Diane Allen's The Yorkshire Farm Girl is a heartfelt novel of a family dreaming of a better life when WW2 looms on the horizon. September 1939. Friends Maggie Shaunessy and Lizzie Taylor are heartbroken to be evacuated from their Liverpool homes to rural Yorkshire. Lizzie is sent to live with a vicar in the village of Gargrave, while Maggie finds herself delivered by chauffeur to Hawith Hall and Lady and Lord Bradley. Both girls at the hall and the vicarage are far different to what they are used to – and both are very homesick. Though Maggie finds friendship too in the form of Alice, a young servant at the hall who takes Maggie under her wing. But change is coming to the Dales too, leaving the girls feeling harboring desperate plans of run away, back to Liverpool . . .

Can the festive cheer warm her heart again? October 1941. Despite the hardships of life during wartime, Bobby Bancroft has never been happier. Engaged to her airman sweetheart Charlie, living in the beautiful Dales village of Silverdale and gainfully employed at The Tyke magazine, her life seems to be going exactly the way she always hoped it would. As the festive season approaches, Bobby is recruited to help produce a Christmas pantomime for the evacuee children billeted in the village. The project introduces her to some new friends, including a handsome Canadian, Flying Officer Ernie King, and her friend Topsy’s upper-crust cousin Archie Sumner. However, fresh troubles arise when Charlie discovers his RAF training is to be cut short and he must prepare to join the fight imminently. What’s more, his upcoming leave has been cancelled, leaving him to spend a lonely Christmas in his barracks. Can a miracle bring Charlie and Bobby together for Christmas? An absolutely captivating, heart warming and uplifting festive saga that fans of All Creatures Great and Small, Gervase Phinn and Maggie Mason will adore. Readers can’t get enough of Wartime Christmas in the Dales: ‘This was such a heartfelt story of a beautiful story in the wartime of Christmas. All the feel good, but all the honest feels also. It was wonderful!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘A wonderful tale set during wartime. While the war is serious the characters’ antics and the festive season keep the story lighthearted.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘This is a delightful read set during WW2. ... What could possibly be better than snow, Christmas with diverse characters and an amusing extraordinary engagement party?’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘Such a heartwarming read. Written with feeling.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘I loved this latest instalment in Bobby Bancroft's story...Plenty of detail make wartime life in the Dales feel very real.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘Amazing storyline, loved the setting and the characters and as always Betty has come up trumps, once you start you can’t put it down.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘I love the setting and likeable characters.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

One of the most important questions of human existence is what drives nations to war—especially massive, system-threatening war. Much military history focuses on the who, when, and where of war. In this riveting book, Dale C. Copeland brings attention to bear on why governments make decisions that lead to, sustain, and intensify conflicts.Copeland presents detailed historical narratives of several twentieth-century cases, including World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. He highlights instigating factors that transcend individual personalities, styles of government, geography, and historical context to reveal remarkable consistency across several major wars usually considered dissimilar. The result is a series of challenges to established interpretive positions and provocative new readings of the causes of conflict.Classical realists and neorealists claim that dominant powers initiate war. Hegemonic stability realists believe that wars are most often started by rising states. Copeland offers an approach stronger in explanatory power and predictive capacity than these three brands of realism: he examines not only the power resources but the shifting power differentials of states. He specifies more precisely the conditions under which state decline leads to conflict, drawing empirical support from the critical cases of the twentieth century as well as major wars spanning from ancient Greece to the Napoleonic Wars.

An intricate plot set in the 1920s English countryside and Frances Brody's "refreshingly complex heroine" (Kirkus) Kate Shackleton make A Death in the Dales an absorbing 7th installment in this mystery, perfect for fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Agatha Christie. A murder most foul When the landlord of a Yorkshire tavern is killed in plain sight, Freda Simonson, the only witness to the crime, becomes plagued with guilt, believing the wrong man has been convicted. Following her death, it seems that the truth will never be uncovered in the peaceful village of Langcliffe... A village of secrets But it just so happens that Freda’s nephew is courting the renowned amateur sleuth Kate Shackleton, who decides to holiday in Langcliffe with her indomitable teenage niece, Harriet. When Harriet strikes up a friendship with a local girl whose young brother is missing, the search leads Kate to uncover another suspicious death, not to mention an illicit affair. The case of a lifetime As the present mysteries merge with the past’s mistakes, Kate is thrust into the secrets that Freda left behind and realizes that this courageous woman has entrusted her with solving a murder from beyond the grave. It soon becomes clear to her that nothing in Langcliffe is quite as it appears, and with a murderer on the loose and an ever-growing roster of suspects, this isn’t the holiday Kate was expecting... Frances Brody's Kate Shackleton returns in A Death in the Dales with another mystery that's sure to "hold the reader attention and make them continue reading into the small hours of the night" (York Press, UK).

A new, expanded edition of the 1951 classic.

‘One of the best books I have read in a very, very long time.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review To follow her dream, she’s gone from city to village – but can she ever fit in? October 1940. Bobby Bancroft is working as a typist for a city newspaper, but she longs to be breaking the news herself. She is thrilled to secure a junior reporter role at The Tyke, a magazine serving the Yorkshire Dales. However, when Bobby moves to Silverdale, she discovers rural life is a different world. The close-knit villagers and cantankerous local animals prove difficult to win over, while mischievous vet Charlie seems determined to lead her astray. As Bobby struggles to find her place amongst the dalesfolk, she wonders if she’s made a huge mistake. Will the city girl ever make a home of the beautiful but hostile countryside of the Dales? An uplifting, lively World War Two rural saga that fans of Annie Murray, Rosie Hendry, Gervase Phinn and James Herriot will love. Readers are loving the first book in this captivating rural saga series: ‘A gorgeous setting, appealing characters and brimming with warmth and humour. It’s a long time since a book has so thoroughly captured my heart. Don’t miss it!’ Kate Field What a brilliant book...Family saga at its best.’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘LOVED IT!!!...My heart ached when reading this... A lovely story, full of heart and home. I didn't want it to end...’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘Read in 24 hours! Exceptional!...The storyline was strong and the characters were all likeable and relatable... There were lots of twists and turns that kept me wanting to read more.’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘I absolutely loved this book! The life and times of a wartime Yorkshire village and its people shine through, authentic, realistic and charming, and Bobby is a highly likeable heroine with ambition and heart... I am so pleased to see that there are going to be more books to come in this series. Can't wait!’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review 'I am beyond impressed with this book. I hope this truly is the start of a long series’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review