Editorial: Free Spirit
Authors from USA and Canada come together, in a collection of short stories themed around the popular phrase - Speak of the Devil. Enjoy this book with an open heart and mind to see a new realm unknown to you, thus far.
A Waterstones Best History Book of the Year The bestselling history of the North of England as told through the lives of its inhabitants. ‘Entertaining’ The Times ‘Definitive’ The Mirror ‘Highly readable’ Financial Times A work of unrivalled scale and ambition, Northerners is the defining biography of northern England. This authoritative new history of place and people lays out the dramatic events that created the north – waves of migration, invasions and battles, and transformative changes wrought on European culture and the global economy. In a sweeping narrative that takes us from the earliest times to the present day, the book shows that the people of the north have shaped Britain and the world in unexpected ways. At least six Roman emperors ruled from York. The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria was Europe’s leading cultural and intellectual centre. Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes, deserves to be as famous as Boudica. Neanderthals and Vikings, Central European Jews, African-Caribbeans and South Asians, have all played their part in the making and remaking of the north. Northern writers, activists, artists and comedians are celebrated the world over, from Wordsworth, the Brontes and Gaskell to LS Lowry, Emmeline Pankhurst and Peter Kay. St Oswald and Bede shaped the spiritual and cultural landscapes of Britain and Europe, and the world was revolutionised by the inventions of Richard Arkwright and the Stephensons. The north has exported some of sport’s biggest names and defined the sound of generations, from the Beatles to Britpop. Northerners also shows convincingly how the past echoes down the centuries. The devastation of factory and pit closures in the 1980s, for example, recalled the trauma of William the Conqueror’s Harrying of the North. The book charts how the north-south divide has ebbed and flowed and explores the very real divisions between northerners, such as the rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire. Finally, Brian Groom explores what northernness means today and the crucial role the north can play in Britain’s future. As new forces threaten the fabric of the UK again, this landmark book could scarcely be more timely. This historical masterpiece by Brian Groom is a top pick for those who appreciate a deep dive into the social fabric of northern England. It's not just an autobiography of a region, but a travel through time, revealing the popular narratives and untold stories that have shaped its identity. For fans of Rick Broadbent (Jessica Ennis), Tom Holland (The Rest is History), Simon Jenkins (The Celts), Andy Burnham (Head North), and Ian Mortimer (Medieval Horizons). HarperCollins 2022Ver libro
What do George Whitefield, Elisabeth Elliot, and J. Gresham Machen have in common? They were all Evangelical Heroes. In the Evangelical Heroes series, Joel Beeke and Douglas Bond present thirty biographical sketches of faithful evangelical leaders from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. From George Whitfield to Charles Spurgeon to R.C. Sproul, these men and women held firm to the authority of Scripture and the reality of Christ's death and resurrection in the face of rising liberalism in the Church. These inspiring volumes introduce us to faithful Christians from the past and encourage us to stand firm today!Ver libro
Read by the author. What fears are standing in your way or holding you back? How do you want to become stronger? Olympic and World champion hurdler Sydney McLaughlin wants to help you answer these questions as she shares her personal story of struggles and victories, of faith and transformation. Sydney McLaughlin knows about facing down obstacles. She has mastered not only racing over hurdles on the track but also tackling challenges in her personal life—from lifelong battles with perfectionism and anxiety to persistent questions about her identity and whether she was "enough." Her pursuit of perfection and people-pleasing continued for years until God broke into her story with his overwhelming grace, transforming love, and empowering truth. In Far Beyond Gold, Sydney will share aspects of her life story and personhood she has never shared publicly before, offering a more complex picture of who she is. She will inspire you to:Conquer your fears in Christ's strengthStand strong in your identity in himPush past your perceived limitsOvercome the challenges you're facing Experience the story of a woman who shifted from anxiety to boldness, from limits to freedom, and from perfectionism to purpose—and now shows the world that often what we think is impossible is possible with God.Ver libro
A brilliant, idiosyncratic collection of introductions and afterwords (plus some liner notes) by New York Times bestselling and Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon—“one of contemporary literature’s most gifted prose stylists” (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times). In Bookends, Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon offers a compilation of pieces about literature—age-old classics as well as his own—that presents a unique look into his literary origins and influences, the books that shaped his taste and formed his ideas about writing and reading. Chabon asks why anyone would write an introduction, or for that matter, read one. His own daughter Rose prefers to skip them. Chabon's answer is simple and simultaneously profound: ""a hope of bringing pleasure for the reader."" Likewise, afterwords—they are all about shared pleasure, about the ""pure love"" of a work of art that has inspired, awakened, transformed the reader. Ultimately, this thought-provoking compendium is a series of love letters and thank-you notes, unified by the simple theme of the shared pleasure of discovery, whether it's the boyhood revelation of the most important story in Chabon's life (Ray Bradbury's ""The Rocket Man""); a celebration of ""the greatest literary cartographer of the planet Mars"" (Edgar Rice Burroughs, with his character John Carter); a reintroduction to a forgotten master of ghost stories (M. R. James, ironically ""the happiest of men""); the recognition that the worlds of Wes Anderson's films are reassembled scale models of our own broken reality (as is all art); Chabon's own rude awakening from the muse as he writes his debut novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh; or a playful parody of lyrical interpretation in the liner notes for Mark Ronson's Uptown Special, the true purpose of which, Chabon insists, is to ""spread the gospel of sensible automotive safety and maintenance practices."" Galaxies away from academic or didactic, Bookends celebrates wonder—and like the copy of The Phantom Tollbooth handed to young Michael by a friend of his father he never saw again—it is a treasured gift.Ver libro
On the morning of 16 December 1944, a monumental German force of six hundred thousand men crashed into the Allied lines in the snowbound hills of the Belgian Ardennes. Why were Allied forces so surprised by this counterattack? And why have the German sabotage and deception operations that disrupted supply lines and outwitted Allied intelligence been so overlooked by historians? Through interviews with three key German officers undertaken shortly after the end of the war, Charles Whiting examines the Battle of the Bulge from a new perspective. Hermann Giskes, a German Army counterintelligence officer, sheds light on his activities directing spies and saboteurs. Paratrooper Freiherr von der Heydte tells how his men were blown over great distances but managed to engage and tie down thousands of Allied troops who thought Nazi paratroopers were landing everywhere. And SS commando leader Otto Skorzeny recounts how he led a handful of special forces, wearing US uniforms and driving US equipment, behind enemy lines to wreak havoc. Ardennes: The Secret War exposes the weaknesses of Allied intelligence and shows how, even when it seemed that the war would be over by Christmas, the Germans nearly turned defeat into victory.Ver libro
'As Dr Eger would say, "you cannot heal what you do not feel." We applaud Breda for having the courage to face her past so that all of us who read this book will connect to our own purpose and story.' Jordan Engle, grandson of Edith Eger, author of The Choice Breda O'Toole's early life was marked by abandonment. When she sought help, she entered a mental health system that continued the pattern – misdiagnosing her, medicating her into silence, binding her in a straitjacket for 11 days and subjecting her to 29 rounds of electroconvulsive therapy. Refusing to be defined by the failures of the system, Breda fought to reclaim her health, her voice and her life. Through courage, determination and a relentless search for dignity, she uncovered a sense of self that had long been buried. Unseen is the story of a mental health system that too often ignored the human being at its heart. More so, it is the story of the fierce capacity of the human spirit to heal when we are safely allowed to reveal and feel our pain so that we can move forward with hope. 'When a dysfunctional system adds trauma to the already traumatised, it takes a powerful person to overcome it and thrive. Breda O'Toole is a shining example to us all of the courage of the human heart.' Fiona Brennan, author of The Positive HabitVer libro
