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A Family Affair: (The Adams Family: 5): The perfect uplifting, funny and feel good Cockney saga to settle down with (The Adams Family #5)
by Mary Jane StaplesBy Sunday Times bestseller Mary Jane Staples, this is the gripping next instalment in the Adams Family saga. Perfect for fans of Donna Douglas, Maggie Ford and Katie Flynn.PRAISE FOR THE ADAMS FAMILY SERIES! "Mary Jane Staples makes you care about her characters, which explains why her books have enjoyed so much popularity" -- Take a Break"Forget Eastenders, this it the London of old, when people knew each other's names and communities really pulled together." -- Woman's Realm"Mary Jane Staples completely capture the feel of the period and the essence of the people...has warmth, humour and charm. An ideal book for you holiday reading." Finesse "I get so engrossed in the stories I feel like one of the family." - ***** Reader review. "These books about the Adam's family are fantastic! These books are the kind you can read, leave a while and read again & again!" - ***** Reader review*********************************CAN THE FAMILY KEEP SAFE FROM HARM?1926: A murderer is behind bars - thanks to Boots - but he is now plotting revenge on the entire Adams clan from his cell.When a dapper, quiet, but rather odd lodger turns up at Doreen Paterson's house, nobody thinks anything is amiss. Certainly not Doreen - who works for Boots in Adams Enterprises and thinks him just wonderful...Could the strange lodger be plotting the downfall of the irrepressible, outrageous, and larger-than-life Adams clan?A Family Affair is the fifth in Mary Jane Staples's Adams Family series. Their story continues in Missing Person. Have you read the first four Adams Family novels?
The Family At War: An Adams Family Saga Novel (The Adams Family #12)
by Mary Jane StaplesIt was 1940, and many of the younger members of the Adams family were caught up in the war in France. Boots, now a Major and on the staff of General Sir Henry Simms, was one of the thousands of British troops trying to escape in the armada of little boats from Dunkirk. His son Tim and nephew Bobby were also struggling to reach the coast and safety, while Eloise was with the ATS awaiting the homecoming soldiers at Portsmouth with a comforting cup of tea and a ticket home. Boots and Tim both made it safely back, but of Bobby there was no sign, and the family all feared the worst.In a farm some miles from Dunkirk, however, Bobby was alive but injured, and trapped by the advancing Germans. The farmer and his wife offered him refuge but Helene, the farmer's independent-minded daughter, was scathing about the retreating British army and gave the brave, joking young sergeant a hard time. Working in the fields, dodging the German soldiers, Bobby was desperately looking for a way to escape and Helene, despite her hostility, found herself increasingly anxious to help the Englishman to get back home. Their adventures were to thrill the Adams family when they came to hear about it.
A Family Christmas
by Glenice CrosslandLucy Gabbitas has just left school and is excited about joining her sisters at the local umbrella factory. But then her beloved father dies of lung disease leaving Lucy and her brothers and sisters broken-hearted. With barely enough to make ends meet, the family receive no sympathy from their tyrannical mother, Annie, and their first Christmas without him holds little comfort and joy. Things seem to be looking brighter for Lucy when she meets John Grey and falls in love. That is until Annie becomes seriously ill and dies, and Lucy is forced to put her family first. But despite their continued hardship and despair, Lucy resolves to turn their home into a happy one for her brothers and sisters, and for the family of her own she dearly hopes for. And she is determined to make Christmas a joyous occasion for them all once more...
A Family Christmas
by Katie FlynnFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Christmas to Remember. Two children go on a desperate journey to find their familyJimmy Trewin and his little sister are devastated by their mother's death and horrified to find themselves entrusted to the far from tender care of a hated neighbour, Mrs Huxtable. They hope their father will rescue them when his ship comes into port but this does not happen and when Cyril Huxtable is seen by the children hiding "a wad of notes" away, a wad which subsequently disappears, they realise they are in deep trouble. Cyril accuses them of theft and threatens a terrible revenge so they decide to leave Liverpool and try to find their mother's family in Wales.Soon, they meet Miiss Trent, a school teacher who has been unfairly dismissed, and agree to join forces since Miss Trent also hopes to find relatives in Wales. But Cyril has promised to pursue them until they hand over his property, and soon they realise he has picked up their trail...
Family Dynamics, Gender and Social Inequality During COVID-19: Analysing Long-Term Effects
by Nina Weimann-Sandig Ronald LutzThis book critically analyzes both the negative and positive impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic, focusing on changes in families, gender developments, and the evolution of social inequality structures. The Corona pandemic, with its unprecedented restrictions on contact, has meant that families have been challenged in their functioning in a very special way. International studies show that socioeconomic factors such as education, income, but also the geographic center of life of families and women in particular, had an important influence on the management of the pandemic. Despite all negative side effects of the Corona pandemic, there were nevertheless also innovative impulses, especially in the field of social work, particularly work with families. The book's 18 chapters, organized in six sections, highlight not only short-term changes but also longer-term developments that either require a corresponding concept of measures or action or can be evaluated as drivers of innovation in the pandemic. Part I: IntroductionPart II: Family DynamicsPart III: Child Well-being Part IV: Social Work with Children and FamiliesPart V: Gender and COVID-19Part VI: Conclusion The special feature of the volume is its global perspective. Authors from different countries describe changes and developments on these topics and make clear what profound effects the pandemic had on families, social inequality structures, and gender-specific situations. The anthology does not comprehensively reflect international perspectives. Rather, it leaves it up to readers to compare the developments in the respective countries with their own country of origin from a comparative cultural perspective. In this way, ideas for future, overarching research projects may be stimulated.Family Dynamics, Gender and Social Inequality During COVID-19 is timely and relevant reading for scientists, students, and practitioners in sociology, social work, and political science.
A Family for His Boys: A Clean and Uplifting Romance (A Ranch to Call Home #3)
by M. K. StelmackSometimes family…Is right next door Fired from her big-city law firm, headstrong Grace Jansson is making a fresh start by opening a B and B in the Alberta Foothills. Her steadfast neighbor, Hawk Blackstone, runs the ranch next door, and she sees his struggle to solo parent wild twin boys. Grace is happy to help out, until she finds her childhood feelings for Hawk resurfacing. Grace never wanted the family life—can Hawk and his twins change her mind? From Harlequin Heartwarming: Wholesome stories of love, compassion and belonging.A Ranch to Call HomeBook 1: A Family for the RancherBook 2: A Family for ThanksgivingBook 3: A Family for His Boys
Family Fortunes: An Adams Family Saga Novel (The Adams Family #24)
by Mary Jane StaplesThe 1950s are in full swing, and the Adams family is blessed with many new additions. Chinese Lady now has so many grandchildren that even she can sometimes scarcely remember them all. Boots and Sammy are kept up-to-date by the Adams youngsters , some of whom are now working in the family business. But they also welcome newcomers , including the lovely Anneliese, whose German ancestry makes her less than popular with some of her South London neighbours, and Joe and Hortense , newly arrived from the West Indies and working hard for Matt and Rosie on their farm in Kent.Sammy, meanwhile, has trouble with the newly-formed trade union at his factory, and the shadows of the war continue to haunt the family when Felicity's hopes for an operation which will save her sight are threatened by an extraordinary revelation.But the Adams family is still full of hope and promise for the future.
The Family Friend: Sometimes the danger is closer than you think
by Matt LoweMatt Lowe's childhood was outwardly idyllic. He was part of a large, loving family and lived comfortably on the Norfolk coast. Yet, unnoticed by his parents and peers, he was being abused by a young man who had been welcomed into the family fold...in the guise of the perfect family friend.Jeremy was intelligent, artistic and fantastic with children. A real-life Peter Pan, he was loved by the children and trusted by the adults. He was particularly fond of Matt and would organise outings and treats every weekend, just for the two of them. But from the start the relationship had a sinister side; one that Matt instinctively knew must remain hidden. Written with heart-wrenching candour, Matt's story is an unusually insightful and moving account of how one small boy endured many years of sexual and psychological abuse and how, without realising, those closest to him allowed it to happen.
The Family from One End Street (A Puffin Book)
by Eve GarnettThe story of everyday life in the big, happy Ruggles family who live in the small town of Otwell. Father is a dustman and Mother a washerwoman. Then there's all the children - practical Lily Rose, clever Kate, mischievous twins James and John, followed by Jo, who loves films, little Peg and finally baby William. A truly classic book awarded the Carnegie Medal as the best children's book of 1937.
The Family Guide to the Great Outdoors
by Charlie GladstoneGetting outdoors brings the whole family together. You’ll learn skills, have a run-around, share laughs, and make enduring memories.This book is the perfect companion to any outdoor family adventure. From countryside camping holidays to weekends roaming fields and parks, it will inspire you to enjoy the outdoors whatever the weather. It covers everything for kids (and big kids) to do outdoors, including:- Cloud identification- Great British walks- Building dams and dens- Campfires and woods- Camping recipes- Common British trees
Family Healing: Strategies for Hope and Understanding
by Salvador Minuchin Michael P. NicholsAt the center of people’s lives is the family, which can be and should be a haven from the harshness of the outside world. Unfortunately, the source of people’s greatest hope for happiness often turns out to be the source of their worst disappointments. Now, the family therapist, Salvador Minuchin unravels the knots of family dynamics against the background of his own odyssey from an extended Argentinian Jewish family to his innovative treatment of troubled families. Through the stories of families who have sought his help, the reader is taken inside the consulting room to see how families struggle with self-defeating patterns of behavior. Through his confrontational style of therapy, Dr Minuchin demonstrates the strict but unseen rules that trap family members in stifling roles, and illuminates methods for helping families untangle systems of disharmony. In Dr Minuchin’s therapy there are no villains and no victims, only people trying to deal with various problems at each stage of the family life cycle. Minuchin understands the family as a system of interconnected lives, not as a “dysfunctional” group. Each story of a therapeutic encounter brings a new understanding of familiar dilemmas and classic mistakes, and recounts Dr Minuchin’s creative solutions.
Family Law, Cases And Materials (University Casebook Ser.)
by Judith Areen Marc Spindelman Philomila Tsoukala Solangel MaldonadoThe Seventh Edition of Cases and Materials on Family Law offers students a comprehensive and engaging introduction to family law with a distinctive focus on how large-scale social inequalities structure, and are structured by, family law. The Seventh Edition spotlights issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, trans, and class inequalities―often at their intersections―across the entirety of the book in ways that mark the book as squarely in the present, but informed by a sense of history to help students imagine the future of family law. The Seventh Edition features a revamped introductory chapter with voices from across the political spectrum designed to get students excited about the course from day one, along with new materials on children, especially child custody and welfare, and comprehensive engagement with assisted reproduction. For student experience, the Seventh Edition includes a range of experiential tools, including problems on the financial aspects of divorce and support and a comprehensive divorce negotiation exercise, that give students a taste for practice in the field.
The Family Lawyer’s Guide to Separation and Divorce: How to Get What You Both Want
by Laura NaserYour family lawyer in a book.Whether you are married or living together – with children or without, if you are thinking about or are in the process of splitting up, this book is for you. When a relationship breaks down it’s hugely stressful and emotional – and often very confusing. Who gets to keep what? Will I ever see my kids? What needs to happen and when? What if things get nasty? This all-encompassing book, by family lawyer Laura Naser with years of experience helping couples reach the best solution possible, is here to bring calm and clarity, whatever the situation. She will guide you through the entire process from making sure this is what you really want and knowing what’s at stake, through to detailing all your options (whether you are married or not), what to do and in what order, and with a specific focus on co-parenting, managing money, social media, effective communication and how to resolve tricky issues that come up along the way. See this book as your trusted companion and guide - everything you need to know to get through this and thrive is right here.
A Family Secret: An emotional historical saga about family bonds and the power of love (The Mill Town Lasses #3)
by Libby AshworthThe brand new novel from Libby Ashworth, set in the mill towns of Lancashire. Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Val Wood.______________________'The doyen of the Northern saga, Catherine Cookson, would have loved this gritty tale' Peterborough Telegraph ______________________Will she follow her head or her heart?Lancashire, 1842Sixteen-year-old Bessie works long hours as a weaver in Blackburn, helping to support her family. Meanwhile, her older sister Peggy works as an apprentice at the Girls' School, hoping for a more prosperous future as a schoolteacher.Jennet and Titus Eastwood have always made decisions for their daughters' futures. But as the sisters near adulthood they are determined to make their own choices. And with temptation in the way, will the girls find love - or infatuation - leads them astray?Then an unexpected but familiar face arrives in town, and the family's future is threatened. For Bessie and Jennet, a difficult choice must be made - love or family . . .______________________ Praise for Libby Ashworth 'Brimming with drama, heartbreak, love, friendship and the powerful bonds of family' Lancashire Post'Engrossing tale of hardship, struggles, love and family' Kitty Neale'Vividly drawn characters . . . gritty and heartfelt . . . a must-read' Evie Grace
Family Therapy in Changing Times (Basic Texts in Counselling and Psychotherapy)
by Gill Gorell BarnesThe new edition of this well-known text addresses the plurality of family life today, and considers the way in which the changeable 'theory of family' has influenced the approaches of those working with families. The emphasis in this second edition is on working in a context of cultural diversity and in which life transitions such as marriage, divorce and bereavement, affect the lives of all families, be they multi- or lone-parent, gay or heterosexual. This is an essential text for therapists and counsellors, both in training and in practice, who work with families.
Family War Stories: The Densmores' Fight to Save the Union and Destroy Slavery (The North's Civil War)
by Keith P. WilsonBased on an extensive collection of letters written from the home front and the battlefront, Family War Stories offers fresh insights into how the reciprocal nature of family correspondence can shape a family’s understanding of the war.Family War Stories examines the contribution of the Densmore family to the Northern Civil War effort. It extends the boundaries of research in two directions. First, by describing how members of this white family from Minnesota were mobilized to fight a family war on the home front and the battlefront, and second, by exploring how the war challenged the family’s abolitionist beliefs and racial attitudes. Family War Stories argues that the totality of the family’s Civil War experience was intricately shaped by the dynamics of family life and the reciprocal nature of family correspondence. Further, it argues that the serving sons’ understanding of the war was shaped by their direct military experiences in the army camps and battlefields and how their loved ones at home interpreted these experiences.With two sons serving as officers in the United States Colored Troops’ regiments fighting in the Mississippi Valley, the Densmore family was heavily involved in destroying slavery. Family War Stories analyses how the sons’ military experiences tested the family’s abolitionist ideology and its commitment to white racial superiority. It also explains how the family sought to accommodate the presence of a refugee from slavery working in the family kitchen. In some ways, the presence of this worker in the household posed an even greater range of challenges to the family’s racial beliefs than the sons’ military service.By examining one family’s deep involvement in the war against slavery, Wilson analyses how the Civil War posed particular challenges to Northerners committed to abolitionism and white supremacy.
Famous Felines: Cats' Lives in Fact and Fiction
by David AldertonA delightful hiss-torical survey of cats in popular culture. Louis Wain and Beatrix Potter adored them, but Walt Disney preferred dogs; cats have been depicted in art, books and, more recently, film and TV as lovable but determined creatures. Where the dog is loving but stupid, the cat is clever but sly. Bestselling author David Alderton explores this myth and reveals just who the most famous cats are, including cartoon classics such as Top Cat, Felix, and the dastardly Si and Am from 101 Dalmatians. Using collectible memorabilia and original book covers, this charming book is a purr-fect stocking filler, along with its doggish counterpart, Famous Dogs by Fiona Shoop—ideal packaged together.
The Famous Grouse Whisky Companion: Heritage, History, Recipes and Drinks
by Ian BuxtonDrinks companion meets cookbook in this charming package. Discover the history of Scotch whisky and the part Famous Grouse has played in its development while also learning how to mix a perfect Famous Honey & Marmalade Sour.Compiled by renowned whisky writer Ian Buxton, this captivating miscellany is packed with intriguing facts and trivia, from the story of an iconic brand - its unconventional start named after a Scottish bird and its rise in popularity - to a fascinating insight into how whisky is distilled and bottled.With over 45 recipes for whisky-based dishes and cocktails, including Famous Grouse Rack of Lamb, Mackerel with Snow Grouse Pickled Rhubarb and Apple Tarte Tatin with Whisky Ice Cream, this book belongs on every whisky enthusiast's shelf.
Famous Trials: Lucky Escapes (Penguin Specials)
by Alex McBrideFrom the legendary Famous Trials series of real-life courtroom dramas, two classic murder trials abridged and refreshed as Penguin Specials for modern readers, selected and introduced by Alex McBride, author of Defending the GuiltyNineteen year-old Madeleine Smith may have been charged in 1857 with poisoning her lover, Emile L'Angelier, but her real sin was having sex - a lot of sex - out of wedlock. Her mistake was to write him frank and passionate letters, described by the trial judge as 'without any sense of decency', which L'Angelier threatened to send to her father when she cooled on the idea of marriage, having secretly engaged herself to someone else.Some fifty years later, the trial of Robert Wood, a respectable, hard-working illustrator by day, who frolicked with prostitutes by night, including the unfortunate Emily Dimmock, also hinged on a dangerous correspondence. Dimmock's murderer had evidently ransacked her rooms for a postcard written by Wood. Was there something he was desperate to hide? The author of his trial is certain he was guilty.But both escaped conviction - in Wood's case, thanks to the defence of the best defence barrister in the land. In Madeleine Smith's, the three judges ruled two-to-one to exclude from evidence L'Angelier's pocket book, which recorded her meetings with him on the day of the murder. These two salacious and controversial trials demonstrate how the dramatic difference between 'guilty' and 'not guilty' can sometimes be decided by a mere scrap of paper.The legendary Famous Trials series set the benchmark for historical crime writing with its accounts of the most notorious and intriguing criminal trials of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Expertly reconstructed from court transcripts, these often sensational narratives have gripped generations of readers since they first appeared in 1941. In this digital edition, two of the very best Famous Trials have been selected, introduced and further abridged by criminal barrister and author Alex McBride to provide modern readers with the most compelling versions yet of these court-room classics.Alex McBride is a criminal barrister. His book Defending the Guilty: Truth and Lies in the Criminal Courtroom was shortlisted for the 2010 Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction and is available in Penguin. He has written for the Guardian, Independent, Prospect and New Statesman, and has contributed to various BBC programmes, including From Our Own Correspondent.'Expert, authoritative, hilarious - an insider's fearless account of life at the criminal bar' Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year on Defending the Guilty
Famous Trials: Thrill-Killers (Penguin Specials)
by Alex McBrideFrom the legendary Famous Trials series of real-life courtroom dramas, two classic murder trials abridged and refreshed as Penguin Specials for modern readers, selected and introduced by Alex McBride, author of Defending the GuiltyThomas Cream, erstwhile Sunday school teacher and serial poisoner, has an unsettling air and wonky eye. He also happens to be a doctor, which provides him with ample means and an ideal cover for his murderous activities. His victims are vulnerable young women, whose trust he gains with drinks and trips to the music hall, before offering them pills or swigs from a medicine bottle. A few hours later, they are dying in agony.The Honourable Thomas Ley, meanwhile, has an even better disguise: he's the former Justice Minister for New South Wales and a successful businessman, albeit with a shady past. Rumours abound when a political opponent disappears without trace and a business partner winds up at the bottom of a cliff.Neither killer can help themselves - and this, in the end, leads to their downfall - and both defy our comprehension. Brilliantly reconstructed here, their trials, in 1892 and 1947, reveal a deeply sinister conundrum: by the time you've discovered the secrets in their heart, it's inevitably much too late.The legendary Famous Trials series set the benchmark for historical crime writing with its accounts of the most notorious and intriguing criminal trials of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Expertly reconstructed from court transcripts, these often sensational narratives have gripped generations of readers since they first appeared in 1941. In this digital edition, two of the very best Famous Trials have been selected, introduced and further abridged by criminal barrister and author Alex McBride to provide modern readers with the most compelling versions yet of these court-room classics.Alex McBride is a criminal barrister. His book Defending the Guilty: Truth and Lies in the Criminal Courtroom was shortlisted for the 2010 Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction and is available in Penguin. He has written for the Guardian, Independent, Prospect and New Statesman, and has contributed to various BBC programmes, including From Our Own Correspondent.'Expert, authoritative, hilarious - an insider's fearless account of life at the criminal bar'Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year on Defending the Guilty
Famous Trials: Unwanted Spouses (Penguin Specials)
by Alex McBrideFrom the legendary Famous Trials series of real-life courtroom dramas, two classic murder trials abridged and refreshed as Penguin Specials for modern readers, selected and introduced by Alex McBride, author of Defending the GuiltyA respectable solicitor in the town of Hay-on-Wye, harried by his troubled wife, slowly and carefully poisons her to death. Pleased with the results, he sees an opportunity for another quick-fix solution and turns his murderous attentions to his business rival... Trapped in a marriage of convenience to an aging man almost thirty years her senior, thirty-eight year-old Alma falls in love with seventeen year-old George, when he answers her advertisement for a 'willing lad' to do the housework. It's the perfect set up - a well-disposed husband and a passionate lover - until George destroys it all by trying to get the husband out of the way...These two classic cases of spousal murder - one chillingly domestic, the other bizarre and touching - took place in 1922 and 1935. In these brilliant reconstructions, they continue to confound our expectations of how murderers are meant to proceed.The legendary Famous Trials series set the benchmark for historical crime writing with its accounts of the most notorious and intriguing criminal trials of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Expertly reconstructed from court transcripts, these often sensational narratives have gripped generations of readers since they first appeared in 1941. In this digital edition, two of the very best Famous Trials have been selected, introduced and further abridged by criminal barrister and author Alex McBride to provide modern readers with the most compelling versions yet of these court-room classics.Alex McBride is a criminal barrister. His book Defending the Guilty: Truth and Lies in the Criminal Courtroom was shortlisted for the 2010 Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction and is available in Penguin. He has written for the Guardian, Independent, Prospect and New Statesman, and has contributed to various BBC programmes, including From Our Own Correspondent.'Expert, authoritative, hilarious - an insider's fearless account of life at the criminal bar'Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year on Defending the Guilty
Fangio: The Life Behind the Legend
by Gerald DonaldsonJuan Manuel Fangio's name is indelibly inscribed in the record books and many consider him to be the greatest driver in history. It was 46 years before his record of five World Championships was beaten, but even now he is still remembered for an exceptional Formula 1 career which contained some of the greatest displays of skill and daring ever seen. Few though know of his almost super-human exploits in epic South American road races that made competition at the pinnacle of motor sport seem like child's play. Gerald Donaldson chronicles not only those arduous early competitions but also his long journey from humble origins in remote Argentina to the lofty heights of international celebrity.
Fanny Burney: Her Life
by Kate ChisholmFanny Burney (1752-1840) is best known as the author of EVELINA, one of the most engaging novels of the eighteenth century. But for much of her long life, she was also an incomparable diarist, witnessing both the madness of George III and the young Queen Victoria's coronation. To read the journals she kept from the age of sixteen is to step back into Georgian England, meeting Dr Johnson, Garrick and Reynolds, being chased round the gardens of Kew Palace by the King. . . She was lady-in-writing to Queen Charlotte; she married an aristocratic emigre from the French Revolution and had her first and only child when she was forty-two; she was in Paris as Napoleon's armies marshalled against England, and in Brussels she heard the muffled guns, and watched the wounded being carried back from Waterloo. Kate Chisholm's delightful biography, incorporating the latest research and illustrate with unusual portraits and drawings, is lively, funny, shocking, informative and deeply moving; it paints a vivid portrait of a woman of great talent, against the changing background of England and France, a culture and an age.
Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
by John ClelandForced by the death of her parents to seek her fortune in London, Fanny Hill is duped into prostitution by an old procuress. In Mrs Brown's bawdy-house the naïve young woman begins her sexual initiation - progressing from innocence to curiosity and desire - and soon embarks on her own path in pursuit of pleasure, until she at last finds true love. John Cleland's story of Fanny's rise to respectability was denounced after its publication by the then Bishop of London as 'an open insult upon Religion and good manners', while James Boswell called it 'a most licentious and inflaming book'. But beside its highly entertaining and boisterous depictions of a startling variety of sexual acts, Fanny Hill stands as one of the great works of eighteenth-century fiction for its unique combination of parody, erotica and philosophy of sensuality.
Fantastic: The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger
by Laurence LeamerThe life of Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most remarkable success stories in the U.S. Here is a young man from an Austrian village who became the greatest bodybuilder in history, a behemoth who even today in retirement is the dominating figure in the sport. Here is an immigrant with a heavy accent and a four syllable last name, who marries a Kennedy princess and becomes the number one movie star in the world, an icon known and celebrated everywhere. Here is a political novice with no administrative experience who becomes governor of California in one of the most unusual and controversial elections in American history, and confounds his critics by proving an effective, popular leader. In Fantastic, Leamer shows how and why this man of willful ambition and limitless drive achieved his unprecedented accomplishments. As the author of a celebrated trilogy on the Kennedy family, Leamer has access to a unique array of sources. Leamer traveled with candidate Schwarzenegger during the gubernatorial campaign. He has interviewed Governor Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver, and their closest friends and associates, most of whom had never talked to an author before. The result is a startlingly intimate book, the pages studded with news making revelations. This book of passionate intensity captures a Schwarzenegger unlike any other public figure of our time, a unique political/cultural figure, his time in Sacramento only a way station on a journey where no one has traveled before. The book captures the personal Schwarzenegger, too, and the story of his single days, marriage, and family life. No one who reads this book will ever see Schwarzenegger in the same way again.