Aeschylus

Aesop lived in the early sixth century BC on the island of Samos, which lies off the coast of modern Turkey. He originally came from Thrace which was a separate country in those days, though it now forms part of Greece and Bulgaria. Very little is known about his life except that he worked as a slave on Samos for a master called Iadmon, and that he became a very famous storyteller. He was so famous that almost any fable which could have been told by him became attributed to him.

Aesop

Afsaneh Knight

Afsaneh Moqadam

Afua Hirsch is a writer, filmmaker, and journalist. She is the author of Brit(ish), the Sunday Times bestseller that explores Britishness, identity and belonging, for which she was awarded the Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Prize for Non-Fiction. She co-presented Enslaved, a 6-part series about the transatlantic slave trade with Samuel L Jackson. She is the presenter of the Audible podcast series We Need To Talk About the British Empire, and Africa Rising, an ongoing flagship series about art and culture for the BBC, through her production company Born in Me Productions. She is a longtime columnist for the Guardian and is a professor of journalism at the University of Southern California.

Afua Hirsch

AGAPI STASSINOPOULOS is an author, blogger and international speaker who inspires audiences around the world. She has spoken at many corporations and conferences, such as Nike Women, Starbucks,Time Inc., Virgin, Johnson &amp; Johnson and the American Heart Foundation. She was born in Athens and trained in London at RADA before gaining a Master’s in psychology at the University of Santa Monica. She has collaborated with her sister, Arianna Huffington, to develop talks and seminars, and has worked with the Oprah Winfrey network. She is currently hosting a new podcast series in collaboration with The Huffington Post, entitled ‘Sundays with Agapi’, which includes guided meditations and interviews with prominent guests. She lives in Los Angeles.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

Agatha Christie

Aggie MacKenzie

Aghnia Mardiyah is a London-based Illustrator and Character Designer with a passion for children's books and animation. She is drawn to fun, bright and vibrant colours. When she isn't disappearing under piles of work, she loves to travel! Exploring foreign places, exciting new sights and sensations is what inspires her the most!

Aghnia Mardiyah

Agnes Callard is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago. Her primary areas of specialization are ancient philosophy and ethics. She has written for The New York Times, New Yorker, Atlantic, Harper’s, Boston Review, and penned a monthly column for the Point. From 2019 to 2020, she held a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for the research that contributes to this book.

Agnes Callard

Agnes Jekyll

Agnes Bertha Marshall (24 August 1855-29 July 1905) was an English culinary entrepreneur who became a leading cookery writer, dubbed the 'Queen of Ices'. Her 1888 cookery book included a recipe for 'cornets with cream', possibly the earliest publication of the edible ice cream cone. Marshall was born in Walthamstow. She wrote four books: Ices Plain and Fancy: The Book of Ices (1885), Mrs A B Marshall's Book of Cookery (1888), Mrs A B Marshall's Larger Cookery Book of Extra Recipes (1891) and Fancy Ices (1894).

Agnes Marshall

Agnes Prus

Agri Ismaïl is a Kurdish author based in Sweden who has worked as a corporate lawyer in London, Dubai, and Iraqi Kurdistan. His work has been published in The White Review, The Rumpus, Litro, 3:AM Magazine, and Asymptote amongst other places. His piece 'Haunted Home' won the 2016 Stack award for best non-fiction for The Outpost, runner-up in the Lifted Brow &amp; RMIT non/fictionLab Prize for Experimental Non-Fiction, and he was longlisted for the 2017/2018 Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize. Hyper is his first novel.

Agri Ismaïl

Aharon Appelfeld authored more than 45 acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction and received many international awards including the MLA Commonwealth Award, the Independent Foreign Fiction prize, the prix Médicis étranger, the Israel prize, and the Nelly Sachs prize. Born in Czernowitz, Bukovina (now part of Ukraine) in 1932, he survived the Holocaust and passed away in Israel in 2018.

Aharon Appelfeld

Ahmadou Kourouma

Ahmed Alnaouq is a Palestinian journalist and human rights activist based in London. He is the co-founder and director of We Are Not Numbers and a journalist with Palestine Deep Dive. Ahmed holds a degree in English Literature from Al-Azhar university in Gaza, and an MA in International Journalism from Leeds University, where he was a Chevening Scholar. 
 
Pam Bailey is a social-justice activist and journalist based in Washington DC. She lived and worked in the Gaza Strip following the 2008/9 Israeli assault, and co-founded We Are Not Numbers. Today, in addition to her ongoing dedication to the Palestinian cause, she dedicates herself to two nonprofits that advocate for people detained in American prisons -- including one she co-founded in 2020, called More Than Our Crimes.

Ahmed Alnaouq

Ahmed Errachidi

Ahmed Rashid

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar

Ahron Bregman is the author of four books about Israel and the Arabs: The Fifty Years War (with Jihan el Tahri), Israel's Wars, A History of Israel and Elusive Peace. He teaches at the Department of War Studies, King's College London.

Ahron Bregman

Ai Qing is regarded as one of the finest modern Chinese poets, whose free verse was influential in the development of new poetry in China.

Ai Qing

Ai Weiwei

Aidan Chambers was born in County Durham in 1934. After national service in the Royal Navy he became a teacher and then, for seven years, a monk. His young adult novels have been widely acclaimed, with POSTCARDS FROM NO-MAN'S LAND winning the prestigious Carnegie Medal and the US Michael L Printz Award. With his wife Nancy he ran Signal magazine and he has served as the president of the School Library Association. His devoted services to children's literature were recognised by his receipt of the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2002.

Aidan Chambers

Aidan Higgins was born in 1927. Langrishe Go Down, his first novel, won the James Tait Black memorial Prize and the Irish Academy of Letters Award, and was later filmed for television with a screenplay by Harold Pinter. His second novel, Balcony of Europe, was shortlisted for the 1972 Booker Prize. The novel Lions of the Grunewald appeared in 1993 and a collection of shorter fiction, Flotsam and jetsam, in 1996. Donkey's Years and Dog Days were the first two volumes of the Higgins Bestiary which concludes with this volume.

Aidan Higgins

Aidan Mathews

Aidan Potts

Aidan Smith

Aidan Storey

Aidan Trimble is the Chief Instructor to the Federation of Shotokan Karate and a former British, European and World Karate Champion, winning the world title in Tokyo - the home of Karate. Aidan has trained with some of the world's leading teachers of 'traditional' and 'sport' karate and is now an award-winning instructor and teacher who is in demand throughout the world. He can be contacted via www.fsk-karate.com.

Aidan Trimble

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Trevor Royle

The Gordons recruited from the north-east of Scotland and the regiment's character was moulded by men from the farming counties of Aberdeenshire, Moray and Nairn. It was raised in 1794 by an aristocratic landowner, the Duke of Gordon, whose wife played a major role in attracting recruits by riding through her husband's estates and offering a guinea and a kiss to each man who enlisted. Originally raised as the 100th Highlanders, it was later renumbered the 92nd Highlanders and in 1881 was amalgamated with the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment to form The Gordon Highlanders. 
 
In the nineteenth century the two regiments were in constant service throughout the empire and in 1879 the 92nd Highlanders were involved in Lord Roberts' historic march from Kabul to Kandahar during the fighting in Afghanistan. One of the first Victoria Crosses was awarded to a Gordon Highlander, Private Beach, who was decorated for his supreme gallantry while serving in the Crimea in 1854. Another Victoria Cross winner was Major George White (Afghanistan, 1879), who went on to become a field marshal. During the fighting on the north-west frontier of India in 1897, Piper George Findlater was awarded the Victoria Cross for continuing to play his pipes despite being wounded and under heavy enemy fire. 
 
In 1994, The Gordon Highlanders amalgamated with Queen's Own Highlanders to form The Highlanders and in 2006 became the 4th Battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland. This is a celebratory account of the regiment's long and distinguished history.

The Gordon Highlanders

A Concise History

The King's Own Scottish Borderers is one of only two Scottish regiments never to have been amalgamated until it joined forces with The Royal Scots to form the 1st battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006. It is also unusual in that it lost its Scottish status between 1782 and 1887 when it served as the 25th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot. 
 
Formed in Edinburgh in 1689, its first operational role was to defend the city during the period of turmoil following the accession of William and Mary of Orange. That same year the regiment fought at the Battle of Killiecrankie, where they withstood a ferocious charge by the Highlanders supporting James II. Since then, the regiment has fought in most of the major campaigns fought by the British Army. 
 
In 1887, the regiment became The King's Own Scottish Borderers. It served with distinction during the two World Wars and achieved nationwide fame in 1915 when Sergeant Piper Daniel Laidlaw won the Victoria Cross during the Battle of Loos. Despite coming under heavy fire he played his pipes in full view of the enemy, encouraging the Borderers with the sound of 'Blue Bonnets o'er the Border' and 'The Standard on the Braes o' Mar'. 
 
This concise account of the King's Own Scottish Borderers puts its story into the context of British military history and makes use of personal testimony to reveal the life of the regiment.

The King's Own Scottish Borderers

The Royal Highland Fusiliers came into being in 1959 as a result of the amalgamation of two regiments, both of which had strong connections with Glasgow and the west of Scotland: The Royal Scots Fusiliers, founded in 1678 by Charles Erskine, fifth Earl of Mar; and The Highland Light Infantry, or HLI, created in 1881 as a result of the amalgamation of the 71st Highlanders and the 74th Highlanders. 
 
Two distinctive infantry traditions can be found in the names of these regiments, which have helped to form the line infantry regiments of the British Army. Fusiliers were armed with the flintlock fusil instead of the more common matchlock musket, and light infantry came into being during the Napoleonic Wars to provide the army with a corps of skirmishing sharpshooters similar to Austrian and German Jäger troops. 
 
Amongst those who have served as fusiliers or light infantrymen are Hugh Trenchard, who became Air Chief Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Winston Churchill and David Niven, who joined the HLI from Sandhurst in the inter-war years. All these traditions and personalities went into the making of a regiment whose name lives on in the 2nd battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland, which was formed in 2006 as a result of the restructuring of the infantry regiments of the British Army.

The Royal Highland Fusiliers

Eileen Munro

In her bestselling memoir As I Lay Me Down to Sleep, Eileen Munro vividly documented the abuse she experienced at the hands of her adoptive parents and, later, within the care system. The birth of Eileen's son, Craig, and her escape from the authorities' clutches should have seen her turn a corner, but she remains haunted by the spectre of her past. 
 
In If I Should Die Before I Wake, Eileen chronicles her search for her real parents and her battle for an education for both Craig and herself. She faces exploitation, suffers further sexual and physical abuse, and endures periods of homelessness and bad health. Still she perseveres, clinging to her hopes for the future, until she eventually finds the sense of belonging that has previously eluded her. 
 
In this harrowing but ultimately inspirational second volume of memoir, Eileen Munro proves that, against all the odds, happiness does sometimes come to those who never give up hope.

If I Should Die Before I Wake

Adam Robinson

A zealous freedom-fighter who has galvanised Islamic fundamentalists worldwide into a fighting force capable of toppling evil western civilisation. A simple man, pious, upstanding and principled; the moral leader of the faithful. This is the image that Osama bin Laden wishes to project to the world. Now, for the first time, Bin Laden: Behind the Mask of the Terrorist blows the lid off the inside story. The first real insight into the life of the renegade phophet of the apocalypse reveals a past laced with prostitutes, hedonism, and lengthy periods of alcohol abuse. Beneath the self-styled propaganda is a hypocrite whose personal mission is nothing less than the destruction of the United States and her allies in the name of Islam. This is the man who deftly manipulates the institutions he claims to despise in order to further his own ends; who condemns depravity while keeping a hand in the opium and heroin trade. With new information provided by members of his family, the book traces the roots of his dicontent, exploring his privileged childhood riven by jealousies and family polotics. It paints the picture of a youth desperately seeking acceptance and a man whose need for attention and adulation set him upon an unbelievable course.

Bin Laden

Behind the Mask of the Terrorist

Alan Jones

Jussi Kantonen

If all disco means to you is records like 'I Will Survive' and 'YMCA', tacky fashions and glitter eyeshadow, this book will be a real revelation. For Alan Jones and Jussi Kantonen, disco was an essential soundtrack to their lives. They loved its total hedonistic excess, its drive, its punch and its sweet, catchy melodies. For every chart hit that pounded into the public's consciousness, countless other better tracks were causing hair-raising highs on dance floors where Alan and Jussi and thousands of aficionados like them were strutting their funky stuff. 
 
Disco started in obscure underground clubs as a glamour-filled reaction to the plodding, self-indulgent rock music of the late '60s and really took off in the excitement-parched early '70s. Created by people marginalised by their colour (black), race (Latino), sexuality (gay) or class (working), the music and its attendant lifestyle inevitably became watered down and distorted once it slipped from the control of small independent labels and became a worldwide craze. The massive popularity of films such as Saturday Night Fever and the accompanying Bee Gees soundtrack led people to believe that this was disco. But the authors, by exploring such diverse strands as Eurodisco and roller disco, gay disco, and disco fashions, drugs and clubs, show this to be untrue, and instead uncover the magical, multi-layered genre in all its shining, strobe-lit glory. They believe in mirror balls.

Saturday Night Forever

The Story of Disco

Jan de Vries

Pollution is an ever-growing threat to our planet and manifests itself most dramatically in its impact on the natural environment which surrounds us. But just as trees are dying daily because of environmental pollution, so too are humans suffering. Air pollution has led directly to an increase in asthma, bronchitis and other related respitory complaints. 
 
In Air: The Breath of Life, Jan de Vries calls upon his vast experience in dealing with respiratory problems to guide his readers on how best to assist our own immune system in combating the worst effects of pollution.

The Breath of Life

How to Live a Healthy Life is an indispensable handbook which outlines the approach to health of one of the world's foremost homoeopaths, Jan de Vries. It gives sensible and easy-to-follow advice on a huge number of subjects, ranging from maintaining a healthy liver and building strong bones to how to follow a well-balanced and nutritious diet and cope with stress.

How to Live a Healthy Life

A Handbook to Better Health

Jan de Vries, although trained as a pharmacist, turned to alternative medicine early in his career. His most influential teacher was the world-renowned Swiss doctor, Alfred Vogel. He now works in Ayrshire in one of Britain's most widely known clinics.

Migraine and Epilepsy

MOTHER AND CHILD is the long awaited follow up to Jan's phenomenally successful Preganancy and Childbirth and the next instalment in his excellent Well Woman series. In Mother and Child Jan De Vries focuses on the first crucial years of a child's life and explores the unique relationship that develops between mother and child in these formative years. The book comprises practical advice for new mothers dealing with the stress of their first baby and gives suggestions on how to recognise and treat the many diseases to which children are prone in their early years. There is also valuable advice on child healthcare and covers everything from sleep disorders to breastfeeding. Not only is Jan De Vries a professional authority on alternative healthcare, but he is also a father of four and grandfather of ten. Jan De Vries was born in 1937 and after initially graduating in pharmacy he soon moved on to study alternative medicine. He set up his first clinic in Troon in 1970 and today has clinics in Edinburgh, London, Belfast, Dublin and Manchester. Writing extensively on the value of alternative medicine and the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, he also lectures throughout the world and makes regular television and radio appearances.

Mother and Child

Allaying the doubts and fears which surround the most natural and yet probably the most traumatic experience a woman will go through, Pregnancy and Childbirth takes you step by step through conception, pregnancy, labour and the care of your baby. Calling upon a lifetime's experience in helping couples who have come to him following years of trying for a baby, Jan de Vries explains how he has helped them with either herbal or homoeopathic medicine, acupuncture or osteopathy. He describes how acupuncture can help, especially during labour, and provides advice for couples who have undergone severe stress when dealing with problems such as impotence, or feelings of inadequacy or rejection. What emerges from his extensive research is an overwhelming sense of hope in the wonder of nature and joy at the miracle of each new birth.

Pregnancy and Childbirth

In this controversial book Jan de Vries considers modern miracles as well as the 'miracle of Lourdes'. He discusses witch doctors and what he has personally witnessed in the Far East. He warns against exorcism and talks of the many 'possessed' people he has treated. He also shares with his readers some of the mysterious ways that alternative medicine has worked 'miracles' for thousands of patients.

The Miracle of Life

J Vries

The Pharmacy Guide to Herbal Remedies is the first in a series of books by Jan de Vries. It is written with a common sense approach and explains how herbal remedies can complement today's lifestyle by combining natural cures with pharmaceutical and orthodox medicines. The book demonstrates that, despite an age and society blighted by modern day diseases, it is possible for every person to maintain and obtain optimum health by combining complementary and orthodox healthcare methods. This book should be in every household as a quick and easy reference guide.

The Pharmacy Guide to Herbal Remedies

Laura Walsh

'At the lowest moment in my life, I stood at the gates of hell. I saw what it was like. I can never, ever go back there again.' 
 
When Laura Walsh walked into her four-month-old daughter's bedroom, she was confronted with a mother's worst nightmare. Her beautiful baby was dead in her cot. This tragedy marked the beginning of Laura's journey of self-destruction. She became addicted to painkillers and alcohol, her marriage failed and she lost her house and alienated her friends and family. 
 
Lying and stealing to acquire tablets and booze, Laura spent several desperate years in the wilderness, years in which her two remaining children had to watch their mum become a sordid shadow of the woman they loved. She was ashamed but unable to find the strength to fight back - until one Christmas when her addictions finally threatened to kill her. 
 
Ashamed is the inspirational account of how Laura found the strength to step back from hell, launch a successful business and become a mother to her children once again.

Ashamed

Anthony Shaffer

Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer was part of a secret detachment of the US Army known as the 'Jedi Knights'. In Operation Dark Heart, he reveals for the first time, and in amazing detail, the otherwise secret world of black operations and clandestine intelligence plots conducted by the Western allies in an alien terrain against often undefinable enemies. 
 
This book is a gripping and compulsive insight into the espionage world and into a complex labyrinth of agencies that do not like to share secrets. It is also the true and moving story of a twenty-first-century warrior. 
 
Please note that sensitive information in this book has been redacted in accordance with the requests of US intelligence agencies.

Operation Dark Heart

Spycraft and Special Operations on the Front Lines of Afghanistan

David Smith

Carol Ann Lee

Despite standing as chief prosecution witness in the Moors Murders trial, David Smith was vilified by the public due to the accusations thrown at him by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady about his involvement in their crimes. Hindley's later confession that she and Brady had lied in an attempt to reduce their sentences did little to diminish the slurs against his name. 
 
 For almost 45 years, Smith was asked by writers and film-makers to tell his story. Apart from a handful of brief interviews, he always refused. Carol Ann Lee met Smith during her research for One of Your Own, her critically acclaimed biography of Hindley, following which he finally agreed to reveal all. 
 
 In Witness, interviews, archival research and, most significantly, David Smith's own vivid memoir are fused to create an unforgettable, often harrowing account of his life before, during and after the Moors Murders.

Witness (later issued as Evil Relations)

The Story of David Smith, Chief Prosecution Witness in the Moors Murders Case

Nicholas Davies

Following the revelations of the secret conspiracy between British Military Intelligence and the gunmen of the Ulster Defence Association in Ten-Thirty-Three, Nicholas Davies now dramatically reveals the evidence and facts that the Sir John Stevens Inquiry is still trying to establish regarding links between the security services and loyalist terrorist groups.In Dead Men Talking, Davies exclusively details the covert killing operations planned, organised and carried through by the RUC Special Branch and MI5, as well as by the British Army's covert intelligence organisation, the Force Research Unit. He provides new evidence on the killings that were authorised at the highest level of MI5 and the British Government, and carried out by loyalist terror groups. Davies also reveals the existence of a hitherto unknown secret intelligence unit operating under MI5 and examines its role in the government's undercover operation. Davies traces the work carried out by the legendary 'Steak Knife', the British super-spy who infiltrated the highest echelons of the Provisional IRA and passed their secrets to MI5 over a 30-year period. For the first time, Davies gives details of Steak Knife's extraordinary life, reveals some of the Provo bombings and shootings which he thwarted, and details vital secrets he passed to British Intelligence. Dead Men Talking uncovers the true story of the murder of Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane, of UDA gunman William Stobie and the subsequent murders of others allegedly involved. Dead Men Talking uncovers the true story of the murder of Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane, of UDA gunman William Stobie and the subsequent murders of others allegedly involved.

Dead Men Talking

Collusion, Cover-Up and Murder in Northern Ireland's Dirty War

John Beasant

Oman is one of the world’s most secretive countries,ruled with absolute authority by the Sultan. All information is strictly controlled by the State: British Prime Minister Edward Heath once said that the story of the 1970 Palace Coup and the events that followed would ‘not be told in our lifetime’. 
 
 Following ten years’ residency in the country a senior member of Sultan Qaboos's Family suggested that John Beasant write a political history of Oman that would to some extent rehabilitate the maligned name of former Sultan Said, who was deposed in the 1970 Coup. 
 
In 'Oman' Beasant catalogues a nature of exploitation woven through all manner of political and commercial interests and casts light on the dark practices so often involved in the sale of arms to Middle Eastern states and illustrates the political use to which the sale of ‘black gold’ - oil - can be put. 
 
 Oman is a parable of our times, detailing rivalry and intrigue between people in high places. It is one of the most dramatic tales in Arab history: a chronicle of personal price, rapacious greed and undiluted lust for power.

Oman

The True-Life Drama and Intrigue of an Arab State

Arthritis, psoriasis and related rheumatic diseases are an enormous and growing problem throughout the world, with as many as 80 million people suffering from one or another of these conditions. Patients seeking help or relief from their own doctors or hospitals are often informed that they will simply have to live with the problem and that little can be done. In this book, Jan de Vries shows how the problems can be reversed by a simple nutritional and natural approach in which there are none of the terrible side effects that can sometimes accompany a course of drugs. Arthritis, Rheumatism and Psoriasis draws attention to a great variety of home remedies, from homeopathy to herbs, and places particular emphasis on diet as a source of cure.

Arthritis, Rheumatism and Psoriasis

Carol McKay

When Eileen Munro's mother became pregnant at 16, she was told to give her baby away to a 'good family', but the couple who paid the fee at the Salvation Army mother-and-baby home in Glasgow in 1963 turned out to be alcoholics who neglected and physically abused Eileen. Then, when their marriage broke down, they failed to protect her from sexual abuse at the hands of a family friend. 
 
After watching her adoptive mother drown on inhaled vomit, Eileen and her younger sister were taken into care, but her nightmare was to continue as she was subjected to further physical, sexual and emotional abuse. 
 
At the age of only seventeen, seven months into a secret pregnancy, she decided that the only way out was through a bottle of painkillers; when she survived and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, he became her lifeline.

As I Lay Me Down to Sleep

It is clear that asthma and bronchitis are on the increase, especially in Britain, and there are strong indications that this rise may be linked to atmospheric influences. Jan de Vries has over 30 years' experience of treating these conditions and in this important title in the By Appointment Only series he sets out his own ideas about respiratory disorders. He shows, for example, how many allergic reactions can result in asthma-related problems, hay-fever being a case in point. Viruses, bacteria and irritants may result in dry coughs, mucus formation, breathlessness, muscle pain and even light fever, depression and sometimes emphysema. Emphysema is known to be incurable, but Jan de Vries shows his treatments can bring welcome relief.

Asthma and Bronchitis

What are the causes of cancer, and is there a cure for this most devastating of diseases? Why is it that some parts of the world show a dramatic rise in the cancer rate of those under 25? Why is bowel cancer incidence substantially higher in Scotland than in the rest of Britain? And why is the UK incidence of cancer the second highest in the world? These and other vital questions are discussed in Cancer and Leukaemia: An Alternative Approach.

Cancer and Leukaemia

An Alternative Approach

Elizabeth Gabriel

You never know how you'd react if it happened to you, and the last thing I want is to dictate to people. I don't wonder: why me? But: why not me?' - Elizabeth GabrielThere are many books about the processes people go through when they discover they have cancer. What makes Flying Crooked different is the way in which Elizabeth Gabriel accepts the disease and its consequences. She continues to enjoy life, refuses radiotherapy and rejects the idea of wearing a prosthesis after one of her breasts has been removed. The choices she makes are in sharp contrast to those made by her ex-lover Simon when he, shortly after her operation, is diagnosed with prostate cancer. Their different ways of coping form a well-balanced diptych: on her part, acceptance and the peace that this brings, as opposed to, on his part, fighting and anger at the cost of precious energy and enjoyment. Flying Crooked describes the process of a search for balance. The open, direct and unsentimental manner in which Gabriel describes her decisions as well as her experiences in hospital and out of it are deeply refreshing. And yet this autobiographical novel is more than an account of coping with disease; it is an inspirational story of love and friendship and faith.

Flying Crooked

An Inspiring Tale of Loss and Love

Des Wilson

Poker has taken over the world. It is said that 80 million people now play regularly and close to $100 million is played for online every day. Tournaments generate prize pools that far outstrip all other recreational events - the top prize in the World Series of Poker in recent years has been greater than the money collected by the winners of the four golf majors and the Wimbledon singles tennis champions all added together. 
 
But for all its amazing popularity, the game's origins and history are surprisingly unclear. Instead of records and statistics, there is folklore and legend, a gallery of larger-than-life characters and an equal measure of fame and infamy. Here, for the first time, the true stories of poker are told. 
 
This is history as a thriller. Des Wilson has approached his definitive account of the game's development as a detective story. He has personally gone back to where poker has been played, stirring up controversy in his refusal to let sleeping dogs lie, and has delved deeper than anyone before to restore to their rightful place in history the ghosts who sit at the table of every poker game played today. 
 
Packed with stories that will enthral both poker players and the non-playing public, this is the book that was waiting to be written.

Ghosts at the Table

Although trained as a pharmacist, Jan de Vries turned to alternative medicine early in his career. His most influential teacher was the world-renowned Swiss doctor Alfred Vogel, and de Vries now works in one of Britain's most widely known clinics, in Ayrshire. Cholesterol, angina, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis and heart attacks are among the many problems discussed in this helpful and illuminating book.

Heart and Blood Circulatory Problems

Graeme Fife

Racing cyclists all ride the same frail machine and all are equal before the demands of the road. But what is it that makes a winner? What special attributes do winners need to give them that extra edge? To find out, Fife analyses and illustrates the moral strength, intelligence, racing nous, cunning, tactical acumen and superior mental resilience of the champion racing cyclist. Drawing on exclusive interviews and personal acquaintance with some of the best riders to have raced on the continent, as well as mechanics and team-support crew, Inside the Peloton is a vivid portrait of the complex character of cycle racing. It is an unparalleled, in-depth study of ambition, the rage to win, the capacity to recover from defeat, the harrowing misery of lost morale and the hard initiation faced by every newcomer - however talented - to the unforgiving demands of professional competition. Provocative and rich in insight, this book is a very personal account by Fife. Read it to discover: What made Merckx, apparently invincible, so prey to doubt? --What rendered the massively talented Poulidor so beatable? --Why did Sean Yates, with a cardiovascular and lung capacity equal to that of Merckx, ride so contentedly as a domestique?

Inside the Peloton

Riding, Winning and Losing the Tour de France

The menopause can bring about mysterious and unwelcome changes for every woman who reaches middle age. Brittle bones, hot flushes and depression are just a few of the distressing symptoms by which the change of life can manifest itself. Jan de Vries has more four decades of experience in treating these and other symptoms of the menopause. He provides clear explanations of the changes which take place in a woman's body and, by advocating a common-sense approach based on natural medicine, he offers an effective alternative to treatments such as hormone replacement therapy whose potentially damaging side-effects are a cause for concern for many women. Menopause is a practical and down-to-earth addition to the Well Woman Series.

Menopause

Research carried out over the past decade indicates that women are suffering more than ever from problems connected with menstrual and pre-menstrual tension. Many dread the monthly cycle which can impose a complete change of character, with even the most well-balanced of women being subjected to erratic mood swings and depression. Advocating the holistic approach, with emphasis on a low-stress diet and natural remedies with vitamin, mineral and trace element therapy, Jan de Vries shows how to overcome the ups and downs of the menstrual cycle.

Menstrual and Pre-Menstrual Tension

Jason Peter

Tony O'Neill

Blighted by a neck injury at a young age, sports superstar Jason Peter was forced to retire prematurely. In just a few short years, Peter's brilliant career was in ruins as he found himself consumed by painkillers, then crack and finally heroin. His addiction transformed him from a pumped-up athletic gladiator to a small, wispish shell of his former self. 
 
In Millionaire Junkie, Peter tells of the lost days and nights spent prowling the streets of Manhattan, flying cross-country with high-class call girls and doing piles of heroin and cocaine. It is a visceral, ragged-edged story of true glory, self-destruction, addiction and, finally, redemption.

Millionaire Junkie

My Journey Down to Heroin - and Back

Multiple Sclerosis is recognised as a growing problem. In some Scandinavian countries, Holland, Britain and North America, the number of sufferers is rising by the day. In the UK alone, it is estimated that between 50,000 and 60,000 people suffer from this debilitating disease; in the USA figures of 350,000 are quoted. What are the causes of the problem? And what can be done about it? Could it be possible to prevent MS? When we look at the countries where there is no occurrence of MS whatsoever; the immediate answer is YES. 
 
Jan de Vries has studied and treated Multiple Sclerosis for over 45 years. He has learned that every MS patient is different and that their problems must be treated individually. He emphasises the importance of diet and environment sufferers must build up their immune system. Even the smallest interference with that delicate mechanism, the human body, can trigger off problems out of all proportion to the cause. For example, silver mercury amalgam fillings in teeth can affect your health. 
 
 This book draws attention to a variety of factors and explains how they can be dealt with to improve the quality of life for all MS sufferers. It is a relevant and important alternative approach to the problem.

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