From there the Allies could attack Axis supply lines to North Africa; without it Rommel would be able to march unchecked into Egypt Suez & the Middle East. For the Allies this would have catastrophic. As Churchill said Malta had to be held 'at all costs.' FORTRESS MALTA follows the story through the eyes of those who were there: young men such as twenty-year-old fighter pilot Raoul Daddo-Langlois anti-aircraft gunner Ken Griffiths American Art Roscoe & submariner Tubby Crawford
- who served on the most successful Allied submarine of the Second World War; cabaret dancer-turned RAF plotter Christina Ratcliffe & her lover the brilliant & irrepressible reconnaissance pilot Adrian Warburton. Their stories & others provide extraordinary first-hand accounts of heroism resilience love & loss highlighting one of the most remarkable stories of World War II.
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The war to end all wars is coming. The Endlords are preparing themselves for invasion. Now should be the time when city men & clansmen come together to fight the dark forces of destruction yet they feud amongst themselves unaware of the danger facing them. Only the Sull are preparing for war against the Endlords. They are an ancient dwindling race & they fear this fight might be their last. Sull legend speaks of The One Who Bears Loss the warrior who will slay the Endlords & they believe this warrior will be one of their own. Ash March is their most valued & sacred warrior & it is Mal Naysayers duty to bring her home to save her people. But thousands of leagues to the north Raif Severance is learning that he alone can kill Endlords swiftly. An outcast & outlaw Raif must betray his clan & forsake his beliefs & raise the Fortress of Grey Ice. Look out for more information on this book & others on the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk ...

The Romans have vanquished the rebel alliance; Calgus Lord of the Northern Tribes is the prisoner of the chieftains he once led. & the Roman leader has an audacious plan to capture Dinpaladyr the barbarians' fortress of spears. Marcus Aquila
- burning for revenge on an enemy that has killed one of his best friends
- rides north with the Petriana cavalry. He believes his disguise as Centurion Corvus of the 2nd Tungrians is still holding. But he is just a few days ahead of two of the emperor's agents sent from Rome to kill him. Pitiless assassins who know his real name & too much about his friends.

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Paddy Ashdowns autobiography was hailed as one of the most readable & exciting political life stories ever written of all
- precisely
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Step into the world of the mega-rich...and the mega-bitches. Three girls. One life-changing fortune... Madison is so over New York. Her mom won't let her have botox & she can't leave the city because her step-father is sick. Snoresville. So when she gets a mysterious invitation to a private party in Capri held by billionaire music mogul Brad Masters she's determined to go. Simonetta wants her mamma off her back. Of course she's not going to give up modelling in Rome to go back to her fusty little village. When she gets her invitation she sees the chance to lose her roots forever. Sapphire just wants to write songs & hang out in the London record shop where she works. When she's invited to Brad's party she doesn't even want to go
- but her mum seems strangely excited about it. Madison Simonetta & Sapphire: three girls from different worlds who are about to find out they have more in common than they think.
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The seventh gripping adventure in this exciting pony-club series. With gymkhanas to win rivals to defeat mysteries to solve & ponies in danger to save
- these books are perfect for all girls who love ponies. Issie & friends are surprised when Natasha Tucker's dad is made pony club president & unveils the Tucker Trophy competition. Issie's facing her biggest training challenge yet
- Fortune a dozy piebald Blackthorn Pony she must work into winning form. That is if she can keep him awake! Meanwhile someone is doing their best to wreck relations between the riders & a nearby golf course... Could Pony Club itself be under threat?

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He thought he could see in a flash the future of the Rougon-Macquart family a pack of wild satiated appetites in the midst of a blaze of gold & blood. Set in the fictitious Provencal town of Plassans The Fortune of the Rougons tells the story of Silvere & Miette two idealistic young supporters of the republican resistance to Louis-Napoleon Bonapartes coup detat in December 1851. They join the woodcutters & peasants of the Var to seize control of Plassans opposed by the Bonapartist loyalists led by Silveres uncle Pierre Rougon. Meanwhile the foundations of the Rougon family & its illegitimate Macquart branch are being laid in the brutal beginnings of the Imperial regime. The Fortune of the Rougons is the first in Zolas famous Rougon-Macquart series of novels. In it we learn how the two branches of the family came about & the origins of the hereditary weaknesses passed down the generations. Murder treachery & greed are the keynotes & just as the Empire was established through violence the fortune of the Rougons is paid for in blood. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford Worlds Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxfords commitment to scholarship providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features including expert introductions by leading authorities helpful notes to clarify the text up-to-date bibliographies for further study & much more. ...

Patrick O' Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. Captain Jack Aubrey RN arrives in the Dutch East Indies to find himself appointed to the command of the fastest & best-armed frigate in the Navy. He & his friend Stephen Maturin take passage for England in a despatch vessel. But the war of 1812 breaks out while they are en route. Bloody actions precipitate them both into new & unexpected scenes where Stephen's past activities as a secret agent return on him with a vengeance. ...

Fortunes Cinderella A waitress with a heart-breaking past Christina Hastings knew better than to believe in fairy tales. Shed found safety even passion in vice-president Scott Fortunes strong arms but happy endings just didnt happen to a girl like her
- especially with a man like Scott. Yet she was finding it harder & harder to resist the gentlemans many charms... Fortunes Valentine Bride Neighbours & long-time friends Katie Wallace & boss Blake Fortune made a great team. Katie dreamed theyd someday be more... Spurred on by last months life-altering tornado Blake had decided it was time for him to marry
- somebody else! The spunky secretary had to find a way to change his mind fast...

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