Sub-titled 'The Last Heroines of Britain's Greatest Generation', and with a foreword by Baroness Betty Boothroyd, the book tells the stories of 10 of the last surviving female members of Britain's greatest generation. Whether flying Spitfires to the front line, code breaking at Bletchley Park, plotting the Battle of the Atlantic, or working with Churchill, each of these women made crucial contributions to the conflict overseas, and helped to buttress the home front. Centenarian Christian Lamb, who served as a plotter in the Battle of the Atlantic, agrees that amid the horror and tragedy of the conflict, there were positive outcomes for her sex. Women were spared a great deal of burden she explains, and there was a certain amount of freedom to be had. Catherine Drummond, now aged 99, had volunteered as a wireless operator. Some of the ten women came from backgrounds of grinding poverty, while others enjoyed gilded childhoods before joining the war effort. Joy Hunter, now aged 95, had served as a secretary in Winston Churchill in the subterranean Cabinet War Rooms beneath Whitehall. 102-year-old Jaye Edwards had an airfield in Yorkshire as the base from which she worked as a pilot delivering Spitfires to the front line. The range of military roles that women were permitted to perform expanded as the war dragged on. And the war was in some ways a great level between classes as women of all social backgrounds were drafted in to help. The book opens with a story of Margaret Turner born 18th of May 1923, who, at the age of 16 when the war broke out, volunteered as a nurse in the Voluntary Aid Detachment and witnessed a lot in just the first 12 months. With a reporter's eye for detail, Lucy Fisher artfully weaves together interviews and wartime diaries and letters in a vivid oral history. 318 pages in paperback with 16 pages of colour and archive photographs of the women as youngsters and at the age they were interviewed.

Here is a practical guide to drawing and painting surfaces on canvas and paper to textiles and woods because every surface you draw on impacts everything in your artwork, from its texture and brightness to its colour and durability. Learn the basics of working on canvas, paper, panels, textiles, wood, metal, glass, stone and silk plus useful tips and techniques for preparing your supports and protecting your finished artwork. Paper comes in a variety of formats - pads and books, rolls and loose sheets and in types such as newsprint which is thin and inexpensive for creating loose sketches, kraft paper made of wood pulp and very strong, drawing paper varying in weight and colour, handmade paper, mould-made paper, Bristol board of multiple layers up to 4-ply and illustration board mounted to a hard core surface, marker paper or watercolour paper for fluid washes and available in three textures - hot-pressed, cold-pressed and rough - for you to choose depending on your painting style and the visual effects you want to achieve. Packed with visual examples, step-by-step tutorials and demonstrations to maximise your results in a variety of media. Vibrant colour illustrations and photographs, 112 page large softback.

The networks of canals stretching from the coast at Gravelines through St-Omer follows the approximate boundary between Artois and Flanders and was in 1940 the defence line established on the Western Edge of the so-called Dunkerque Corridor designed by Lord Gort to provide an evacuation route to the Channel coast. Even before events on the line of the Escaut Line had concluded with yet another Allied withdrawal, Lord Gort was diverting units to bolster the Canal Line defences. This was probably the first occasion that fighting along the Canal Line has been looked at in detail in this book. Overlooked by the inevitable withdrawal towards the Channel coast, the units deployed along the canal faced some of the stiffest fighting in the whole 1940 campaign. Whole battalions particularly those of the 2nd Division were sacrificed as units were thrown into battle in an attempt to slow down the German advance. The book looks at the ad hoc nature of the Usherforce and Polforce units, the units of the independent 25 Brigade, and the vicious fighting that enveloped the 2nd Division. Time is given also to the notorious massacre of the Royal Norfolk's at Louis Creton's Farm near Le Paradis. With over 100 contemporary and modern photographs, five car tours and three walks to give the tourist greater access and information about the battlefields. 205 page paperback.

The real and exciting story of one of the most important units of World War Two. The Commando Unit played an important role in Britain's successes and here Durnford-Slater gives his first hand and unique point of view on everything that happened. Brigadier Durnford-Slater raised and trained the first Commando Unit in 1940, created to harry opposition forces in raids impossible for regular army units. He led No.3 Commando on an exploratory operation in Guernsey in summer 1940 and never looked back. From there No.3 Commando orchestrated raids on the Losten Islands and Vaagso in Norway and Dieppe, as well as operations in Sicily, Italy, France and Germany. The Commandoes were so effective at creating destruction that Hitler personally ordered that all fighters captured during these missions be executed. Nevertheless their spirit remained undented and extremely high. From their inception as a raiding force to their ultimate development into a battalion-sized spearhead, and their important support in the D-day landings, this first-hand account is a unique portrayal of the Unit's exploits and the personalities of the men who wore the green beret. The book was originally published in 1953 when the memories were still fresh and be warned there are descriptions of many deaths and damage. Paperback edition, 217pp with lovely big line art maps and archive photos reproduced in black and white to the best quality possible given their age.

Trompe l'oeil gives that realistic 'wow' effect. Murals can brighten any room in your home, yet tackling a whole wall can be an intimidating prospect. For a quick and easy solution, start small with one of these ten down-to-size projects. Paint a quaint one-room schoolhouse on a notebook cover, dress up a plain window shade with summer garden blossoms complete with fake handle at the bottom, surprise your friends with a beautiful Siamese cat perched above a window frame, paint an artistic scene on top of a box, or choose a hat box with heavy cardboard construction to produce a Tuscan scene complete with lilies, ionic columns, Italian stucco by mixing glaze and sand, a decorative frieze and sculpture against a green Tuscan landscape. For each stage there is very careful painting instructions, templates and patterns that may be hand-traced or copied with details of whether enlarging to 200% or in the case of a stunning bottle green grandfather clock with decorative face and a tiny mouse on top, enlarge a further 200% and a third time at 128% to bring them up to full size. One of our favourites is the trompe l'oeil wall shelf, a decorative blue and white plate, clear glass vase with yellow flowers and two lemons all atop a realistic looking green bookshelf. Bunnies and kingfishers, a goldfinch photograph frame and a shaker clock are among the other projects with everything about materials and techniques covered. 144pp in extra large softback, colour illus., tips and mini demos.

James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, may have been the eldest and illegitimate son of a monarch, but when he entered the world his father, Charles II, was a monarch without a kingdom, and with little prospect of getting it back from Parliamentary rule. His mother meanwhile was a commoner with a wanton reputation. His paternal grandfather, Charles I, had recently lost his head upon a scaffold on Whitehall. Due to his illegitimate status, James had no surname of his own. He was no normal royal child - he was born on the cusp of modernity and would become a true child of the 17th century, encapsulating it socially, politically and religiously. From this near hopeless start, little James would go exile in Europe, where he lived in near poverty, to triumphantly rejoicing his father's restoration to the thrones of England and Scotland. Monmouth would become part of one of the most libertine royal courts within Europe. His status as a royal bastard ensured that he was able to rise within the family firm, first by being made a duke, and then by marrying into the most eligible aristocratic family in Scotland. He would become his father's son when it came to matters of the opposite sex; he made a poor husband but a willing and lusty lover. He was also a skilled military man, with experience in the field and at sea, and his ability to communicate with those of all social statuses added to his effectiveness as a military leader, as well as making him popular with the general public. Monmouth deserves to be remembered for more than the failed act of treason against his uncle, James II, and the consequent blundered and bloody forfeit of his life on Tower Hill. The story is also fascinating in that Monmouth was witness to some of Britain's biggest historical events of the 17th century as well as central to political crises, plots and eventually the rebellion that now bears his name. Among these events were the Plague of 1665, the Great Fire of London 1666, the discovery of the so-called Popish Plot 1678, the emergence of political parties, the start of the Exclusion Crisis, the discovery of the Rye House Plot 1683 and the Monmouth Rebellion 1685. And the country was still dealing with the memory of the bloody and divisive Civil War which had its own complexities of state and religion. 145pp, eight pages of plates.

A nostalgic trip back in time to when the local travelling fair used to set up their Perkins and Gardner diesel generators in the local park. Modellers will love this nostalgic collection too which includes Richard Walton's Foden S21 better known as the Mickey Mouse or Spaceship with its fibreglass cab, the attendant vehicle to the Meteorite ride. An ex-Rugby Cement powder tank eight wheeler was extensively rebuilt and upgraded to transport the Stanley Reeves Satellite ride. There are the Chipperfield Brothers with their Twist ride pulled by a Dodge Tractor Unit 342DMW with the LAD Cab, the Monsters Revenge ride at Newcastle Town Moor Fair in 1982, and heavy haulage and imaginative articulated units hinged to carry the Leyland 'Octopus' RBM44 to use with Dodgems or a double decker bus with its top deck cut down to provide sleeping quarters, here photographed at Skipton Fair. The gallery includes hundreds of nostalgic archive images reproduced to the best possible quality. 72 page large softback, 20 x 16cm.

Grimsby and Cleethorpes were among the most vulnerable and exposed British towns in August 1914 when the Great War broke out. Situated on the North Sea and facing the German Baltic fleet, their vessels were to face the mines and the U-boat torpedoes as the war progressed. Written into the story are the achievements of the Grimsby Chums and other regiments containing Grimsby men, and the amazing story of the home front experience, from the local shell factory staffed largely by women, to the War Hospital Supply Depot and the Women's Emergency Corps. There were the great fish docks, run by the Great Central Railway and sometimes as many as eight daily express trains to London and other cities distributing the fish. Around the docks there were 587 steam trawlers and a number of sailing smacks, perhaps about 20. Grimsby provided about 8,000 men for the various military and naval units. For the most part these joined the 10th and 11th Lincolns raised by Lord Kitchener's appeal, the 5th, 2/5 5th and 3/5 5th Lincolns, the 1st North Midland Brigade Royal Field Artillery and the Lincolnshire Yeomanry. These various units appear in the pages as events unfold. The shoreline was a priority, mainly for the gun batteries in place, and when the airship attacks began, the volunteers were the men to work with the guns and the searchlights. 128 page large paperback, archive photos.

The book is a comprehensive guide to the dynamic operations that have saved hundreds of lives in hostage situations around the world. It is based on strategies that have proved successful in numerous incidents including the landmark SAS rescue at Prince's Gate, London, and is compiled by an author with intimate and practical knowledge in the field, from nuclear power plants to airliners and a range of special weapons available to the men and women tackling each situation. At 5.30am on 26th October 2002, when Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) teams stormed a theatre in Moscow in an attempt to rescue more than 700 hostages who had been held for 58 hours by up to 50 Chechen terrorists, they launched the largest hostage rescue operation up until that time. The question is how many would have died had the operation not been launched? The previous day, intelligence had been gleaned when Alpha Personnel drilled a hole in a side wall of the theatre auditorium and inserted a fibre optic camera. This confirmed two large explosive devices were not wired for immediate detonation. They also emplaced infrared sensors to monitor the movement of the Chechens. An operator skilled in infrared surveillance tracked the terrorists by the juxtaposition of the 'hot' signature of the body, and the 'cold' signature of the weapon carried. FSB psychologists were also called in to assess the mood of hostage-takers based on information from the listening devices. With vivid photographs and diagrams of the rescue units in action, this is the complete reference work on counter-terrorist procedures. 192 page large paperback, very well illustrated. A 2001 and revised edition 2005 edition reprinted 2015. 31 illus.

For newborn babies to 24 month old toddlers each design has been hugged, played with, tossed about and snuggled and designed with a sense of old-fashioned style and made with materials that are totally touchable. Every article is cosy and sensible - nothing to make little ?uns itch, fuss or feel constricted, comfortable enough to wear while playing in the park and pretty enough to put on for parties. Parents will find the garments easy to put on and take off as they are designed with the minimal number of buttons and ties. For every skill level, the designs blend yarns that include cotton and wool and are pleasant and soft to the touch. Try the super striped socks, bunny ear booties with matching Miss Muffet's Mittens, tiny thumbless mittens that will keep fingers warm during baby's first winter. With a fluffy visor and top, ear flaps and a pompom, here is a fun hat youngsters will love to keep on their heads, booties made for walking with a soft felt sole, Capri-style wide-legged jumpsuit with big wooden buttons and wide straps, a wide bottomed Kimono sweater and a beautiful knitted dress with lavender buttons and a delicate purse pocket, a stylish forest green trimmed cardigan, a flowery pullover, a little braided dolly stitched on to the back of a cardigan, a coat with polka dots on the cuff, collar, waist and strap - these adorable accents will get your needles clacking in no time. There is even a soft toy rabbit, a vintage blanket and a six-sided cuboid toy showing a truck, tree, house, boat, fish and children, all playful and fun. For each there are lists of materials and tools, gauge, experience levels, sizes and finished measurements. Big clear simple instructions and gorgeous colour photographs. 128 large page softback.