Engelska

This is the incredible untold story of four women who helped win World War II by generating a wave of black propaganda.<br/><br/>Betty MacDonald was a 28-year-old reporter from Hawaii. Zuzka Lauwers grew up in a tiny Czechoslovakian village and knew five languages by the time she was 21. Jane Smith-Hutton was the wife of a naval attache living in Tokyo. Marlene Dietrich, the German-American actress and singer, was one of the biggest stars of the 20th century. These four women, each fascinating in her own right, together contributed to one of the most covert and successful military campaigns in WWII.<br/><br/>Members of the Office of Strategic Services, their task was to create a secret brand of propaganda produced with the sole aim to break the morale of Axis soldiers. Working in Europe, across enemy lines in occupied China and in Washington D.C., Betty, Zuzka, Jane and Marlene forged letters and 'official' military orders, wrote and produced entire newspapers, scripted radio broadcasts and songs and even developed rumours for undercover spies and double agents to spread to the enemy. And outside of a small group of spies, no one knew they existed. Until now.

<b>'Wise, thoughtful and provocative ... An important book for our times' - Roisin Ingle</b><br/><br/><b>'Laura is an acute, intelligent and accurate observer and this book successfully combines psychology, philosophy and modern thinking in a fresh and vibrant way'</b> <b>- Brian O'Connell, journalist</b><br/><br/>"I have worn a lot of labels, by choice and otherwise. Here, I consider the ones I've picked up, rejected, lost, had stuck to my back like a 'kick me' poster in the schoolyard at lunch time, worn for a while and lost connection to. In its way, each one makes a discrete claim on who I am, as the labels you bear do for you. Each one is a means of translating who we are to the world and, when seen as the most important or truest element of who we are, shrinking and flattening us. Each one is part of our story, nothing more."<br/>A thought-provoking exploration of identity, <i>Some of Our Parts</i> casts a philosophical eye over the labels that shape our lives, considering how they can both help us to communicate our values and how they have the potential to trap us.<br/>A memoir explored through a life in labels inherited, accrued and cast off, <i>Some of Our Parts</i> considers the power in reclaiming our own story and challenges readers to question how we define ourselves in a world that is so ready to decide for us.

<strong>WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE</strong> <br/><br/> <strong>WITH A FOREWORD FROM MARGARET ATWOOD</strong> <br/><br/> <strong>'This book would always have been important evidence that the Ukraine people were suffering criminal attack. Written by a poet, it is also a work of literature, published after the author lost her life doing her research. It is an icon of a young woman's heroism' Philippa Gregory </strong> <br/><br/> <strong>Destined to be a classic, a poet's powerful look at the courage of resistance.</strong> <br/><br/>When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Victoria Amelina was busy writing a novel, taking part in the country's literary scene, and parenting her son. Then she became someone new: a war crimes researcher and the chronicler of extraordinary women like herself who joined the resistance. These heroines include Evgenia, a prominent lawyer turned soldier, Oleksandra, who documented tens of thousands of war crimes and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, and Yulia, a librarian who helped uncover the abduction and murder of a children's book author. <br/><br/>Everyone in Ukraine knew that Amelina was documenting the war. She photographed the ruins of schools and cultural centers; she recorded the testimonies of survivors and eyewitnesses to atrocities. And she slowly turned back into a storyteller, writing what would become this book. <br/><br/>On the evening of June 27th, 2023, Amelina and three international writers stopped for dinner in the embattled Donetsk region. Whena Russian cruise missile hit the restaurant, Amelina suffered grievous head injuries, and lost consciousness. She died on July 1st. She was thirty-seven. She left behind an incredible account of the ravages of war and the cost of resistance. Honest, intimate, and wry, this book will be celebrated as a classic.

<strong>'A small masterpiece, written with heart, self-belief and wisdom. Wonderful!' </strong>PAUL THEROUX <br/><br/> <strong>2020: while the world is grounded, Bird arrives in the life of writer, Candida Meyrick, living with her young family on Anglesey.</strong> <br/><br/>The twelve-week-old Harris Hawk, Sophia Houdini Whitewing - aka Bird - is trained over the following months by the author and her children to be most herself: a skilled hunter and dazzling aerial gymnast, whose flights enrapture the family and set the author on a deepening love affair with life on the wing. <br/><br/>Working with her Harris Hawk over the following years reveals a new world: confronting mortality daily, moving through a liminal landscape, part sky-, part earth-bound. And every day's hunting brings a new life-lesson. Bird opens up a way of being that is everything the author most longs to be: courageous, compassionate, independent, full of joy - free as a bird. <br/><br/>Through daily adventures across field and woodland, through bog and briar, the author comes to realise that Bird is showing her the way, guiding her soul, revealing truths about her life that would otherwise have remained hidden. <br/><br/><em>Be More Bird</em> charts this deepening relationship between bird and woman, set in one of Britain's wildest landscapes. It reveals the subtle dynamic possible between human and avian - the species most closely related to the dinosaurs - and in poetic prose illuminates the ancient, worldwide art of falconry and its urgent relevance for the modern mind: the importance of untethering our souls and belief-systems and re-establishing a connection with the wilder world. <br/><br/>Structured around a series of 'life lessons', this astonishing and mesmerising book, executed in lyrical and emotionally charged prose, will transport readers into the wildness hidden within themselves as it encourages us to think profoundly about our connections with nature and our lives. <br/><br/>Joy in adversity, the freedom of travelling light, the power of strength and patience, the certainty of change and importance of letting go - all this and more Bird has taught the author. By embodying the age-old rites of the hunt and the supreme skill and subtlety of the hunter, Bird suggests a way to honour and more deeply inhabit the lives we have been granted. <br/><br/><em>Be More Bird</em> is a true story, still unfolding, of a wild predator who by choice flies in partnership with a woman as her earth-bound helper. Bird crosses boundaries: between species, cultures, sky and earth. In this way, <em>Be More Bird</em> is a fable for our times. <br/><br/>Dare to be more. Be more Bird.

Joe Biden launched his 2020 bid for the White House with the stated goal of saving the nation from a second Trump term. He, his family and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again that they lied to themselves, allies and the public about his condition and limitations &ndash; all but dooming the Democrats to defeat later that year. Here, two of America&rsquo;s best-respected political journalists take us behind closed doors to reveal the full, unsettling truth about Biden&rsquo;s decline. They expose the wider cover-up as an act of unprecedented public deception, raising fundamental issues of accountability and responsibility that will endure for decades. Biden&rsquo;s decision to run again was the original sin of his presidency &ndash; the moment that led directly to Donald Trump&rsquo;s return to power and all that has come since.

<b>"Astonishing...Brings to life a thriving - and rather civilized - empire" - The Telegraph</b><br/><br/><b>"sparkles with energy, insight and passion... difficult to put down." Nicholas Morton, BBC History Magazine<br/><br/>Control the sea, and you control everything...a</b><b> gripping tale of dynastic rivalry and innovation, from </b><b>the author of the classic work <i>Genghis Khan</i> <i>and the Making of the Modern World</i>.</b><br/><br/>Genghis Khan built a formidable land empire, but he never crossed the sea. Yet by the time his grandson Kublai Khan had defeated the last vestiges of the Song empire and established the Yuan dynasty in 1279, the Mongols controlled the most powerful navy in the world. How did a nomad come to conquer China and master the sea? Based on ten years of research and a lifetime of immersion in Mongol culture and tradition, <i>Emperor of the Seas</i> brings this little-known story vibrantly to life.<br/><br/> Kublai Khan is one of history's most fascinating characters. He brought Islamic mathematicians to his court, where they invented modern cartography and celestial measurement. He transformed the world's largest land mass into a unified, diverse and economically progressive empire, introducing paper money. And, after bitter early setbacks, he transformed China into an outward looking sea-faring empire.<br/><br/>By the end of his reign, the Chinese were building and supplying remarkable ships to transport men, grain, and weapons over vast distances, of a size and dexterity that would be inconceivable in Europe for hundreds of years. Khan had come to a brilliant realization: control the sea, and you control everything.<br/><br/> A master storyteller with an unparalleled grasp of Mongol sources, Jack Weatherford shows how Chinese naval hegemony changed the world forever - revolutionizing world commerce and transforming tastes as far away as England and France.

<b>'Queers, allies, you'd better pay attention, because Ellen Jones is impossible to ignore.' - Sophie Duker, comedian and writer.<br/><br/>'This book may well save someone's life' - Robin Ince</b><br/><br/>Complete equality for LGBTQ+ people should be our benchmark. But despite massively increased visibility in mainstream life and culture, the queer community is facing unacceptable levels of prejudice and danger - from the rise in homophobic and transphobic violence to the rollback of hard-fought-for rights across the globe.<br/><br/><b>In this groundbreaking, compelling and immensely readable book, writer and activist Ellen Jones exposes the discrimination queer people continue to face in all areas of life, from marriage to mental health, education to ageing, religion to sport and much more. In searing prose, punctuated by moving personal accounts, Jones sets out not only the issues but also practical actions that any of us can take to create a more equal society, and highlights the trailblazers whose amazing work is already changing the world.</b><br/><br/>Whether you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community, an ally, or simply care about human rights and equality, <i>Outrage</i> is essential and illuminating reading.