Stephen Hawking is arguably the most famous physicist since Albert Einstein. His decades-long struggle with ALS (Lou Gehrigs disease) combined with his singular brilliance as a cosmologist has fascinated both the public & his colleagues in science. In this engagingly written biography Kristine Larsen a physicist & astronomer herself presents a candid & insightful portrait of Hawkings personal & professional life. Avoiding the hero-worship sometimes found in popular works on Hawking Larsen emphasises that Hawking is first & foremost a scientist whose work has made significant contributions to our understanding of the nature & origins of the universe. Writing in non-technical language for the lay reader Larsen clearly explains Hawkings complex scientific accomplishments while telling the story of his challenging life. The topics include Hawkings early lack of focus as a college student; the impact of ALS on his career & personal life; his groundbreaking work on radiating black holes; his later cutting-edge theories of black holes cosmology & the anthropic principle; the amazing publishing success of A Brief History of Time"; & his status as a pop icon & spokesperson for the interplay of science & society. Larsen situates Hawkings sometimes-controversial work within the broader context of scientific peer review & public debate & discusses his personal life with compassion respect & honesty." ...

For the first time in one volume each with a fascinating introduction come the stories of Rita Hayworth & Shawshank Redemption Hearts in Atlantis (Low Men in Yellow Coats) 1408 The Mangler & Children of the Corn. These five classic tales were turned into successful international films starring some of the world's most famous actors from Morgan Freeman & Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption through Anthony Hopkins in Hearts in Atlantis to John Cusack in 1408. Now you can read & re-read & own the originals. ...

This second collection of plays by Simon Stephens winner of the 2005 Olivier Award for Best New Play for On the Shore of the Wide World perfectly showcases the development of one of the most exciting & impressive theatre talents of recent years. The range of plays in this volume displays a tough sensibility & a courage to confront the more unsettling challenges of our times. One Minute first produced in 2003 & revived in London in 2008 has an uncomfortable resonance as it follows five characters variously affected by the disappearance of Daisy an 11-year-old girl from Seven Dials Covent Garden. Country Music spotlights four fateful moments in the life of Jamie Carris during & after the prison sentences he has served for glassing one man & for killing another. Motortown written in response to the War on Terror is a blistering account of a young soldiers return home from Basra to an England he no longer recognises or connects with. Pornography captures Britain as it crashes from the euphoria & promise of the 2012 Olympics announcement into the devastation of the London bombings of 7/7. The final play Sea Wall is a one-act monologue about grief following the drowning of a young child. ...

Stepney is an area with many well-known associations & images from the poverty stricken slum area of late nineteenth century to the iconic borough it became for architecture during the Festival of Britain. Stepney also had to soak up heavy bomb damage during the Blitz & send her children away to safety for those left behind they faced their own war. Among Stepney's rich history there was the classical confrontation between Mosley's fascists & the socialist left at the ' Battle of Cable Street' & the earlier dramatic ' Siege of Sidney Street' when Liberal Home Secretary Winston Churchill rooted out an anarchist cell. There was the rise & fall of the great local docks the immigration of large numbers of Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe & elsewhere. The growth of the Labour Party & the surprising ascendancy of the Communist Party were also witnessed & much more besides. Here is Stepney as it was then compared to now. ...

The unhappiness that I need & long for.. .is of the kind that will let me suffer with eagerness & die with lust. That is the unhappiness or happiness that I am waiting for. Alienated from society Harry Haller is the Steppenwolf wild strange & shy. His despair & desire for death draw him into an enchanted Faust-like underworld. Through a series of shadowy encounters romantic freakish & savage by turn Haller begins to rediscover the lost dreams of his youth. Adopted by the Sixties counterculture Steppenwolf" captured the mood of a disaffected generation that was beginning to question everything." ...

This is the very first biography of Peter Tosh rude boy founder member of The Wailers & a compelling recording artist in his own right. Tosh was an abrasive man who would eventually fall victim to his own uncompromising personality ultra-radical politics & a fearsome 'gangsta' reputation. One of reggae's most extraordinary stories the life of Peter Tosh could have only one end. He was murdered in a gunfight at his own home in 1987. One year later his album No Nuclear War" won the first ever Grammy award for best reggae album. Here are the women the drugs & the story behind Legalise It Tosh's famous early plea for the decriminalisation of marijuana. His personal musical odyssey is explored in detail as he strove to emerge from the shadow of Bob Marley eventually signing a contract with Rolling Stones Records. Tosh's darker side is also revealed & the book

Includes:: an account of a notorious standoff with Keith Richards involving a machete & a loaded rifle!"

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Kitty OBriens husband is a drunken thug & in order to feed her starving children she sells her body on the Liverpool docks. Her daughter Lizzie is pregnant by her father & still weak after her abortion she kills him. Her mother takes the blame but Lizzie cannot blot out the painful memories of her childhood. Eventually with a failed marriage behind her she finds fame fortune & friendship in Hollywood
- but happiness still escapes her. & so she returns to her roots & it is her final marriage & its disastrous consequences that at last force her to face her past & find the happiness & peace of mind that have always eluded her.
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The Sterling Bonds & Fixed Income Handbook aims to fill the knowledge gap for sterling-base investors & their advisors. Whilst investors in the equity markets can rely on numerous resources to select stocks & build portfolios there is little information available for those who wish to buy bonds. This book takes the reader through the key features of gilts & sterling corporate bonds & offers a practical guide to putting money to work in this important & profitable asset class. ...

Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi
- The Sage of Arunachala
- was drawn by the power of the Arunachala Mountain in Tiruvannamalai

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The untold true story of James Edmiston who suffered an extraordinary miscarriage of justice in 1983 when senior officials blocked vital witnesses coming to his trial which led to a personal tragedy; a broken marriage & the loss of a business. The book explains how he was wrongly charged with alleged illegal exports to Iraq & then took on the establishment against seemingly impossible odds for 25 years to establish his innocence & to win record compensation from the British government in a truly remarkable case. Divorced & bankrupted he is now rebuilding a shattered life nearly 30 years later. In 1993 the Scott Inquiry unearthed serious misconduct by senior officials who colluded to block vital defence witnesses from coming to trial
- behaviour described by Lord Justice Scott as disgraceful" & "reprehensible". Nevertheless the officials concerned have escaped prosecution & some were even promoted. But by 1993 it was too late for Edmiston. He had suffered the enforced sale of his successful business the Sterling Armament Company the loss of 150 jobs & his town house on the Phillimore Estate Kensington; financial ruin; & divorce in 1990. He believes that there may have been an ulterior motive for the prosecution & he was a pawn in a high-stakes political game. Determined that the government should acknowledge his innocence & to compensate him & apologise the case was thought to be impossible. After a successful judicial review against the Home Secretary the government finally awarded him record compensation in 2008 but without an apology. The Arms to Iraq affair has come to stand for many things: lies by government ministers to protect the state; the sacrifice of innocent men facing prison who had been working for MI6; misuse of Public Interest Immunity Certificates (so-called "gagging orders") to hide government policy on Iraq; diplomatic hypocrisy; & the downfall of the Conservative government in 1997. How did this happen in Britain & could it ever happen again? This extraordinary story is a fascinating insight into government & the abuse of power & is based on many original sources including the Scott Report & Judgment of the Court of Appeal (criminal). The co-author Lawrence Kormornick is a Solicitor-Advocate (civil) who has represented Edmiston & several other victims of the Arms-to-Iraq prosecution scandal against the government & has a unique insight into these cases. Packed with ironies twists of fate & many unanswered questions it is a compelling read for anyone interested in political intrigue & abuse of power miscarriage of justice & learning about how an individual took on the state & won."
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