Other books that might interest you

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  BULLSH!T - 50 Fibs That Made...

  Jonathan Ancer

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  An outrageous miscellany of serious and light-hearted lies, myths, untruths, fibs and fabrications that tells the tall tale of South Africa. 
    
  The fibs come thick and fast, like a burst sewerage pipe:Why everything we’ve learnt about Shaka Zulu, ‘Africa’s Napoleon’, is a pack of lies.Back in the darkest of ages (the 1970s!), citizens were told that there were satanic messages if you played some of The Beatles songs backwards.National icon Hansie Cronje was a paragon of virtue, and integrity … until he wasn’t.President Nelson Mandela told us that we, as a nation, were ‘special’. Turns out we aren’t. 
    
  Whether a fabulous fib, an artful con, a doctor’s spin, or simply a bald-faced lie, there’s something for everyone.

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  Anunnaki Lands in the Ancient...

  Faruq Zamani

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  There were talented and dexterous people living in what is now southern Iraq during the time of Sumer. Humankind's first known civilization arose in the fertile plain irrigated by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers some 6,000 years ago "suddenly," "unexpectedly," and "with stunning abruptness," according to researchers.  
  It was a society to which we owe virtually every 'First' of what we consider essential to an advanced society:  
  For example, the wheel and wheeled transportation; brick, which made (and still makes) high-rise buildings; furnaces and kilns, which are vital to industries from baking to metallurgy. 
   In Sumer, astronomy, mathematics, cities and urban societies, kingships and laws, temples and priesthoods, calendars, festivals, recipes, art, artifacts, and, above all, writing and record-keeping are all firsts. They were the first to record and describe past events and tell tales of their gods through artful statues and statuettes depicted in a devotional stance. 
  Many landmarks along the road that brought ancient Sumer from complete obscurity to awe-inspiring appreciation of its grandeur bear the names of scholars who made the journey possible. We will mention some of those who worked at the various sites. Many others have assembled and classified fragmented artifacts over the last century and a half of Mesopotamian archaeology to list them all. We now know all this thanks to archaeology and decipherment of ancient languages during the past century and a half. 
  Epigraphers also worked in crowded museums and libraries to turn clay tablets inscribed with odd 'cuneates' into readable cultural, academic, and historical treasures by converting their persistence, devotion, and abilities. 

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  Bomb Season in Jakarta

  Grant Dooley

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  In the history of Australian diplomacy, the Jakarta post between 2004 and 2007 looms larger than any other. 
   
   In the span of just a few years, a terrorist bomb attack partially destroyed the Embassy compound, killing eleven; the Boxing Day tsunami wreaked havoc on an almost incomprehensible scale; a bombing in Bali killed twenty, including four Australians; Schapelle Corby divided public opinion; members of the Bali Nine were executed; and a Garuda flight crashed and exploded in Yogyakarta, killing twenty, including members of the Australian diplomatic corps. 
   
  Not only did Grant Dooley bear witness to these events, but he was also a first responder in the Embassy bombing and plane crash. And when he wasn't dealing with emergencies and constant terror threats, he had to delicately manage the nation's political leaders, from Alexander Downer to John Howard to Bronwyn Bishop. Somehow, Grant and his wife, Kristan, who worked on the consular staff, kept it all together for themselves and their young family. Or did they? 
   
  Bomb Season in Jakarta is an incredible up close and personal account of an unparalleled period in Australian diplomacy.

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  The Queen and Prince Philip -...

  Helen Cathcart

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  Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip enjoyed seventy-three years of happy married life together—the longest marriage of any royal British couple in history. But how did they meet? What did their families think of their burgeoning relationship? What obstacles did the young couple face before and after their marriage? And how did a childhood friendship grow into the love story of the century? 
   
   
   
  In The Queen and Prince Philip royal biographer Helen Cathcart superbly reconstructs the early years of Elizabeth and Philip's relationship, tracing their growing affection from the summer of 1939, when "Lilibet" was a teenager and Philip a dashing navy cadet, through their wartime courtship and magnificent wedding in 1947 at Westminster Abbey. She narrates their adjustment to new parenthood in Clarence House and how, shortly afterwards, both their lives changed forever when Elizabeth ascended the throne as Queen in 1952 and Philip became Prince Consort. 
   
   
   
  Set against a revealing background of family and wider social events, this is the first full story of their early years together as husband and wife documented from family letters, royal journals, and the personal recollections of those close to the royal couple. The Queen and Prince Philip takes us behind the scenes of one of the most romantic royal love stories of all time.

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  Women of Ancient Mesopotamia -...

  Layla Gupta

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  In Ancient Mesopotamia, women in positions of royalty wielded significant power and influence, though their roles were often intertwined with the male-dominated political and religious systems. These women were not only important figures within their families and courts but also held sway over matters of governance, culture, and religion. The Mesopotamian concept of royalty was complex, encompassing both divine authority and political responsibility, and women in royal families were frequently called upon to uphold and represent these ideals. 
  One of the most prominent ways in which women in Mesopotamian royalty exercised their power was through marriage alliances. Royal women were often married to powerful kings or high-ranking officials, and these unions were strategically arranged to secure political stability, territorial expansion, and alliances between city-states. While the majority of these marriages were political in nature, some royal women were able to carve out roles of personal power and influence. For instance, Queen Shub-Ad, who ruled the Sumerian city-state of Ur, is believed to have held a direct and significant role in political decision-making during her reign. Her involvement in military campaigns, the construction of monumental architecture, and religious rituals showcases the multifaceted nature of female royal authority. 
  In addition to their marriages, royal women in Mesopotamia often took on important religious roles. Many queens and princesses served as high priestesses, a position that not only gave them spiritual authority but also political power. Priestesses were central figures in the worship of the gods, and as such, they were deeply connected to the divine. Enheduanna, the daughter of the Akkadian king Sargon, is one of the most well-known royal women from Mesopotamian history.

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  Goodbye Christopher Robin - A A...

  Ann Thwaite, Frank Cottrell-Boyce

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  Goodbye Christopher Robin: A.A. Milne and the Making of Winnie-the-Pooh is drawn from Ann Thwaite's Whitbread Award-winning biography of A. A. Milne, one of England's most successful writers. 
   
   
   
  After serving in the First World War, Milne wrote a number of well-received plays, but his greatest triumph came when he created Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and, of course, Christopher Robin, the adventurous little boy based on his own son. Goodbye Christopher Robin inspired the film directed by Simon Curtis and starring Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, and Kelly Macdonald. It offers the listener a glimpse into the relationship between Milne and the real-life Christopher Robin, whose toys inspired the magical world of the Hundred Acre Wood. 
   
   
   
  Goodbye Christopher Robin is a story of celebrity, a story of both the joys and pains of success, and, ultimately, the story of how one man created a series of enchanting tales that brought hope and comfort to an England ravaged by the First World War.

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