Историческая литература
Различные книги в жанре Историческая литератураA Reunion of Ghosts
‘A triumphant, beautiful, and devastating novel about coincidences, family, and the sins of our fathers’ Anthony Doerr, author of All The Light We Cannot See‘Had me devouring the pages … Tragic, touching and – against all odds – strangely uplifting’ Stylist Magazine, 5 StarsMeet the Alter sisters: Lady, Vee and Delph. These three mordantly witty, complex women share their family’s apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. They love each other fiercely, but being an Alter isn’t easy. Bad luck is in their genes, passed down through the generations. Yet no matter what life throws at these siblings, they always have a wisecrack – and each other.In the waning days of 1999, the sisters decide it’s time to close the circle of the Alter curse. But first, as the world counts down to the dawn of a new millennium, Lady, Vee and Delph must write the final chapter of a saga generations in the making – one that is inexorably intertwined with that of the twentieth century itself. Unspooling threads of history, personal memory and family lore, they weave a mesmerising account of their lives that stretches back decades to their great-grandfather, a brilliant scientist whose professional triumph became the sinister legacy that defines them.Magnificent and heartbreaking, A REUNION OF GHOSTS is an epic novel about three unforgettable women, bound to each other and their remarkable family through the blessings and the burdens bestowed by blood.
By the Time You Read This
The smash hit debut novel for this summerThis is my (Kevin Bates) manual for my daughter Lois. The love of my life.Rules of the manual:1.You must only read each new entry on your birthday2.This is a private manual between you and me.3.No peeping at the next entry unless it's your birthday!When Lois Bates is handed the manual, she can barely bring herself to read it as the pain of her dad’s death is still so raw.Yet soon Kevin’s advice is guiding her through every stage of her life – from jobs to first loves and relationships.The manual can never be a substitute for having her dad back, but through his words Lois learns to start living again, and finds that happiness is waiting round the corner …
Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo
A poignant, magical and completely original novel that you can’t fail to love, for fans of Joanne Harris.Meet Balthazar Jones, Beefeater at the Tower of London. Married to Hebe, he lives and works in the Tower, as he struggles to cope with the tragic death of his son Milo, three years ago.The Tower of London is its own magical world; a maze of ancient buildings, it is home to a weird and wonderful cast of characters – the Jones's of course, as well as Reverend Septimus Drew, the Ravenmaster, and Ruby Dore, landlady of the Tower's very own tavern, the Rack & Ruin. And, after an announcement from Buckingham Palace that the Queen's exotic animals are to be moved from London Zoo to the Tower's grounds, things are about to become a whole lot more interesting…Komodo dragons, marmosets, and even zorillas ('a highly revered yet uniquely odorous skunk-like animal from Africa') fill the Tower's menagerie – and it is Balthazar Jones's job to take care of them. Things run far from smoothly, though – missing penguins and stolen giraffes are just two of his worries!A touching, magical and entirely original debut.
An Orphan’s Wish: The new, most heartwarming of christmas novels you will read in 2018
War rages, but the women and children of Liverpool’s Dr Barnardo’s Home cannot give up hope. What more could you wish for than a poignant, heart-warming saga to read this Christmas?LIVERPOOL, 1943Yorkshire is the place Lana has always called home, but it’s now filled with painful memories of her fiancé, Dickie, who was killed at sea. When she accepts the challenging position of headmistress at a school in Liverpool, she hopes a new beginning will help to mend her broken heart.A BATTLE TO FIGHTNot everyone at Bingham School is happy about her arrival but Lana throws herself into the role, teaching children from the local village and the nearby Dr Barnardo’s orphanage. She thrives in her work, but soon finds herself falling for a man who she would once have considered the enemy – and is torn between what she knows is right, and taking a risk that might see her lose everything.THE STRENGTH TO HOPEThere are children that desperately need her help, and Lana must fight for everyone’s happiness, as well as her own. But one young girl in particular shows her that there is a way through the darkness – because even when all seems lost, there is always a glimmer of hope to be found…
An Orphan’s War: One of the best historical fiction books you will read in 2018
War rages, but the women and children of Liverpool’s Dr Barnardo’s Home cannot give up hope. An Orphan’s War is a gripping saga about love and loss on the Home Front.LIVERPOOL, 1940When her childhood sweetheart Johnny is killed in action, Maxine Grey loses more than her husband – she loses her best friend. Desperate to make a difference in this awful war, Maxine takes a nursing job at London’s St Thomas’s hospital.A BROKEN HEARTShe takes comfort in the attentions of a handsome surgeon, but Edwin Blake isn’t all he seems. And as the Blitz descends on the capital, Maxine faces more heartache. When she returns to Liverpool, she harbours a secret.A BRAVE SPIRITWhen Maxine is offered a job at a Dr Barnardo’s orphanage, she hopes this is the second chance she has been looking for. Do the orphans know that she needs them as much as they need her?A gripping story of love, friendship and hope in the darkest of places. Molly Green is an exciting new voice in saga fiction, perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries and Katie Flynn.
An Orphan in the Snow: The heart-warming saga you need to read this year
War rages, but the women and children of Liverpool’s Dr Barnado’s Home cannot give up hope. An Orphan in the Snow is the perfect heartwarming saga to curl up with this winter.LIVERPOOL, 1941Haunted by the death of her sister, June Lavender takes a job at a Dr Barnardo’s orphanage. June couldn’t save Clara from their father’s violence, but perhaps she can help children whose lives have been torn apart by war.A WORLD AT WARWhen June bumps into Flight Lieutenant Murray Andrews on the bombed streets of Liverpool, the attraction is instant. But how can they think of love when war is tearing the world apart?A FIGHT FOR HOPEAs winter closes in, and the war rages on, can June find the strength and courage to make a better life for herself and the children?A gripping story of love, friendship and hope in the darkest of places. Molly Green is an exciting new voice in saga fiction, perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries and Katie Flynn.
A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide
A shattering history of the last hundred years of genocidal war which won the Pulitzer Prize for Non-fiction 2003.‘The United States has never in its history intervened to stop genocide and has in fact rarely even made a point of condemning it as it occurred.’In this convincing and definitive interrogation of the last century of American history and foreign policy, Samantha Power draws upon declassified documents, private papers, unprecedented interviews and her own reporting from the modern killing fields to tell the story of American indifference and American courage in the face of man's inhumanity to man.Tackling the argument that successive US leaders were unaware of genocidal horrors as they were occurring – against Armenians, Jews, Cambodians, Kurds, Rwandans, Bosnians – Samantha Power seeks to establish precisely how much was known and when, and claims that much human misery and tragedy could readily have been averted. It is clear that the failure to intervene was usually caused not by ignorance or impotence, but by considered political inaction. Several heroic figures did work to oppose and expose ethnic cleansing as it took place, but the majority of American politicians chose always to do nothing, as did the American public: Power notes that ‘no US president has ever suffered politically for his indifference to its occurrence. It is thus no coincidence that genocide rages on.’ This riveting book makes a powerful case for why America, as both sole superpower and global citizen, must make such indifference a thing of the past.
A History of War in 100 Battles
Illustrated edition – recommended for viewing on a colour tablet.This book introduces readers to a whole range of military history with all the drama, dangers, horrors and excitement that we associate with Stalingrad or the Somme. Battles are acute moments of history, and through them we can understand how warfare and world history have evolved.Choosing just one hundred battles from recorded human history is a challenge. Not just because it is necessary to cover almost 6,000 years of history, but because men have fought each other almost continuously for millennia. Anyone who knows anything about the history of war may be disappointed at what has had to be left out. However, each of the 100 memorable battles described shows both how the nature of armed combat has changed over human history, and also how, despite changes in technology, organisation or ideas, many things have remained the same.It is an old adage that you can win a battle but lose a war. The battles featured here almost always resulted in victory for one side or another, but the victor did not necessarily win the war. Some battles are decisive in that broader historical sense, others are not. The further back in time, the more likely it is that an enemy could be finished off in one blow. The wars of the modern age, between major states, have involved repeated battles until one side was battered into submission. Some of the great generals of the recent past – Napoleon, Robert E Lee, Erich von Manstein – have been on the losing side but are remembered nonetheless for their generalship.Some on the winning side have all but disappeared from the history books or from public memory. Equally, in many battles, the issue is not victory or defeat, but what the battle can tell us about the history of warfare itself. New weapons, new tactics, new ways of organising armed forces can have a sudden impact on the outcome of a battle. But so too can leadership, or the effects of a clever deception, or raw courage. That is why the book has been divided up into clear themes which apply equally to the battles of the ancient world as they do to the battles of today.As Professor Richard Overy laments: “Battle is not a game to plug into a computer but a piece of living history, messy, bloody and real. That, at least, has not changed in 6,000 years.”
A Hanging at Cinder Bottom
From the author of The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart and set in the boom years of the West Virginia coalmining industry, this is an epic story of personal ambition, exile and return, and a grand heist.Keystone, West Virginia, 1910In the hot August rain the townspeople gather to witness the first public hanging in over a decade. At the gallows are none other than poker player, Abe Baach, and his lover, the madam of the town’s brothel, one Goldie Toothman.Abe split town seven years prior and has been playing cards up and down the coast ever since. But when he returns to Keystone to reunite with Goldie and to set the past right, he finds a brother dead and his father's saloon in shambles – and suspects the same men might be responsible for both. Only then, in facing his family's past, does the real swindle begin.
A Film by Spencer Ludwig
A hilarious and heartbreaking father-son road movie of a novel.Spencer Ludwig, idealist and filmmaker, is making one of his regular duty visits from London to New York City to tend to his declining but still fearsome father. Driving back from one of their doctors' appointments, Spencer decides not to take the turn to his father’s apartment: instead, they hit the road. Ahead of them will be an emotional ride taking in police and prostitutes, film festivals and gambling in Atlantic City, as father and son try to make sense of each other’s lives and hearts, and their own. To reach, Spencer hopes, a suitably cinematic conclusion.