Abdication

In his latest work, Abdication, historian and biographer Mark Hichens takes a detailed and percipient look at the story of the man who could well have been Britain's shortest serving monarch, King Edward VIII.

This year 2016, is the 80th anniversary of the dramatic abdication of King Edward VIII.

Mark Hichens realised that there were still questions from those events that remained unanswered, and ambiguities that remained unsettled.

He undertakes a detailed examination of the psychological character of King Edward VIII, making note of the various character flaws that were identified and noted by his peers.

Chief of which and one might hold the most damaging for a person in his postilion was the instability of his character and his lack of maturity.

He also examines the Duchess. She was arguably a woman who possessed no great beauty and had somewhat limited intellectual gifts. Yet she had captivated and married two men, plus had a number of lovers, before she captured the heart of someone described by some as "the world's best-loved man."  

The book looks at how she was able to bring the Prince to his knees.

Mark Hichens looks at the key players in this rather sordid episode, including Stanley Baldwin, King Edward VII's Prime Minister, who was the lead figure in the negotiations.

Although a book which adheres to academic rigour, it is written throughout in a style that is open and accessible.

It is published in hardback by The Book Guild at £14.99 and will make a warmly received Christmas present for lovers of history or biography.

It's also available from the That's Books and Entertainment book shop. Just take a look to the right hand side of this book review and you will finds the portal to the book shop. You'll also find thousands of other books, plus DVDs, Christmas gifts and festive food and drink.

Tears of the West

Tears of the West is the third novel from Ted York.

In it York explores the terrifying possibility of biological warfare.

The source of inspiration for this novel? His wife's makeup bag.

He happened to glance at the long list of chemical ingredients in them and began to wonder who, if anyone, was monitoring the contents of the various makeup products?

How easy would it be, he mused, to secretly begin adding toxic agents into the products?

The novel follows Dee, a postgrad student who is working on her PhD thesis at Imperial College London.

The title of her thesis? "Is Nanotechnology being Properly Controlled?"

She begins to investigate the growing number of potentially dangerous nanoparticles that some cosmetic firms, but one in particular, are starting to use.

She realises that something is wrong. The nanoparticles' composition is unlike anything she has ever seen before, so she decides to call upon the assistance of two people, a friend of hers and a tutor.

Soon afterwards, both are found dead.

However, it seems that the people behind the murders might be accused of a lack of due diligence in that Dee's godfather Colonel John Harriman is a retired SAS officer. And SAS officers never, really, retire...

The Colonel readily agrees to help Dee in her investigations and they make a horrifying discovery.

Meanwhile the CIA is also running an investigation into the cosmetic nanoparticles as they are concerned that the ingredients discovered in some cosmetics could severely impact fertility.

The true and horrific nature of the plot is discovered when they uncover a link to al-Qaeda.

A manhunt is triggered to uncover those behind the plot. But is it to late to stop their nefarious scheme?

This book is published by Matador at £8.99 and is a great Christmas gift for lovers of adventure fiction.

You can buy it from the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, just to the right of this book review.

Second Strand

Second Strand is the latest novel from Devon's very own mystery writer, Carolyn McCrae.

Alex and Teri are in a difficult situation. They have been together for 12 years and they are now on the verge of splitting up and and going their separate ways.

However, an elderly neighbour is found dying, which forces them to put their plans on hold at least for the immediate future.

But the police have decided that their only suspect for the killing is Alex and he quickly vanishes, leaving no trace.

Teri decides that she must know what has happened and wants, obviously, to know where Alex is, so she hires two private  investigators, Skye and Fergal, to find Alex and to see what they could find out about the death of their late neighbour.

However, Skye and Fergal uncover some rather startling facts about a hitherto unknown link between Alex and the victim, a link that proves surprisingly difficult to trace.

Skye and Fergal are sure that Alex is innocent, however they realise that the murder is actually linked to another, as yet, unsolved slaying in the same town two years previously.

Is Alex innocent? And if Alex is innocent, what is the exact nature of the link between Alex and the latest murder victim? And who committed both murders?

It's a very intelligently written book and explores not only the traditional nuts and bolts of a murder mystery but examines the frailties of human relationships and how things can go wrong without people even noticing.

This book is heartily recommended as the ideal stocking filler for the mystery novel reader in your life. Or it might even make an even better present for you!

You can buy it at the That's Book and Entertainment book shop, which you will find just to the right hand side of this book review. Along with a whole plethora of other books and a wide range of gifts, presents and Christmas foods and drinks.

Stay Put? Make a Move?

Thomas Nevins is an international labour and human resource development consultant.

He is the founder and chief consultant with TMT Inc., which you can find at www.tem-aba.com.

He established TMT in Tokyo almost 40 years ago, in 1978.

He is the author of a number of books aimed at the business community, covering human resources, employment matter and the like.

And now there is his latest book, Stay Put? Make a Move, from Lake Waccabuc to Omotesando.

Thomas Nevins claims that the book came about because he took dictation from his blind dog.

And, from his prosaic and very touching description of his dog (who started to lose his sight from age three) one can only presume that he might, indeed, have received some sort of inspiration to pen this book from his dogged (no pun intended) canine companion.

The book weighs in at nearly 400 pages and it is a book that is both fun and yet also of serious intent.

There are hundreds of stories, little and some large snippets of pop culture and a stupendous range of facts, current and/or historical, of people, places and things.

Tom also uses the book as a way to gently and amusingly make a sort of a sales pitch for moving to Tokyo and enjoying life in this Japanese city.

Learn about love hotels (which have bigger baths than most other hotels, apparently) about the very strict drinking and driving laws in Japan, the man who kept two hissing monkeys as pets, and took them for walks, one on each shoulder.

He also relates his early life in America, which included petting the cows of one of America's wartime leaders and how he got sick from eating a tin of beef stew and related that he realised it was all his own fault.

It's a stunning work of social history filled with praise and criticism in almost equal measure.

It's published by Matador at a very reasonable £12.99 and will make an excellent Christmas present for the person in your life who loves facts and opinions. It is also available as an e-book.

You can learn more about Thomas Nevins by visiting www.thamasnevins.co.uk where you will also see a video trailer and picture tour of Tom's New York hometown and the area in which he lives in Tokyo.

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