John Kirk was the only companion of explorer David Livingstone to emerge untainted from the disastrous tragic expedition up the Zambezi river between 1859 & 1863. Three years later Kirk returned to Africa to the notorious island of Zanzibar ancient post of the slave trade between Africa & the Middle East. Half a century after the abolition of slavery in Britain slave trafficking persisted on Africas east coast apparently tolerated & even connived with by parts of the British Empire in the Indian Ocean. Kirk appointed as medical officer to the British Consulate in Zanzibar could do nothing. This extraordinary & controversial book brings Kirks years in Zanzibar to life. The horrors of the overland passage from the interior & the Zanzibar slave market itself are vividly described together with Kirks final bitter conflict with Livingstone who blamed Kirk for his own failings. But it was Kirks success in closing down the slave trade on the island which made him famous across the world. Using private diaries & papers a long forgotten Victorian hero & an extraordinary chapter in British history are revived in detail. ...

Seventeen-year-old Veronica ' Ronnie' Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced & her father moved from New York City to Wilmington North Carolina. Three years later she remains angry & alienated from her parents especially her father.. .until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie's father a former concert pianist & teacher is living a quiet life in the beach town immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church. The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story about love in its myriad forms
- first love the love between parents & children
- that demonstrates as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can the many ways that deeply felt relationships can break our hearts.. .and heal them.

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The whites want war & we will give it to them
- Sitting Bull. This is the archetypal story of the American West. Whether it is
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It is 1881 & General George Pomeroy-Colley commander of the British forces in Natal is planning to stamp out a rebellion. He is convinced the Transvaal Boers can pose no serious threat but he needs reliable information. He calls on former army captain Simon Fonthill. A veteran of the recent Zulu & Sekukuni campaigns Fonthill knows to never underestimate the enemy. He & his servant 352 Jenkins agree to carry out a covert diplomatic assignment. But the greatest test is yet to come. As the two armies converge on the heights of Majuba Hill Fonthill & Jenkins are first into the fray. If they are to break the enemy Colleys men must hold the summit at all costs... ...

Set in the tumultuous last year of Leo Tolstoy's life The Last Station centres on the battle for his soul waged by his wife & his leading disciple. Torn between his professed doctrine of poverty & chastity on the one hand & the reality of his life of hedonism on the other Tolstoy makes a dramatic flight from his home. Too ill to continue beyond the tiny station of Astapovo he believes he is dying alone while outside over one hundred newspapermen are awaiting hourly reports on his condition. Narrated in six different voices The Last Station is a richly inventive novel that dances bewitchingly between fact & fiction. ...

Kids favourite super hero comics turned into easy-to-read chapter books. New stories with original art by DC illustrators these books are colourful attractive & accessible. Green Lantern": A green ring from another world offers test pilot Hal Jordan incredible powers to fight crime. The excitement & adventure in these never-before-told stories is out-of-this world." ...

The war changed everything for Lily Verner. As the Nazis storm Europe Lily becomes an apprentice at her family's silk weaving factory. When they start to weave parachute silk there is no margin for error: one tiny fault could result in certain death for Allied soldiers. The war also brings Stefan to Lily: a German Jewish refugee who works on the looms. As their love grows there are suspicions someone is tampering with the silk. Can their love survive the hardships of war? & will the Verner's silk stand the ultimate test? The Last Telegram is an evocative & engaging novel for fans of The Postmistress & Pam Jenoff. ...

1291 AD Acre. As the city burns under the onslaught of the Sultan's men the Falcon Temple sets sail carrying a small band of knights & a mysterious chest entrusted to them by the Order's Grand Master. But the ship vanishes without a trace... Present day New York. At the Metropolitan Museum four horsemen dressed as Knights Templar storm the gala opening of an exhibition of Vatican treasures & in a brutal & bloody attack steal an arcane medieval decoder. For FBI agent Sean Reilly & archaeologist Tess Chaykin this is just the start of a deadly game of cat & mouse as they race across three continents in search of the ruthless killers
- & a centuries-old mystery...
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Paris: The Knights Templar has been destroyed by Pope Clement having been persuaded by a jealous king that they are corrupt devil worshippers. There is one survivor
- a knight who swears vengeance. Devon: A charred body is discovered in a burned-out building
- general consensus is that it is an accidental death. However Sir Baldwin de Furnshill believes differently. As he & Simon Puttock the bailiff piece together the evidence they hear of a gruesome murder in a nearby village where the victim was clearly burned alive…

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