Richard Ransom is a young man with ambition – until Hitler gets in the way... Determined to free himself from the drudgery of life in the coalmines of 1930s England, Richard seeks to become something in life and to win the hand of the woman he loves. As his dreams are about to become reality, Europe is plunged into a nightmare war that lasts longer than anyone could have imagined. ‘The Shackles of Freedom’ is the story of a man’s struggle for freedom: freedom from the traditions of his community and family environment, freedom from enslavement by Nazi Germany, and freedom from cupid’s capriciousness - until ultimately he grasps that freedom is a state of mind.
SHACKLED has been honored as one of the Shelf Media Group's Notable 100 books of 2019, the Biography winner of the 2019 Independent Press Award, 2018 Global E-Book Awards, 2018 International Book Awards, 2018 Grand Prize Winner of TCK Reader's Choice Awards, 2018 Book Life Prize Biography Winner, and many more making up a total of fifteen awards
....to free oneself or assist in liberating others involves taking risks, being suspicious of the status quo, leaving the safety of the shore and launching out into the deep and the unknown. This is a very lonely calling too as one immerses oneself into the whole of reality with courage to confront and listen. Yet, the calling is not to be the liberator of the oppressed but to make a commitment to fight alongside them, as Paulo Freire wrote in Pedagogy of the Oppressed. - Fr Gabriel Dolan From his work in Turkana, Kitale, Kapenguria and Mombasa, Father Gabriel reminds us that true transformative change comes from the people themselves, from the bottom up. This is a challenge that the social justice/human rights practitioners must internalize and the sooner the better. The idea of being the "voice of the voiceless" must transform to facilitating, encouraging and giving space to those who suffer the indignities of injustice, violence, poverty and repression. Indeed, one of the most significant tasks for the human rights community is to devolve away from Nairobi, in real, practical, and substantive ways. It is not easy for a white man, with all the attendant privileges that brings, to become an integral part of the struggle for pro-poor transformative change in Kenya, and be subject to arrest, harassment, and repression. For those who read these memoirs, please circulate them to everyone you know. Translate them, read them in the mosques, churches and under trees so that Kenyans can get a sense of where we have come from, what we should avoid, and what it takes to make some gains that benefit the majority of our people. - Maina Kiai
When Jake was four years old, his life turned upside-down. One morning he woke up to his mother saying, Your daddy does not live here anymore. At the time, she was pregnant, and they needed money. Suddenly Jake was the man of the house, and he never saw his real dad again. His mother remarried, but it wasnt the same. The damage had been done, and Jakes path to destruction began. As he grows, he tries to ?ll the emptiness of abandonment with drugs, violence, and troubled relationships. Of course his e?orts failed, which only pushed him further toward a life of crime. Eventually, Jake goes too far, and he ends up behind bars. He has hit rock bottom, and there is no hope for recovery or redemption. But then he meets someone who changes all that and tells him about someone who is willing to forgive. Shackled yet Free is a perilous journey into the life of a man who faces obstacles from the get-go. Unable to recover from the pain of his past, his life is almost ruined until he ?nds God. Jake never knew there was someone who would love him unconditionally and heal old wounds. No longer imprisoned by previous pain, Jake might be able to get his life back and ?nd love, family, and absolution.
With a foreword by Jane Goodall, this moving memoir follows a successful journalist and filmmaker who felt like something was missing in her life as she finds her purpose in advocacy for the Asian elephants in her childhood home town of Kerala, India. "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Mahatma Gandhi Elephants are self-aware, conscious beings. They can feel and grieve the loss of both elephants and humans. But despite all empathy that elephants shower on humans, we continue to inflict pain and suffering on these caring, sentient beings. In 2013 Sangita Iyer visited her childhood home of Kerala, India. Over 700 Asian elephants live in Kerala, owned by individuals and temples that force them to perform in lengthy, crowded, noisy festivals, abusing and shackling these animals they claim to revere for tourists and money. When Sangita found herself in the presence of these divine creatures and witnessed their suffering first hand, she felt a deep connection to their pain. She too had been shackled and broken for too long-to her patriarchal upbringing in India, to the many "me too" moments in her work life that were swept under the rug, to the silence. Now she would speak out for the elephants and for herself. And she would heal alongside them. This sparked the creation of her award winning documentary of the same name and a new purpose in this life for both Sangita and the elephants.
Sentenced to Death for Her Beliefs Mariam Ibraheem was born in a refugee camp in Sudan. Her Muslim father died when she was six, and her mother raised her in the Christian faith. After a traumatic childhood, Mariam became a successful businessperson, married the man she loved, and had a beautiful baby boy. But one day in 2013, her world was shattered when Sudan authorities insisted she was Muslim because of her father’s background. She had broken the law by marrying a Christian man, and she must abandon both her marriage and her son and adopt Islam. Under intense pressure, Mariam repeatedly refused. Ultimately, a Sharia court sentenced her to 100 lashes—and death by hanging. Shackled is the stunning true story of a courageous young mother who was willing to face death rather than deny her faith. Mariam Ibraheem took a stand on behalf of all women who are maltreated because of their gender and all people who suffer from religious persecution. Follow Mariam’s story from life under Islamic law, through imprisonment and childbirth while shackled, to her remarkable escape from death following an international outcry and advocacy that included diplomats, journalists, activists, and even Pope Francis.
"When Pelly sees her best friend, who disappeared six years ago, in a coffee shop with a strange man, she's determined to discover the truth of her friend's disappearance and rescue her from her current captor"--
Unique in all of literature, the Confessions combines frank and profound psychological insight into Augustine's formative years along with sophisticated and beguiling reflections on some of the most important issues in philosophy and theology. The Confessions discloses Augustine's views about the nature of infancy and the acquisition of language, his own sinful adolescence, his early struggle with the problem of evil, his conversion to Christianity, his puzzlement about the capacities of human memory and the nature of time, and his views about creation and biblical interpretation. The essays contained in this volume, by some of the most distinguished recent and contemporary thinkers in the field, insightfully explore these Augustinian themes not only with an eye to historical accuracy but also to gauge the philosophical acumen of Augustine's reflections.
