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Shrapnel
by Robert SwindellsIt's the height of World War Two. Britain is being ravaged by bombs and most young men are off fighting. Gordon wishes he was too. Maybe then he wouldn't get bullied for having a cowardly family . . . Gordon's dad didn't serve in World War One, and now his older brother Raymond isn't serving in World War Two - he's gone missing. When Gordon finds a revolver hidden in his house, he tracks Raymond down, but ends up involved in more than he'd bargined for. Raymond enlists Gordon's help to deliver and collect some 'packages'. But is the work actually for the government? And will it have terrible consequences?
Showtime: The Inside Story of Fianna Fáil in Power
by Pat LeahyIn boom and in bust, Ireland has been led by Fianna Fáil. Showtime gets behind the party's remarkable dominance of the political landscape and leading political writer Pat Leahy, tells the gripping story of how it won, kept and has used power since the mid-1990s.Showtime explains how Fianna Fáil operated during the boom years - from November 1994, when Bertie Ahern assumed leadership of a battered party, expecting to become Taoiseach but instead finding himself cast into opposition, to the day he relinquished the party leadership on the brink of the bust. For a decade after it achieved power in 1997, Fianna Fáil led the government during an unprecedented economic boom and enjoyed riches beyond the wildest dreams of any previous administration. Showtime reveals how government really worked in these years: the favours, the grudges, the backroom deals, the political strokes, the policy compromises and the choices that have led the country to where it is today.Showtime is politics in the raw: the exciting, enlightening and sometimes disturbing story of a remarkable era that changed the face of modern Ireland.
Should You be Laughing at This?
by Hugleikur DagssonHugleikur Dagsson is from Iceland. During the winter in Iceland there are only three hours of daylight. During the summer in Iceland there is no darkness. Iceland’s national drink is called ‘Black Death’. Iceland's national dish is putrefied shark meat. In Iceland this book is a cult-bestseller. The questions you should ask yourself is:Should you be laughing at this?
The Shorter Poems
by Edmund Spenser Richard MccabeAlthough he is most famous for The Faerie Queene, this volume demonstrates that for these poems alone Spenser should still be ranked as one of England's foremost poets.Spenser's shorter poems reveal his generic and stylistic versatility, his remarkable linguistic skill and his mastery of complex metrical forms.The range of this volume allows him to emerge fully in the varied and conflicting personae he adopted, as satirist and eulogist, elegist and lover, polemicist and prophet.The volume includes The Shepeardes Calender, Complaints, and A Theatre for Wordlings.
A Shorter Life
by Alan JenkinsIn his most eloquent and formally satisfying collection to date, Alan Jenkins plays a series of powerful and haunting variations on love and loss. The themes that run through our lives are relatively few, for all that they sound subtly different to each of us, with their own rich freight of places and faces. In poems that pay homage to what is unique to his own past experience - a suburban fifties upbringing, a heady youth of rebellion and exploration - Jenkins reminds us vividly of what is experienced by us all. The search for love (or failing that, sex), the passing of time and the inevitability of pain and grief, the struggle for transcendence against our awareness of limitation: these are the things that can suddenly seem to compose a life - a life not so much reduced to essentials as seen in its passionate essence, a 'shorter' life. Though not in any formal sense a sequel, this poignant book recapitulates some of the motifs of The Drift (2000) and earlier volumes, to offer an extended meditation on memory and recurrence, and a statement - compelling, candid, sorrowful and subtle - of life's beauty and brevity.
A Shorter History of Tractors in Ukrainian with Handcuffs
by Marina LewyckaMarina Lewycka returns to the characters from A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, with a hilarious erotic twist, in this laugh-out-loud short story, A Shorter History of Tractors in Ukrainian with Handcuffs.'Ever since she'd first read Sherlock Holmes, Laura Carter had dreamed of being a detective . . . Books were both her escape and her guilty pleasure, which eased her through the boring days and enlivened the nights when her husband was too tired for love. She devoured everything from Proust to Harry Potter, from James Joyce to EL James, she adored detective stories, but maybe her favourite author was Marina Lewycka, whose A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian had strangely echoed a case she had once worked on.'Marina Lewycka was born in Kiel, Germany, after the war, grew up in England and lives in Sheffield. Her first novel, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, longlisted for the Man Booker and won the Bollinger Everyman Prize for Comic Fiction and the Waverton Good Read Award. Her second novel, Two Caravans, was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Two Caravans, We Are All Made of Glue and Marina's fourth novel, Various Pets Alive and Dead, are all available in Penguin.
Short Walks from Bogotá: Journeys in the new Colombia
by Tom FeilingFor decades, Colombia was the 'narcostate'. Now travel to Colombia and South America is on the rise, and it's seen as one of the rising stars of the global economy. Where does the truth lie? Writer and journalist Tom Feiling, author of the acclaimed study of cocaine The Candy Machine, has journeyed throughout Colombia, down roads that were until recently too dangerous to travel, to paint a fresh picture of one of the world's most notorious and least-understood countries. He talks to former guerrilla fighters and their ex-captives; women whose sons were 'disappeared' by paramilitaries; the nomadic tribe who once thought they were the only people on earth and now charge $10 for a photo; the Japanese 'emerald cowboy' who made a fortune from mining; and revels in the stories that countless ordinary Colombians tell. How did a land likened to paradise by the first conquistadores become a byword for hell on earth? Why is one of the world's most unequal nations also one of its happiest? How is it rebuilding itself after decades of violence, and how successful has the process been so far? Vital, shocking, often funny and never simplistic, Short Walks from Bogota unpicks the tangled fabric of Colombia, to create a stunning work of reportage, history and travel writing.
Short Stories in Spanish: New Penguin Parallel Texts
by John R. KingThis is an all new version of the popular PARALLEL TEXT series, containing eight pieces of contemporary fiction in the original Spanish and in English translation. Including stories by Fuentes, Molinas, Marquez and Cortazar, this volume gives a fascinating insight into Spanish and Latin American culture and literature as well as providing an invaluable educational tool.
Short Stories in Italian: New Penguin Parallel Texts
by Nick RobertsThis is an all new version of the popular PARALLEL TEXT series, containing eight pieces of contemporary fiction in the original Italian and in English translation. Including stories by Calvino, Benni, Sciascia and Levi, this volume gives a fascinating insight into Italian culture and literature as well as providing an invaluable educational tool.
Short Stories in German: New Penguin Parallel Texts
by Ernst ZillekensThis new volume of eight short stories offers students of German at all levels the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of contemporary literature in the original, with the aid of parallel translations.The majority of these stories have been written in the past decade, and reflect a rich diversity of styles and themes. Complete with notes, the stories make excellent reading in either language.
Short Stories in French: New Penguin Parallel Texts
by Richard CowardThis is an all new version of the popular PARALLEL TEXT series, containing eight pieces of contemporary fiction in the original French and in English translation. Including stories by Bolanger, Cotnoir, Le Clezio and Germain, this volume gives afascinating insight into French culture and literature as well as providing an invaluable educational tool.
A Short Stay In Purgatory
by Alan DurantIn these twelve stories, enter teenage purgatory at its most honest, and meet a whole host of characters you'll quickly recognise: a secret admirer, burning up with jealousy and desire; Karen, confronting her anxiety about pregnancy; Alex, contemplating life after school; or maybe Suze, looking forward to her first sexual experience with mixed feelings.Ranging in mood from high comedy to deep pathos, Alan Durant's intense short stories capture the sweet delight and bitter misery of hormone-charged youth. . . .
A Short Residence in Sweden & Memoirs of the Author of 'The Rights of Woman'
by Mary Wollstonecraft William GodwinIn these two closely linked works - a travel book and a biography of its author - we witness a moving encounter between two of the most daring and original minds of the late eighteenth century: A Short Residence in Sweden is the record of Wollstonecraft's last journey in search of happiness, into the remote and beautiful backwoods of Scandinavia. The quest for a lost treasure ship, the pain of a wrecked love affair, memories of the French Revolution, and the longing for some Golden Age, all shape this vivid narrative, which Richard Holmes argues is one of the neglected masterpieces of early English Romanticism.Memoirs is Godwin's own account of Wollstonecraft's life, written with passionate intensity a few weeks after her tragic death. Casting aside literary convention, Godwin creates an intimate portrait of his wife, startling in its candour and psychological truth. Received with outrage by friends and critics alike, and virtually suppressed for a century, it can now be recognized as one of the landmarks in the development of modern biography.
A Short History of the World
by H. G. WellsSpanning the origins of the Earth to the outcome of the First World War, this is a brilliantly compelling account of the evolution of life and the development of the human race. Along the way, Wells considers such diverse subjects as the Neolithic era, the rise of Judaism, the Golden Age of Athens, the life of Christ, the rise of Islam, the discovery of America and the Industrial Revolution. Breathtaking in its scope and passionate in its intensity, this history remains one of the most readable of its kind.
A Short History of Slavery
by James WalvinAs we approach the bicentenary of the abolition of the Atlantic trade, Walvin has selected the historical texts that recreate the mindset that made such a savage institution possible - morally acceptable even. Setting these historical documents against Walvin's own incisive historical narrative, the two layers of this extraordinary, definitive account of the Atlantic slave trade enable us to understand the rise and fall of one of the most shameful chapters in British history, the repercussions of which the modern world is still living with.
A Short History of Brexit: From Brentry to Backstop (Pelican Books)
by Kevin O'RourkeA succinct, expert guide to how we got to BrexitAfter all the debates, manoeuvrings, recriminations and exaltations, Brexit is upon us. But, as Kevin O'Rourke writes, Brexit did not emerge out of nowhere: it is the culmination of events that have been under way for decades and have historical roots stretching back well beyond that. Brexit has a history.O'Rourke, one of the leading economic historians of his generation, explains not only how British attitudes to Europe have evolved, but also how the EU's history explains why it operates as it does today - and how that history has shaped the ways in which it has responded to Brexit. Why are the economics, the politics and the history so tightly woven together? Crucially, he also explains why the question of the Irish border is not just one of customs and trade, but for the EU goes to the heart of what it is about. The way in which British, Irish and European histories continue to interact with each other will shape the future of Brexit - and of the continent.Calm and lucid, A Short History of Brexit rises above the usual fray of discussions to provide fresh perspectives and understanding of the most momentous political and economic change in Britain and the EU for decades.
A Short Gentleman
by Jon CanterHow did Robert Purcell, distinguished barrister and perfect specimen of the British Establishment, end up in prison? An intellectual giant but an emotional pygmy, Robert is a man struggling to come to terms with the forces that have brought him down, from the wife who wanted him to change, to the ex-girlfriend who came back to haunt him and the childhood bully who turned into an adult bully.Despite everything, Robert remains the same magnificently self-righteous man he always was, utterly resistant to therapy, change and the emotional demands of the opposite sex.
A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies
by Bartolome Las CasasBartolomé de Las Casas was the first and fiercest critic of Spanish colonialism in the New World. An early traveller to the Americas who sailed on one of Columbus's voyages, Las Casas was so horrified by the wholesale massacre he witnessed that he dedicated his life to protecting the Indian community. He wrote A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies in 1542, a shocking catalogue of mass slaughter, torture and slavery, which showed that the evangelizing vision of Columbus had descended under later conquistadors into genocide. Dedicated to Philip II to alert the Castilian Crown to these atrocities and demand that the Indians be entitled to the basic rights of humankind, this passionate work of documentary vividness outraged Europe and contributed to the idea of the Spanish 'Black Legend' that would last for centuries.
The Shopkeeper’s Daughter
by Lily BaxterJune 1944. Ginnie Travis is working in her father's furniture shop, when the continued bombing raids and her sister Shirley's untimely pregnancy force the two girls to go and stay with their aunt in Shropshire. Here Ginnie falls in love with an American, Lieutenant Nick Miller, stationed nearby. But she discovers that Nick has a fiancée back home and a heartbroken Ginnie ends the relationship. Then news of their father's death in an air raid reaches them. With the family left almost penniless and Shirley and her child to provide for, Ginnie is responsible for them all. And when the shop comes under threat, she is even more determined to make it succeed and build a new life for herself and her family.
The Shop Girls of Chapel Street
by Jenny Holmes**Don't miss Jenny Holmes's latest wartime series, The Air Raid Girls. Part 3 - The Air Raid Girls: Wartime Brides - is available now!**----------------------------Orphaned young, Violet Wheeler has been brought up by her aunt - but after Winnie's death, she feels like she's lost everything. With no-one to turn to, she has to rely on the goodwill of the community to help her out.At the Jubilee drapers, amongst the spools of ribbon, skeins of silk and latest thirties fashions, Violet finds a refuge. She's offered a chance to get back on her feet, and with that an unexpected chance to discover love. It's only when a forgotten piece of jewellery with a mysterious note surfaces that Violet is thrown back in to the past again, and starts to wonder what secrets there might be in her family's history.As Violet becomes desperate to find answers about her mother and father, long-buried secrets threaten the stable life she's been building. Can her new friends steer Violet towards a happy ending against all the odds?A heart-warming, nostalgic tale of triumph over adversity that readers of Katie Flynn, Donna Douglas and Call the Midwife will adore.---------------------------- Readers love Jenny Holmes: 'There wasn't anything I didn't like about this book' 5 star review 'I couldn't put this book down' 5 star review 'Loved the whole story' 5 star review 'This is a totally absorbing book' 5 star review 'An excellent read put together in fine style' 5 star review
The Shooting Party
by Anton ChekhovWhen a young woman dies during a shooting party at the country estate of a dissolute count, a magistrate is called upon to investigate. The mystery deepens and suspicion falls more widely as it emerges that the dead woman was at the centre of a tangled web of relationships: with her elderly husband, with the lecherous count, and with the magistrate himself...
Shoes Were For Sunday
by Molly Weir'Poverty is a very exacting teacher and I had been taught well'The post-war urban jungle of the Glasgow tenements was the setting for Molly Weir's childhood. From sharing a pull-out bed in her mother's tiny kitchen to running in terror from the fever van, it was an upbringing that was cemented in hardship. Hunger, cold and sickness was an everyday reality and complaining was not an option. Despite the crippling poverty, there was a vivacity to the tenements that kept spirits high. Whether Molly was brushing the hair of her wizened neighbour Mrs MacKay, running to Jimmy's chip shop for a ha'penny of crimps or dancing at the annual fair, there wasn't a moment to spare for self-pity. Molly never let it get her down as she and the other urchins knew how to make do with nothing.And at the centre of her world was her fearsome but loving Grannie, whose tough, independent spirit taught Molly to rise above her pitiful surroundings and achieve her dreams.
The Shoemaker's Daughter (The Cordwainers (The Cordwainers (The Cordwainers (The Cordwainers: 1): A heart-warming and moving Welsh saga of determination you won’t be able to stop reading…
by Iris GowerPerfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin, this is the powerful beginning of The Cordwainers, a series from bestselling author Iris Gower.READERS ARE LOVING THE CORDWAINERS!"I loved this book from start to finish..." - 5 STARS."Seriously recommend..." - 5 STARS. "I have really enjoyed reading this whole series...I would recommend the reading of any of the books by this author." - 5 STARS"Loved these books [-] definitely recommend this series: once you start you will want to read them all" - 5 STARS"You finish one book and you just have to start the next one." - 5 STARS"A perfectly marvellous book!" - 5 STARS********************************************************WILL SHE LET MATTERS OF THE HEART CLOUD HER JUDGEMENT?When her father dies, Hari Morgan has no choice to but make a life for herself and her ailing mother and carry on the family shoemaking business. Her talent leads her to an unlikely friendship with Emily Grenfell, the daughter of one of the richest men in Swansea. But friendship is fickle. As their respective fortunes change and they both fall in love with Craig Grenfell, Emily's cousin, Hari must decide whether to follow her heart or her head...The Shoemaker's Daughter is the first title in Iris Gower's The Cordwainers series. The story continues in The Oyster Catchers.
The Shoemaker and his Daughter
by Conor O'CleryWINNER OF THE 2020 MICHEL DÉON PRIZE'O'Clery takes us into the hidden heart of Soviet Russia... An arresting and evocative story' Keggie Carew, author of Dadland'A tour de force ... Love, politics, murder, wars, and the fracturing of ties, personal and ethnic. O'Clery is a gifted writer' Luke Harding, bestselling author of CollusionThe Soviet Union, 1962. Gifted shoemaker Stanislav Suvorov is imprisoned for five years. His crime? Selling his car for a profit. On his release, social shame drives him and his family into voluntary exile in Siberia, 5,000 kilometres from home. In a climate that's unfriendly both geographically and politically, it's their chance to start again. The Shoemaker and His Daughter is an epic story spanning the Second World War to the fall of the Soviet Union, taking in eighty years of Soviet and Russian history, from Stalin to Putin. Following the footsteps of a remarkable family Conor O'Clery knows well - he is married to the shoemaker's daughter - it's both a compelling insight into life in a secretive world at a siesmic moment in time and a powerful tale of ordinary lives shaped by extraordinary times.
Shock Therapy (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Varlam ShalamovMerzlakov, once a robust stable-hand, now fights hunger, pain and exhaustion after a year and a half at a labour camp. An enormous man given little food, he sees the larger men dying first, their bodies conquered by starvation. In his desperation for survival, he begins a yearlong struggle of pain and injury. It ends with the inscrutable and punctilious Dr Peter Ivanovich. In a curious mix of empathy and haunting objectivity, this short story describes a snapshot of life in a Russian labour-camp. Written after Varlam Shalamov's own experiences at a gulag, it is one episode in the many that make up Kolyma Tales.