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1670 Books

Churchill's Secret Invasion

by John Grehan

In the spring of 1942 Britain's far-flung empire was in the greatest peril. North Africa was being overrun by the German Afrika Korps and in south-east Asia the forces of Imperial Japan had captured Singapore and were threatening India. Only the most urgent reinforcement of both war fronts could prevent disaster. But Britain's shipping routes to Egypt and India passed the island of Madagascar. If the Japanese Navy, operating out of Madagascar, could severe Britain's communications with Cairo and Delhi, then the whole of North Africa and the Indian sub-continent would be at the mercy of the Axis Powers. In a desperate race against time, and under conditions of the utmost secrecy, at Churchill's instigation Britain planned to seize Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world, before the Japanese could strike. An overwhelming force was assembled and despatched as part of the largest convoy ever to have left Britain's shores. Yet the expedition's commanders were faced with not just military but also political obstacles, because the forces occupying the island were not those her enemy's but those of her former ally - France. The Secret Invasion is the first book to examine in detail this crucial campaign which was Britain's largest amphibious assault since the First World War and the first large-scale combined air, sea and land operation Britain had attempted.

The Atlas of Special Operations of World War Two

by Alexander Swanston

Without doubt Boeing Flying Fortress B-17F 41-42285 Memphis Belle and her crew generate an image that is an all-American icon. Indeed, it has been claimed that the Memphis Belle is in the top five of the most famous American aircraft of all time. In September, 1942, a new Flying Fortress was delivered at Bangor, Maine, to a crew of ten eager American lads headed by Robert K. Morgan, a lanky 24-year-old USAAF pilot from Asheville, N. C. The boys climbed aboard, flew their ship to Memphis, Tenn. and christened her Memphis Belle in honour of Morgan's fiancée, Miss Margaret Polk of Memphis, and then headed across the Atlantic to join the US Eighth Air Force in England. Between November 7 1942 and May 171943 they flew the Memphis Belle over Hitler's Europe twenty-five times. They dropped more than 60 tons of bombs on targets in Germany, France and Belgium. They blasted the Focke-Wulf plant at Bremen, locks at St. Nazaire and Brest, docks and shipbuilding installations at Wilhelmshaven, railway yards at Rouen, submarine pens and power houses at Lorient, and airplane works at Antwerp. They shot down eight enemy fighters, probably got five others and damaged at least a dozen. Memphis Belle flew through all the flak that Hitler could send up to them. She slugged it out with Goering's Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs. She was riddled by machine gun and cannon fire. Once she returned to base with most of her tail shot away. German guns destroyed a wing and five engines. Her fuselage was shot to pieces but Memphis Belle kept going back. The Memphis Belle crew has been decorated 51 times. Each of the 10 has received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal and three Oak Leaf Clusters. The 51st award was Sergeant Quinlan's Purple Heart. This DVD is a compilation of footage on the famous B-17 Memphis Belle aircraft and is expertly put together by aviation historian and author Graham Simons.

The Man who was George Smiley

by Michael Jago

The first biography of the gentleman spy and writer who provided the inspiration for John le Carre's most famous character.

World War II

by Igloo Books

Examine the sobering events surrounding the tragic conflict

A Tangled Summer

by Caroline Kington

A TALE OF BARLEY, BLACKBERRIES AND SOME VERY BAD BEHAVIOUR. 'A wonderful, witty read' – Woman’s Weekly In the West Country village of Summerstoke, the family at Marsh Farm are too preoccupied with living their lives to notice the farm sliding into ruin. Charlie Tucker, dreaming of victory in a motocross race and flirting with the local barmaid, is unaware of the danger the farm is in; while little sister Alison, busy with her A levels, is determined to dispense with her virginity before the end of the summer and falls for the enigmatic biker, Al. Their brother Stephen is hopelessly in love with the star of the local am-dram society, while mother Jenny dreams of escaping to Weston-super-Mare in the arms of the local vet. Fed up with watching her family squander their birthright, septuagenarian grandmother Elsie – the only Tucker with a lover – issues an ultimatum: either her grandsons find brides by the end of the year, or they lose their share of the farm. And that’s only half the problem... Up on the hill in Summerstoke House, the land-grabbing, unscrupulous, Hugh and Veronica (call-me-Vee) Lester watch the demise of Marsh Farm with undisguised pleasure. If they can get the Tuckers turfed off the land, their dreams of owning a bigger stud farm will become a reality. And at Summerstoke Manor, in the heart of the village, live the three elderly Miss Merfields and their ancient nanny, with nothing better to do than pull strings and watch. A Tangled Summer is the first in the bestselling Summerstoke Trilogy.

Skeleton Key

by Anthony Horowitz

Working as a secret agent for Britain's most exclusive agency, 15-year-old Alex Rider is now about to face something more dangerous that he can imagine: a man who has lost everything he cared for and who has a nuclear weapon.

One Snowy Night

by Rita Bradshaw

From the top-ten bestselling author of Snowflakes in the Wind comes a heart-breaking saga set in the years following WW1.It's 1922 and the Depression is just beginning to rear its head in Britain, but Ruby Morgan is about to marry her childhood sweetheart and nothing can mar her happiness. Or so she thinks. An unimaginable betrayal by those she loves causes her to flee her home and family one snowy night.Crushed and heartbroken, Ruby vows that despite the odds stacked against her she will not only survive, but one day will show the ones she left behind that she's succeeded in making something of herself. Brave words, but the reality is far from easy.Dangers Ruby could never have foreseen and more tragedy threatens her new life, and love always seems just out of reach. Can a happy ending ever be hers?

Triumph of the Shipyard Girls

by Nancy Revell

***ORDER YOUR COPY NOW*** THE EIGHTH NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING SHIPYARD GIRLS SERIES! ‘Emotional and gripping’ Take a Break ______________________________ Sunderland, 1943: With the future of Britain uncertain, the shipyard girls fight to keep their lives on an even keel. Head-welder Rosie is just about managing to keep her double life hidden from little sister Charlotte’s prying eyes. But Charlotte senses something is up and, with a secret this big, the truth is bound to come out. After a whirlwind wedding, Polly must bid farewell to her sweetheart as he returns to the front line. And there is something odd about yard manager Helen’s newest recruit Bel. But in resolving to uncover the truth, Helen might discover more than she bargained for... Only by rallying together will the shipyard girls triumph. ______________________________ Praise for Nancy Revell ‘Nancy Revell knows how to stir the passions and soothe the heart!' Northern Echo ‘Stirring and heartfelt storytelling’ Peterborough Evening Telegraph 'the author is one to watch' Sun ‘Well-drawn, believable characters combined with a storyline to keep you turning the pages’ Woman

Jamie Vardy: from Nowhere, My Story

by Jamie Vardy

An ordinary lad from Sheffield, Jamie Vardy has become known as an against-the-odds sports hero the world over. Yet a few years ago, things couldn't have been any more different. Rejected as a teenager by his boyhood club, Jamie thought his chance was gone. But from playing pub soccer while still working in a factory, his off-the-cuff performances saw him rise. Jamie had a wild and turbulent youth, but soccer became his saving grace and, once he filled his boots with goals at FC Halifax Town and Fleetwood Town, he moved to Leicester City. After the miracle of surviving relegation, the team of unlikely outsiders bonded together to achieve the unthinkable: Jamie set the record as the first player to score in 11 consecutive Premier League matches and Leicester beat odds of 5000-1 to become champions. Jamie has now been nominated for the Ballon d'Or, firmly establishing himself as one of England's leading goal scoring soccer players. Not forgetting his roots, however, he has set up the V9 Academy in a bid to find the next big talent from non-league soccer. Defying all expectations, this is the story of the boy from nowhere who reached the top in his own unflinching, honest words.

Sheltering Rain

by Jojo Moyes

On Coronation night in 1953 the expat community in Hong Kong gathers for a celebration party. While they strain to listen to the proceedings on a faulty wireless, twenty one year old Joy falls in love. She is engaged within twenty four hours but will not see her fiance again for a year. In 1980 eighteen year old Kate's rebellion is to run away from County Wexford with her illegitimate child. Fifteen years later Sabine leaves trendy Hackney to visit the grandparents she has never known, and finds that time in Wexford seems to have stood still. When Sabine, her mother and grandmother are brought together, a deeply buried family secret is discovered - as well as some fundamental truths; about the conflict between love and duty, about women's choices, and about mothers and daughters. Jojo Moyes effortlessly weaves a rich and vivid tapestry of character, time and place. The result is a novel about many different kinds of love that will make you laugh as well as cry, and sets the benchmark for a new generation of storytelling.