Historical & Political Biographies

Soldier, journalist and centenarian: a triple badge of honour, especially for a woman. Introducing Rena Stewart (1923-2023), a remarkable, 100-year-old Bletchley Park Girl who translated Hitler's will and blazed a trail for women at the BBC. The Story of Rena Stewart narrates Rena's fascinating tale, in her own words, and is a testament to a life that was seriously well lived. On graduating from St Andrews University in 1943, Scottish linguist Rena and her friend Agnes decided to 'do something about the war'. They signed up for the Auxiliary Territorial Service and were posted to Bletchley Park, where Rena processed secret German messages. At the end of the war, Rena and her Bletchley chums were sent to Germany, to translate the statements of captured Nazi officers. There, she and another friend, Margery, were also given a top-secret task: to translate Hitler's personal will. Career woman Rena had, however, always wanted to work in the media. On her return to England, she managed to secure a position as a lowly clerk at the BBC World Service. She worked her way up from there, including spending ten years listening in to Russian Cold War broadcasts. Finally, she became the first female Senior Duty Editor in the World Service newsroom. 'My greatest achievement,' she declared with pride, 'has been getting people to recognise that a woman can be as good a journalist as a man'. Alongside Rena's story, this book delves into the lives of her closest Bletchley friends and uncovers intriguing historical mysteries from her remarkable century of life.

A biography of a woman whose contribution to the musical life of Britain transcended the sadnesses in her life. Also a woman whose life confronts some of the key issues of the 20th century. WW2 refugees, legality of homosexuality, changes in royal attitudes to divorce and privilege in the legal system.

On three hot days in early July of 1863, America stood at a crossroads. Two armies faced each other in a battle that might determine the course of the nation. Would the country that was founded with such high ideals in 1776 continue, or would it be divided, and another country be established alongside it? Much was riding on the decisions made by the Southern high command as they attempted to defeat the Union Army and threaten Washington, D.C.This book takes the reader through the command decisions, the troop movements, and the combat action of the battle. In addition to the narrative of the battle, there are biographical sketches which tell about many of the leaders who were engaged in this struggle, offering a human side to the conflict. This war has often been described by scholars as the first modern war in history due to the advancements in weapons and ammunition. Many of those technologies are described and the implications of those advancements on the soldiers involved.Gettysburg is remembered as a pivotal battle in the Civil War, a war that pitted brother against brother, friend against friend, neighbor against neighbor.

This book is about the late Soviet Union, focusing on the crisis in the ruling structures of the Communist Party, caused by the lack of generational rejuvenation. Author analyzes the case of Volgograd as a typical manifestation of this crisis and explains why Perestroika did not work.

New softback edition of the acclaimed historical biiography. Read about Jean Gordon's involvement in many ofthe well-known adventures of Mary, Queen of Scots, and how she survived theintrigue of the Queen's court

From multi-award-winning writer Helen Ennis comes the first ever biography of the photographer Max Dupain, the most influential Australian photographer of the 20th century and creator of many iconic images that have passed into our national imagination. Max Dupain (1911-1992) was a major cultural figure in Australia, and at the forefront of the visual arts in a career spanning more than fifty years. During this time he produced a number of images now regarded as iconically Australian. He championed modern photography and a distinctive Australian approach. To date, Dupain has been seen mostly in one-dimensional, limited and limiting terms - as exceptional, as super masculine, as an Australian hero. But this landmark biography approaches him as a complex and contradictory figure who, despite the apparent certitude of his photographic style, was filled with self-doubt and anxiety. Dupain was a Romantic and a rationalist and struggled with the intensity of his emotions and reactions. He wanted simplicity in his art and life, but found it difficult to attain. He never wanted to be ordinary. Examining the sources of his creativity - literature, art, music - alongside his approaches to masculinity, love, the body, war, and nature, Max Dupain: A Portrait reveals a driven artist, one whose relationship to his work has been described as 'ferocious' and 'painful to watch'. Photographer David Moore, a long-term friend, said he 'needed to photograph like he needed to breathe. It was part of him. It gave him his drive and force in life.'

David II (1329-1371), son of the hero King of Scots, Robert Bruce (1306-1329), has suffered a harsh historical press, condemned as a disastrous general, a womaniser and a sympathiser with Scotland's 'auld enemy', England. Bringing together evidence from Scotland, England and France, Michael Penman offers a different view.

Margaret Thatcher is a British icon. There is no denying her place in history as Britain's greatest peacetime Prime Minister. The reaction to her death confirms that twenty-three years after leaving office she still bestrides the political scene, both in Britain and around the world, like a colossus. Margaret Thatcher was elected to Parliament in 1959. Twenty years later she became Britain's first woman Prime Minister. She achieved two further landslide election victories, making her the longest-serving British Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool. She resigned in November 1990 after eleven-and-a-half years at the pinnacle of British politics. Memories of Margaret Thatcher brings together over 200 personal reminiscences and anecdotes from those who - whether political friends or opponents, observing her from the press gallery or toiling to keep her flame alight in the constituencies - experienced close encounters with the Iron Lady. They include, among others, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Kohl, Norman Tebbit, Cecil Parkinson, Matthew Parris, Michael Howard, Paddy Ashdown, Adam Boulton, Lord Ashcroft, Sebastian Coe, Boris Johnson, Ann Widdecombe, William Hague, Sir Bernard Ingham, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Esther Rantzen, Dame Ann Leslie, David Davis, Liam Fox and many more. Amusing, revealing, sympathetic and occasionally antagonistic, these observations combine to give a unique portrait of the political and personal life of a remarkable woman. They show the deeply private and compassionate nature of a woman who will forever be known as the Iron Lady.

The End of An Era charts the ups and numerous downs of the last twenty yearsof British politics from the closest quarters.