Book It!

Entrepreneur, politician and philanthropist Dinesh Dhamija emerged from the recession-hit streets of 1970s West London to create, build and sell ebookers – one of the world’s premier travel agencies and a pioneer in the millennial dot.com boom, earning himself a £100 million fortune.

How did this son of an Indian civil servant, with no connections to the travel industry or technical background, end up with one of the most successful internet companies in Europe? How did ebookers withstand the serial catastrophes of the dot.com crash of 2000, the global travel freeze after 9/11 and the disruption of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, outlasting and out-performing its rivals?

In his candid, buccaneering autobiography, Dhamija looks back to his globe-trotting childhood, his Cambridge University education and the hair-raising, energising, eyepopping rollercoaster ride of his business career. Not content to retire gracefully into anonymity, Dhamija then focused his energies and talents on politics, where his insider tales from Brussels and the Liberal Democrat party expose the looming Brexit disaster.

His insights into philanthropy, investment and entrepreneurship offer a rich diet of advice, observation and storytelling, spiced with anecdote and perceptive details.

Among the outstanding businessmen of his generation, Dinesh Dhamija’s life story is one of adventure, risk-taking, ambition and unique achievement across multiple fields.

Prepare to be entertained!

Born into a World I Don't Belong In

For women and girls who have been misunderstood, miss-diagnosed and quite frankly missed altogether in getting an autism diagnosis – THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU.

For decades females on the spectrum went undetected causing a lifetime of struggles, anxiety, depression, missed opportunities and incorrect diagnoses. Women and girls tended to fly under the radar due to the fact that they learned from an early age how to mask, mimic and role-play in order to fit in with societal norms and expectations. Due to a lot of research in this field, there are now a lot more evidence-based theories to support the view that autism is just as prevalent in females as it is in males, but it just wasn’t picked up due to the gender difference in presentation. There still needs to be a lot more awareness and information available for women and girls who may feel different but don’t know why. Maybe they have been searching for answers in the wrong places. My mission is to help raise awareness of this condition. And who can do this better than a female on the spectrum that walks, talks and lives each day in those shoes?

Botanist, Naturalist and Adventurer

This autobiography presents the compelling and unusual story of one man’s personal journey, from high school dropout to finishing an advanced degree in Natural Science and having a successful career as an Environmental Scientist. At the height of his career, he became vice president at a major environmental firm, published four botanical reference books, taught advanced courses in botany, and was a graduate student advisor. He also took part in plant and musk oxen research in the Canadian Arctic and plant research in the Amazon jungles of Colombia. His life has been rich with hunting and fishing scuba diving adventures in remote wilderness of Alaska, Idaho and Colorado, and throughout the Northeastern US, and foraging for wild plants and mushrooms.

This book is filled with descriptions and photos of remote wilderness that few people will ever see and describes a life of successes and adventures most people only dream about. The sections on living off the land and harvesting plants and animals present methods and lore for gathering and preserving food; something that is capturing the interest of increasing numbers of people. In all, the book is presented in the context of a highly socially relevant theme: concern for the environment. This is the story of an ordinary person who ended up doing extraordinary things, and learned life lessons and spiritual insights from the journey, now collected in one place for everyone.

Boxer, Bouncer and Now a Doctor

It all started in a small industrial town in the north of England. Walking into a boxing gym was the start of an amazing metamorphosis for the 14-year-old. At age 20, he had developed into a 16-stone boxer, powerlifter and ferocious street fighter, with a knock-out punch in both hands. This is the story of a young man who, lacking education, immigrated to Australia at just 18 years of age only to experience the twilight world of sleaze and violence in Perth’s underbelly, confronting and often overcoming the many challenges he encountered. Returning to England at 21, he mastered his craft as a bouncer and street fighter, attended two universities, obtained three degrees and was awarded a doctorate at the age of 39.

Breaking Chains – ‘The Word’

Childhood abuse and trauma has consequences: black holes, where voids are born, mental ill health acquired and self-love diminished. The cause of these voids and the power to heal them lies solely in one force alone, or lack thereof, and this force is love.

Let’s journey together sharing knowledge, vulnerabilities, synchronicities and the word of God, of pure, unconditional Love, through a memoir incorporating science, nurture, toxicity, personality and the true depths of the void. We will analyse, psychologise and be present in our own individual stories, breaking chains that bind us in order to truly heal and be set free, turning black holes into shining stars.

Breast Cancer Smiles

On a cold day in February, 2018, Shazia goes from a tennis court in the morning to a hospital in the afternoon where she is diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. As her journey unfolds, humour becomes her crutch, writing becomes her tool and a powerful connection to her South Asian roots becomes her purpose.

This isn’t a tale of cancer and the devastation it undoubtedly brings. It’s the story of a life-altering journey enriched by time. Shazia tells a tale of re-birth swathed in love, humour and pain. She unveils the shame of breast cancer in her birth culture that is killing women before their time. In her birthplace, Pakistan, cancer is casually known as ‘the kiss of death’.

For Shazia, it is quite the opposite. This is life through a different lens and a questioning of the status quo. Her musings provoke debate and challenge existing beliefs, holding up a different mirror to society. These chronicles are written during 18 months of chemotherapy, sepsis, surgery and radiotherapy. They are written with hope and an intermittent smile.

Brett Polar

Brett Polar is an intoxicating rollercoaster ride that will leave you as much elated as devastated. It is engaging, empowering, educational and ultimately gives hope to people living with bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.

Brett’s story involves a mental health sojourn that spans twenty years from 2000 to 2020. Prepare to ride alongside him as he goes through the bipolar motions of extreme highs, devastating lows and all the semi-stable moments in between.

His story is proof that if a diagnosis is accepted and the right support embraced, then an individual living with mental illness can not only survive but thrive!

Jump on in to find out more.

Bridge for Beginners

Bridge is a wonderful game. It is interesting, challenging and frustrating all at the same time. It keeps your brain active and alert and it gives you an opportunity to create new and lasting friendships with like-minded people.

“It is rare to find a bridge book that combines simplicity with comprehensive cover of all the basic rules of bridge, and yet this book does exactly that. George builds a solid foundation for the beginner by going through the bidding sequences step by step in a logical and orderly fashion and then presenting examples to show how those steps actually work. I can highly recommend this for those who want to learn the basics. It is also ideal for those who have played and now want to rekindle and update their skills. The book will also work nicely as a manual for teachers who teach beginners.”

— Marty Bergen

Broken Roads Lead Me Here

Broken Roads Lead Me Here tells the true-life story of a boy born into unimaginable abuse in Glasgow in the sixties. By the age of eight, Colin had been abandoned by his mother and continued to be sexually, physically, emotionally, and spiritually traumatised by the man she left him with. Blunted by severe trauma, Colin went through one unimaginable nightmare after another, each more traumatising and soul shattering than the last, with no one to tell and no way to understand why. He wondered as he drifted through life, what was to really become of him? Or his half-sisters? All the while, deep down, sensing that one day it could be his last.

At fifteen, he was thrown out of school, and at sixteen he was sent to prison. Colin survived rejection, abandonment, homelessness, gang wars, addiction, mental illness, overdoses, suicide attempts, and abusive adult relationships. But it always seemed as if he was living on borrowed time…

Even as he started writing his memoir, Colin had suffered a stroke, and near his recovery’s conclusion was then diagnosed with what was initially suspected as pancreatic cancer. While Colin’s diagnosis was eventually re-assessed as not immediately life threatening, it did leave him with a series of conditions which would continue to limit the quality of his day-to-day life. His illnesses and his experience of this instead of instilling a sense of profound hopelessness surprisingly led him to a profound sense of inner peace, clarity, and re-awakened purpose through his renewed faith in the real presence, love, forgiveness, and grace of God. His is a miraculous story of faith and redemption.

Colin Mackell is a husband, father, and grandfather. In his professional life as Psychotherapist, he has helped people who struggle to overcome drug and alcohol addiction, and helps them find new meaning, and explore new life paths. He is also the founder of Chrysalis Supported Association & Group CEO of Chrysalis Group Services, providing homes and support to some of life’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged people.

Bugnificent!

Mini-Beasts are amazing; we need them to survive,

without their important roles, the world would not thrive.

They pollinate, provide food, they also decompose,

controlling pests, engineering soil, with oh so many pros.

They can be found under logs, rocks and bark,

some are diurnal and some come out after dark.

We must protect these creatures, not just the pretty ones,

all mini-beasts are needed, so treat them like your chums.

Please look after our bugs; I know I sound direct,

but all creatures have a job to do, so treat them with respect!

Building Resilient Futures

Whether a community struggling to keep its members buoyant, a business trying to stay solvent, or a nation fighting to protect its citizens, adversity and crisis impact us all. The resilient are able to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and not only bounce back but also bounce forward.

This book looks at what resilience means at times of crises as well as the in-between periods. It examines the various types of resilience, such as emotional, organisational and societal, and offers valuable insights on how to manage the consequences of upheaval and trauma.

The author brings together contributors to deliver a real mix of theory, case-study evidence and anecdote in a way that is both approachable and thought provoking. It is a timely and necessary addition to a crucial topic. Very simply, professionals, practitioners, students, government ministers, and business leaders should read this now. It might be a safer, better world if people read the book and acted on it.  

Bullying and Mobbing in Schools and Workplaces

Considering the fact that bullying and mobbing in schools and workplaces has become a worldwide problem where tens of million people are getting hurt, many of them marked for life and even lose their lives mainly because most societies from across the world failed to protect its people, the present book is a great eye-opener on this very important matter. The uniqueness of this book lies in the author’s attempt to make a very accurate X-ray of the degrading world society, from which bullying, cyberbullying and mobbing spring. We believe that the democracy of today’s societies has moved too far away from the ethical and moral values that underlie a healthy society and this is the cause of all iniquities. That is why, in almost all countries, issues such as bullying, cyberbullying, and mobbing are only symptomatically addressed. However, let us not lose hope because there are also a couple of countries that have impressive results because they approach issues very effectively from an ethical and moral point of view. All of this is described in the contents of this book.