Through the early twentieth century, the British Government locked away over 50,000 innocent people. Their ‘crimes’? Being poor and unyielding. This is their story. 'The heartrending stories Sarah Wise has unearthed beggar belief… beautifully researched and truly compelling.' Catherine Bailey, author of Black Diamonds By 1950, an estimated 50,000 people had been deemed ‘defective’ by the British government and detained indefinitely under the 1913 Mental Deficiency Act. Their ‘crimes’ were various: women with children born out of wedlock; rebellious teenagers caught shoplifting; those with epilepsy, hearing impairments and chronic illnesses who had struggled in school; and many who were simply ‘different’. Forcibly removed from their families and confined to a shadow world of specialist facilities in the countryside, they were hidden away and forgotten – out of sight, out of mind. Through painstaking archival research, award-winning historian Sarah Wise shines a light on this shameful chapter. Piecing together the lives irrevocably changed by this devastating legislation, The Undesirables provides a compelling study of how early twentieth-century attitudes to class, gender and disability resulted in a nationwide scandal – and how they continue to shape social policy to this day.

The history of the world's most successful military alliance, from the wrecked Europe of 1945 to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. As they signed NATO into being after World War II, its founders fervently believed that only if the West's democracies banded permanently together could they avoid a catastrophic global atomic conflict. Over the 75 years since, the alliance has indeed avoided war with Russia, also becoming a major political, strategic and diplomatic player well beyond its borders. It has survived disagreements between leaders from Eisenhower, Churchill and de Gaulle to Trump, Stoltenberg and Merkel, faced down Kremlin foes from Stalin to Putin and endured unending questions and debate over what new nations might be allowed to join. Deterring Armageddon takes the reader from backroom deals that led to NATO's creation, through the Cold War, the Balkans and Afghanistan to the current confrontation with the Kremlin following the invasion of Ukraine. It examines the tightrope walked by alliance leaders between a powerful United States sometimes flirting with isolationism and European nations with their ever-evolving wishes for autonomy and influence. Having spent much of its life preparing for conflicts that might never come, NATO has sometimes found itself in wars that few had predicted - and with its members now again planning for a potential major European conflict. It is a tale of tension, danger, rivalry, conflict, big personalities and high-stakes military and diplomatic posturing - as well as espionage, politics and protest. From the Korean War to the pandemic, the Berlin and Cuba crises to the chaotic evacuation from Kabul, Deterring Armageddon tells how the alliance has shaped and been shaped by history - and looks ahead to what might be the most dangerous era it has ever faced. 'Utterly eye-opening - compelling, haunting and continually illuminating. As Peter Apps so brilliantly demonstrates in this gripping book, the story of the NATO alliance is in many ways a parallel global history of the last 75 years. As well as all the outbreaks of seething tension between the US and its European allies - and the counter-moves of rival powers - this is also an account of just how often in those postwar years that we all stood on the edge of the most terrible abyss. With mesmerising fluency, and dazzling research, Apps follows the criss-crossing threads of the Cold War and beyond. Those threads converge in our shadowed present, and the conflict in Ukraine. In order to fathom today's dark world, Apps has explored a labyrinth of once-classified history, and he brings dazzling clarity.' - Sinclair McKay

'[A] captivating and dramatic account. . . Drawn from letters and diaries, Holland's immersive narrative is told through the eye-level perspectives of dozens of subjects. Readers will be enthralled' Publishers Weekly 'Tells the story of the hard, bloody, muddy fighting that filled the rest of 1943... this excellent book reinforces Holland's reputation as the busiest and most popular military historian of the second world war working today' Spectator 'A remarkable achievement by a historian at the height of his powers. Holland has successfully illustrated both the significance and the savagery of the Italian campaign... through a powerful and compelling narrative' Military History Matters _____________________ From the bestselling author of Brothers in Arms comes the story of the most pivotal Allies campaign of World War II. With the invasion of France the following year taking shape, and hot on the heels of victory in Sicily, the Allies crossed into Southern Italy in September 1943. They expected to drive the Axis forces north and be in Rome by Christmas. And although Italy surrendered, the German forces resisted fiercely and the swift hoped-for victory descended into one of the most brutal battles of the war. Even though shipping and materiel were already being safeguarded for the D-Day landings, there were still huge expectations on the progress of the invading armies, but those shortages were to slow the advance with tragic consequences. As the weather closed in, the critical months leading up to Monte Cassino would inflict a heavy price for every bloody, hard fought mile the Allied troops covered. Chronicling those dark, dramatic months in unflinching and insightful detail, The Savage Storm is unlike any campaign history yet written. James Holland has always recounted the Second World War at ground level, but this version telling brings the story vividly to life like never before. Weaving together a wealth of letters, diaries, and other incredible documents, Holland traces the battles as they were fought - across plains, over mountains, through shattered villages and cities, in intense heat and, towards the end, frigid cold and relentless rain - putting readers at the heart of the action to create an entirely fresh and revealing telling of this most pivotal phase of the war. _____________________ Praise for James Holland 'Impeccably researched and superbly written' Observer 'Holland has something new to say.... Filled with insight and detail' Neil Oliver 'James Holland is the best of the new generation of WW2 historians' Sebastian Faulks

People's Friend Pocket Novel

People's Friend Pocket Novel

People's Friend Pocket Novel

People's Friend Pocket Novel

In 1911 two wealthy British heiresses, Claire and Dora Williamson, came to a sanitorium in the forests of the Pacific Northwest to undergo the revolutionary "fasting treatment" of Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard. It was supposed to be a holiday for the two sisters. But within a month of arriving at what the locals called Starvation Heights, the women were emaciated shadows of their former selves, waiting for death. They were not the first victims of Linda Hazzard, a quack doctor of extraordinary evil and greed who would stop at nothing short of murder to achieve her ambitions. As their jewelry disappeared and forged bank drafts began transferring their wealth to Hazzard's accounts, Dora Williamson sent a last desperate plea to a friend in Australia, begging her to save them from the brutal treatments and lonely isolation of Starvation Heights. In this true story-a haunting saga of medical murder set in an era of steamships and gaslights-Gregg Olsen reveals one of the most unusual and disturbing criminal cases in American history.

Book 21 of DCI Ryan Mystery series

How far would you go to win over the woman you love? The picturesque village of East Upbury still looks much as it did a century ago, but middle-class professionals have long since replaced the agricultural workers who once lived there. When the villagers decide to stage an open-air summer production to commemorate the centenary of the tragic events that occurred there during the Great War, rivalries quickly emerge. The director intends her production to be authentic, but her vision conflicts with the nostalgic view of the past held by influential village factions. Toby has never harboured any desire to appear on stage but has always been fascinated by the history of the Great War. He supports all the director’s plans and is delighted to be appointed as stage manager. However, he finds it difficult to focus on his responsibilities because of his fascination with Sarah, a visitor to the village who is helping him backstage. Sarah appears to like him, but the demands of the production mean that whenever they secure any time together events conspire to interrupt them. As the last night of the production approaches, disaster strikes when one of the actors disappears. This forces Toby to confront his fears and decide exactly how far he is willing to go to win over Sarah before she returns to London. By turns tragic, comic, historic, and pastoral, The Woman in the Wings shows that a tragic history can sometimes repeat itself as romantic comedy.