Burning Blue presents a provocative, poetic journey. Lyrical considerations address themes of tyranny, racism, prejudice and discrimination. Bold meditations reflect the injustices, trials and tribulations of the oppressed. Visionary tales reveal those victimized by governments, the fragility of desperation, grief and the tragedy of war. Streams of vibrant verse radiate with fantasy and surreal imagery to illuminate the haunting darkness of a weary world. Burning Blue aspires to replace the indifference of countrymen from all nations with an embracing of diversity, to change the world with a poem.

Joss Lambert has always been a loner, constrained by a secret from his past, until he finds friendship and solace firstly with Guy Liddell, a friend from school, and then with Guy's family, who welcome him into their farmhouse home. Joss increasingly comes to depend upon the Liddells and treats Alvesdon Farm as the one place where he feels not only appreciated but also truly happy. But in late 1930s England, the idyll cannot last. With war looming, Joss is forced to confront the past. He escapes through flying, becoming a fighter pilot in the RAF. But with the onset of war, even the Liddells' world is crumbling. As Joss is fighting for his life in the Battle of Britain, so he begins to fall madly in love with Stella - Guy's twin - but with tragic consequences. Leaving England and the Liddells far behind, he continues to fly amid the sand and heat of North Africa's deserts, flying above the 'Desert Rats' of the 8th Army, until his hopes and dreams are seemingly shattered for good...

Lights Burning Blue is a tender story of an unlikely friendship, and also a page-turning thriller set in the world of the theatre. Brooke McCarthy left drama school over a year ago. After many months of waiting for her big break, she gets a job with The Edwardian Palace Theatre Company on the south coast. 'Why did I feel slightly ashamed of the fact that my first real job since leaving college is stage-managing? It’s an important job. Vital in fact, and it can be a very rewarding and challenging career. Except in my case I didn’t really want to do it.' It’s not everything she hoped for; it’s not a proper acting job and the play’s director, the notorious Jimmy Knowles, is difficult to work for and a hard man to please. The play is not even rehearsing at the theatre itself, but in an out-of-the-way village hall near a woodland nature reserve miles from anywhere. But this is the theatrical profession. Jobs don’t come along very easily, and Brooke is fed up with working as a temp in an office. On her first day, Brooke meets an endearing old man who lives in the cottage just across the path from the rehearsal hall. A man with an interesting past and an infectious love of the theatre.. Just the week before Brooke arrives at her new job, a young girl who looks somewhat like her has been found murdered in the woods... Lights Burning Blue is a page-turning thriller that will not only keep you guessing, but being written by an actor, will also give you an insider's view of what it is really like to work in the theatre.

A soulful mystery for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why and Paper Towns When Nicole Castro, the most beautiful girl in her wealthy New Jersey high school, is splashed with acid on the left side of her perfect face, the world takes notice. But quiet loner Jay Nazarro does more than that—he decides to find out who did it. Jay understands how it feels to be treated like a freak, and he also has a secret: He’s a brilliant hacker. But the deeper he digs, the more danger he’s in—and the more he falls for Nicole. Too bad everyone is turning into a suspect, including Nicole herself.

It was, of course, the Battle of Britain, or rather its conclusion, that prompted one of Winston Churchill's most memorable pieces of oratory that has its epitome in the sentence, 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.' If the Battle of Britain had been lost it is very likely the New Order to which the Axis powers had pledged themselves would have become global with unthinkable consequences for the world afterwards. The importance of the Battle of Britain cannot be exaggerated though inevitably in the succeeding years the accretion of myth has brought about many distortions. This multi-faceted symposium emerged from the Centre of Second World War Studies at Edinburgh University with the aim, in the words of the editors, 'to reassess established themes while opening up new ones.' After a masterly introduction by Brian Bond, the book is divided into six parts: Before the Battle; The Battle; The View from Afar; Experience and Memory; The Making of a British Legend and The Significance. The contributors are: Klaus A. Maier; Malcolm Smith; Horst Boog; Sebastian Cox; Sergei Kudryshov; Richard P. Hallion; Theodore F. Cook; Hans-Ekkehard Bob; Wallace Cunningham; Nigel Rose; Owen Dudley Edwards; Angus Calder; Tony Aldgate; Adrian Gregory; Jeremy Lake and John Schofield; Paul Addison and Jeremy A. Crang and Richard Overy. No survey could be more wide-ranging or fascinating. First published in 2000 to mark the 60th anniversary, it is now being reissued in 2010 to mark the 70th anniversary. 'But it is terrific. It's not only an acknowledgement of the heroism of the fighter pilots (and all the ancillary crew), but a serious contribution to the historical record. Seventeen contributors write about the Battle from pretty much every conceivable angle; and Addison and Crang have chosen them well. . . This is not an automatically worshipful book; it poses questions about the morality of war, the existence of heroism, the reliability of memory. But it treats the subject honestly and with justice. And it tells us why we won: because, it would appear, it helps to come from a society that is sceptical of authority rather than in blind, unthinking terror of it.' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian ''This book is a first-class piece of work, stimulating, informative and concise.' Brian Holden Reid, Times Higher Education Supplement. 'This is a nugget of a book . . . it assembles, most readably, a range of authoritative and international views on the Battle, its history, and its significance.' Air Chief Marshall Sir Michael Graydon, Royal United Services Institute 'This is a much told story, but the varied viewpoints of the 20 contributors to Burning Blue - ranging from a fascinating essay by Owen Dudley Edwards on the air war as reflected in children's literaturer to the memories of pilots who fought in it on both sides - give an impressive breadth and depth. And even though it strips away hindsight and refuses to burnish legends, what is left is still one of the most remarkable stories in the whole of British history. The British empire didn't last a thousand years, but the man was right: this truly was its finest hour.' David Robinson, The Scotsman

Journeys of the Soul is a poignant documentary of the author''s search to find a connection with an often confusing world of life, love and relationships. Powerful and moving, the poetry leads the reader to one inexplicable conclusion: surviving in the real world can lead to a truth that is sometimes stranger than fiction. Heart rendering and satirical, Journeys of the Soul is fascinating from cover to cover.

'Gripping' ED CAESAR • 'Masterly' GEOFF DYER • 'Incredible' TIM HARFORD • 'A universal story that transcends time' NEW YORK TIMES • 'Superb' DAILY TELEGRAPH • 'We know what’s going to happen, but feel the suspense nonetheless' THE TIMES ** THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ** ** WINNER OF THE KIRKUS BOOK PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2024 ** The definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the Challenger space shuttle disaster based on fascinating in-depth reporting and new archival research – this is riveting history that reads like a thriller. On the morning of 28 January 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. Millions around the world witnessed the tragic deaths of the crew, which included schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Like the assassination of JFK, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in twentieth century history – one that forever changed the way America thought of itself and its optimistic view of the future. Yet the full story of what happened – and why – has never been told. Based on extensive archival research and meticulous, original reporting, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space follows a handful of central protagonists – including each of the seven members of the doomed crew – through the years leading up to the accident, a detailed account of the tragedy itself, and into the investigation that followed. It’s a compelling tale of optimism and ingenuity shattered by political cynicism and cost-cutting in the interests of burnishing national prestige; of hubristic ‘go fever’; and of an investigation driven by heroic leakers and whistle-blowers determined to bring the truth to light. With astonishing clarity and narrative verve, Adam Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program, the lives of men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster, as well as the designers, engineers and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first shuttle into space. A masterful blend of riveting human drama, fascinating science and shocking political infighting, Challenger brings to life a turning point in our history. The result is an even more complex and extraordinary story than any of us remembered – or thought possible.