I call this book Tombstone". It is a tombstone for my foster father who died of hunger in 1959 for the 36 million Chinese who also died of hunger for the system that caused their death & perhaps for myself for writing this book. The most powerful & important Chinese work of recent years Yang Jishengs " Tombstone" is a passionate moving & angry account of one of the 20th centurys most nightmarish events: the killing of an estimated 36 million Chinese in 1958-1961 by starvation or physical abuse. More people died in Maos Great Famine than in the entire First World War & yet their story remains substantially untold. Now at last they can be heard. Based on survivors testimonies this book was greeted with huge acclaim when published in Hong Kong as an essential work of reckoning. " The man who exposed Maos secret famine". (" Financial Times")." ...

The Gunfight at the OK Corral on 26 October 1881 is one of the most enduring stories of the Old West. It led to a series of violent incidents that culminated in the Vendetta Ride in which Wyatt Earp Doc Holliday & several other gunslingers went after their rivals the Cowboys. Like most tales of the Wild West the facts are buried under layers of myth & the line between good guys & bad guys is blurry. Wyatt Earp leader of the so-called good guys was charged with stealing horses in the Indian Territory in 1870 & jumped bail. Becoming a buffalo hunter & gambler he got into several scrapes & earned a reputation as a gunfighter. Several times he helped lawmen arrest outlaws but usually his assistance came more because of a personal grudge against the criminal than any real respect for law & order. He even got fired from a police job in Wichita for beating up a political rival. ...

The Salamanders Space Marines have long been guided by the wisdom of their lost primarch laid down in the mysterious Tome of Fire. As a new prophecy unfolds the Salamanders find themselves tested to the point of destruction
- & one of their number will either save them or damn them. This collection of short stories & novellas expands the Tome of Fire trilogy & reveals untold tales of the Salamanders & their foes.
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Brutally kidnapped & separated in childhood Tommo & Hawk are reunited at the age of fifteen in Hobart. Together they escape their troubled pasts & set off on a journey into manhood. From whale hunting in the Pacific to the Maori wars of New Zealand from the Rocks in Sydney to the miners' riots at the goldfields Tommo & Hawk must learn each other's strengths & weaknesses in order to survive. Especially in their last worst confrontation between good & evil. Brilliantly evoking a time of struggle & triumph in the young colonies Bryce Courtenay has created an unforgettable tale of the enduring bond between two brothers. ...

The first history of World War I to place centre-stage the British soldier who fought in the trenches this superb & important ...

For the first time Tommy Coopers biographer writer & producer John Fisher collects between two covers the cream of the comedians personal archives with photographs memorabilia & documents that have never been seen before. Had Cooper kept a scrapbook this is what he would have produced. Souvenirs from his many stage & television triumphs jostle side by side with candid shots of him at play with his family many revealing a side to the man the public never really saw. Here is the authentic side of Tommy in the forces the early show business struggle the backstage world of his magic the newspaper coverage of the most recognisable man in Britain the crazy japes at home with wife Gwen & so much more. This book with its brilliant colour images & hilarious text puts the successive stages of Tommys life in full context. & if you dont want to follow his life in biographical detail just sit back & relax by laughing at the many jokes that crowd the pages. They tell their own story! ...

Youve heard of the lone ranger? Im his brother hydrangea! The other night I dreamt I was eating a ten-pound marshmallow. When I woke up the pillow had gone! My wife just phoned me. She said Ive got water in the carburettor. I said Wheres the car? She said In the river. I said to the doctor Doctor Im losing all sense of direction. What should I do? He said Get lost. Ive got a dog you know. I have. Hes a one-man dog. He only bites me. Tommy Cooper died on stage at Her Majestys Theatre London twenty-five years ago in April 1984 & is still revered today as probably the greatest comedian of the second half of the 20th century. More than just a comedian Tommy Cooper was a born entertainer. Working in a golden age of British comedy Cooper stood
- literally
- head & shoulders above the crowd & had a magical talent for humour that defied description. With a love of laughter stemming from a magic performance gone wrong when he was in his teens Cooper enlisted in the army in 1939 & began to perfect his comic timing on his army colleagues in the Egyptian desert. The man with the fez was born.

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For the first time the secret joke archives of the legendary comedian are opened up for all to enjoy. Relive the laughter with jokes on every subject from 'A for Absent-minded' to 'Z for Zoo'. Part of an ongoing series of books celebrating the Cooper legacy Tommy Cooper's Secret Joke Files" follows hot on the heels of John Fisher's bestselling " The Tommy Cooper Joke Book" & " Tommy Cooper's Mirth Magic & Mischief". It promises to be the funniest yet. Alphabet: My little boy learnt the alphabet. I said ' What comes after A?' He said ' All the rest of them!' Doctors: I said ' Doctor I keep getting these dizzy spells'. He said ' Vertigo?' I said ' No I only live up the road!' Facts of Life: When my wife was pregnant we went to see a baby doctor but he didn't know anything. He was only eight months old! Horses: I used to have a riding school but business kept falling off! Waiters: I said to the waiter ' There's no chicken in this chicken soup'. He said ' And there's no horse in the horseradish either'. Wives: ' The other night I had an argument with my wife in the launderette.. .but we went home & ironed things out'." ...

The first ever intimate portrait of Britain's best-loved but little known comedy entertainer. Fully authorised & written by Cooper's friend & colleague John Fisher. More than just a comedian Tommy Cooper was a born entertainer. Working in a golden age of British comedy Cooper stood
- literally
- head & shoulders above the crowd & had a magical talent for humour that defied description. But there was a man behind the laughter that few people saw. John Fisher was Cooper's friend & colleague & witnessed first-hand the moments of self-doubt & inadequacy that contrasted with the genial exterior. Until his tragic death on live television in 1984 Tommy Cooper lived in constant fear of the day he would be found out by his audience. He could never accept the accolades that came so thick & fast from every direction & died to the sounds of laughter that he never really believed. Supplementing his own intimate knowledge with material accessed for the first time from the archives of Cooper's agent & manager Miff Ferrie & with the full co-operation of the Cooper family John Fisher's warm honest & insightful writing skilfully brings alive the man behind the comedic mask in this definitive biography of a comedy legend.

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For soldiers in the Great War going over the top was a comparatively rare event; much more frequently they were bored & lonely & missing their families at home. Needing an outlet for their affection many found it in the animal kingdom. Tommys Ark" looks at the war through the eyes of the soldiers who were there & examines their relationship with a strange & unexpected range of animal life from horses dogs & cats to monkeys & birds
- even in one case a golden eagle. Animals became mascots
- some Welsh battalions had goats as mascots some of the Scots had donkeys. & then there were the animals & insects that excited curiosity amongst men drawn into the army from the industrial heartlands of Britain men who had little knowledge of let alone daily contact with wildlife. Civilians turned soldiers observed the natural world around them from the smallest woodlouse to voles mice & larger animals such as deer & rabbit. Richard van Emden explores his subject far more radically than previous attempts revealing how for example a lemur was taken on combat missions in the air a lion was allowed to pad down the front line trenches & how a monkey lost its leg during the fighting at Delville Wood on the Somme. It is illustrated with more than sixty previously unseen or rarely published photographs drawn mainly from the authors own extraordinary collection."

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