In 2010 with the full support of the MOD John Jeffcock poet & a former soldier in the Coldstream Guards invited contributions for a book of modern war poems. He was overwhelmed by the response: contributions came from serving soldiers veterans & their families
- wives sisters & daughters (one just 11 years old). The writers have one thing in common: these are people whose lives have been changed by war & the poems speak to readers with direct emotional appeal. While over half of the contributions relate to Afghanistan there are also poems inspired by the Second World War The Falklands & Northern Irel&. This is also the first time that poems have been gathered from all ranks & all organizations
- from the Parachute Regiment to the Special Air Service from the Gordon Highlanders to the Royal Marines. As the poetry of Brooke Owen & Sassoon spoke to those who endured the First World War here are poems that speak of war in our time
- the theatres of war might change but the emotional resonance remains the same.


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Heroes is the story of an extraordinary generation of young men mostly British who came of age in the Second World War. These young men
- & women
- found themselves facing life-threatening danger & the kind of responsibility few would be prepared to shoulder today. Whether fighting in the jungles of Burma or on the D-Day beaches as submariners pilots spies or prisoners of war young soldiers in WWII displayed astonishing courage & resilience united by honour & bound by the fellowship of their comrades. Those who made it home are now a passing generation & for many this is the last chance for them to tell their stories
- men like football legend Tom Finney who saw action in southern Italy; or James Bond set-designer Ken Adam a German Jew who flew as a fighter pilot for the RAF; or identical twins Tom & Dee Bowles who landed together on Easy Red beach on D-Day. Many of these young men never returned home & those who did faced insurmountable challenges assimiliating back into civilian life. Heroes is a moving & uplifting tribute to an remarkable generation.


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In 101 World Heroes bestselling historian Simon Sebag Montefiore presents his personal selection of the 100 most heroic figures from the pages of world history. Emperors & queens soldiers & statesmen religious leaders & philosophers rub shoulders with composers & poets scientists & explorers artists & storytellers from three millennia. All are united not just by what they did in their own lifetimes but also by the enduring legacy they have bequeathed to the sum of human experience & achievement. The book is illustrated throughout with maps diagrams paintings & photographs & an appendix celebrates a further 100 individual deeds of heroism with a special claim to immortality. The heroes include: Ramses the Great Leonardo da Vinci Albert Einstein King Solomon Elizabeth I of England Winston Churchill The Buddha Tokugawa Ieyasu M. K. Gandhi Aristotle William Shakespeare F.D. Roosevelt Alexander the Great Thomas Jefferson David Ben Gurion Hannibal Voltaire George Orwell Jesus Napoleon Bonaparte Elvis Presley Marcus Aurelius Horatio Nelson J. F. Kennedy Mohammed Duke of Wellington John Paul II Charlemagne Abraham Lincoln Nelson Mandela Leo Tolstoy Charles Darwin ...

We all need heroes. We respect & value the people who have set an example for our lives. The writer of Hebrews set up an entire ...

The inspiring adventures & deeds of three great heroes spring to vivid life. One of the Victorian ages most brilliant storytellers recounts Perseus quest to slay the Medusa; Jason & the Argonauts search for the Golden Fleece; & Theseus encounter with the deadly Minotaur. 60 illustrations. ...

In March 2010 twenty-seven Britons who took matters into their own hands to protect Jews from the Nazis during one of the darkest times in human history were formally recognised as Heroes of the Holocaust by the British Government. The silver medal inscribed with the words In the Service of Humanity was created to acknowledge those whose selfless actions preserved life in the face of persecution. Gordon Brown described the medals recipients who risked their lives to save those of Jewish friends or complete strangers as true British heroes & a source of national pride for all of us. They were shining beacons of hope in the midst of terrible evil because they were prepared to take a stand against prejudice hatred & intolerance. Some like Frank Foley a British spy whose cover was working at the British embassy in Berlin took huge risks issuing forged visas to enable around 10 000 Jews to escape Germany before the outbreak of war. Others like the ten British POWs who hid & cared for Hannah Sarah Rigler as she escaped from a death march showed great humanity in the face of horrendous cruelty & suffering. All the recipients of the award were ordinary people acting on no ones authority but their own who found they could not stand idly by in the face of this great evil. Heroes of the Holocaust" collects for the first time the remarkable stories of the recipients of the medal. Written by acclaimed Holocaust historian Lyn Smith it is a moving testament to the bravery of those whose inspiring actions stand out in stark relief at a time of such horror." ...

Collected here for the first time are the remarkable & moving stories of the 27 British recipients of the ' Hero of the Holocaust' award. During one of the darkest times in human history they refused to stand by & do nothing; risking their lives to save Jewish friends or complete strangers. & yet many of their stories have been forgotten. Frank Foley a British spy whose cover was working at the British embassy in Berlin took huge risks issuing forged visas to enable around 10 000 Jews to escape Germany before the outbreak of war. Jane Haining refused to come back to Scotland & leave the Jewish orphans in her care in Hungary. When they were sent to Auschwitz she was transported with them. Louise & Ida Cook were sisters from suburban London. They used their love of opera as a cover to take daring trips to help Jews escape Nazi Germany & Austria right up until the outbreak of war. Ten British POWs hid & cared for young Hannah Sarah Rigler when she escaped from a death march having been forced to leave her mother behind. All those whose stories are collected here were ordinary people acting on no one's authority but their own who found they could not stand idly by in the face of such great evil. Written by acclaimed Holocaust historian Lyn Smith Heroes of the Holocaust" is a moving testament to the bravery of those whose inspiring actions stand out in stark relief at a time of such horror." ...

The riveting true stories of the men of Britain's Special Forces revealing what it's really like being a member of one of the world's most elite military regiments. The SAS has played a vital role in innumerable military operations since World War II. Along the way the daring & bravery of it's men has produced incredible stories of courage & devotion to duty. Heroes of the SAS" is packed with thrilling accounts of the events & men involved in some of the most dramatic incidents in the division's history from covert operations to major campaigns. It shares numerous gripping tales of outstanding bravery & reveals just what it takes to make it as an SAS soldier." ...

Since the dawn of aerial combat in the First World War the heroism of the men who put their lives at risk in the air has known no bounds. There were no more heroic airmen than the fighter pilots & bomber crews of the Second World War
- men who sacrificed their own lives in order to save their crew or who although in extreme pain managed to get their aircraft home rather than risk becoming Po Ws. In telling the stories of more than eighty such men Heroes of the Skies paints a picture of aerial combat from the First World War right through to Afghanistan & allows us to celebrate the extraordinary feats of our flying heroes.
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Listen then & Ill tell you again of the Battle of the Rock. But none of your usual wriggling or Ill stop before Ive begun.. . Halli loves the old stories from when the valley was a wild & dangerous place
- when the twelve legendary heroes stood together to defeat the ancient enemy the bloodthirsty Trows. Halli longs for adventure but these days the most dangerous thing in the valley is boredom. He tries to liven things up by playing practical jokes. But when one of his jokes goes too far he reawakens an old blood feud & finds himself on a heros quest after all. Along the way he meets a ruthless thief a murderous rival & a girl who may just be as fearless as he is.. . Jonathan Stroud has created an epic saga with a funny unique spin & an unforgettable anti-hero.
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