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The loss of East Indiaman HCS `Halsewell' on the coast of Dorset in southern England in January 1786, touched the very heart of the British nation. `Halsewell' was just one of many hundreds of vessels which had been in the service of the Honourable East India Company since its foundation in the year 1600. In the normal course of events, `Halsewell' would have been expected to serve out her working life, before passing unnoticed into the history books. However, this was not to be. Halsewell's loss was an event of such pathos as to inspire the greatest writer of the age Charles Dickens, to put pen to paper; the greatest painter of the age J. M. W. Turner, to apply brush to canvas, and the King and Queen to pay homage at the very place where the catastrophe occurred. Artefacts from the wreck continue to be recovered to this very day which, and for variety, interest, curiosity, and exoticism, rival those recovered from Spanish armada galleons wrecked off the west coast of Ireland two centuries previously. Such artefacts shed further light both on `Halsewell' herself, and on the extraordinary lives of those who sailed in her.
Written by an authority on Adolf Hitler, this book charts new ground and shows how the writings of a deluded ex-monk, Lanz von Liebenfels and the pseudo-science of Liebenfels and other writers convinced Hitler that Germanys destiny was to save the world from a Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy. It was this perverted sense of destiny that drove the Nazi Party and led to the outbreak of the Second World War and the deaths of some sixty million people as well as the destruction of much of Europe. Using the writings of Liebenfels from his magazine Ostara, Dr Andrew Norman demonstrates how the mass murders of Jews, Gypsies, mentally-ill people and those regarded as less than human had its roots in articles written by Liebenfels. An index of Ostara articles is included and their very titles indicate the malign influences that shaped Hitler's Germany.
This is the story of Southern Rhodesia, from a time of its earliest known inhabitants, the Bushmen, to their displacement by the Bantu; the invasion by the Matabele under King Mzilikaze; the advent of the white missionaries; and the arrival of Cecil Rhodes and his Pioneer Column of early settlers, up to the time of independence in 1980. This is the romantic land of the high veld; of teeming game; of the great river Zambezi and the mighty Victoria Falls, and of enormous mineral wealth. This was the country that Robert Mugabe-its future leader-referred to as `the jewel of Africa'. And yet in this land of plenty, tensions in the mid-twentieth century were mounting between its black inhabitants and the whites, including those of British and Afrikaner stock: tensions which would one day boil over into a civil war in which Southern Rhodesia's neighbours would also become involved. The author has first-hand knowledge of the country, having arrived there with his parents in 1956. He describes what it was like to arrive in a British colony, in the last decades of the colonial era; the wonders of Wankie Game Reserve (now Hwange National Park); a schoolboy expedition to the Eastern Districts in search of the elusive `stone door ruin'; and a personal friendship which developed between himself and his family's black servant Timot, at a time of racial segregation.
The object of this book is not to prove that Adolf Hitler was insane. So much is obvious, both intuitively and from a clinical perspective. Nevertheless the reasons for arriving at such a conclusion will be reiterated and enlarged upon. Instead, the aim of the author is to discover what light Hitler's associates were able to shed on the personality and modus operandi of the Fuhrer, and to determine the extent to which they (and indeed, Hitler himself) realized that their leader was insane. The aim is also to investigate the cause of his insanity. In this regard, the testimony of the leading Nazis, who were tried for war crimes at Nuremberg during 1945 and 1946, are of particular relevance. These captured Nazis surely realized that in all probability, they would be found guilty, and their lives would terminate at the end of a rope. Surely, therefore, they had nothing to lose by giving the `low down' on their late Fuhrer, i.e. revealing their innermost thoughts as to his sanity, or otherwise.
The world continues to be fascinated with Marilyn Monroe who dazzled with her beauty and captivated the hearts of millions, worldwide, with her innocence, charm, generosity, and kindness, and yet, who died tragically at the age of only 36. Hollywood columnist, film critic, and author of `The Fifty Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood', Ezra Goodman, writing in 1961, the year prior to her death, declared, `The riddle that is Marilyn Monroe has not been solved'. Aside from the fact that Marilyn's so-called autobiography cannot be relied upon, making sense of her is certainly problematical, not least because in her early years, she was insecure and introspective, and unable even to make sense of herself. There has been much debate, in particular, about the frame of mind that Marilyn was in when, on the night of 5 August 1962, she knowingly or unknowingly took her own life. With his medical background, the author is in a position to shed new light on the enigmatic character of Marilyn Monroe, this fascinating, yet deeply troubled, former Hollywood icon who is regarded, arguably, as the world's most famous ever movie star.
This is the story, in words and pictures, of Blind Veterans UK, an organization that was founded 100 years ago by Sir Arthur Pearson, who was himself blind, during the First World War, in order to bring hope and practical help to British and Allied servicemen blinded in the service of their country. It also tells of how light from the torch which Pearson lit in 1915 spread to all corners of the earth, to which his beloved St Dunstaners returned, having 'graduated' from the mother organization in Regent's Park - for example, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa. Herewith are accounts of the lives of many St Dunstaner's/Blind Veterans, who each in his or her unique way, triumphed over blindness, together with a unique collection of photographs, including those provided by Blind Veteran's UK, by the Pearson family, and by the families of St Dunstaners throughout the world. And this includes the story of my own grandfather, Thomas Waldin, who was himself a St Dunstaner.
Instead of leading his people to the "e;promised land,"e; Mugabe, the first prime minister of the newly-named Zimbabwe, has amassed a fortune for himself, his family and followers and has presided over the murder, torture and starvation of those who oppose him. This biography offers some explanations for Mugabe's behavior. With the death of his wife in 1992, a moderating influence was lost, and as the years go by, he continues to show himself intolerant of any opposition as he proceeds toward the creation of a one-party state, even though evidence suggests that his country is in terminal decline.
Even before she emerged from the cot in her nursery Beatrix Potter was up against it. With her prodigious memory she recalled being placed 'under the tyranny of a cross old nurse' who introduced her to 'witches, fairies and the creed of the terrible John Calvin'. More sadness followed. She had no siblings of her own age and was brought up virtually in isolation. She was afflicted by two most unpleasant illnesses - one of which has not previously been recognized - and she found herself often at odds with her mother. She also had a love affair that ended tragically. Yet, she grew up to become one of the most original of children's authors whose books are as popular today as they were when they were first published almost a century ago. Andrew Norman, in this concise and insightful biography, uncovers the source of the inspiration that gave birth to a series of remarkable children's books, including the most famous of all The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
Charles Darwin did not deliberately set out to be the 'destroyer of mythical beliefs', some of which, in his early days as a young Christian, he had previously espoused. He was a modest man who liked to avoid controversy, yet he was to be the cause of one of the greatest controversies in the history of science and religion. When he embarked on HMS Beagle, he could not have imagined the experience would lead him to formulate a theory that would revolutionize the way in which man viewed the natural world. How did this thoughtful, methodical scientist come to have such an impact on his time - and on ours? That is the question that Andrew Norman seeks to answer in this lucid and concise biography of the author of The Origin of Species.
