With four new stories and Clive Spong's stunning illustrations of Thomas and the new vintage coach, Victoria, this book is a must have for all fans. Toby and Henrietta are overcrowded carrying the workmen from the Quarry. The Fat Controller and the Quarry Manager don't know what to do, but Thomas finds the perfect solution when he meets Victoria - a lovely, old carriage. While Victoria is being renovated, Daisy discovers that she doesn't like snakes very much when a whole boxful of eels escape on to the platform! And once finished, Victoria, Toby and Henrietta become Sodor's Vintage Train.
When Captain John Rumford, USMC, stands up for the dead Marines of Iwo Jima against the forces of political correctness that have invaded his beloved Corps, he is promptly cashiered for his trouble. But upon his return to his native Maine, he discovers that even in the countryside, there is no escaping the political correctness that has spread throughout the United States of America. And when what begins as a small effort by some former Marines to help fellow Christians in Boston free themselves from the plague of crime in their neighborhoods turns into a larger resistance movement, Captain Rumford unexpectedly finds himself leading his fellow revolutionaries into combat against an ideological enemy that takes many different forms. Victoria: A Novel of 4th Generation War is a vision of an American restoration. For some it will be seen as a poignant dream, for others, a horrific nightmare. But Victoria is more than a conventional novel and involves considerably more than mere entertainment. In much the same way Atlas Shrugged was the dramatization of a particular philosophical perspective, Victoria is the dramatization of a new form of modern war that is taking shape as the state gradually loses its four-century monopoly on violence. It is a book that informs, even teaches, through example. And sometimes, the lessons are very harsh indeed.
During her long reign, Queen Victoria was the target of no fewer than eight assassination attempts. In seven of these cases her life was saved by poor marksmanship or misfiring weaponry, but one assailant managed to strike her with a finely wrought cane. Remarkably, all eight of her attackers lived to tell their tales, and were variously incarcerated in asylums, deported to Australia, or in a few cases eventually released into society again. Paul Thomas Murphy shows how these obscure would-be assassins effected a change in history. Their attacks on Victoria galvanised her to face them down by presenting a more public face than her forebears, thereby laying the groundwork for the monarchy as we know it today. SHOOTING VICTORIA opens up a new window onto Victorian England. In exploring contemporary attitudes to madness, crime and criminality, it reveals a wealth of little-known and often surprising aspects of 19th-century British society and monarchy.
"Gripping from start to finish . . . with twists that left me shocked."—Victoria Aveyard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Queen For fans of Gillian Flynn and Pretty Little Liars, The Darkest Corners is a psychological thriller about the lies little girls tell, and the deadly truths those lies become. There are secrets around every corner in Fayette, Pennsylvania. Tessa left when she was nine and has been trying ever since not to think about what happened there that last summer. She and her childhood best friend Callie never talked about what they saw. Not before the trial. And certainly not after. But ever since she left, Tessa has had questions. Things have never quite added up. And now she has to go back to Fayette—to Wyatt Stokes, sitting on death row; to Lori Cawley, Callie’s dead cousin; and to the one other person who may be hiding the truth. Only the closer Tessa gets to what really happened, the closer she gets to a killer—and this time, it won’t be so easy to run away. And don't miss Kara's next "eerie and masterly psychological thriller" Little Monsters—on sale now (SLJ)!
Keneally’s caricature of a self-loathing Jimmie Blacksmith is a lost opportunity to explore the complex ways that Aboriginal people . . . were pushing against a white world that would not accept them for who they were; that would not see them as equal; that, in truth, would not see them as human. Acclaimed journalist Stan Grant weaves literary criticism, philosophy and memoir to shed light on The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. Drawing parallels with Indigenous writers Tara June Winch and Bruce Pascoe, Grant brilliantly re-examines Keneally’s novel, raising questions about identity, modernity and storytelling. In the Writers on Writers series, leading authors reflect on an Australian writer who has inspired and fascinated them. Provocative and crisp, these books start a fresh conversation between past and present, shed new light on the craft of writing, and introduce some intriguing and talented authors and their work. Published by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria.
A brand-new title in the historic Railway Series of 'small books for small hands', which are ideal for parents and children to share together. The forty-second volume contains four engine stories and is beautifully illustrated by heritage artist Clive Spong. Join Thomas the Tank Engine and a brand-new friend in some classic adventures on the Island of Sodor.
The Reverend Awdry created Thomas the Tank Engine for his son, Christopher Awdry, who continued his father's work by writing a further 14 books. Thomas fans will be delighted to see all of Christopher Awdry's stories beautifully reproduced and printed for the first time since 1996. Christopher Awdry's first Thomas book for 10 years is also being published by Egmont in September 2007.
Like many well-educated ladies of her era, Ellen Wayles Coolidge kept diaries, but as the granddaughter of an American president, she had rare access to London society. The editors introduce this annotated publication of of her diary, in which she makes perceptive observations on British society, American democracy, family back home, art, and conversations with leading writers and activists.
The race to the crown -- The birth of "pocket Hercules"--The lonely, naughty princess -- An impossible, strange madness -- "Awful scenes in the house"--Becoming queen: "I shall not fail" -- The coronation: "a dream out of the Arabian nights" -- Learning to rule -- A scandal in the palace -- Virago in love -- The bride: "I never, never spent such an evening" -- Only the husband, not the master -- The palace intruders -- King to all intents: "like a vulture into his prey" -- Perfect, awful, spotless prosperity -- Annus Mirabilis: the revolutionary year -- What Albert did: the Great Exhibition of 1851 -- The Crimea: 'This unsatisfactory war' -- London boils over -- Royal parents: "everything passes so quickly!" -- "Who will call me Victoria now?" -- "The whole house seems like Pompeii." -- Resuscitating the widow at Windsor -- The queen's stallion -- The faery queen awakes -- Enough to kill any man -- Two ironclads colliding: the queen and Mr. Gladstone -- The monarch in a bonnet -- The "poor munshi" -- The diamond empire -- The end of the Victorian Age - "The streets were indeed a strange sight
In 1819 Sir Stamford Raffles, without authority from London, raised the British flag on a small jungle-covered island and founded a settlement which would become the city state of Singapore. It was the crowning moment in an extraordinary career in South-East Asia, which saw Raffles shake off his humble beginnings to become Lieutenant-Governor of Java. But his success in the tropics was overshadowed by professional conflict and personal tragedy. Acclaimed biographer Victoria Glendinning charts the extraordinary life of an English adventurer, disobedient employee of the East India Company, utopian imperialist, linguist, naturalist, collector and troublesome visionary. If Raffles' own end was tragic, the mark he left on the world is indelible. His name and fame are undimmed today and, as he hoped, Singapore has become his lasting monument.
