Yvonne, Child of the Somme

Yvonne Millet was born into poverty in Paris during La Belle Époque, in the shadow of Notre-Dame cathedral. Taken to a childminder in the countryside a few days after birth, she became a ward of state at the age of three when her mother disappeared. A stable childhood in the beautiful Somme region of northern France was shattered when, aged fifteen, she was sent to work as a maid in a military town, during the First World War. Her devastating experiences would change her life and haunt her forever.

As a troubled young woman facing a precarious future, chance led Yvonne to marry a former British soldier. Hopes of fulfilment with a husband and family were marred by profound insecurities and the Second World War.

A moving, true account of one girl’s formative years in early 20th century France, Yvonne, Child of the Somme is also the story of thousands of children like her, who shared a similar fate. Most were too ashamed of their background ever to reveal their heart-rending stories. The echoes of their pain reverberated down the generations, unexplained.

‘Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.’

― Søren Kierkegaard, Danish Philosopher, 1813-55

قصص الخلافة الإسلامية والخلفاء - Stories of the Islamic Caliphate and the Caliphs

يتبينَّ للباحث المهتمِّ بالتاريخ الإسلامي أنَّ الفترة التي عاشها نبيُّ الهدى محمَّد غيَّرَتِ الحياة الإنسانية بشكل فريد؛ فمنذ بَعثته تغيَّرَتِ النُّظُم الحياتية للبشرية في جميع أوجهها، الاجتماعية – بشكل شامل وعميق – والاقتصادية، والحربية، والسياسية على وجه العموم، ونظام الحكم على وجه الخصوص.

 كان عصر البعثة النبوية نموذجياً، ذلك أنَّه كان يُسَيَّر بالوحي الإلهي، أُرسِيَت فيه القواعد الراسخة لهذا الدين الحقِّ، وأطاع كلُّ مَن دخل الإسلام الرسول فيما قال أو فعل بِناءً عن اعتقاد وإيمان، إنَّما قول النبي وفِعله كان عن وحي يوحَى إليه مِن الله عزَّ وجلَّ.

 أنبأ الرسول الكريم المسلمين، وأمرهم بأن يتَّبعوا مَن يأتي بعده مِن خلفائه، وهو الذي سمَّاهم "الخلفاء الراشدين المهديِّين".

جاء هذ الكتاب لا ليخدم غرضاً سياسياً على الإطلاق، ولكن ليخدم غرضاً إنسانياً اجتماعياً بحتاً، ويهدف لخدمة الإنسان المسلم المعاصِر على صورة مجموعة متسلسلة مِن القصص نتعلَّم منها، بعضها مأساوي مُحزِن، وبعضها مشوِّقٌ مثير، تتعلَّق وتدور حول نقطة وحيدة في التاريخ الإسلامي، وهي "الخلافة الإسلامية"، كيف انتقلَت مِن عصر إلى عصر؟ وكيف تحوَّلَت مِن خلافة بِشورى وبيعة لمُلك عضوض يُوَرَّث توريثاً؟ وكيف انتهَت تماماً كنظام حكم لعموم المسلمين؟ وقد أصبح لزاماً عليهم أن يفكِّروا في نظام اجتماعي بديل منبثق مِن نظام الخلافة الراشدة، ليس بالضرورة أن يكون مطابقاً له، ولكن حتماً يكون متمشِّياً مع الكتاب الحكيم والسُّنَّة المطهَّرة، وأبعد ما يكون عن اتِّباع الهوى.

A Farmhouse and a Famous Kangaroo

An interior designer’s beautiful family account of a semi-rural lifestyle on the outskirts of the city of Sydney, Australia.

A pictorial tale of the lifestyle and interiors of a family farmhouse, and their community, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

Included are poignant historical snippets of the area including a community profile on Australian of the Year, Shane Fitzsimmons, and insider information about the place that Skippy the Bush Kangaroo once called home. An inspiring way to live and love.

Endeavour to Rise – Misdemeanours, Musings, Meditations, Mistakes and Mastery

Autobiography by way of a confessional, this book is a ramble through the author’s experiences, impressions, opinions and ideas formed over seven decades. This autobiography sees the author regret her failed relationships, financial mismanagement, folly and fecklessness. It also sees her celebrate success, achievements, courage and a lifetime of service as a nurse.This book is a call for you to recognize yourself as a unique miracle of creation. It offers some cautionary tales and urges you to rid yourself of guilt, blame and shame and to think for yourself.Exploring the eternal questions about the meaning of life e.g. ‘Why are we here?’, ‘Is there a God?’ and ‘Why is there so much suffering?’, this book invites you to reflect on your own life, your truth and your reality so you can shell your emotional baggage. It can also be seen as an exercise in vanity and self-indulgence.

Panic Stations at Ski Stations

Conor MacNamara rode more than fifty of the greatest climbs in the Tour de France to try and conquer his fear of heights. In the end, Conor suffered a breakdown and discovered that he suffered from a panic disorder and required treatment. This book documents Conor’s experiences in detail.

The Quantum Economy

In a world where technology is driving rapid change and connecting us like never before, one thing has remained stagnant: air travel. Since the retirement of the Concorde in 2003, supersonic civilian flights have become a thing of the past. Entrepreneurs and aspiring business leaders must turn to private jet travel to stay ahead of the competition. This book explores the opportunities available to those who act fast, using real-life stories of successful entrepreneurs who have leveraged the speed and convenience of private jets to build their businesses and stay ahead in the quantum economy. Discover how you too can use private jets to connect, compete and succeed in today's fast-paced business world.

Trademark Dilution

The world has changed materially since the foundation of traditional trademark laws, according to which the purpose of a trademark was to serve as a differentiating source indicator, preventing source confusion in the marketplace. Traditionally, trademarks protected the public from likelihood of confusion, assisted in consumer decisions and reduced search costs.The need to award a special scope of protection to famous trademarks from use on non-competing goods was first discussed in Kodak in 1898, holding that the use of the word Kodak for a bicycle company does not mislead consumers but takes unfair advantage of reputation. However, the most significant point in the evolution of dilution, in its early stages, was the case of Odol decided in 1924, which was the first to acknowledge the need to protect the advertising power of trademarks from being diluted, even in the absence of a likelihood of confusion.  This book will provide that dilution is a ‘sui generis’ brand remedy applicable to reputed trademarks in accordance to their aggregated inherent and acquired strength. The book will address the non-harmonised nature of dilution, which reflects a problem in an age of borderless trade and cyber commerce and emphasises the need to answer the question: To what extent should reputed trademarks be protected by dilution beyond the traditional trademark protection from likelihood of confusion?The book includes a proposal for an operative legal framework based on conclusions and distinctions derived from the comparison of dilution, as adopted and interpreted in different areas of the world, comparative case studies and comparison with neighbouring legal rights, such as Tort Law, Unfair Competition, Moral Rights, Equitable Rights, Publicity Rights and Unlawful Enrichment.

50 Letters from Spirit

50 Letters. 50,000 Daily Thoughts. One Call to Awaken.In 2013, Patricia McDowall started an unusual journey. She became more deeply aware that she was a living spirit in a physical body with a conscious mind, working her way through life to evolve her soul. This sensitivity to a more developed divine existence was taught by her initial spirit guide. But to her surprise, this guide took a physical step back from Patricia’s life. A new guide, Marsilio, marched forward and told the author that they would write a book together. Their joined wisdom would use Patricia’s hand and Marsilio’s thoughts from his time in Renaissance, Italy. Through this rare and previously unexplored path, 50 Letters, A Call to Awaken was created.It is a holistic guide that addresses both the external and internal, and it speaks to mind, body and soul. McDowall offers messages to the world, to humanity, to you – the reader – with love.

A Brief History of God

Underlying the writing of this book is the great gap left in our society by the slow and lingering death of God the Father Almighty. What shall we do now that we are orphans in this world? What can we do with all those wonderful Gothic buildings, now that the spirit has gone out of them? The full magnitude of the change stupefies the mind. Yet there is also an enormous liberation, for a patriarchal culture is so unnatural that it does real structural damage to the psyches of those who grow up in it. That fathers should, right into the twentieth century, own their children and mothers have no rights to them, was the legacy of the One God. That women could not keep their own money—their husbands owned it and have done so throughout our history—came from the same place. We are a crippled culture, facing now our own extinction, and only beginning to find our potential to deal with it.And though God is indeed dead, as Nietzsche told us a little while ago, the mystery that things exist—that anything exists at all, let alone this world with all its beauty and its depths—surrounds us with greater force than the presence of that God permitted; and it is Einstein, the scientist, who points us towards it:“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead—his eyes are closed. The insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling is at the centre of true religiousness.”– Albert Einstein, Living Philosophies

A History of London through Beer Goggles

Discover stories and parts of London that you may not have known. All of this done whilst visiting some of London’s oldest pubs.From the Great Fire of London to the Church-run prostitutes of Southwark.From cock fighting to the famous Cock Lane Ghost.From Shakespeare to Shrek.From St Paul’s Cathedral to the inspiration for wedding cakes.Take a journey through the streets of London and discover things you never knew.A must for all who live and work in London, as well as visitors to our great city.What better way could there be than to have a drink and a walk around the parts of the city you have probably never visited. Hidden gems abound.

A Traveller in Fujian Province, China

It is said that travel broadens the mind. This is true, but it does not happen automatically. One must make the effort to observe and appreciate. One must allow oneself to be affected and changed. During his four and a half years living in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China, Greg McEnnally endeavoured to do just that, helped enormously by the people he met – and hence this book is dedicated to them. He also read as much as he could, and this also helped him come to a greater understanding and appreciation.This book describes places: cities and towns, mountains and rivers, islands and countryside, but it also endeavours to present the people and their customs. The author found the whole experience exhilarating, informative and always interesting. It is hoped that the reader will share in this.

A Wolf in the Kitchen

A Wolf in the Kitchen is the prequel to Jim’s first book, Sled Dog Gun: Aviemore Dreaming.In 1987 Jim and Cherry bought their very first Siberian Husky… Hustler.On showing him to people for the first time, they were asked the inevitable question: “Is that a baby wolf?”A year later in the Summer of 1988 a small advert in a local paper changed their lives forever. They discovered the sport of “dog sledding.”Over the next 15 years, more dogs were bought until they had eleven.What follows is the story of these years and is both highly amusing, and often downright funny.After much perseverance, and some frustration, Jim transforms these dogs into one of the fastest teams in Great Britain.With it came recognition that he never imagined, and he and his team found fame on national radio and TV and played a part in a major movie film.A lovely easy read that is suitable for all ages.