Treasures of Merton College
Treasures of Merton College

Author: Steven J. Gunn

Publisher: Third Millennium Information

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781906507961

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This richly illustrated book will feature archival and architectural highlights spanning the 750-year life of Merton College.

Behind Diplomatic Lines
Behind Diplomatic Lines

Author: Patrick Wright

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2018-01-29

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1785903454

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Patrick Wright's memoir opens on a diplomatic crisis. A growing number of countries are threatening to boycott the Commonwealth Games in protest of the British government's handling of South African apartheid. And the problems only get worse. Patrick Wright was one of the pre-eminent diplomats of his day, putting him at the forefront of some of the late twentieth century's most important global events. His six years at the FCO found him dealing with the backlash from the Falklands War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, strained relations with the EU, the First Gulf War and, perhaps most challenging of all, the 'fire and glares' of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Lord Wright's account is not only an essential documentation of a significant historical period, but witty and entertaining throughout. He revels in gossip, despairs at the mischievous press 'painting lurid pictures of Britain versus the Rest', recalls numerous amusing scenarios and is rather brutal in his assessment of various high-profile political figures.

Reserves in the Future Force 2020
Reserves in the Future Force 2020

Author: Great Britain. Ministry of Defence

Publisher: Stationery Office/Tso

Published: 2013-07-01

Total Pages: 88

ISBN-13: 9780101865524

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This White Paper sets out the future relationships Defence seeks with reservists and their families, their employers and society. Under the Future Reserves 2020 programme the Government has committed an additional £1.8 billion over ten year. The route from selection, is being simplified, making it easier for reservists to get to the level of training required. There will be improved alignment of pay and benefits with regulars. Reservists' total remuneration will be increased through the provision of a paid annual leave entitlement. From April 2015, when the new Armed Forces pension scheme is introduced, reservists will accrue pension entitlements for time spent on training as well as when mobilised. Welfare support will also be delivered to regulars and reservists alike, and their families, according to the impact of military service and their need. Recruitment of Army Reserve officers and those leaving the Regular Army will be encouraged to join the Reserves through bonuses of up to £5,000. A National Relationship Management scheme will be established to strengthen relationships with employer organisations and the largest employers from both the public and private sector and there will be provision of extra financial support to small and medium sized employers. New legislation will be introduced to enable mobilisation for the full range of tasks which our Armed Forces may be asked to undertake. The Territorial Army will also be renamed the 'Army Reserve' to reflect the significant changes in its role and its integration into the Whole Force.

Outlandish Knight
Outlandish Knight

Author: Minoo Dinshaw

Publisher:

Published: 2017-07-06

Total Pages: 784

ISBN-13: 9780141979472

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'An extraordinary book ... exceptionally fascinating, always readable and penetratingly intelligent' David Abulafia 'As rich, funny and teemingly peopled as Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time ... Dinshaw writes with wit and elegance, and the most elegiac passages of Outlandish Knight evoke a lost society London and way of life' Ben Judah, Financial Times 'This dazzling young writer is a mine of fascinating, memorable and totally useless information... I have been riveted by this book from start to finish, and leave the reader with one word of advice. Watch Minoo Dinshaw. He will go far' John Julius Norwich, Sunday Telegraph The biography of one of the greatest British historians - but also of a uniquely strange and various man In his enormously long life, Steven Runciman managed not just to be a great historian of the Crusades and Byzantium, but Grand Orator of the Orthodox Church, a member of the Order of Whirling Dervishes, Greek Astronomer Royal and Laird of Eigg. His friendships, curiosities and intrigues entangled him in a huge array of different artistic movements, civil wars, Cold War betrayals and, above all, the rediscovery of the history of the Eastern Mediterranean. He was as happy living in a remote part of the Inner Hebrides as in the heart of Istanbul. He was obsessed with historical truth, but also with tarot, second sight, ghosts and the uncanny. Outlandish Knight is a dazzling debut by a writer who has prodigious gifts, but who also has had the ability to spot one of the great biographical subjects. This is an extremely funny book about a man who attracted the strangest experiences, but also a very serious one. It is about the rigours of a life spent in the distant past, but also about the turbulent world of the twentieth century, where so much that Runciman studied and cherished would be destroyed.

Yvain
Yvain

Author: Chretien de Troyes

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1987-09-10

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 0300038380

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A twelfth-century poem by the creator of the Arthurian romance describes the courageous exploits and triumphs of a brave lord who tries to win back his deserted wife's love

Sink the Belgrano
Sink the Belgrano

Author: Mike Rossiter

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2009-11-10

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 1407034111

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On the evening of 30 March, 1982, Commander David Hall, chief engineer of the British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror received a telephone call giving him the order to 'store for war'. At first he didn't believe it. In the early hours of 2 April, Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Isles. The sinking of the Belgrano was one of the most dramatic moments of the Falklands conflict. For many it signalled Britain's entry into the war and it has been seen as a politically motivated decision deliberately designed to take the country irrevocably into the fight. Now Mike Rossiter - with unprecedented access to sailors from the Belgrano and HMS Conqueror - gives us a dramatic and definitive retelling of the events that led up to the sinking. With all the pace and tension of a thriller, Sink the Belgrano takes us inside the battle for the South Atlantic and shows us the human drama behind the famous, and controversial, Sun headline 'Gotcha!' We track the collision course between the British submarine Conqueror and the Argentine warship - as the two sides and everyone aboard head towards the climactic moment just outside the exclusion zone set up by the British around the Falkland Isles. We witness the behind-the-scenes arguments , discussions and powerbroking that led to the decision to fire the three torpedoes. And, for the first time, we hear from the sailors on both sides - the personal testimony of the hunt for and attack on the Belgrano, and from the Argentine side the experience of being under attack and the sinking that left 340 members of her crew dead.