A Brief History Of The Wrens' Of Derby


Book Description

We would all like to think that the past will reveal that we are related to royalty or some famous person but, in reality, for most it just shows ordinary people and their struggle to survive and improve their lives. My family tore up its roots of centuries of living in Hertfordshire and moved to start a new life in Derbyshire in 1862. Over the next 150 years there would be hope, tragedy, violence, prison and service. There is an odd hero or two together with a marriage to the daughter of a Government Cabinet Secretary. This is a story with no ending and will continue to evolve until the male line of the Wrens' is no longer.







A Biographical History of the Fine Arts


Book Description

Reprint of the original, first published in 1873.
















Sisters at War


Book Description

Lose yourself in this heartbreaking page-turner about the everyday bravery of ordinary people during wartime. 1940 Liverpool. Not long married, Hannah and Will Kidd are forced apart by the war. Merchant seaman Will faces the threat of German U-boats as his convoy carries vital food, raw materials and munitions from North America to war-torn Britain. Hannah lives in constant fear for his safety. When Will brings his Italian friend Paolo Tornabene home to meet Hannah, Hannah’s seventeen-year-old sister Judith falls head-over-heels in love. Their love is put to the test when Mussolini declares war on Britain. Judith’s sweetheart is now classed as an enemy alien. Each sister wants only to be with the man she loves but, as the war progresses, the dangers Will faces at sea escalate. With Paolo now a prisoner, tensions between the sisters boil over. A From heavily blitzed World War 2 Liverpool to the terrors of the North Atlantic and the scorched plains of Australia, Sisters at War will bring tears to your eyes and joy to your heart. Topics : World War 2, Liverpool, Australia, the Liverpool Blitz, British war on the home front, the Battle of the Atlantic, England in WW2, the British merchant navy in WW2, Catholicism, Wrens, submarines, U-boats, war at sea, shipwrecks, torpedo attacks, bombings, Italians in WW2, Italian civilians sent to POW camps, the Arandora Star, the Dunera, Dunera Boys, Victoria internment camps, Tatura, New South Wales, Western Approaches, Winston Churchill, Royal Navy, death at sea, marriage, love story, romantic fiction, historical fiction, historical romance, historical novel, twentieth century love story, 20th century romance, sailor's wife, WVS, women in second world war, love, strong heroine, sisters, family strife, sisterly love, sisterly jealousy, saga, romantic family saga, romantic suspense, romance books, historical books, historical novel, wartime fiction, war, air raids, Nazi Germany, Hitler, Dunkirk, life in the Blitz, family life, marital tensions, illegitimate child, unexpected pregnancy, falling in love, coping with bereavement, emigration, life in Australia, book set in Liverpool, the Pier Head, the Mersey, Birkenhead, A Greater World, Storms Gather Between Us, Perfect for fans of Ann Bennett, Lucinda Riley, Dinah Jefferies, Victoria Hislop, Marius Gabriel, Tracy Chevalier, Fiona Valpy, Deborah Swift, Jenny Ashcroft, Petra Durst-Benning, Nicola Cornick, Janet MacLeod Trotter, Jean Grainger, Marion Kummerow, Kate Furnivall, Kristin Hannah. Sharon Maas, Anna Jacobs, Helen Carey, Catherine Hokin, Sarah Lark, Tania Crosse, Rhys Bowen, Angela Petch, Hazel Gaynor, Jean Fullerton, Katie Flynn, Maureen Lee, Helen Forrester, Nadine Dorries, Elizabeth Murphy, Pam Howes, Lyn Andrews, Ann Baker, Ruth Hamilton, Annie Groves







A Game of Birds and Wolves


Book Description

As heard on the New Yorker Radio Hour: The triumphant and "engaging history" (The New Yorker) of the young women who devised a winning strategy that defeated Nazi U-boats and delivered a decisive victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. By 1941, Winston Churchill had come to believe that the outcome of World War II rested on the battle for the Atlantic. A grand strategy game was devised by Captain Gilbert Roberts and a group of ten Wrens (members of the Women's Royal Naval Service) assigned to his team in an attempt to reveal the tactics behind the vicious success of the German U-boats. Played on a linoleum floor divided into painted squares, it required model ships to be moved across a make-believe ocean in a manner reminiscent of the childhood game, Battleship. Through play, the designers developed "Operation Raspberry," a counter-maneuver that helped turn the tide of World War II. Combining vibrant novelistic storytelling with extensive research, interviews, and previously unpublished accounts, Simon Parkin describes for the first time the role that women played in developing the Allied strategy that, in the words of one admiral, "contributed in no small measure to the final defeat of Germany." Rich with unforgettable cinematic detail and larger-than-life characters, A Game of Birds and Wolves is a heart-wrenching tale of ingenuity, dedication, perseverance, and love, bringing to life the imagination and sacrifice required to defeat the Nazis at sea.