The Ghost Within

This enlightening book, The Ghost Within, explains some of the questions man has been looking for. There are clear and precise examples – some of which are hypothetical and others based on personal experiences. Also, there are simple and more complex explanations to which you will find how the flesh and the double-sided sword of the spirit are connected. Dermoth Alexander Henry, known as the ‘Scribe’, takes us on a journey of how the Creator also has a plan for our inner man and woman.

The Day I Chose to Live

You know that shy, quiet boy? The one with the knobbly knees, bobbly elbows and a silly haircut? Well, that was me. I was an intelligent child and a decent enough sportsman. I had plenty of friends but I didn’t smile a lot. I’m not a boy who had a tough upbringing. To all intents and purposes, my childhood was idyllic. I was afforded every opportunity and never wanted for anything. I was born into a loving family and grew up in leafy suburbia, a far cry from anything that could be seen as deprivation or hardship. I lacked a little confidence but really the world should have been mine to make of it what I wanted. I should have been full of excitement and enthusiasm for my life ahead, but unfortunately happiness continued to elude me and I became preoccupied with one obsession. My desire to be dead.

That's Livin' Alright: A Biography on David Mackay

As in most industries and businesses that are successful, there are the individuals that are out front and take most of the credit for being resourceful, creative and innovative. These can be people that welcome or seek the spotlight of fame and notoriety or simply those that have it thrust upon them by circumstances beyond their control but in most cases, there is usually a driving force behind their success, a clever machine that dominates the whole concept of achievement, ultimately instigated by one person of foresight and of a gifted talent. This is the case of Australian Record Producer DAVID MACKAY, as he is the man responsible for so many hit records and TV themes around the world. This is his story with many contributions from the stars he has worked with such as, Barry Gibb, Bonnie Tyler, Sir Cliff Richard, Francis Rossi and Eve Graham (New Seekers).

Tales from the Crypt: A Life In and Out of the Church

Has a revolution taken place in Christianity, or are gay priests still objects of suspicion and disapproval? Is modern society too dominated by businesses too big to be human? Have communities lost control of town planning, or is there hope if only we connect?As both an insider and an outsider, the former reverend Robin Green volunteered to help the first drug addicts in the late sixties, throwing open the Crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields and his best efforts into helping the needy at home and abroad.Yet he decided that society needed its mavericks as much as its ministers. Resigning from the Church, he declared his homosexuality and went into business with his partner, finding success as both an entrepreneur and in local politics.Now Robin offers a warning about the threats that face our world and an uplifting vision of what ministry means in the modern age.‘Hope is not about indulging the past. It is about embracing the future with all the lessons learnt from that past.'

Peter Philips at the Archdukes' Court: Church Music in the Spanish Netherlands

This is the first published study of the church music of Peter Philips, who in his day was regarded as one of the greatest masters of music in Europe. Philips wrote against a background of the strife between Catholics and Protestants, and – being of the Roman persuasion – he chose to leave his native England and eventually settled at the court of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella in Brussels, where he acted as organist. This study explores the manner in which music changed from Renaissance style to that of the early Baroque.

Passant: A Journey to Elsewhere

Passant offers an account of a doubly divided family, involving its New Zealand and wealthy, distant British branches during the 1930s and 1940s. It covers the early years of its chief protagonist who relates the experience of growing up against the background of the Great Depression and the Second World War, in a family torn apart by tragedy"”particularly the death of a lawyer grandfather at the age of forty in a New Zealand mental institution and its subsequent and calculated concealment. Worse though, on top of the family's secrets, misdiagnosed by a local doctor and just before his ninth birthday, the boy falls seriously ill. Drifting in and out of a coma, he undergoes major surgery, followed by almost two years in a hospital bed. This is a book of personal survival and the psychological consequences of lies and concealment, of a divided family and the disrupted lives of those belonging to it.

Ottavia's Story

This book is not a documentary, it is partially based on a true story of a few women who spent time in the concentration camp. Ottavia is a young mother of one, with another on the way. She and Jacob, her husband, are a typical Jewish family. One night, they are taken to a concentration camp. On the way, she gives birth to her daughter in a dirty cattle train. When the train stops for unknown reasons, Ottavia takes drastic action not to kill her own daughter, but to save her life. Does she succeed? The moment she arrives at her allocated barrack, she rallies to the challenge of helping save the life of an inmate's newborn. Through their musical talents, Ottavia and a few fellow prisoners have a chance to help themselves and others to survive. Will they take the chance? In the hellish darkness, a flicker of light shines through. Their own prison guard amazingly becomes their guardian angel. She risks her own life many times in order to protect theirs. One of the unsung heroes. Through the long winter evenings huddling together to keep warm, they started to tell their own life story, sometimes sad and sometimes happy. To learn about their lives after the hell which they endured, you have to read this book. It will keep you captivated till the last page.

Fire - Floats and Fireboats

After his autobiography Beyond the Flames and his eclectic anthology London's Firefighters, David C. Pike's latest book about the London Fire Brigade, Fire-Floats and Fireboats, takes as its focus the history of firefighting on the river Thames. Starting in Roman times and bringing the story right up to the present day, Pike's comprehensive survey charts the astonishing evolution of the vessels used to combat fire from the river, pays homage to the intrepid crews of these often unwieldy craft, and vividly recreates some of the most devastating conflagrations the capital has ever seen.With more than 250 fascinating illustrations, Fire-Floats and Fireboats is certain to appeal to lovers of London and aficionados of history and technology, but will also be enjoyed by a wide range of general readers.

Daphne Du Maurier: Looking Inward

In this well-researched and crafted study of Daphne du Maurier's novels and short stories, author Teresa Petersen explores the possibility that incest is at the core of du Maurier's craft. Her argument is that the theme of incest occurs so frequently that it is not a coincidence.Weaving an analysis of du Maurier's personal history with her well-known novels and short stories, Petersen contends that the writer's intense relationship with her father, Gerald, and to a lesser extent, her much older cousin, Geoffrey, shaped the narrative of all that she wrote.From the subtle father-daughter marriage in Rebecca to the grotesque infanticide in The Progress of Julius to the revelatory short story, 'A Border-Line Case', Petersen makes a clear argument that will have readers reconsidering du Maurier's works from a completely different angle.

British Sporting Champions

You do not leave school one day and win an Olympic gold medal the next. This book is about 50 sporting champions and how they got started. It contains a biography of each followed by their career records. It shows in detail their achievements from school, youth, under 20, under 30, to seminar level, from county, area, national and international honours. It is a multi-sport book that should appeal to multi-sport lovers.

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

Your Face My Light: Maurice Zundel, the Gospel of Man

Maurice Zundel (1897-1975), Swiss writer, priest and theologian, addresses himself not only to practising believers but to all those who, in a humanity and a Church in crisis, are seeking for a transcendent meaning or purpose to existence. Marginalised by the Catholic Church for his unorthodox, modernist views which present the individual as the source of his own freedom and becoming. Zundel's existential approach to 'being' is complemented by a profound spirituality of interiority and discovery of one's 'person' as the route to true encounter with the 'other'. The 'self' is also the 'creative source' which seeks itself through creative and artistic endeavour. These multiple facets of a theology attuned to the modern world and psyche, combined with a strong ecumenism embracing Islam encountered through long periods in Egypt and Lebanon, have ensured Zundel a huge following. Yet he is hardly known in the English-speaking world. The present book seeks to fill this void. It combines an introduction to Zundel's thinking by reference to his life and person with an analysis of selected extracts from his work translated by the author into English.