The first American heiresses took Britain by storm in 1816 two generations before the great late Victorian beauties. The four Caton sisters were descended from the first settlers in Maryland & brought up in Baltimore by their grandfather Charles Carroll one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. These Catholic Southern belleswere expected to 'marry a Plantation'. But they were independent fascinated by politics clever with money romantic in mood. Arriving in Britain Marianne Louisa & Bess were swept into the set of the Duke of Wellington who loved Marianne until his death. In London the three sisters forged their own destinies in the face of intense prejudice against both Americans & Catholics. (Meanwhile Marianne's sister-in-law Betseyhad married Napoleon's younger brother Joseph to the Emperor's fury & found herself abandoned in Paris.) While Emily stayed at home marrying a Scots-Canadian entrepreneur & running the Baltimore households the widowed Marianne shocked the world by marrying the Wellington's wayward elder brother the Duke of Wellesley Lord Lieutenant of Ireland & appearing as a ' Catholic Yankee' among the Protestant Anglo-Irish. Louisa eventually became Duchess of Leeds & a friend of Queen Victoria while the sphere in which Bess shone was the stockmarket as queen of speculators. Based on intimate unpublished letters Sisters of Fortune is a glorious book. Everything is here -childbirth & coronets gossip & politics the call of faith
- & above all the power of wealth. This is a brilliant portrait of love between sisters & of Anglo-American relations through this period. But it is also a most unusual story of money of the power it gave these women particularly over the men in their lives & how it shaped social & even international relations round them.
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Sisters of Sinai" tells an extraordinary tale of nineteenth century exploration; how two Scottish sisters made one of the most important ancient manuscript finds of the age. Hidden in a cupboard beneath the monastic library at St Catherines in the Sinai desert the twins discovered what looked like a palimpsest: one text written over another. It was Agnes who recognized the obscured text for what it was
- one of the earliest copies of the Gospels written in ancient Syriac. Once they had overcome the stubborn reluctance of Cambridge scholars to authenticate the find & had lead an expedition of quarrelsome academics back to Sinai to copy it Agnes & Margaret
- in middle years & neither with any university qualifications
- embarked on a life of demanding scholarship & bold travel. In this enthralling book Janet Soskice takes the reader on an astonishing journey from the Ayreshire of the sisters childhood to the lost treasure trove of the Cairo genizah. We trace the footsteps of the intrepid pair as they voyage to Egypt Sinai & beyond Murrays guide book in hand coping with camels unscrupulous dragomen & unpredictable welcomes. We enter the excitement & mystery of the Gospel origins at a time when Christianity was under attack in Europe. Crucially this is the story of two remarkable women who as widows were undeterred in their spirit of adventure & who overcame insuperable odds to become world class scholars with a place in history."


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The dramatic untold story of the Grey sisters heirs to the Tudor throne. Lady Jane Grey is an iconic figure in English history. Misremembered as the ' Nine Days Queen' she has been mythologized as a child-woman destroyed on the altar of political expediency. Behind the legend however was an opinionated & often rebellious adolescent who died a passionate leader not merely a victim. Growing up in Jane's shadow her sisters Katherine & Mary would have to tread carefully to survive. The dramatic lives of the younger Grey sisters remain little known but under English law they were the heirs
- & rivals
- to the Tudor monarchs Mary & Elizabeth I. The beautiful Katherine ignored Jane's dying request that she remain faithful to her beliefs changing her religion to retain Queen Mary's favour only to then risk life & freedom in a secret marriage that threatened Queen Elizabeth's throne. While Elizabeth's closest adviser fought to save Katherine her younger sister Mary remained at court as the queen's Maid of Honour. Too plain to be considered significant it seemed that Lady Mary Grey at least would escape the burden of her royal blood. But then she too fell in love & incurred the queen's fury. Exploding the many myths of Lady Jane's life & casting fresh light onto Elizabeth's reign acclaimed historian Leanda de Lisle brings the tumultuous world of the Grey sisters to life at a time when a royal marriage could gain you a kingdom or cost you everything.

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Television & sport is the ultimate marriage of convenience. The two circled each other warily for a while
- sport anxious the sofa-bound
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Roger Eagle was a towering figure in British popular music. Uniquely his influence straddled the cultural divide separating Manchester & Liverpool. The task of unifying the musical talents of these two cultural hubs has proved beyond almost everyone. The sole exception is the subject of this book -- a man whose influence can still be felt today. In any scene there needs to be a personality capable of leading a generation towards a new sound & consequently new tastes & fashions. What is unusual about Roger Eagle is his formative role in the development of at least three & arguably four such music scenes that altered the course of music in Britain between the mid-sixties & early nineties. From the Blues explosion of the mid-sixties via the birth of Northern Soul to the pioneering Beatles defying spirit of Merseysides New Wave & the re-birth of Manchester music close friend & former neighbour Bill Sykes charts Rogers continued influence on the music scenes in both cities & talks to some of the main figures who were inspired by him. ...

When Yosser's best friend Kylie comes back from Thrill City she is full of amazing stories about the best ride there
- Sita Snake-Queen
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A seance in a snowbound Dartmoor house predicts a grisly murder! In a remote house in the middle of Dartmoor six shadowy figures huddle around a small table for a seance. Tension rises as the spirits spell out a chilling message: Captain Trevelyan! dead! murder. Is this black magic or simply a macabre joke? The only way to be certain is to locate Captain Trevelyan. Unfortunately his home is six miles away & with snow drifts blocking the roads someone will have to make the journey on foot! ...

A blizzard has hit Engl&. In the tiny village of Sittaford on the fringes of Dartmoor a party of six is gathered in Sittaford House home of Captain Trevelyan. He has rented the house out for the winter & is staying in a nearby village. As evening draws in a seance is proposed. But it reveals more than they had anticipated
- Trevelyan Dead spells out the board. Slowly the table begins to rock again spelling out the word M-U-R-D-E-R. Is it true? & who would kill a man who doesnt have an enemy in the world? John Moffatt & Stephen Tompkinson star in a BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of a classic from the Queen of Crime.
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An almost impossible puzzle with supernatural trappings. In a remote house in the middle of Dartmoor six shadowy figures huddle around a small table for a seance. Tension rises as the spirits spell out a chilling message: ' Captain Trevelyan...dead...murder.' Is this black magic or simply a macabre joke? The only way to be certain is to locate Captain Trevelyan. Unfortunately his home is six miles away & with snow drifts blocking the roads someone will have to make the journey on foot... ...

This is a compelling portrait of the best-known yet most misrepresented Native American. Sitting Bulls name is still the best-known of any American Indian leader but his life & legacy remain shrouded with misinformation & half-truths. His life spanned the entire clash of cultures & ultimate destruction of the Plains Indian way of life. He was a powerful leader & a respected shaman but neither title fully captures the enigma of Sitting Bull. Drawing on research into rare contemporary records & Sitting Bulls own hieroglyphic autobiography this absorbing volume traces his life from a headstrong youth (named Jumping Badger) & first contact with White settlers through his election as spiritual & military leader of the Lakota Sioux his role in the major victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn his subsequent flight to Canada & return as a performer in Buffalo Bills Wild West Show to his arrest & untimely death at the hands of the Indian Affairs police on the eve of the Battle of Wounded Knee. The first new biography of Sitting Bull (1831-1890) in over fifteen years Yennes work has set a benchmark for all future histories. ...