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  One Foot in Laos

  Dervla Murphy

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  Laos, caught in the middle of the Vietnam War, is one of the most heavily bombed countries in world history. It's where Dervla Murphy's 'inner-click' sends her in 1997, when the country had just opened its borders to the West. Her three-month trek is threatened by torn ligaments in her foot, but she makes no concessions to injury as she limps down drug-baron's trails and careers through gorges on a bike without brakes. She discovers Laos to be rich in ritual and culture, with a precious eco-system and a wealth of subsistence farming, and a people who are both kind and gentle. Yet the persistent problems bequeathed by the country's recent past are not yet behind them.

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  Bluffer's Guide To Etiquette -...

  William Hanson

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  Instantly acquire all the knowledge you need to pass as an expert in the world of etiquette and high society. Know what to say, what not to say, where to be seen, and what and what not to wear. Never again be found wanting when asked if someone is a PLU or a NQOCD, why port should be passed to the left, or how many air kisses you should aim at the proffered cheek of someone you barely know. Arm yourself with the essential words or phrases which have entered the etiquette lexicon from prerevolutionary France, and know not to mix up your droit du seigneur with your noblesse oblige. Bask in the admiration of your aristocratic hosts as you enquire politely about the place a table, pronounce confidently on whether the going is heavy or soft, and hold your own against the most sneering of posturing parvenus. Written by experts and offering readers the opportunity to pass off appropriated knowledge as their own, the Bluffer's Guides provide hard fact masquerading as frivolous observation in one witty, easy listen.

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  The Legend of Gladee's Canteen -...

  David Mossman

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  A history of the family-owned, Nova Scotia beach canteen and two sisters determined to show their father that women can also be successful.“Everyone remembers the famous food at Gladee’s Canteen, especially Gladee’s fish and chips and her coconut cream pie.” —Calvin TrillinGladee’s Canteen, several times voted as one of the ten best restaurants in Canada, was a special example of co-operative and communal spirit. At the centre of the operation were Gladee and her sister Flossie, supported by the extended Hirtle family. They offered a warm welcome and a memorable menu, in a setting brashly open to the forces of nature.The Legend of Gladee’s Canteen tells the story of a popular Nova Scotia beach and a pioneer family who, against the odds, constructed a simple canteen at Hirtle’s Beach in 1951 and ran it for forty years. The book draws on the author’s family associations, personal memory, and the outlying stockpile of collective recollections—a tapestry of events woven through the evolutionary fabric of a small, relatively isolated Maritime coastal community.The era of Gladee’s Canteen is remarkable story that takes place in a small coastal Nova Scotia community blessed with a spectacularly dynamic living beach. In its time, the Hirtle family and its sparkling enterprise thrived in spite of relative isolation, uncertain funding, and domestic demons. As a Nova Scotia epic, the success story of Gladee’s Canteen mirrors the recent history of Hirtle’s Beach, exemplifying the twists and turns locked up in legend.“A Maritime tale of family success and love. . . . History lovers should be sure to pick this one up off the shelves.” —Atlantic Books

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  The Battle of North Cape - The...

  Angus Konstam

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  “The hunting down and sinking of the magnificent German battle cruiser Scharnhorst was one of the epic actions of World War II . . . stirring” (Work Boat).   On December 25, 1943, the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst slipped out of Altenfjord in Norway to attack Arctic convoy JW55B which was carrying vital war supplies to the Soviet Union. But British naval intelligence knew of the Scharnhorst’s mission before she sailed, and the vulnerable convoy was protected by a large Royal Naval force including the battleship Duke of York. In effect the Scharnhorst was sailing into a trap.   One of the most compelling naval dramas of the Second World War had begun.   “Angus Konstam’s gripping account tells the story of this crucial but under-studied naval battle, and explains why the hopes of the German Kreigsmarine went down with their last great ship; only 37 of the German battle cruiser’s 1700 crew were saved.” —The Nautical Magazine   “Angus Konstam has written the definitive masterpiece of the Battle of North Cape.” —Naval Historical Foundation   “An excellent read and strongly recommended . . . thoughtful and totally engrossing. . . . If you are interested in the Royal Navy in the Second World War, the Arctic convoy campaign or capital ship actions, The Battle of the North Cape is well worth its cover price.” —The Naval Review  

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  The Other Side of the Night -...

  Daniel Allen Butler

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  The New York Times–bestselling author of Unsinkable “recounts the disaster from the vantage point of nearby vessels” (Publishers Weekly).   A few minutes before midnight on April 14, 1912, the “unsinkable” RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage to New York, struck an iceberg. Less than three hours later, she lay at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. While the world has remained fascinated by the tragedy, the drama of those fateful hours was not only played out aboard the doomed liner. It also took place on the decks of two other ships, one fifty-eight miles distant from the sinking Titanic, the other barely ten miles away.   The masters of the steamships Carpathia and Californian, Capt. Arthur Rostron and Capt. Stanley Lord, were informed within minutes of each other that their vessels had picked up the distress signals of a sinking ship. Their actions in the hours and days that followed would become the stuff of legend, as one would choose to take his ship into dangerous waters to answer the call for help, while the other would decide that the hazard to himself and his command was too great to risk responding.   After years of research, Daniel Allen Butler now tells this incredible story, moving from ship to ship on the icy waters of the North Atlantic—in real time—to recount how hundreds of people could have been rescued, but in the end, only a few outside of the meager lifeboats were saved. He then looks at the US Senate investigation in Washington, and ultimately, the British Board of Trade inquiry in London, where the actions of each captain are probed, questioned, and judged, until the truth of what actually happened aboard the Titanic, the Carpathia, and the Californian is revealed.   “Powerful . . . very, very well-done.” —New York Times–bestselling author Clive Cussler

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  My Good Life in France - In...

  Janine Marsh

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  One grey dismal day, Janine Marsh was on a trip to northern France to pick up some cheap wine. She returned to England a few hours later having put in an offer on a rundown old barn in the rural Seven Valleys area of Pas de Calais. This was not something she'd expected or planned for. 
  Janine eventually gave up her job in London to move with her husband to live the good life in France. Or so she hoped. While getting to grips with the locals and la vie Française, and renovating her dilapidated new house, a building lacking the comforts of mains drainage, heating, or proper rooms, and with little money and less of a clue, she started to realize there was lot more to her new home than she could ever have imagined. Ten years ago, Janine Marsh decided to leave her corporate life behind to fix up a run-down barn in northern France. This is the true story of her rollercoaster ride, in many ways a love story, with her sharp observations on the very different way of life, culture, and etiquette of France. 
  From her early struggles and homesickness through personal tragedy, to her attempts to become self-sufficient and to breed "the fattest chickens in the village," Janine learned that there was more to her new home than she could ever have imagined.

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