In 1936, the year Fritz Schwalm was born, Adolph Hitler had high approval ratings. Fritz’s parents supported the national socialist state, and his father was an SS officer employed in the Race and Settlement Office (Rasse and Siedlungs Hauptamt, RuSHA). The office became the focus of a military tribunal of the Nuremberg trials, and his father was sentenced to ten years in prison. Decades later, after his father’s death, Fritz discovered his diaries, penned during the first four years in captivity that included the trial. In a fascinating memoir, Fritz begins by sharing his father’s journals that detail his thoughts about Germany’s successes and failures under the Hitler regime, beginning with his internment in a camp near Hamburg, Neuengamme. In the following section, Fritz chronicles his own life growing up under the Nazi regime. After revealing how the defeat of Germany in 1945 and its consequences confronted him with traditional political and social norms, he leads others through the events of his subsequent life, rich in adventures and free choices, stark contrasts of what his life would have been in a society governed by rigid social norms and ideological biases. A Life Outside My Father’s Shadow shares the contrasting perspectives and views of a German SS officer father and his son as the events of a brutal war transformed the world.

Though born in America, Eddie Constantine is perhaps best remembered as a film actor in France and Germany, playing the role of a hardboiled detective named "Lemmy Caution" and appearing in films by Jean-Luc Godard, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Lars von Trier. In the process of transitioning Constantine from the star of B-movies to the epicenter of the Nouvelle Vague, Jean-Luc Godard reconsecrated him as the solemn and impassive star of his extraordinary film, Alphaville. Eddie's unruffled charm, winning smile, and American credentials made him virtually untouchable. Europeans liked Constantine because he wasn't a pretty face-he had savoir faire. Constantine's daughter Tanya traveled with him throughout much of his career, and this book comes from her perspective of their troubled familial relationship. It is a testament to his legend that Constantine emerges from the candor of his daughter's autobiography somehow strengthened by her revelations of the compulsions and insecurities he made those closest to him suffer. This book presents us with universal truths about the difficulties experienced within family relationships and takes us behind the curtain of celebrity and the fixed smiles of publicity photos in a way few books ever do. I had a most unusual upbringing being the child of a celebrity. My childhood was a unique situation that only people who had experienced it could comprehend. My father was a superstar and singer in Europe in the 1950s and '60s. He and I recorded a song called "The Man and The Child" that sold over a million records in France alone, when I was just eleven years old, thus making me a celebrity too. When superstardom set in, a crazy atmosphere had overtaken our household, as fame creates pressure, fear of loss, and resentment. My father's estate became an open house to international celebrities who came to visit. Despite the fame and fortune that became part of my life, I ran away from home before the age of sixteen with the man who later became my first husband. I have spent my entire life attempting to release the pain of my upbringing.

Of all the myriad stars and celebrities Hollywood has produced, only a handful have achieved the fame - and, some would say, infamy - of Orson Welles, the creator and star of what is arguably the greatest film ever, Citizen Kane. Many books have been written about him, detailing his achievements as an artist as well as his foibles as a human being. None of them, however, has come so close to the real man as Chris Welles Feder does in this beautifully realised portrait of her father. In My Father's Shadow is a classic story of a life lived in the public eye, told with affection and the wide-eyed wonder of a daughter who never stopped believing that some day she would truly know and understand her elusive and larger-than-life father. The result is a moving and insightful look at life in the shadow of a legendary figure and an immensely entertaining story of growing up in the unreal reality of Hollywood.

A stunning, powerful debut novel set against the backdrop of the Cambodian War, perfect for fans of Chris Cleave and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. Soon the family's world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus. Over the next four years, as she endures the deaths of family members, starvation, and brutal forced labour, Raami clings to the only remaining vestige of childhood - the mythical legends and poems told to her by her father. In a climate of systematic violence where memory is sickness and justification for execution, Raami fights for her improbable survival. Displaying the author's extraordinary gift for language, In the Shadow of the Banyanis testament to the transcendent power of narrative and a brilliantly wrought tale of human resilience. 'In the Shadow of the Banyanis one of the most extraordinary and beautiful acts of storytelling I have ever encountered' Chris Cleave, author of The Other Hand 'Ratner is a fearless writer, and the novel explores important themes such as power, the relationship between love and guilt, and class. Most remarkably, it depicts the lives of characters forced to live in extreme circumstances, and investigates how that changes them. To read In the Shadow of the Banyan is to be left with a profound sense of being witness to a tragedy of history' Guardian 'This is an extraordinary debut … as beautiful as it is heartbreaking' Mail on Sunday

Out of all the many stars and celebrities Hollywood has produced, only a handful have achieved the fame—and, some would say, infamy—of Orson Welles, the creator and star of what is arguably the greatest American film, Citizen Kane. Many books have been written about him, detailing his achievements as an artist as well his foibles as a human being. None of them, however, has gotten so close to the real man as does Chris Welles Feder's beautifully realized portrait of her father. In My Father's Shadow is a classic story of a life lived in the public eye, told with affection and the wide-eyed wonder of a daughter who never stopped believing that someday she would truly know and understand her elusive and larger-than-life father. The result is a moving and insightful look at life in the shadow of a legendary figure and an immensely entertaining story of growing up in the unreal reality of Hollywood, enhanced by Welles Feder's collection of many never-before-seen family photographs.

Author of War Horse, and bestselling storyteller Michael Morpurgo touched our hearts with this beautiful story of a boy, his lost dog, and the lengths he would go to be reunited. This timely story of battle-scarred Afghanistan delivers a masterful portrait of war, love, and friendship. With the horrors of war bearing down on them, Aman and his mother are barely surviving in an Afghan cave, and staying there any longer will end horribly. The only comfort Aman has is Shadow, the loyal spaniel that shows up from places unknown, it seems, just when Aman needs him most. Aman, his mother, and Shadow finally leave the destroyed cave in hopes of escaping to England, but are held at a checkpoint, and Shadow runs away after being shot at by the police. Aman and his mother escape--without Shadow. Aman is heart-broken. Just as they are getting settled as free citizens in England, they are imprisoned in a camp with locked doors and a barbed wire fence. Their only hope is Aman's classmate Matt, his grandpa, and the dream of finding his lost dog. After all, you never lose your shadow.

Myth, Masculinity & Me By: David M. Martin In today’s gender revolution we often hear people identifying as “more or less masculine” or “more or less feminine.” But do we really know what masculinity is? Is it a concrete and definable category or something that is more ambiguous and mutable? In this book, the author takes the reader along with him on his personal journey exploring his relationship with and growing understanding of masculinity. Along the way the reader will hear about both healthy and unhealthy, or “toxic,” masculinity. The way is perilous and strewn with personal landmines and pathogenic beliefs inherited from culture, family and institutions. This book utilizes an archetypal and mytho-poetic framework to analyze, experience and form a new relationship to “masculinity” and the innermost self. Through the story of Peter Pan, the author analyzes archetypal masculinity from infancy through childhood. Next the author takes the reader through The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to discuss the major split most men face between their inner reality, exterior persona and the shadow that lurks behind them. Finally, the author takes a bold leap into the story of Beowulf to battle the dragons of cultural stereotypes, falsely imposed limitations and dangerous self beliefs that affect the individual, not just as a man, but as a human. This is one man’s story. It is about learning and taking responsibility for the kind of life we ultimately want to lead, as well as the kind of world we want to leave behind to those who follow.