Book review blog site, with some entertainment material from time-to-time.
Friday, 13 May 2011
Blogger Buzz: Blogger is back
Blogger Buzz: Blogger is back: "What a frustrating day. We’re very sorry that you’ve been unable to publish to Blogger for the past 20.5 hours. We’re nearly back to normal..."
Thursday, 12 May 2011
“Learning to be happy made me rich!”
Just over ten years ago Sue Stone’s life was at rock bottom. Faced with business collapse, marriage breakdown and £250,000 worth of debt, happiness was the furthest thing from her mind.
Some time before then things had been rosy. Sue was happily married, had three wonderful children, was managing director of her own manufacturing company and lived with all the trappings of wealth and success. Then, within the space of just a few short months, her world came crashing down around her.
Sue says, “Things weren’t going well in my marriage and I took my focus off the business. Very quickly, things started falling apart. I will never forget the day I realised that we were up to the limit on every single credit card, business and personal account. Literally, all I had left was £10 in my purse.”
Unable to face what was happening, Sue’s husband simply walked out of her life leaving her to bring up their three children single handedly, try to rescue the business and to fend off the mortgage company who were threatening to repossess her house and make her homeless.
Sue says, “When I woke up the next morning I realised that if I carried on the way I was going I would lose everything. I was not prepared to accept that this was going to be ‘it’.” Instead, she set about discovering ways to improve her life. She read every self help book she could get her hands on and made a conscious, decisive choice that she would implement what she learned into every aspect of her daily life. Sue’s relentless pursuit of happiness led her to spend several years researching the incredible power of our thoughts, our subconscious mind and the astonishing power of our feelings.
Sue’s work on herself and the reprogramming of her thinking had incredible results. By removing all negative thoughts, focusing only on the positives in her life and consistently visualising her ultimate dreams for the future, Sue slowly but surely saw her life transform into one of abundance and joy. She was able to leave the dark days of fear, debt and unhappiness behind her and focus instead on all that she did have to be grateful for and the excitement her future had to offer. She wrote a book about her journey in 2007 Love Life, Live Life and at the same time decided to dedicate her life and career to sharing her new found knowledge with others.
Sue now lives and breathes all she has learned and works nationally and internationally where her clientele includes celebrities and top businesspeople. She is regularly invited to speak at events and conferences about her experiences and contributes to TV, radio and press. Sue passionately believes that the innate ability to experience abundant happiness, wealth and success lies within all of us. We just need to know how to access it! Sue says, “I used to believe that wealth brings happiness. Now I know the opposite is true: if true happiness comes first, wealth and abundance will follow.”
Sue will be featured in the latest series of Channel 4’s successful series The Secret Millionaire on 24th May. In the show, Sue travels to one of the most deprived areas of Coventry where she goes undercover as a trainee radio reporter and goes to Radio Hillz FM and out on the streets with Kervin Julien - a former drug addict turned charity worker to witness the plight of the city’s homeless. It was a particularly emotional journey for Sue, who says, “It reminded me of just how close I came to losing it all and how easy it would have been to become homeless myself. It was an extremely humbling experience.”
Sue is author of the best selling happiness book, Love Life, Live Life. Her website can be found at www.suestone.com.
Some time before then things had been rosy. Sue was happily married, had three wonderful children, was managing director of her own manufacturing company and lived with all the trappings of wealth and success. Then, within the space of just a few short months, her world came crashing down around her.
Sue says, “Things weren’t going well in my marriage and I took my focus off the business. Very quickly, things started falling apart. I will never forget the day I realised that we were up to the limit on every single credit card, business and personal account. Literally, all I had left was £10 in my purse.”
Unable to face what was happening, Sue’s husband simply walked out of her life leaving her to bring up their three children single handedly, try to rescue the business and to fend off the mortgage company who were threatening to repossess her house and make her homeless.
Sue says, “When I woke up the next morning I realised that if I carried on the way I was going I would lose everything. I was not prepared to accept that this was going to be ‘it’.” Instead, she set about discovering ways to improve her life. She read every self help book she could get her hands on and made a conscious, decisive choice that she would implement what she learned into every aspect of her daily life. Sue’s relentless pursuit of happiness led her to spend several years researching the incredible power of our thoughts, our subconscious mind and the astonishing power of our feelings.
Sue’s work on herself and the reprogramming of her thinking had incredible results. By removing all negative thoughts, focusing only on the positives in her life and consistently visualising her ultimate dreams for the future, Sue slowly but surely saw her life transform into one of abundance and joy. She was able to leave the dark days of fear, debt and unhappiness behind her and focus instead on all that she did have to be grateful for and the excitement her future had to offer. She wrote a book about her journey in 2007 Love Life, Live Life and at the same time decided to dedicate her life and career to sharing her new found knowledge with others.
Sue now lives and breathes all she has learned and works nationally and internationally where her clientele includes celebrities and top businesspeople. She is regularly invited to speak at events and conferences about her experiences and contributes to TV, radio and press. Sue passionately believes that the innate ability to experience abundant happiness, wealth and success lies within all of us. We just need to know how to access it! Sue says, “I used to believe that wealth brings happiness. Now I know the opposite is true: if true happiness comes first, wealth and abundance will follow.”
Sue will be featured in the latest series of Channel 4’s successful series The Secret Millionaire on 24th May. In the show, Sue travels to one of the most deprived areas of Coventry where she goes undercover as a trainee radio reporter and goes to Radio Hillz FM and out on the streets with Kervin Julien - a former drug addict turned charity worker to witness the plight of the city’s homeless. It was a particularly emotional journey for Sue, who says, “It reminded me of just how close I came to losing it all and how easy it would have been to become homeless myself. It was an extremely humbling experience.”
Sue is author of the best selling happiness book, Love Life, Live Life. Her website can be found at www.suestone.com.
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
The Ship That Rocked the World. The true story of Radio Caroline
Back in 1964 Ronan O'Rahilly, a young Irish businessman, decided to launch Radio Caroline, probably themost famous so-called offshore radio pirate of all kinds.
There have been several stories published about the early days of Radio Caroline by people who were in on the early days. Each one laying claim to be the person who was 'really' the one who was closest to the heart of things.
This book by Tom Lodge, on of the earliest DJs on the station, has a ring of authenticity about it. It tells how a young man who came from a family steeped in the history of the early days of radio (his grandfather, Sir Oliver Lodge was the actual inventor of radio, not the upstart pretender, Marconi!) and who, after a public school education, spent an adventurous life and somewhat tragic life (he was forced to watch a friend die of starvation) working as a fisherman and hunter in Canada before securing a job with CBC, and, after a chance encounter with Ronan O'Rahilly in a pub in London one wet and rainy day, soon found himself onboard the first Radio Caroline ship the MV Caroline, which later became Radio Caroline North.
The book is a well-written account of the early days of Radio Caroline, how Radio Caroline helped to change the UK music scene and also helped to being about the cultural revolution that swept through Britain in the mid to late 1960s.
The book is well-illustrated and at 242 pages is a good and fascinating read. It does contain several irritating mistakes (something is described as a "palatial palace") and there are several places where the editor failed to spot rogue punctuation marks, but this does not take away the fact that it is, as I say, a good read. The forward is by Steven van Zandt a member of Bruce Stringsteen's E Street Band.
The book also tells how Tome Lodge (a married man with three boys) helped to change the face of the musical recording industry in Canada and eventually became a Zen Master living in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California.
Tom Lodge relates one tail that jars. He relates how MI5 nearly blew the Radio Caroline ship up by using the SAS who would have been parachuted on to the ship. The person who would have been responsible for this was an MI5 agent stationed in Southern Ireland, who revealed the plan in later years to Tom Lodge.
An MI5 agent stationed in the Republic of Ireland? Surely that would have been a job for MI6? And the idea of parachuting SAS officers on to a ship (with a tall mast) sounds a little far-fetched. As does the reason for the MI5 officer refusing to take the job on, the fact that the SAS officers were all between 18 to 22 and so al listened to Radio Caroline.
The fact is that as a maritime matter it would almost certainly have been the Royal Marine SBS who would have taken on such a job and they would have approached the ship by sea. And they would not have refused the commission, no matter what the ages of the officers involved. I believe that it is possible that when Tom Lodge met "Colin" Colin was one of those strange Walter Mitty types who invent their own back story, or that Colin was genuine and that he had been taking orders from someone in the British government who had taken it upon themselves to mount an operation to take out Radio Caroline that was not officially sanctioned, hence the decision to employ the SAS rather than the SBS.
The book costs $21.50 and is published by the Bartleby Press, www.bartlbythepublisher.com.
There have been several stories published about the early days of Radio Caroline by people who were in on the early days. Each one laying claim to be the person who was 'really' the one who was closest to the heart of things.
This book by Tom Lodge, on of the earliest DJs on the station, has a ring of authenticity about it. It tells how a young man who came from a family steeped in the history of the early days of radio (his grandfather, Sir Oliver Lodge was the actual inventor of radio, not the upstart pretender, Marconi!) and who, after a public school education, spent an adventurous life and somewhat tragic life (he was forced to watch a friend die of starvation) working as a fisherman and hunter in Canada before securing a job with CBC, and, after a chance encounter with Ronan O'Rahilly in a pub in London one wet and rainy day, soon found himself onboard the first Radio Caroline ship the MV Caroline, which later became Radio Caroline North.
The book is a well-written account of the early days of Radio Caroline, how Radio Caroline helped to change the UK music scene and also helped to being about the cultural revolution that swept through Britain in the mid to late 1960s.
The book is well-illustrated and at 242 pages is a good and fascinating read. It does contain several irritating mistakes (something is described as a "palatial palace") and there are several places where the editor failed to spot rogue punctuation marks, but this does not take away the fact that it is, as I say, a good read. The forward is by Steven van Zandt a member of Bruce Stringsteen's E Street Band.
The book also tells how Tome Lodge (a married man with three boys) helped to change the face of the musical recording industry in Canada and eventually became a Zen Master living in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California.
Tom Lodge relates one tail that jars. He relates how MI5 nearly blew the Radio Caroline ship up by using the SAS who would have been parachuted on to the ship. The person who would have been responsible for this was an MI5 agent stationed in Southern Ireland, who revealed the plan in later years to Tom Lodge.
An MI5 agent stationed in the Republic of Ireland? Surely that would have been a job for MI6? And the idea of parachuting SAS officers on to a ship (with a tall mast) sounds a little far-fetched. As does the reason for the MI5 officer refusing to take the job on, the fact that the SAS officers were all between 18 to 22 and so al listened to Radio Caroline.
The fact is that as a maritime matter it would almost certainly have been the Royal Marine SBS who would have taken on such a job and they would have approached the ship by sea. And they would not have refused the commission, no matter what the ages of the officers involved. I believe that it is possible that when Tom Lodge met "Colin" Colin was one of those strange Walter Mitty types who invent their own back story, or that Colin was genuine and that he had been taking orders from someone in the British government who had taken it upon themselves to mount an operation to take out Radio Caroline that was not officially sanctioned, hence the decision to employ the SAS rather than the SBS.
The book costs $21.50 and is published by the Bartleby Press, www.bartlbythepublisher.com.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Tied With An Easy Thread
There are many books of children who were abandoned, people escaping from Nazi persecution, coping with poverty, prejudice, and loss. There are not so many that end with a large inheritance, followed by an amazing discovery ten years after the subject's death. Rarely do you find all these in the true chronicle of one woman's life.
When she was four years old in 1917, Ruth's German mother abandoned her and her brother in a Christian children's home in Dresden. When her Jewish father came there to reclaim his children two years later, Ruth was influenced by the matron to reject him. She never saw him again. At fourteen she left the children's home to become a Haustochter, and spent the next eleven years in various domestic posts. Despised as a half Jew, she escaped from Nazi Germany just eight weeks before the beginning of WWII, to become a refugee in England.
This book, written by her daughter, chronicles Ruth's life in Germany, England and Wales. Struggling against poverty all her life, her fortune was dramatically changed by a very large inheritance from a totally unexpected source when she was eighty two.
Throughout her life she regretted her rejection of her father, and expressed a desire to know what had become of him. This led to her daughter's ten year search, a DNA test, and an astonishing discovery.
In a recent edition of "Look up your Genes" on BBC Radio Wales, the presenter described this as '... a story that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.' Kristina Taylor wants the story to be read and passed on so that new generations can hear Ruth's testament of events in the twentieth century that affected her so deeply, and impacted on the next generations of her family.
When she was four years old in 1917, Ruth's German mother abandoned her and her brother in a Christian children's home in Dresden. When her Jewish father came there to reclaim his children two years later, Ruth was influenced by the matron to reject him. She never saw him again. At fourteen she left the children's home to become a Haustochter, and spent the next eleven years in various domestic posts. Despised as a half Jew, she escaped from Nazi Germany just eight weeks before the beginning of WWII, to become a refugee in England.
This book, written by her daughter, chronicles Ruth's life in Germany, England and Wales. Struggling against poverty all her life, her fortune was dramatically changed by a very large inheritance from a totally unexpected source when she was eighty two.
Throughout her life she regretted her rejection of her father, and expressed a desire to know what had become of him. This led to her daughter's ten year search, a DNA test, and an astonishing discovery.
In a recent edition of "Look up your Genes" on BBC Radio Wales, the presenter described this as '... a story that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.' Kristina Taylor wants the story to be read and passed on so that new generations can hear Ruth's testament of events in the twentieth century that affected her so deeply, and impacted on the next generations of her family.
The book is published by Authors on Line.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Wonderfully-illustrated new book celebrates 50 years of XH558, the last flying Vulcan
The history of one of the world’s most popular aircraft, XH558 the last flying Vulcan, is celebrated in a lavishly-illustrated new book published to celebrate her 50th year. Researched and written by the Vulcan to the Sky Trust, 50 Years of Vulcan XH558 uncovers her history from construction, through all her many roles, her retirement from RAF service and eventual restoration to flight.
Printed on high quality art paper, it is packed with rare photographs and fascinating facts, culminating in the nail-biting story of her restoration and an insight into the challenges of returning one of Britain’s greatest aircraft to the skies.
There are anecdotes from the pilots who fly her and the engineers who care for her, with first-hand accounts of some of the most dramatic periods in history and the critical role of the Vulcan type. Squadron Leader Martin Withers DFC delivers one of the most dramatic stories, documenting the bombing of the Port Stanley airstrip during the Falklands conflict complete with an insight into the incredible logistics and planning that made it possible.
“From the first designs through to flying her today, it’s a story of British endeavour that we hope will inspire future generations of engineers and aviators,” says Vulcan to the Sky Trust chief executive officer Dr Robert Pleming.
“Carefully-researched content, gorgeous photography and outstanding design make this a really lovely item and a wonderful addition to any library.”
The book is available for £24 (including post and packing) from the Vulcan To The Sky Trust website and all proceeds will go towards helping the last flying Vulcan reach the 2011 display season with stable finances. £350,000 is needed by the end of May, of which just £120,000 has so far been raised.Operating the last flying Vulcan, to aviation safety standards that are amongst the highest in the world, costs around £2million a year, almost all of which is generously donated by the public or earned from the Trust’s growing commercial activities.
To purchase the 50th Anniversary Book, please click here:
The online store recently acquired an intriguing new line: magnetic bookmarks. Each one is printed with the same beautiful picture of XH558 featured on the cover of the 50th Anniversary book so would make a stylish complement to your personal copy . Vulcan magnetic bookmarks can be purchased here:
http://www.vulcantotheskystore.co.uk/product/Magnetic_Bookmark_Set_MagBookSet-3) at £3.00 for a set of three.
Fly your name with the Vulcan
Until the end of May, you can add your name to the Summer Season Plaque that will be mounted on the last flying Vulcan’s historic bomb-bay doors and seen by everyone taking a tour at her home or on the ground at airshows, and staying with her for the rest of her public life. You can sign-up here: http://www.vulcantothesky.org/how-to-help/appeal-poster.html
Join the Vulcan community
Readers can sign-up for the weekly eNewsletter at: http://www.vulcantothesky.org/register.html
Join the Vulcan Facebook community at: www.facebook.com/pages/Vulcan-xh558/170427449654925
To find-out how to help XH558 remain The Last Flying Vulcan, visit www.vulcantothesky.org
To find out where to see the last flying Vulcan, visit http://www.vulcantothesky.org/appearances.html
Join the Vulcan Facebook community at: www.facebook.com/pages/Vulcan-xh558/170427449654925
To find-out how to help XH558 remain The Last Flying Vulcan, visit www.vulcantothesky.org
To find out where to see the last flying Vulcan, visit http://www.vulcantothesky.org/appearances.html
(EDITOR: My Brother-in-Law was an Avionics Engineer who spent much of his RAF career looking after the electronic systems and wiring looms of the RAF Vulcan.)
Broadcasts from the Blitz. How Edward R. Murrow helped lead America into the war
This book, by Philip Seib, is an extremely well-written and well-researched book into the part of the life of famed American journalist and broadcaster Edward R. Murrow where he spent time and effort (at considerable cost to himself and his very supportive wife, Janet, who worked tirelessly to arrange for comfort parcels to be sent from America to Britain) countering the, at times, rabid isolationism of such people as US ambassador Joseph Kennedy and one time war hero and suspected Nazi collaborator Charles Lindberg who felt that America should not join in the fight against Nazi oppression.
Seib tells how Murrow became the true and firm friend and confidant of powerful people on both sides of the Atlantic like Roosevelt and Churchill how he used his reports back to the States to show that far from being on the point of collapse and surrender Britain would fight on, but needed help with, as Churchill so ably put it, the tools to do the job.
Murrow put himself at great personal danger both in the bombed cities in Britain, including London, during the Blitz and above Germany during air raids as an observer on RAF bombers.
By chance Murrow was in America when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Had Roosevelt known in advance of the planned attack? Murrow was most emphatic on the point. By the shocked and pained reaction of Roosevelt and others at the attack it was plain to Murrow that they had not.
The book briefly touches on other aspects of the professional life of Murrow post Word War Two he was also famous for the pointing out the problems with Senator Joseph McCarthy and his Un-American Activities Committee and helping to bring an end to the arguably un-American activities of McCarthy.
The book is published in hardback by Potomac Books at $24.95.
Seib tells how Murrow became the true and firm friend and confidant of powerful people on both sides of the Atlantic like Roosevelt and Churchill how he used his reports back to the States to show that far from being on the point of collapse and surrender Britain would fight on, but needed help with, as Churchill so ably put it, the tools to do the job.
Murrow put himself at great personal danger both in the bombed cities in Britain, including London, during the Blitz and above Germany during air raids as an observer on RAF bombers.
By chance Murrow was in America when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Had Roosevelt known in advance of the planned attack? Murrow was most emphatic on the point. By the shocked and pained reaction of Roosevelt and others at the attack it was plain to Murrow that they had not.
The book briefly touches on other aspects of the professional life of Murrow post Word War Two he was also famous for the pointing out the problems with Senator Joseph McCarthy and his Un-American Activities Committee and helping to bring an end to the arguably un-American activities of McCarthy.
The book is published in hardback by Potomac Books at $24.95.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Silent Fields
This book is not an easy book to read, for it makes grim reading, but it is a book that I can thoroughly recommend.
It is a long, comprehensive and detailed book by Roger Lovegrove detailing the long decline of the wildlife of Britain.
I believed that the decline of wildlife in Britain was a result of the overuse of chemical fertilisers and chemical pesticides in Britain after the war. And whilst it is true that this has certainly exacerbated the situation, it was not the start of the decline, not by a long way. The book details the long and systematic destruction of the wildlife of Britain. Lovegrove has meticulously researched a diverse number of historical sources dating back to the Tudor times to the present day.
The records show that the history of the persecution of some of what were supposedly the best-loved species of wildlife (and, indeed amongst these, some of the rarest) has left our countryside all the poorer. It points out how churches took part in the most barbaric and ruthless extermination of many, many species on the vague idea that maybe they might be responsible for the loss of some crops.
It contains details of infamous huntsmen like Charles St. John. Lovegrove quite clearly despises Charles St. John. And with good reason, too. For he is revealed by the research of Lovegrove to be a despicable hypocrite who: "hid his wanton killing behind crocodile tears and pretensions of moral respectability. He had an insatiable appetite for killing and was responsible, among many other despicable acts, for the final elimination of the Osprey in Sutherland."
Other creatures destroyed include the Bullfinch, the bat, Red Kite, Brown Hare, House Sparrows, Tree Sparrows, etc. In fact, many villages had Sparrow Clubs and they were paid for the number of Sparrows that they killed. Church wardens kept detailed records and these records helped Lovegrove in his research.
One quote in the book reveals how one observer was watching the so-called glorious spectacle of the Sparrow shooting, yet felt pity when he look down and saw the birds, blasted and twisted at his feet. A fine example of hypocrisy if ever there was one!
This book makes uncomfortable reading. It seems that our ancestors had the following rules regarding wildlife: If it flies, shoot it (or trap it) and if it runs, crawls or walks, trap it (or shoot it).
It is published in hardback by Oxford University Press in hardback and is 404 pages long. It is well-illustrated with photographs (one of a group of badger baiters in the 1920s) and many line drawings and maps showing, for example, a map showing parishes killing Bullfinches in the 17 and 18 centuries. There are also detailed appendixes showing tables of 'vermin' payments taken from churchwardens' accounts. The book costs £25.00.
I believed that the decline of wildlife in Britain was a result of the overuse of chemical fertilisers and chemical pesticides in Britain after the war. And whilst it is true that this has certainly exacerbated the situation, it was not the start of the decline, not by a long way. The book details the long and systematic destruction of the wildlife of Britain. Lovegrove has meticulously researched a diverse number of historical sources dating back to the Tudor times to the present day.
The records show that the history of the persecution of some of what were supposedly the best-loved species of wildlife (and, indeed amongst these, some of the rarest) has left our countryside all the poorer. It points out how churches took part in the most barbaric and ruthless extermination of many, many species on the vague idea that maybe they might be responsible for the loss of some crops.
It contains details of infamous huntsmen like Charles St. John. Lovegrove quite clearly despises Charles St. John. And with good reason, too. For he is revealed by the research of Lovegrove to be a despicable hypocrite who: "hid his wanton killing behind crocodile tears and pretensions of moral respectability. He had an insatiable appetite for killing and was responsible, among many other despicable acts, for the final elimination of the Osprey in Sutherland."
Other creatures destroyed include the Bullfinch, the bat, Red Kite, Brown Hare, House Sparrows, Tree Sparrows, etc. In fact, many villages had Sparrow Clubs and they were paid for the number of Sparrows that they killed. Church wardens kept detailed records and these records helped Lovegrove in his research.
One quote in the book reveals how one observer was watching the so-called glorious spectacle of the Sparrow shooting, yet felt pity when he look down and saw the birds, blasted and twisted at his feet. A fine example of hypocrisy if ever there was one!
This book makes uncomfortable reading. It seems that our ancestors had the following rules regarding wildlife: If it flies, shoot it (or trap it) and if it runs, crawls or walks, trap it (or shoot it).
It is published in hardback by Oxford University Press in hardback and is 404 pages long. It is well-illustrated with photographs (one of a group of badger baiters in the 1920s) and many line drawings and maps showing, for example, a map showing parishes killing Bullfinches in the 17 and 18 centuries. There are also detailed appendixes showing tables of 'vermin' payments taken from churchwardens' accounts. The book costs £25.00.
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