Other books that might interest you

• 

  A Promise Kept - Honoring His...

  Erica Baccus

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  When Erica met John Baccus, it was the beginning of a love story that would span 41 unforgettable years-full of laughter, devotion, adventure, and quiet moments that stitched their souls together. Erica was the outgoing wife that wanted to travel the world and John was the supportive husband that never told her no. So when John was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and the choice came along, he asked Erica if she would help him end his life, and of course, her answer was yes. 
  In this deeply moving memoir, Erica Baccus invites readers into their intimate journey-through the beauty of their shared life, the heartbreak of decline, and the courageous choice John made to say goodbye on his own terms through assisted suicide. 
  A Promise Kept is more than a story of loss-it's a powerful testament to enduring love, dignity, and the strength it takes to honor a partner's final wish. With honesty and grace, Erica shows that even in the hardest moments, there is light, hope, and a different kind of happy ending. 
  This is their story.

  Show book

• 

  The Chinese Great Leap Forward...

  Sarah Willards

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The origins of the Great Leap Forward are deeply rooted in the political ambition and ideological vision of Mao Zedong, the founding leader of the People’s Republic of China. Following the success of the Communist revolution in 1949, Mao sought not only to rebuild a war-torn nation but to rapidly transform it into a socialist utopia capable of rivaling the industrial powers of the West. By the mid-1950s, China had already launched its First Five-Year Plan, modeled after the Soviet approach to centralized economic planning. Encouraged by early gains in heavy industry, Mao envisioned a second phase of development that would leap over traditional stages of economic growth. 
  At the heart of this vision was a push for mass mobilization. Mao believed that the sheer size of China's population could be harnessed as a revolutionary force capable of achieving miraculous feats. The Great Leap Forward, initiated in 1958, was designed to propel China into a modern communist society by emphasizing agricultural collectivization and rural industrialization simultaneously. Rather than relying on expert knowledge or slow-paced industrial planning, Mao favored decentralized enthusiasm and ideological commitment, trusting that the collective will of the people would overcome any technical limitations. 
  One of the most radical elements of this plan was the establishment of people’s communes, which replaced the traditional family unit and private farming with large-scale collective labor. Households were merged into communes comprising thousands of individuals, who would eat, sleep, and work under strict communal arrangements. The idea was to increase efficiency and free up labor for industrial production, especially in rural areas where backyard furnaces were set up to produce steel. This was accompanied by an aggressive campaign to eliminate what were seen as capitalist tendencies, including private plots and individual incentives.

  Show book

• 

  Fading Voices - From their pens...

  Boleslaw Prus

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Aleksander Głowacki who wrote under the nom de plume Boleslaw Prus was born on 20th August 1847 at Hrubieszów in the Kingdom of Poland, at that time, controlled by the Russian Empire. 
  At three his mother died and then at nine his father.  Female relatives helped raise him but at 15 he joined the Polish uprising against the might of Imperial Russia.  Wounded on the battlefield, arrested and imprisoned, he was later released into the care of a relative and resumed secondary school and then Warsaw University but poverty forced him to leave after two years.  At some point he developed agoraphobia which often caused problems. 
  In 1869, he enrolled in the Forestry Department at Puławy but was soon sacked and so he began a system of self-education that led to work as a newspaper columnist on a wide-ranging series of topics that eventually became the ‘Weekly Chronicles’ and spanned 40 years. 
  With his finances now stabilized he married and then adopted his late brother-in-law’s son.  
  It seems he had doubts as to the scale of his talents and early on adopted the name ‘Boleslaw Prus’ for both his journalistic and literary offerings. 
  His work as a short-story writer met with much acclaim. He wrote several dozen of them, originally published in newspapers and ranging in length from micro-story to novella. His keen observation of everyday life and sense of humor are evident in them.  
  During his career he also wrote novels. After ‘Pharoah’, in 1895, he embarked on a four-month journey taking in Berlin, Dresden, Nuremberg, Rapperswil in Switzerland, where he stayed for two months, and his final destination, Paris.  Here his agoraphobia was so bad he couldn’t cross the Seine.  
  However, his writing continued and in 1911 his novel ‘Changes’, though uncompleted, began to be serialised.  It was never finished. 
  Boleslaw Prus died on 19th May 1912, at his Warsaw apartment.  He was 64.  A National Hero, thousands attended both his funeral service and interment.

  Show book

• 

  Encampment - Resistance Grace...

  Maggie Helwig

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  We think, maybe, that homelessness is some kind of stable state, like being housed except without housing. Without really considering it, most people do imagine that people who are homeless live in, if not one place, at least in one condition, that their days are in some way predictable. But homelessness is, more than anything else, a life of constant displacement.
  		 
  The housing crisis plaguing major urban centres has sent countless people into the streets. In spring 2022, some of them found their way to the yard beside the Anglican church in Toronto’s Kensington Market, where Maggie Helwig is the priest. They pitched tents, formed an encampment, and settled in. Known as an outspoken social justice activist, Helwig has spent the last three years getting to know the residents and fighting tooth and nail to allow them to stay, battling various authorities that want to clear the yard and keep the results of the housing crisis out of sight and out of mind.
  		 
  Encampment tells the story of Helwig’s life-long activism as preparation for her fight to keep her churchyard open to people needing a home. More importantly, it introduces us to the Artist, to Jeff, and to Robin: their lives, their challenges, their humanity. It confronts our society’s callousness in allowing so many to go unhoused and demands, by bringing their stories to the fore, that we begin to respond with compassion and grace.

  Show book

• 

  David Livingstone - Africa's...

  Janet Benge, Geoff Benge

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The lion's jaws gripped David Livingstone's arm. Razor-sharp teeth pierced his flesh as the lion savagely shook David in the air like a rag doll. A gunshot rang out. "God help us," David moaned, as the lion dropped him and turned to charge David's friend Mebalwe. With the heart of an explorer and the passion of an evangelist, David Livingstone mapped vast, unexplored areas of Africa, sharing the gospel with whomever he encountered. His stamina, perserverance, and dogged determination created the legacy of a trailblazing explorer with an undying hunger to make Christ known wherever his steps led him. David Livingstone's captivating adventures and tireless zeal continue to inspire countless men and women to bring the gospel message of God's love to those souls who have never heard.

  Show book

• 

  Dream Danger Destiny - A Life's...

  E. Stjerne

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Hope decides to leave her old life behind, when contraints and unfulfilled dream make her life unbearable. She follows her childhood dream of travelling around the world that she envisioned together with her grandfather. Although discouraged by family and friends she is determined to live out her dream. Follow Hope on her two-year adventure travelling to different location's like, the Pacific Island's, Australia and the strangest of all places, LA. When Hope later arrives in Latin America, life really becomes complicated. She faces unimaginable trials, fights off both murderers and mobsters and finally conquers all her fears while learning how to mentally become stronger than she ever imagined possible. She learns never to lose hope, and to live by faith. Hope's adventures will not leave you unaffected but show you how to live life to the fulllest.

  Show book