'Books such as this are essential: they remind modern readers of events that should never be forgotten' - Caroline Moorehead On March 25, 1942, nearly a thousand young, unmarried Jewish women boarded a train in Poprad, Slovakia. Filled with a sense of adventure and national pride, they left their parents' homes wearing their best clothes and confidently waving good-bye. Believing they were going to work in a factory for a few months, they were eager to report for government service. Instead, the young women-many of them teenagers-were sent to Auschwitz. Their government paid 500 Reichsmarks (about £160) apiece for the Nazis to take them as slave labour. Of those 999 innocent deportees, only a few would survive. The facts of the first official Jewish transport to Auschwitz are little known, yet profoundly relevant today. These were not resistance fighters or prisoners of war. There were no men among them. Sent to almost certain death, the young women were powerless and insignificant not only because they were Jewish-but also because they were female. Now, acclaimed author Heather Dune Macadam reveals their poignant stories, drawing on extensive interviews with survivors, and consulting with historians, witnesses, and relatives of those first deportees to create an important addition to Holocaust literature and women's history.

'Every page is a delight. Every chapter made vivid by a writer who has poured heart and soul into her book'. Val Hennessy, Daily Mail The East End of London - cockneys, criminals, street markets, pub singalongs, dog racing, jellied eels ... it is a place at once appealing and unruly, comforting and incomprehensible. Gilda O'Neill, an East Ender herself shows there is more to this fascinating area than a collection of cliched images. Using oral history and more traditional sources she builds up a powerful image of this community - bringing to us, with wit and honesty, the real story of London's East End

'Real sagas with female characters right at the heart' Jane Garvey, Woman's Hour 'In the world of historical saga writers, there's a brand new voice' My Weekly If you love Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin, you'll LOVE Glenda Young's 'amazing novels!' (ITV's This Morning presenter Sharon Marshall) 'A super saga with a sparky heroine' People's Friend What readers are saying about Glenda's heartwrenching sagas: 'Better than a Catherine Cookson' 5* reader review 'Definitely an author not to be missed when it comes to family sagas' The Book Magnet 'Superb historical fiction that bring the era alive. Her books are unbeatable and unputdownable' Ginger Book Geek 'The perfectly imperfect, human nature of Glenda Young's characters are what keeps her readership hooked' Clyde's Corner 'Gritty, compelling and full of heart . . . an exceptional saga' Bookish Jottings .......................................................................................... 'You're a Dinsdale lass, Ruby. Nothing and no one keeps us lot down.' A life of poverty in a cramped pit cottage is all that seventeen-year-old Ruby Dinsdale has known. Even with her father and younger brother working at the coal mine, money is tight. Her mother Mary is skilled at stretching what little they have, but the small contribution Ruby makes from her job at the local pub makes all the difference. So when Ruby is sacked, and Mary becomes pregnant again, the family's challenges are greater than ever. When charming miner Gordon begins to court Ruby it seems as though happiness is on the horizon, until she uncovers a deeper betrayal than she could ever have imagined. But although the Dinsdales are materially poor, they are rich in love, friendship and determination - all qualities that they will draw on to get them through whatever lies ahead. .......................................................................................... Look out for all of Glenda's compelling sagas - Belle of the Back Streets, The Tuppenny Child, Pearl of Pit Lane, The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon, The Paper Mill Girl and The Miner's Lass - out now! Plus, Glenda has launched a brand-new cosy-crime mystery series - don't miss Murder at the Seaview Hotel - out now! Praise for Glenda Young: 'Well researched and well written and I found myself caring about her characters' Rosie Goodwin 'Will resonate with saga readers everywhere...a wonderful, uplifting story' Nancy Revell 'All the ingredients for a perfect saga' Emma Hornby 'Glenda has an exceptionally keen eye for domestic detail which brings this local community to vivid, colourful life' Jenny Holmes 'I found it extremely well written, and having always loved sagas, one of the best I've read' Margaret Kaine

'As uplifting as summer sunshine' Sarah Morgan Sunshine, cider and family secrets... Dragonfly Farm has been a home and a haven for generations of Melchiors - arch rivals to the Culbones, the wealthy family who live on the other side of the river. Life there is dictated by the seasons and cider-making, and everyone falls under its spell. For cousins Tabitha and Georgia, it has always been a home from home. When a tragedy befalls their beloved Great-Uncle Matthew, it seems the place where they've always belonged might now belong to them... But the will reveals that a third of the farm has also been left to a Culbone. Gabriel has no idea why he's been included, or what his connection to the farm - or the Melchiors - can be. As the first apples start to fall for the cider harvest, will Dragonfly Farm begin to give up its secrets? A Home from Home is the very best of Veronica Henry's storytelling - gorgeous scenes you wish you could step into, a cast of characters who feel like friends, and an irresistibly feel-good family drama crossing three generations. Discover Veronica Henry - your favourite authors' favourite author: 'Wise, insightful, beautifully written. A delicious treat of a book' Milly Johnson 'An utter delight' Jill Mansell 'Truly blissful escapism' Lucy Diamond 'A heart-warming, triumphant story combined with Veronica's sublime writing - the perfect mix!' Cathy Bramley 'Veronica Henry has such a deft hand with families and their complications' Katie Fforde

How to play chess

When her father is killed, princess Thirrin Freer Strong-In-The-Arm Lindenshield becomes queen of Icemark and searches for a way to protect her people and their homeland from invaders from the Polypontian Empire.

A riveting account of a forgotten holocaust: the slaughter of over one hundred thousand Ukrainian Jews in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. In the Midst of Civilized Europe repositions the pogroms as a defining moment of the twentieth century. 'Exhaustive, clearly written, deeply researched' – The Times 'A meticulous, original and deeply affecting historical account' – Philippe Sands, author of East West Street Between 1918 and 1921, over a hundred thousand Jews were murdered in Ukraine and Poland by peasants, townsmen, and soldiers who blamed the Jews for the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. In hundreds of separate incidents, ordinary people robbed their Jewish neighbors with impunity, burned down their houses, ripped apart their Torah scrolls, sexually assaulted them, and killed them. Largely forgotten today, these pogroms – ethnic riots – dominated headlines and international affairs in their time. Aid workers warned that six million Jews were in danger of complete extermination. Twenty years later, these dire predictions would come true. Drawing upon long-neglected archival materials, including thousands of newly discovered witness testimonies, trial records, and official orders, acclaimed historian Jeffrey Veidlinger shows for the first time how this wave of genocidal violence created the conditions for the Holocaust. Through stories of survivors, perpetrators, aid workers, and governmental officials, he explains how so many different groups of people came to the same conclusion: that killing Jews was an acceptable response to their various problems.

Nestled deep in the Surrey countryside stands the Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial. Maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, its panels contain the names of nearly 3,500 men and women of the land forces of Britain and the Commonwealth who died in the Second World War and who have no known grave. Among the men and women who names are carved on the memorial are Special Operations Executive agents who died as prisoners or while working with Allied underground movements, servicemen killed in the various raids on enemy occupied territory in Europe, such as Dieppe and Saint-Nazaire, men and women who died at sea in hospital ships and troop transports, British Army parachutists, and even pilots and aircrew who lost their lives in flying accidents or in aerial combat. But the panels also hide a dark secret. Entwined within the names of heroes and heroines are those of nineteen men whose last resting place is known, and whose deaths were less than glorious. All were murderers who, following a civil or military trial, were executed for the heinous offence they had committed. The bodies of these individuals, with the exception of one, lay buried in un-consecrated ground. As Paul Johnson reveals, the cases of the ‘Brookwood Killers’ are violent, disturbing and often brutal in their content. They are not war crimes, but crimes committed in a time of war, for which the offender has their name recorded and maintained in perpetuity. Something that is not always applied in the case of the victim.

The Shires Excavations, High Street, Leicester 1988-9. Illustrations Sue Moodie

Uni of Leicester School of Archaeology and Ancient History