Born in September 1891, Arthur Graeme West was a quiet and self-effacing youth with a passion for literature, who went on to become a keen Oxford scholar. When war broke out in 1914, for some time it left him untouched. However, in January 1915, in a rush of enthusiasm, he enlisted as a private in the Public Schools Battalion. From that time, until his death in April 1917, his life was a succession of training in England and fighting in France, with short intervals of leave. West joined due to a feeling of duty and patriotism, but the war was to have a profound effect on him. He developed an intense abhorrence of army life and began to question the very core of his beliefs — in religion, patriotism and the reason for war. This growing disillusionment found expression in two particularly powerful war poems, God! How I Hate You, You Young Cheerful Men and Night Patrol, which stand deservedly alongside those of Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. In August 1916, he became a second lieutenant in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Shortly after, he wrote to his CO renouncing the war and any further part in it — but he could not bring himself to post the letter. Less than a year later, on April 3rd, 1917, he was shot dead by a sniper's bullet near Bapaume. Written with complete frankness and sincerity, Diary of a Dead Officer gives voice to West's struggle to come to terms with the realities of war and is a poignant tribute to a lost generation of soldiers.
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In the U.S. Foreign Service, there are few days free from excitement or danger. Through the medium of his personal diaries, the author describes a parlous life with his family in distant lands, including trouble spots such as Venezuela, El Salvador, Colombia, Kenya, Grenada, Saudi Arabia, and India. The book shows how the career U.S. Foreign Service contributes to the nations well-being every day despite the miscalculations and interference of politicians. The author argues that an independent career Service must be preserved at all costs from partisan anxieties and political influence. He highlights the humanity, humor, and sacrifice of the Foreign Service and scoffs at the Hollywood version of the lazy bureaucrat sitting comfortably behind a desk all day denying visas. This book should go far toward persuading U.S. citizens that a career Foreign Service is their first line of defense abroad and that it continues to advance their interests resolutely every day without fear or favor.
Perfect for fans of The Secret Barrister and Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt. __________________________________ 'Superb. This hysterically funny and moving memoir of an anti-social behaviour officer is a real eye-opener that hits all the right notes' FRANKIE BOYLE 'Anti-Social is brutally honest, exceptionally funny and terribly sad - a scything indictment of broken 21st century Britain. I could not put it down.' THE SECRET BARRISTER 'A fascinating insight into a job that stitches together the cracks in compassion in our communities' RENI EDDO-LODGE, bestselling author of Why I Am No Longer Talking To White People About Race __________________________________ Has your life become unbearable because the person living above you has a fondness for crack cocaine, the company of strangers and dance music? Or maybe you're a social worker, mental health nurse, police officer, firefighter, dog warden or vicar and you've been landed with someone who's a pain in the arse. Who are you going to call? That would be me: an anti-social behaviour officer. Anti-Social is the diary of a council worker whose job is to keep his community happy, or at least away from each other's throats. That's hard enough at the best of times but when government cuts mean that hospitals, social services and police are all at breaking point, the possibility of complete chaos is never far away. This is an urgent, timely but, most of all, hysterically funny true story of a life spent working with the people society wants to forget and the problems that nobody else can resolve. This book will make you laugh, cry and boil with rage within a single sentence. __________________________________ AS SEEN ON BBC BREAKFAST AND ITV'S LORRAINE 'Brilliant. This deserves to be a huge success - funny, sad and heartbreaking' LORRAINE KELLY 'I absolutely loved it. It reads like a novel, has that page-turning quality everyone looks for in a good book but it delivers the punch that only true life can - funny obviously but with humanity and warmth for people at the edges of society most in need of our understanding and compassion' KIT DE WAAL, author of My Name Is Leon 'Get this book. ... I'm telling you now, you will absolutely love this guy, what he has to say and the book that he has written. In equal parts devastating and dark and incredibly funny.' NIHAL ARTHANAYAKE 'Laugh-out-loud funny. The delivery is punchy and the humour dark - think Irvine Welsh minus the Scottish vernacular' EXPRESS 'Darkly comic ... think Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt but with more dead bodies (and not just human ones) and an abundance of cat shit. It's a gloriously cynical read but it's also sympathetic and deeply empathetic.' KATHY BURKE 'Riveting and brilliantly written... a potent cocktail of heartbreak and horror; wickedly funny, wearily endearing and absolutely enraging' CAROLINE SANDERSON, Bookseller 'Extraordinary, fascinating, very moving and very funny' CHRISTINE LAMPARD 'A funny, thoughtful look into one of the toughest jobs I can imagine' SHAPPI KORSANDI __________________________________ Reader reviews for Anti-Social: 'The timing of this book could not be better' 'It had me in stitches, it had me in tears' 'This is a must-read book' 'Politicians of all hues should be made to read this book' 'Readable and compulsive' 'Well written and stunningly well observed' 'The author and all his long-suffering, dedicated colleagues deserve dustbin lid-sized medals' 'Heartbreaking and hysterical' 'Top-drawer stuff ... utterly riveting' 'I don't often take the time to review books here, but would very much recommend Anti-Social.'
It is a simple story. A 37-year-old man belonging to the Traveller community is shot dead by a special unit of the French police on the family farm where he was hiding since he failed to return to prison after temporary release. The officers claim self-defense. The relatives, present at the scene, contest that claim. A case is opened, and it concludes with a dismissal that is upheld on appeal. Dismayed by these decisions, the family continues the struggle for truth and justice. Giving each account of the event the same credit, Didier Fassin conducts a counter-investigation, based on the re-examination of all the available details and on the interviews of its protagonists. A critical reflection on the work of police forces, the functioning of the justice system, and the conditions that make such tragedies possible and seldom punished, Death of a Traveller is also an attempt to restore to these marginalized communities what they are usually denied: respectability.
An instant New York Times bestseller! The second gripping novel in the New York Times bestselling Thursday Murder Club series, soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment “It’s taken a mere two books for Richard Osman to vault into the upper leagues of crime writers. . . The Man Who Died Twice. . . dives right into joyous fun." —The New York Times Book Review Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim—the Thursday Murder Club—are still riding high off their recent real-life murder case and are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet at Cooper’s Chase, their posh retirement village. But they are out of luck. An unexpected visitor—an old pal of Elizabeth’s (or perhaps more than just a pal?)—arrives, desperate for her help. He has been accused of stealing diamonds worth millions from the wrong men and he’s seriously on the lam. Then, as night follows day, the first body is found. But not the last. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are up against a ruthless murderer who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can our four friends catch the killer before the killer catches them? And if they find the diamonds, too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus? You should never put anything beyond the Thursday Murder Club. Richard Osman is back with everyone’s favorite mystery-solving quartet, and the second installment of the Thursday Murder Club series is just as clever and warm as the first—an unputdownable, laugh-out-loud pleasure of a read.
