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A Plot to Kill: The notorious killing of Peter Farquhar, a story of deception and betrayal that shocked a quiet English town
by David Wilson'[A] real-life Midsomer Murder ... it's chilling, but [David Wilson's] explanation of how a psychopath thinks is masterly' The TimesThe shocking story of the murder of Peter Farquhar and the churchwarden who groomed and betrayed him, from the UK's leading criminologist David WilsonTwo deaths.Three doors apart.An unsuspecting community about to realise there's a killer in their midst. In October 2015, Peter Farquhar was found dead in his house in Maids Moreton, lying on the sofa next to a bottle of whisky. An inquest was made, and Peter's death was quickly ruled an accident.But after the death of another elderly neighbour, the dreadful truth began to emerge: both victims had been groomed, seduced and mentally tortured by a young man, Benjamin Field, who had used his position of power in the community to target and exploit the elderly.He almost got away with it. Very little shocks criminologist David Wilson, but this extraordinary case in his sleepy hometown astounded him. Wilson felt duty-bound to follow its trail, discovering how his tightknit community failed to intervene, how a psychopath went undetected for years, and how Peter unwittingly supplied the blueprint for his own murder.A Plot to Kill is a chilling, gripping account of a callous murder in the heart of middle England, a fight for justice, and a revealing insight into the mind of a killer.
A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century: A Memoir
by Jane VandenburghBorn into "a certain kind of family"-affluent, white, Protestant-Jane Vandenburgh came of age when the sexual revolution was sweeping the cultural landscape, making its mark in a way that would change our manners and mores forever. But what began as an all-American life soon spun off and went spectacularly awry.Her father, an architect with a prominent Los Angeles firm, was arrested several times for being in gay bars during the 1950s, and only freed when her grandfather paid bribes to the L.A.P.D. He was ultimately placed in a psychiatric hospital to be "cured" of his homosexuality, and committed suicide when she was nine. Her mother-an artist and freethinker-lost custody of her children when she was committed to a mental hospital. The author and her two brothers were raised by an aunt and uncle who had, under one roof, seven children and problems of their own.In the midst of private trauma and loss, Vandenburgh delights in revealing larger truths about American culture and her life within it. Quirky, witty, and uncannily wise, A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century is a brilliant blend of memoir and cultural revelation.
A Pocketful of Goobers: A Story about George Washington Carver
by Barbara MitchellThere wasn't anything that George Washington Carver couldn't grow. He took the common goober--today's peanut--and created hundreds of useful products from it, turning goobers into a very profitable staple for the South. At the same time, this very special man passed on to everyone who knew him the importance of following one's own dreams.
A Pocketful of Happiness
by Richard E. Grant'A gorgeously candid account of acting and show business. And an intimate and heartfelt story of love, loss and a life spent together. It is an honour to be invited in on these diaries. I cannot remember being so moved by a book' Dolly Alderton 'Fascinating, funny and heart wrenching' Dame Julie Walters'An emotional rollercoaster - profoundly moving and wonderfully entertaining. A brilliant memoir about living, loving and losing' Bernardine Evaristo&‘One of the bravest, strongest, funniest memoirs I&’ve ever read&’ Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry An intimate and uplifting memoir by Richard E. Grant. Born in Swaziland in 1957, Richard E. Grant moved to the UK to pursue his acting career, and has been a fixture on our screens since his breakout role in Withnail and I in 1987. When his beloved wife Joan died in 2021 after almost forty years together, she set him a challenge: to find a pocketful of happiness in every day. The result is this book. Set between the present day and flashbacks to delightfully indiscreet diary entries recalling landmarks from his remarkable life and glittering career, this is an immensely personal and profound memoir that celebrates and cherishes life&’s unexpected joys. Funny, moving and perceptive, A Pocketful of Happiness is an insight into the life of a much loved British actor.
A Pocketful of Happiness: A Memoir
by Richard E. Grant&“One of the bravest, strongest, funniest memoirs I&’ve ever read.&” —Bonnie Garmus, New York Times bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry &“A moving and entertaining celebration of life and love." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) Academy Award–nominated actor Richard E. Grant&’s memoir about finding happiness in even the darkest of days.Richard E. Grant emigrated from Swaziland to London in 1982, with dreams of making it as an actor. Unexpectedly, he met and fell in love with a renowned dialect coach Joan Washington. Their relationship and marriage, navigating the highs and lows of Hollywood, parenthood, and loss, lasted almost forty years. When Joan died in 2021, her final challenge to him was to find a &“pocketful of happiness in every day.&” This honest and frequently hilarious memoir is written in honor of that challenge—Richard has faithfully kept a diary since childhood, and in these entries he shares raw detail of everything he has experienced: both the pain of losing his beloved wife, and the excitement of their life together, from the role that transformed his life overnight in Withnail and I to his thrilling Oscar Award nomination thirty years later for Can You Ever Forgive Me? Told with candor in Richard&’s utterly unique style, A Pocketful of Happiness is a powerful, funny, and moving celebration of life&’s unexpected joys.
A Pocketful of Holes and Dreams
by Jeff PearceThe poor boy who made his fortune . . . not just once but twice.Little Jeff Pearce grew up in a post-war Liverpool slum. His father lived the life of an affluent gentleman whilst his mother was forced to steal bread to feed her starving children. Life was tough and from the moment Jeff could walk he learned to go door to door, begging rags from the rich, which he sold down the markets. Leaving school at the age of fourteen, he embarked on an extraordinary journey, and found himself, before the age of thirty, a millionaire.Then, after a cruel twist of fate left him penniless, he, his wife and children were forced out of their beautiful home . . .With nothing but holes in his pockets, Jeff had no alternative but to go back down the markets and start all over again. Did he still have what it took? Could he really get back everything he had lost?A Pocketful of Holes and Dreams is the heartwarming true story of a little boy who had nothing but gained everything and proof that, sometimes, rags can be turned into riches . . .______________'An inspirational tale of hard work and determination' 5* Reader review 'I just loved this book from the first chapter - I was gripped' 5* Reader review
A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of The Snowy Day
by Rosemary Wells Andrea Davis Pinkney Steve Johnson Lou Fancher<p>A celebration of the extraordinary life of Ezra Jack Keats, creator of The Snowy Day. <p>The story of The Snowy Day begins more than one hundred years ago, when Ezra Jack Keats was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. The family were struggling Polish immigrants, and despite Keats's obvious talent, his father worried that Ezra's dream of being an artist was an unrealistic one. But Ezra was determined. By high school he was winning prizes and scholarships. Later, jobs followed with the WPA and Marvel comics. But it was many years before Keats's greatest dream was realized and he had the opportunity to write and illustrate his own book. <p>For more than two decades, Ezra had kept pinned to his wall a series of photographs of an adorable African American child. In Keats's hands, the boy morphed into Peter, a boy in a red snowsuit, out enjoying the pristine snow; the book became The Snowy Day, winner of the Caldecott Medal, the first mainstream book to feature an African American child. It was also the first of many books featuring Peter and the children of his -- and Keats's -- neighborhood. <p>Andrea Davis Pinkney's lyrical narrative tells the inspiring story of a boy who pursued a dream, and who, in turn, inspired generations of other dreamers.</p>
A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of The Snowy Day
by Andrea Davis PinkneyA celebration of the extraordinary life of Ezra Jack Keats, creator of The Snowy Day.The story of The Snowy Day begins more than one hundred years ago, when Ezra Jack Keats was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. The family were struggling Polish immigrants, and despite Keats&’s obvious talent, his father worried that Ezra&’s dream of being an artist was an unrealistic one. But Ezra was determined. By high school he was winning prizes and scholarships. Later, jobs followed with the WPA and Marvel comics. But it was many years before Keats&’s greatest dream was realized and he had the opportunity to write and illustrate his own book. For more than two decades, Ezra had kept pinned to his wall a series of photographs of an adorable African American child. In Keats&’s hands, the boy morphed into Peter, a boy in a red snowsuit, out enjoying the pristine snow; the book became The Snowy Day, winner of the Caldecott Medal, the first mainstream book to feature an African American child. It was also the first of many books featuring Peter and the children of his — and Keats&’s — neighborhood. Andrea Davis Pinkney&’s lyrical narrative tells the inspiring story of a boy who pursued a dream, and who, in turn, inspired generations of other dreamers.
A Poem to Courage
by Manohar DevadossA biographical novel is about personal misfortunes and about quiet courage. This book also shows that even in the face of oppressively cramping adversities, there is plenty of room for humour.
A Poet Of The Air; Letters Of Jack Morris Wright: First Lieutenant Of The American Aviation In France, April, 1917-January, 1918
by Jack Morris Wright Sara Greene Wise"THESE letters from my son, I gathered for publication just as they came, with the full joy and pride I had in receiving them, hoping to give to other boys something of his fine courage and spirit --- to other mothers comfort and hope, and to all readers the vivid, beautiful sketches of France, of War, of Idealism as he, "Poet of the Airs," has given me.Jack Wright, the author of these letters is an American boy of eighteen years, born in New York City. When a small child he was taken to France, where he remained until the outbreak of the war.He was educated entirely in French schools; his playmates were the children of the artists and poets of France. French was his language. This will explain his unique literary expression, the curious blend of French and English which, even to the formation of words, I have left entirely as he writes them, feeling therein a special charm.This will explain also his great love for France, the home of his childhood.Although but eighteen years old when he left to make the supreme sacrifice as one of the first American Volunteers, he had graduated with special honors from l'École Alsacienne at Paris and Andover in America, and entered Harvard University.Although only nine months in the war, he had won his commission as First Lieutenant Pilot-Aviator of the American Aviation.While joyously compiling these letters (having even confided my plan to him) the official telegram came that announced his last flight, January 24, 1918.
A Poet from the Plains (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Vocabulary Readers #Leveled Reader: Level: 4, Theme: 4)
by Patricia Ann LynchTells of the life of Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve who has written over 20 books--mostly about Native American life.
A Polar Affair: Antarctica's Forgotten Hero And The Secret Love Lives Of Penguins
by Lloyd Spencer DavisA captivating blend of true adventure and natural history by one of today’s leading penguin experts and Antarctic explorers. George Murray Levick was the physician on Robert Falcon Scott’s tragic Antarctic expedition of 1910. Marooned for an Antarctic winter, Levick passed the time by becoming the first man to study penguins up close. His findings were so shocking to Victorian morals that they were quickly suppressed and seemingly lost to history. A century later, Lloyd Spencer Davis rediscovers Levick and his findings during the course of his own scientific adventures in Antarctica. Levick’s long-suppressed manuscript reveals not only an incredible survival story, but one that will change our understanding of an entire species. A Polar Affair reveals the last untold tale from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. It is perhaps the greatest of all of those stories—but why was it hidden to begin with? The ever-fascinating and charming penguin holds the key. Moving deftly between both Levick’s and Davis’s explorations, observations, and comparisons in biology over the course of a century, A Polar Affair reveals cutting-edge findings about ornithology, in which the sex lives of penguins are the jumping-off point for major new insights into the underpinnings of evolutionary biology itself.
A Political Education
by Andre Schiffrin"Schiffrin evokes the bittersweet tang of émigré life in New York." --The New York Times Book Review André Schiffrin was born the son of one of France's most esteemed publishers, in a world peopled by some of the day's leading writers and intellectuals, such as André Gide, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. But this world was torn apart when the Nazis marched into Paris on young André's fifth birthday. Beginning with the family's dramatic escape to Casablanca--thanks to the help of the legendary Varian Fry--and eventually New York, A Political Education recounts the surprising twists and turns of a life that saw Schiffrin become, himself, one of the world's most respected publishers. Emerging from the émigré community of wartime New York (a community that included his father's friends Hannah Arendt and Helen and Kurt Wolff), he would go on to develop an insatiable appetite for literature and politics: heading a national student group he renamed the Students for a Democratic Society--the SDS . . . leading student groups at European conferences, once, as an unwitting front man for the CIA . . . and eventually being appointed by Random House chief Bennett Cerf to head the very imprint cofounded by his father--Pantheon. There, he would discover and publish some of the world's leading writers, including Noam Chomsky, Michel Foucault, Art Spiegelman, Studs Terkel, and Marguerite Duras. But in a move that would make headlines, Schiffrin would ultimately rebel at corporate ownership and form his own publishing house--The New Press--where he would go on to set a new standard for independent publishing. A Political Education is a fascinating intellectual memoir that tells not only the story of a unique and important figure, but of the tumultuous political times that shaped him.From the Hardcover edition.
A Political Education: A Washington Memoir
by Harry McPhersonThis classic political memoir offers an insider’s view of Washington in the ‘50s and ‘60s—with a preface by the author reflecting on the Clinton era.A Texas native, Harry McPherson went to Washington in 1956 as an assistant to Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson. He served in key posts under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, including as Johnson’s special counsel and speechwriter.In Political Education, McPherson offers a vividly evocative portrait of Johnson’s tumultuous presidency and of the conflicts and factions of the president's staff. Long regarded as a political classic, it is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand national politics of the period.In 1995, McPherson added a preface discussing how Washington had changed since the Johnson era. In it he suggests what lessons Bill Clinton could have learn from Johnson’s time in the Oval Office.
A Political Education: A Washington Memoir
by Harry McPhersonThis classic political memoir offers an insider’s view of Washington in the ‘50s and ‘60s—with a preface by the author reflecting on the Clinton era.A Texas native, Harry McPherson went to Washington in 1956 as an assistant to Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson. He served in key posts under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, including as Johnson’s special counsel and speechwriter.In Political Education, McPherson offers a vividly evocative portrait of Johnson’s tumultuous presidency and of the conflicts and factions of the president's staff. Long regarded as a political classic, it is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand national politics of the period.In 1995, McPherson added a preface discussing how Washington had changed since the Johnson era. In it he suggests what lessons Bill Clinton could have learn from Johnson’s time in the Oval Office.
A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It
by Mike GravelIn this candid portrait, former two-term senator from Alaska and 2008 presidential candidate Gravel expounds on his views of the military-industrial complex, the imperial presidency, postwar US foreign policy, and corporate America; critically assesses figures he worked with, such as Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy; and reveals the private life behind the public persona. When he isn't being actively silenced, Senator Gravel's voice is generally acknowledged to be the most refreshing and honest of all the 2008 presidential candidates.
A Political Romance: Léon Gambetta, Léonie Léon and the Making of the French Republic, 1872–82
by Susan K. Foley Charles SowerwineLéon Gambetta is renowned as a founder of the French Third Republic. This unique study of his correspondence with his lover, Léonie Léon, provides a fascinating insight into their intimate and political partnership. It brings to life Gambetta as lover and politician, the unknown figure of Léon, and the political and cultural world of 1870s Paris.
A Politically Incorrect Feminist: Creating a Movement with Bitches, Lunatics, Dykes, Prodigies, Warriors, and Wonder Women
by Phyllis CheslerA powerful and revealing memoir about the pioneers of modern-day feminismPhyllis Chesler was a pioneer of Second Wave Feminism. Chesler and the women who came out swinging between 1972-1975 integrated the want ads, brought class action lawsuits on behalf of economic discrimination, opened rape crisis lines and shelters for battered women, held marches and sit-ins for abortion and equal rights, famously took over offices and buildings, and pioneered high profile Speak-outs. They began the first-ever national and international public conversations about birth control and abortion, sexual harassment, violence against women, female orgasm, and a woman’s right to kill in self-defense. Now, Chesler has juicy stories to tell. The feminist movement has changed over the years, but Chesler knew some of its first pioneers, including Gloria Steinem, Kate Millett, Flo Kennedy, and Andrea Dworkin. These women were fierce forces of nature, smoldering figures of sin and soul, rock stars and action heroes in real life. Some had been viewed as whores, witches, and madwomen, but were changing the world and becoming major players in history. In A Politically Incorrect Feminist, Chesler gets chatty while introducing the reader to some of feminism's major players and world-changers.
A Pony in the Bedroom: A Journey through Asperger's, Assault, and Healing with Horses
by Liane Holliday Willey Susan DunneSusan Dunne's life changed forever when a chance question from a doctor led her back to horses, an unfulfilled childhood passion. Detached and isolated due to undiagnosed autism, Susan had already survived rape, battled eating disorders and self-harm, and spent time homeless, when her world was turned upside again by a vicious, life-threatening assault. Severe post-traumatic stress disorder left her feeling distrustful and more cut off than ever before from a world she saw as confusing and dangerous. But as Susan's connection with horses grew stronger, her world started to open up. Poignant and witty by turns, Susan shares her story of survival and transformation, offering a rare insight into her relationship with horses, and how they helped her to find a safe place in the world.
A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda
by Derek R. PetersonHow Africa’s most notorious tyrant made his oppressive regime seem both necessary and patriotic Idi Amin ruled Uganda between 1971 and 1979, inflicting tremendous violence on the people of the country. How did Amin’s regime survive for eight calamitous years? Drawing on recently uncovered archival material, Derek Peterson reconstructs the political logic of the era, focusing on the ordinary people—civil servants, curators and artists, businesspeople, patriots—who invested their energy and resources in making the government work. Peterson reveals how Amin (1928–2003) led ordinary people to see themselves as front-line soldiers in a global war against imperialism and colonial oppression. They worked tirelessly to ensure that government institutions kept functioning, even as resources dried up and political violence became pervasive. In this case study of how principled, talented, and patriotic people sacrificed themselves in service to a dictator, Peterson provides lessons for our own time.
A Portrait Of Leni Riefenstahl
by Audrey SalkeldLeni Riefenstahl will always be remembered for her brilliant film of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin - still rated as one of the best documentaries ever made. Before that she was acclaimed for her roles in silent feature films, when German cinema was in its artistic heyday in the 1920s. She pioneered the box office success of such classic mountaineering dramas as The White Hell of Piz Palu and then began to direct her own films. The Blue Light was admired by Hitler and led to her filming the Wagnerian Nuremberg Rally of 1934. After the war she was shunned by the film industry, despite a court in 1952 proclaiming her not guilty of supporting the Nazis in a punishable way. Her undoubted charisma led to many affairs and grandiose schemes - deep sea diving in her seventies and still filming wildlife in her nineties. Audrey Salkeld has sifted the fact from the legend and gives us a moving portrait of the great movie `star' who suffered more in the `wilderness' than her enduring fame suggests.
A Portrait of Joan: The Autobiography of Joan Crawford
by Joan CrawfordOne of Hollywood’s greatest stars recalls her fabulous life: at nine, scrubbing floors in a Kansas City school; at twenty, motion picture stardom and marriage to Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.; in 1945, the Academy Award for her sensational comeback-triumph in Mildred Pierce; and today, a glamorous “double life” as Hollywood star and corporation executive.Richly illustrated with photographs throughout.
A Portrait of Mendelssohn
by Clive BrownClive Brown draws a different picture of Felix Mendelssohn's personality and work.
A Portrait of an Idiot as a Young Man: Part memoir, part explanation as to why men are so rubbish
by Jon HolmesWhen Jon Holmes became a father (twice), he was asked to fill in a form detailing his family medical history. Except he couldn't, because he has no idea who his family are. Born to an unnamed, unmarried mother and an unknown father and given up for adoption at four weeks old, Jon decided to document his own history, so that one day he could pass it on to his children. It's a story of how boys grow up to become (stupid) men, of sexual misadventure, of being accidentally shot in the face, of spiders, a ghost, a fatally injured gerbil, American road trips that went wrong, becoming inadvertently locked in Graham Norton's toilet with an Oscar nominated screenwriter, being removed from Mrs Thatcher's vicinity by her security detail and having loving parents who did their best to bring up a child that wasn't theirs. Part memoir, part hilarious insight into why men are so inept, this is the true story of how an unwanted baby in the Midlands went on to become a wanted man in the state of Texas, and everything that happened in between.His children will never be allowed to read it.
A Portrait of an Idiot as a Young Man: Part memoir, part explanation as to why men are so rubbish
by Jon HolmesWhen Jon Holmes became a father (twice), he was asked to fill in a form detailing his family medical history. Except he couldn't, because he has no idea who his family are. Born to an unnamed, unmarried mother and an unknown father and given up for adoption at four weeks old, Jon decided to document his own history, so that one day he could pass it on to his children. It's a story of how boys grow up to become (stupid) men, of sexual misadventure, of being accidentally shot in the face, of spiders, a ghost, a fatally injured gerbil, American road trips that went wrong, becoming inadvertently locked in Graham Norton's toilet with an Oscar nominated screenwriter, being removed from Mrs Thatcher's vicinity by her security detail and having loving parents who did their best to bring up a child that wasn't theirs. Part memoir, part hilarious insight into why men are so inept, this is the true story of how an unwanted baby in the Midlands went on to become a wanted man in the state of Texas, and everything that happened in between.His children will never be allowed to read it.