On a bitter winter's day an unnamed girl lies dangerously ill in hospital. When two coarse rough-speaking individuals come to claim her she can remember nothing of the events that brought her to her present state not even her name. According to the men she is their young sister Lucy. As her health improves & her memory gradually returns she realises she's been kidnapped. But she has no means of escaping the hideous confines of the filthy basement room in which they have imprisoned her in. They are hoping to claim her fortune as a ransom
- for she is really Lucetta Froy the daughter of a prosperous importer. Tragically her parents were drowned on the return voyage from Bali when their ship went down but Lucetta survived as did the two villains. She is unable to prove her identity especially when her uncle refuses to recognise her & claims her father's business for himself. But despite being virtually destitute & her spirit almost broken Lucetta is determined to reclaim what is rightfully hers...
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Based on extensive research in primary sources Ragged London traces the story of the London poor. It shows how they lived worked loved & died. Every aspect of their life is explored from the homes in which they lived to the food they ate the entertainment they enjoyed & the occupations in which they engaged. Crime & punishment the harsh conditions they endured their bravery defiance humour & sense of community are all examined. Many enlightened people were so horrified by the abject poverty overcrowded & unsanitary accommodation that were the homes of Londons rookeries that they began both to campaign for change & to assist them directly through private charity. Ultimately the efforts of these philanthropists & reformers led to the beginning of the welfare state. Ragged London shows the triumph of the human spirit over extreme conditions. In spite of their poverty the insalubrious nature of their dwellings the casual & dangerous nature of their employment & the ever-present fear of the workhouse there was a rebelliousness of spirit a dignity & sense of humour that helped them face a life which otherwise might have seemed unendurable. ...

Continuing the powerful epic that started with THE STORMCALLER; the Lord Isak is dead his armies & entire tribe in disarray. It falls to King Emin to continue the war alone & the Menin are only too happy to meet his challenge. In Byora Ruhen is developing his Saviour persona. The Harlequins start preaching in his name & many of the pilgrims who flock to him are recruited to be Children disciples who spread Ruhens message. All over the Land people are starting to see Ruhen as the answer to their troubles. A showdown is coming: battle lines are finally drawn & the atrocities quickly mount. The spectre of the Great War looms but in this age the Gods cannot & will not come to King Emins aid. With the peoples of the Land turning against Emin & his few remaining allies their only chance for survival lies in the hands of a dead man. ...

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is a classic of socialist literature exploring the plight of a group of painters & decorators who are oppressed by their exploitative employers. Since its first publication Robert Tressells passionate & enlightened novel has had a perspective-changing revelatory impact on generations of readers. The eye-opening spectacle of the workers refusing to acknowledge that they are being ground down at the hands of their masters is brilliantly conceived. Notable for its humour humanity & frankness The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is a hugely meaningful & important novel. ...

' The present system means joyless drudgery semi-starvation rags & premature death; & they vote for it & uphold it. Let them have what they vote for! Let them drudge & let them starve!' There is no other novel quite like The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. George Orwell called it 'a wonderful book'; its readers have become a living part of its remarkable history. Tressell's novel is about survival on the underside of the Edwardian Twilight about exploitative employment when the only safety nets are charity workhouse & grave. Following the fortunes of a group of painters & decorators & their families & the attempts to rouse their political will by the Socialist visionary Frank Owen the book is both a highly entertaining story & a passionate appeal for a fairer way of life. It asks questions that are still being asked today: why do your wages bear no relation to the value of your work? Why do fat cats get richer when you don't? Tressell's answers are ' The Great Money Trick' & the 'philanthropy' of an unenlightened workforce who give away their rights & aspirations to a decent life so freely. Intellectually enlightening deeply moving & gloriously funny (complete with exploding clergyman) The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is a book that changes lives. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's 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. ...

DARREN SHAN describes this book as A fast-paced fury of a novel packed with genuine scares & thrills. It made me shiver more than once & I devoured it at lightning speed. I'll definitely be checking back to see how this creepy deliciously nightmarish series develops!" He's not wrong... Billy is the hardest kid in school & a horrible bully. So Kyle could almost find it funny that Billy's childhood invisible friend was a little dolly named Raggy Maggie. Almost but not quite. Because now Raggy Maggie is back & she wants Kyle to play a game. The game is very simple. Find where she's hidden Billy
- or Billy dies..."
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Kirk Douglass skilful & passionate autobiography charts the rise of the son of an illiterate Russian-Jewish ragman who became a Hollywood legend. With unflinching humour & frankness he reveals the inside story of more than forty years of stardom alongside Sinatra Wayne & Olivier
- & his relationships with movie goddesses like Crawford Hayworth & Dietrich. Rich in unforgettable anecdotes that capture the true spirit of the golden years of Hollywood & Broadway this is an autobiography that reads like a novel narrated by the unmistakable voice of a true superstar.
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Six raids that changed the course of history. Operation Judgement: one of the most spectacular efforts of World War Two where obsolete British biplanes attacked the Italian fleet in Taranto. Operation Archery: the first true combined operation carried out by all three British forces. This successful raid persuaded Hitler that the Allies were planning a full scale invasion. Operation Biting: a cross-Channel raid into France that was the first major attack by the British Airborne Division & its first battle honour. Operation Gunnerside: a dramatic demolition assault on Hitlers atomic bomb plant in Norway. Operation Chariot: the greatest raid of all: the British amphibious attack on the Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German-occupied France. Operation Deadstick: the story of the first Allies into the fray on D-Day tasked with seizing & holding two bridges to prevent an armoured German counter-attack. ...

To the people of Great Britain World War II was the deadliest & bloodiest war in history. Never before or since have so many people made such a personal sacrifice in the line of duty. Raiders tells the extraordinary true stories of six of the most daring special operations ever undertaken in warfare & the heroism of the people behind them. Operation Chariot was the most ambitious amphibious raid ever mounted by the British Forces. Attacking the heavily fortified dry dock at St Nazaire in German occupied France an elite group of commandos battered their way through a maelstrom of bullets & incendiaries. Their boat is punctured by over a hundred shell holes the dead & wounded lie all around them on the decks but still their guns are blazing & still they press on... Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all others". (Winston Churchill)." ...

The trench raid came to typify the aggressive & close-combat nature of warfare on the Western Front. Inevitably successful raiding had a significant psychological effect on the enemy & was a powerful way of exerting local domination in what was otherwise a static military situation. Equally raiding had an effect on the morale of friendly troops but as the author of this in-depth study reveals not always a positive one. Successful raids buoyed spirits but unsuccessful ones could be detrimental because of the casualties sustained for no territorial gain & frequently provoked shelling from enemy artillery or mortars or tit-for-tat retaliation. Raids came to be the epitome of all-arms operations combining individual weapons skills with tactical sense & requiring cooperation with artillery & mortar batteries for success. Yet a raiding party was an ad hoc combat team put together & trained for one specific operation. In the early days of raiding the raiders were always volunteers but the steady toll of experienced soldiers led to participants being detailed for the task like any other. Raiding on the Western Front can claim to be the first book to look at how raids were carried out the successes the failures the consequences of raiding their effect on morale & their contribution to military operations on the Western Front. It contains exciting accounts of actions & many examples of great bravery leadership & sacrifice. As such it is not only an excellent read but will be an important addition to the library of any Great War enthusiast. ...