I grew up hearing tales of a great-great grandfather, a Catholic man of the cloth from Cork who eloped with a nun. As a child I found ancestors dead-boring, living relations bad enough.

The arrival of the 1980s saw millions living behind the Iron Curtain flee their homeland in search of a better tomorrow. Step-by-step, they trudged persistently to reach their dream of happiness. These were the Columbuses of the 1980s – risk takers who had the courage to test themselves and explore the notoriety of the western world first-hand. Was It Worth It is a modern odyssey spanning three continents and following one family’s path to a new, unfamiliar future. It tells of the characters’ struggle to adapt to foreign places, languages and customs. With settings in Lima, Paris, Ottawa, and exploring venues in other countries, the book offers readers an insight into what it takes to start from scratch in an unknown land. Did they find what they were looking for?

Settling down on the bed, I stroked the plump, still body, watching my mother's face just to make sure she was still breathing. As a 6 year old that was all I wanted, not toys or chocolates or comforts, just to know my mother was still alive was enough. Jane Hersey's autobiography is told through the thoughts and voice of a traumatized, isolated child, enduring the stresses and strains of day-to-day life under difficult circumstances in 1960s Manchester. As a six year old child with sole care of a mother suffering with clinical depression, diabetes and eating disorders, Jane is ostracized by the Jewish community and the community at large. Breath in the Dark is the heart-rending story of a girl socially isolated, neglected, physically, emotionally and sexually abused and living in poverty. "From the first lines of Breath in the Dark, there is a powerful sense that this is special. The simplicity of Jane's style, the clarity of the child's voice and the intensity of emotion fired in those few words had me hooked from the start. [...] Jane expresses the beautiful mix of confusion, faith and fear that characterises her childhood effortlessly... There is so much I could say about Breath in the Dark, it's excellent narrative, incredible intensity and the unfakeable ring of truth it carries. [...] Every part of it is an extremely powerful reading experience: it is heartbreaking and fascinating in equal amounts." - Review by Harper Collins

“Gentleman Jim is a special forces hero – and he is one of mine too." Sir Ranulph Fiennes, OBE The trailblazing sequel to Gentleman Jim: The Wartime Story of a Founder of the SAS. Following his death-defying Second World War, Gentleman Jim Almonds would never settle to an ordinary job. The SAS was disbanded but as a thirty-year-old Captain, he still hungered for adventure. After training Emperor Hailie Selassie’s Army in Ethiopia, he went as Second-in-Command of a bandit-chasing outfit in the new ‘Wild West’ of Eritrea. He was on active service in so-called peacetime. Atrocities and killings were common, but British justice was swift during a race against time as Almonds brought terrorism under control before the implementation of a United Nations decision to federate Eritrea with Ethiopia. Meanwhile, he embarked on personal adventuring and exploration alone in the wilds, rivers and highlands of Ethiopia, sometimes coming close to death. He was still the great escaper. The SAS reformed in Malaya and Almonds ran straight to the battle again. Back with the Regiment, he parachuted into the jungle to clear communist terrorists out of Malaya. In the early days of the Malayan Emergency, he improvised insertion techniques, close quarter combat training and led the long slow marches out. The success of this British campaign has been largely unsung – until now. In Singapore, Almonds took time out to design and hand-build boats in which he and his family sailed around the Straits of Johor. Another opportunity took him to the Gold Coast as a Major in the West African Frontier Force. He witnessed Independence as the British Union Flag was lowered and Ghana was created. He built a riverboat and navigated the mighty Volta River, before it was dammed, through dense equatorial jungle from Yeji to the sea. He even built, by hand (no power tools), a thirty-foot ocean-going ketch – designed and memorized whilst in an Italian Prisoner of War camp. He sailed out into the mid-Atlantic and home to England. He had no modern steering aids, no health and safety and no radio – yet an uncanny sense of direction. In the dog days of Empire, the story captures the snapshot detail of the many countries he visited during his three-month intercontinental voyage. The account is set in a meticulously researched context, fully sourced and contains a comprehensive index, maps and glossaries.

J.C. Squire (1884-1958) bestrode the literary world of the inter-war era like a colossus. A poet, journalist, editor of the New Statesman and presiding genius of the London Mercury, he was much adored and - as a combative traditionalist - much reviled. Evelyn Waugh satirised him in Decline and Fall.

Dr Gramshaw was a successful family doctor in Yorkshire for thirty-five years, until his final desperate actions brought his professional and personal life crashing down around him. This is a fascinating and shocking story of love and lust, success and deceit, crimes and lies, adultery, bigamy and insanity.

Child of the Raj covers a unique and fascinating period of British and Indian history, as seen through the eyes of someone who lived through it.