Autobiography/Bio/Non-Fiction

//Autobiography/Bio/Non-Fiction
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  • Fifteen years on the city streets -and  Wezzo survived. Will is the story of Wezzo and Geoff, two school friends with the world at their feet, whose choices lead them down vastly different paths. Later, their worlds collide and once again they become uniquely linked. All of us make choices. But what happens when our choices plunge us into despair? What can we do? Who do we turn to? Wezzo's choices leave him homeless on the city streets of Newcastle, Australia, while Geoff's choices trap him in a maze of diabolical white-collar corruption. Yet they'd both started out full of hopes and dreams. Will is about triumph in the midst of tragedy, love lost, purpose found; the strongest of families torn apart then re-created in the most unlikely place. In a world hobbled with epidemic homelessness, Will portrays 'streeties'   as gifted individuals who deserve another chance, rather than as shameful failures. Will contrasts the victims and the victors, the hopeless and the hopeful, a challenge not only to think about destiny - but to resolve it. And the ending...?  It's definitely a surprise...

  • This biography of William of Orange and Mary Stuart was published to mark the 300th anniversary of the Glorious Revolution - the accession to the throne of William of Orange, a Dutch soldier-prince and Mary Stuart, daughter of the deposed Catholic King James II. Their ascendancy to the throne in 1688 heralded the beginning of an epoch of immense achievement and an English monarchy that overshadowed every European ruler other than Louis XIV of France as well as the confirmation of the powers of Parliament - the era became known as the Glorious Revolution. Illustrated.
  • Somerset Maugham -  husband, father, bi-sexual; homosexual; playwright, author, thorough-going agnostic and - spy, recruited to the network of British agents who operated against the Berlin Committee during World War 1. Published in 1937, the aim of this book - which, according to the author, makes no attempt to be biographical in the strict sense - is to trace the developments of Maugham's style, technique and choice of subject matter in his novels, plays and short stories. There is also speculation of the the thought and philosophy of which Maugham's work is his eloquent expression.
  • On May 27, 1940, Wing-Commander Basil Embry (later Air Chief Marshal and Commander, Allied Air Forces in Central Europe 1953-56), although appointed to a higher command, decided to lead his old squadron into battle for the last time. Within the hour he was shot down in France and found himself alone, unarmed and in uniform. Capture was inevitable. He was, in fact, captured three times: on one occasion breaking from a column of prisoners under the muzzle of a German machine-gun and on another fighting his way out, killing three Germans with a stolen rifle and then hiding in a manure heap for nearly six hours. The most amazing of all of Embry's exploits was the occasion on which, in the role of a fanatical member of the Irish Republican Army, he shook his fist under the nose of a German inquisitor, yelling hatred and abuse of Britain until his captors finally turned him loose to find his own way home - which, by sheer courage and wit, he did, to fight and fly again. He was awarded the D.S.O. and three bars; and the D.F.C.
  • The period of persecution and execution of so-called witches is a venomous chapter of Western civilisation.  The hunt extended from the Middle Ages into the early modern era, and from the Old World to the New.  Although efforts have been made to understand this hysterical mass murder, many disturbing aspects are still shrouded in mystery.  The participation of small children and adolescents, whether as the accused or as accusers, is crucial.  Dr. Sebald examines a number of historic witch trials, including the infamous events at Salem, in England, Sweden, Austria and Germany.
  • The story of the greatest exploratory expedition ever performed in Man's history. It started in Melbourne; a convoy of sixteen men, twenty-four camels, innumerable pack-horses and a number of wagons carrying 20 tons of supplies. It ended with two exhausted, near-starving men, the leader and his second in command, deep in an impenetrable mangrove swamp on the edge of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Then began the long return trek, through swamp and desert, tormented by thirst and near starvation that reduced them to eating snakes and rats.   Illustrated with sketches and photographs..
  • Russell started his newspaper career with the Newcastle Chronicle before joining the Daily Express when it was launched by Arthur Pearson in 1900. He eventually moved to the Reuters News Agency where he became a special foreign correspondent. After covering the Gallipoli campaign he became on of the five journalists selected by the government to report the war on the Western Front. Over 1921 and 1922 he accompanied the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII, on a tour of Japan and India, writing during the course of the journey, which was, 'by no means conducive to quiet composition...'  Illustrated with black and white archival photographs.
  • Many have lived through what Eugenia Ginzberg (1906 - 1977) survived, yet very few can narrate it and fewer still could write about. Eugenia survived - physically, morally and spiritually - Kolyma in Siberia, the worst province of Stalin's empire after being falsely accused of terrorism in 1937. She spent two years in the infamous Lefortovo and Butyrka prisons in Moscow before being transported via prison train and cargo hold to Magadan to work in a camp hospital and thence to Kolyma.   She was repeatedly snatched from extinction by assignments to inside work - in hospitals, nurseries, kitchens, farms - all of which, with their hapless inmates and all-powerful supervisors, she describes in vivid detail,   never losing interest in her interest in  human nature or her skills at observation. In this grim place, she met her future husband - Anton Walter, a German Catholic homeopathic physician - and convicts were not permitted to form 'attachments'.  She would spend 18 years in exile...
  • A secular bible history that examines the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalen, Eve, Sarah, Lot’s wife, Potiphar’s wife, Ruth, Delilah, the ‘witch' of Endor as well as Herodias and Jezebel, written in such a way as to throw clarity, insight and understanding of their roles and contributions to the kingdom.
  • The colourful and exciting story of Australian aviation and the men who chanced their lives in the primitive 'box kites' and gliders that were literally made from wood, wire and fabric. Thanks to these men, it was not long before Australia was brought nearer to the rest of the world by spanning oceans and continents.  With fabulous archival photographs.
  • Whether you're an up-and-coming manager full of ambition and ideas, or an independent entrepreneur with big dreams of your own, you need to master the art of the perfect pitch. Why? It's your one opportunity to present yourself to potential clients or employers- your one chance to make a positive first impression, sell your personal vision, and, ultimately, close the deal. And sometimes, you only have three minutes to do it. Ricardo Bellino is the young Brazilian entrepreneur who - in just three minutes - convinced Donald Trump to back his luxury golf resort, initiating a multi-million-dollar business deal that would eventually become Trump Realty Brazil, the organization's first international enterprise. Bellino shares everything you need to know to pitch your ideas and get real results-even with the toughest audience. He offers tried-and-true tips on the impact of the first impression, the power of intuition, and the importance of image and nonverbal behaviors. He shows you how to get your foot in the door and your deal on the table. In no time at all, you'll master the essential people skills that will turn ideas into offers and dreams into reality. As an aside...this is a book that may not have aged particularly well. However, Bellino reportedly sold his shares in Trump Realty Brazil in 2021 and moved to Miami, to pursue his next project: Chief Entrepreneur and Dealmaker at Bellino’s Unlimited and Founder of School of Life Academy. He appears to have no Trumpian connections these days.  
  • 'How could they tell?' inquired Dorothy Parker when it was announced that president Coolidge had died. Her serpent tongue was notorious in the age of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway. gay, attractive, crackling with talent, Dorothy Parker starred in the most famous literary circle of the day. In verse, in New Yorker reviews, in lightning wisecracks, she  cut everyone down to her own five feet. This is a recapturing of the extraordinary woman who lived and drank in splendour, loved in snatches, practised suicide and died alone in squalor.  Beyond the wit abd glitter, the story is sad yet brave.
  • A charming account of life in Australia in the 1920s and 1930s, the recollections of a girl, the child of Yorkshire parents, who saw the world with a wry sense of humour and an irrepressible vitality.  This was a time when children were shushed  if they asked awkward questions and were encouraged to emulate the feminine in all things - an ideal too restrictive for a girl with a vivid imagination and a strong sense of self. 'We had art once a week and although I loved drawing, the lessons were so unimaginative I hated them. The teacher gave out books of rough dark paper and thick coloured chalks. Every drawing had to be exactly the same. A landscape was a line of dark blue hills across the middle of the paper ("Roslyn Downes, your hills are too high"), a straight road in bright brick red ("Stop winding that road!"), a tree and some grass ("A haystack? What on earth do you think you're doing?") It's no wonder that Taylor went on to write the quintessential rebellion poem  Please Don't Ask Me To Your Tupperware Party Sharleen.
  • Florenz Ziegfeld was without question the most flamboyant showman the American theatre has produced. His glorification of the American girl in glittering glamorous settings packed theatres for years and made him a legend in his own time.  Higham's exploration of the life and loves of Florenz Ziegfeld show the man backstage - the demonic, driving, ruthless but utterly charming genius who private life was as agonising as his public life was dazzling. The son of the founder of the Chicago Musical College, Ziegfeld broke with family tradition early and launched his career as an extraordinary showman in 1893. Sent to Europe by his father to book classical music ensembles, he instead imported vaudeville acts, the most notable being Eugene Sandow, the famous strong-man, whose nationwide tour launched Ziegfeld's career, which reached its pinnacle with the lavish revue the Ziegfeld Follies, which enthralled audiences for over two decades. His extraordinary 'fake marriage'  to Anna Held, his tempestuous romance with ravishing showgirl Lillian Lorraine, his marriage to Billie Burke and affair with Marilyn Miller are all highlighted, as his is move to musical comedy, producing memorable Broadway shows such as Kid Boots, Show Boat and Whoopee. Based on interviews with almost every living person who knew or worked with Ziegfeld: his daughter; his private secretary Goldie; and the stars who passed ascross the stage of Ziegfeld's life.  Illustrated with black and white photographs.