'Masterly' New York Times 'Riveting' Scott Kelly 'Remarkable' The Times When Richard Branson founded Virgin Galactic in 2004, his goal was simple: to offer paying customers a trip to space by the end of the decade. Seventeen years, countless delays, and one catastrophic crash later, his space tourism dream may finally be on the verge of reality. Now, a New Yorker journalist offers the definitive portrait of the adventurers leading the way to the stars. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews with Virgin's lead test pilot, Mark Stucky, Test Gods describes the making of a modern astronaut: from starry-eyed youth to NASA, the Air Force, and Virgin Galactic; and through dozens of gruelling test flights to his first successful trip beyond the earth's atmosphere. The result is the most vivid exploration of an astronaut's inner life since Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff . It offers an intimate and unique insight into the new space race.

Test Gods

Variant: Test gods

Warehouse 200

Located in an Observer Corps post on the top of a Martello tower on the seafront at Dymchurch in Kent, Mr E.E. Woodland and Mr A.M. Wraight were on duty on the morning of 13 June 1944\. Shortly after 04.00 hours they spotted the approach of an object spurting red flames from its rear end and making a noise like 'a Model-T-Ford going up a hill'. What they were watching was the first V1 flying bomb heading towards the South Coast. A new battle of Britain was about to begin. The flying bomb that the two men had observed crossed the shoreline and continued northwards. Some ten minutes later it fell to earth with a loud explosion at Swanscombe, near Gravesend. It was the first of more than 10,000 flying bombs launched against Britain that summer, most of which were targeted at London. At its peak, Hitler's flying bomb campaign saw more than 100 V1s a day being fired. Much of the UK suddenly found itself back in the frontline of the war. In the weeks and months that followed, thousands of people were killed, many more injured. In this book the author takes the reader through the day by day battle. Accounts from some of those who survived the buzz bomb attacks bring the story to life as people tell about their fears and experiences. To combat the threat, RAF fighter pilots flew round the clock patrols, desperately trying to shoot the robot rockets down and stop them from reaching their targets, whilst anti-aircraft gunners played their part on the ground. So successful was this joint effort that by the end of March 1945, the combined British defences were accounting for 72.8% of all the reported V1s that were directed at the United Kingdom. This is the story of how that success was achieved.

Hitler's Terror From the Sky

Variant: Hitler's terror from the sky

Henry VIII is one of history's most memorable monarchs. Popularly known for his six wives, and the unfortunate fate which befell Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, Henry initiated many reforms and changes which still affect our lives today. The annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon set in motion the separation of the English church from Rome and the establishment of the Church of England, which in turn led to the dissolution of the monasteries, the hauntingly evocative remains of which can be seen across the United Kingdom. Henry also oversaw the legal union between England and Wales, and he is also known as 'the father of the Royal Navy', with one of his great warships, the _Mary Rose_, lost in 1545 and recovered in 1982, becoming one of the most famous wrecks in maritime history. In addition to the monasteries, other buildings around the UK continue to remind us of the times of the Tudors - there is the site of Greenwich Palace at the Royal Naval College Greenwich, where Henry was born; his great palace at Hampton Court; Lambeth Palace where Thomas More refused to sign the oath to make Henry the Head of the Church, and the Bell Tower in the Tower of London where More was imprisoned before he was beheaded. Henry's breach with the Pope led to the threat of war with Catholic France and Spain, which prompted Henry to construct a series of powerful forts around the English and Welsh coasts. These elegant and symmetrical defensive structures are still awe-inspiring. In this engaging and hugely informative book, the author takes us on a journey across the country, from Deal Castle on the south coast, to Tower Green where Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard lost their heads, and far north to Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire. Along the way we see places where Henry stayed, where the _Mary Rose_ was recovered, the homes of his consorts and Smithfield where prominent individuals convicted of heresy were burned at the stake. Travel, then, not just across the country, but also back in time through 100 objects from the days of the second Tudor monarch - Henry VIII.

Henry VIII in 100 Objects

Variant: Henry VIII in 100 objects

In 136 BC, in Sicily (which was then a Roman province), some four hundred slaves of Syrian origin rebelled against their masters and seized the city of Henna with much bloodshed. Their leader, a fortune-teller named Eunus, was declared king (taking the Syrian royal name Antiochus), and tens of thousands of runaway slaves as well as poor native Sicilians soon flocked to join his fledgling kingdom. Antiochus' ambition was to drive the Romans from the whole of Sicily. The Romans responded with characteristic intransigence and relentlessness, leading to years of brutal warfare and suppression. Antiochus' 'Kingdom of the Western Syrians' was extinguished by 132 but his agenda was revived in 105 BC when rebelling slaves proclaimed Salvius as King Tryphon, with similarly bitter and bloody results. Natale Barca narrates and analyses these events in unprecedented detail, with thorough research into the surviving ancient sources. The author also reveals the long-term legacy of the slaves' defiance, contributing to the crises that led to the seismic Social War and setting a precedent for the more-famous rebellion of Spartacus in 73-71 BC.

Rome's Sicilian Slave Wars

Variant: Rome's Sicilian Slave Wars

This is a narrative military history of the emperors Lucius Domitius Aurelianus ('Aurelian', reigned 270-275) and Marcus Aurelius Probus (276-282) which also includes the other reigns between the years 268 and 285\. It shows how these two remarkable emperors were chiefly responsible for the Empire surviving and emerging largely intact from a period of intense crisis. It was Aurelian who first united the breakaway regions, including Zenobia's Palmyra, and it was Probus who then secured his achievements. The reigns of Aurelian and Probus have been subjected to many studies, but none of these have approached the extant material purely from the point of view of military analysis. Most importantly, the previous historians have not exploited the analytical opportunities provided by the military treatises that describe the strategy and tactics of the period Roman army. It is thanks to this new methodology that Ilkka Syvänne has been able to reconstruct the military campaigns of these two soldier emperors and their other contemporaries in far greater detail than has been possible before.

Aurelian and Probus

Variant: Aurelian and Probus

The truth is that professional sport is a breeding ground for addictive behaviour. Luke Sutton is a business owner and successful agent to sporting stars such as James Taylor, Nile Wilson and Sam Quek, but his life didn't always look so positive. Back from the Edge reveals the huge ups and major downs that a professional career in sport can bring - and the mental health difficulties that can plague a sportsperson along the way. Luke knows this more than most. Brutually but refreshingly honest, this no-frills autobiography of the former professional cricketer describes in detail the moment he hit rock bottom, how he got there, his rollercoaster journey through rehab, and the important lessons he's learnt since. Throughout the book, Luke remains candid and reveals how his addictions affected his personal life, from his friends to family to his children. Back from the Edge is heart-wrenching. It's also thoroughly genuine, funny and utterly inspirational, and has allowed the former cricketer to speak about his mental health and to raise awareness of addiction in sport. Now a sports agent, he is perfectly placed to spot the warning signs in young stars, and to support them before they spiral into the same type of experiences he faced.

Back From the Edge

Variant: Back from the edge

ARSENAL: THE STORY OF A FOOTBALL CLUB IN 101 LIVES tells the history of the Gunners through the biographies of key individuals associated with the club from its formation in the gas-lit days of Victorian Britain through to the present day. From David Danskin, the Scottish mechanical engineer and footballer who was the driving force behind the team raised at Dial Square, a workshop at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, to Arsene Wenger, the longest-serving and most successful manager in Arsenal's history. The in-depth stories of the characters - players, managers, chairmen - here paint a fascinating picture of how the club - indeed, the game of football itself - has developed from workers playing for fun to today's multi-million-pound business.

Arsenal

Variant: Arsenal

Since 1978 Jim Davis' sarcastic, orange tabby cat has entertained millions of people appearing in Newspapers, books, cartoons and even his own films. Why has a lazy, coffee drinking, lasagna loving feline become a worldwide sensation loved by millions of people? From his small-town beginnings in Muncie, Indiana, The History of Garfield explores our relationship with Garfield, Jon and Odie and how Davis' characters have become such an integral part of American pop culture over the decades.

The Creation of Garfield

Variant: The creation of Garfield

This volume of French eyewitness accounts of Waterloo, published for the first time in full in English, completes Andrew Field's pioneering work on the French experience in this decisive battle. These vivid recollections add a new dimension to our understanding of what happened on 18 June 1815. Readers will now be in a position to come to their own conclusions and they can compare the French accounts with those of soldiers from the allied armies, in particular the British, which have largely determined our assumptions about the battle for the last 200 years. They will also gain a heightened insight into the trauma that the French eyewitnesses went through on the battlefield and afterwards as they tried to explain and come to terms their loss. This second volume features graphic descriptions of the battle as it was remembered by men of the 2nd and 6th corps, cavalry, artillery and Imperial Guard and medical services of Napoleon's army. Their words give us not only a telling inside view their actions during that extraordinary day, but they also record in graphic detail what they saw and show us how they reacted to Napoleon's historic defeat.

The French At Waterloo

Variant: The French at Waterloo

September 1940: Britain stands alone against the might of the advancing German Army and the spectre of invasion looms. Using a wealth of primary material including sources previously designated secret, this is the first book, written in English, dedicated to the story of the first four German spies who successfully arrived in the south of England. Using the codename Operation Lena, it was the initial undertaking to necessitate Hitler's invasion of England, itself codenamed Operation Sealion. These men were to be the pathfinders, the scouts, the eyes and ears that would help the first invasion of England for several hundred years. This extraordinary story stands as evidence of the only part of the invasion actually to arrive, of the abysmal quality of their selection and training, of the extraordinary fair-mindedness of a British jury, especially when Britain was gripped by spy paranoia. This is possibly one of the most audacious and least known episodes of the Second World War.

Hitler's Spies

Variant: Hitler's spies

The teaching of Historical European Martial Arts has widespread appeal with numerous clubs in many countries. However, comparatively few people who run their own club have qualifications that would make them an instructor in traditional martial arts organizations. Even those with such qualifications lack in-depth cohesive resources for teaching a given style - often because they can only work from incomplete sources. Thus, the need for a book which is grounded in exhaustive research into historical teaching methods and in particular focusing on the specific style of Sigmund Ringeck, who was himself a teacher of fighting arts in the late 14th century or the early or mid-15th century. In _The Art of Longsword Fighting_, Benjamin J. Smith therefore offers the broader information necessary for teachers of historical swordsmanship to deliver courses based on original, authentic techniques. This includes the various cutting methods, the role of competition in learning these arts, the mechanics of the interpretive process, and insights into how to use a wide range of activities to enhance students' experience. All of this is achieved through a panoply of photographs showing each move along with explanatory diagrams as well as detailing how and when to introduce each next step in a manner that is faithful to Ringeck's style. There is no current literature available which demonstrates how each move should be undertaken and, most importantly, why each step should be taken in the sequences described. There is no doubt that a book of this nature has been long awaited and will be welcomed by instructors and students alike as well as those general readers interested in fencing and the longsword of the Renaissance period.

The Art of Longsword Fighting

Variant: The art of longsword fighting

This is a bold reassessment of one of the pivotal points in British history. PJ O'Gorman analyses the sources for the period from Julius Caesar's first forays into these islands to the invasion under the Emperor Claudius and the conclusions he reaches are nothing short of radical and call into question much of the accepted narrative of Roman invasion and conquest. The author starts by showing that Caesar's initial cross-Channel adventures were motivated not so much by seeking the glory of taming primitive savages but to gain control of an economic powerhouse. His treatment of the period leading up to the Claudian invasion and the invasion itself is even more shocking. Most significantly he argues convincingly that two of the most important Roman sources underpinning the conventional narrative are in fact Renaissance fakes and that their acceptance has distorted the interpretation of modern archaeological evidence. Meanwhile he reinstates a discounted British source. The result is a startlingly different version of Britain's early history.

Britain and Rome

Variant: Britain and Rome

The book investigates the vast number of locomotives that came to the London Midland Region in 1948 at Nationalisation. This is a class by class survey with over 200 illustrations, covering all the top link and freight classes, also looking at the smaller types of locomotive, operating on branch lines and doing more humble tasks. The author explores what happened to them and also looks at those that eventually made their way into preservation.

The Final Years of London Midland Region Steam

Variant: The Final Years of London Midland Region Steam

In their fledgling efforts to send robots instead of human beings on the most dangerous aerial missions, U.S. operators in South-East Asia in the 1960s and '70s wrote the first chapter in the continuing tale of autonomous warfare. While the use of drones is now commonplace in modern warfare, it was in its infancy during the Vietnam War, not to mention revolutionary and top secret. Drones would play an important--and today largely unheralded--role in the bloody, two-decade U.S. air war over Vietnam and surrounding countries. Drone aircraft spotted targets for manned U.S. bombers, jammed North Vietnamese radars and scattered propaganda leaflets, among other missions. Drone War Vietnam is based on military records, official histories and published first-hand accounts from early drone operators, as well as on a close survey of existing scholarship on the topic.

Drone War Vietnam

Variant: Drone War Vietnam

On 20 October 1944, the U.S. Sixth Army began landing on Leyte's eastern coast, supported by the U.S. Navy's 3rd and 7th fleets, which were assisted by ships from the Royal Australian Navy. The Japanese were aware that the Americans were poised to attack the Philippines and planned to draw the American warships into one last great battle to try and stave off the otherwise inevitable defeat. Over the course of the following three days, the two naval forces engaged in four separate engagements. Involving more than 360 ships and 200,000 naval personnel, the battle was the greatest naval encounter of the World War II and possibly the largest naval battle in history. The result was disastrous for the Japanese who lost three battleships, four aircraft carriers, ten cruisers and eleven destroyers, along with almost 300 aircraft - the greatest loss of ships and crew the Japanese had ever experienced. In Battle of Leyte Gulf, the actions of the warships as well as the accompanying amphibious landings on Leyte by the U.S. Sixth Army are vividly revealed through a dramatic collection of photographs depicting the ships, sailors, airmen and soldiers who made history.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

Variant: Battle of Leyte Gulf

Nothing focuses the mind more starkly than impending death. Its inevitable spectre greets us all; from princes to paupers and nobility to the needy. Prepare to mount the scaffold and share in the final utterings of the condemned; join the stricken in their death beds and witness unburdened tongues wag their closing, and often remarkable confessions as deeply entrenched secrets are finally unshackled in the wake of imminent death. 'Fates and Final Words' collects a fascinating selection of destinies culminating in their often flamboyant yet always captivating, final utterances before shuffling off this mortal coil. Revealed inside are tales of sangfroid bravery, astonishing ironies and overdue confessions often betraying grave miscarriages of justice, throughout British history. Revealed inside are tales of sangfroid bravery, astonishing ironies and overdue confessions often betraying grave miscarriages of justice throughout British history. Writer and poet Sir Walter Raleigh had some typically forthright and urging words for his executioner as the hesitant axeman displayed fear and reluctance to perform his stately duties. Having felt the sharp edge of the tool that would presently be rained down upon him, rather than fearing his impending doom, Raleigh would offer goading encouragement to his maker. Were the final words of convicted murderer Ernest Brown a candid confession to another killing he had committed deep in the Northumberland Moors some two years previously which had lay unsolved? And what of Britain's first actor to have had a knighthood bestowed upon him? Learn of the staggering irony that saw his final words on stage prophetically turn out to be his last in life.

Famous Last Words

Variant: Famous last words

British Submarines in the Cold War Era shows how a combination of evolving strategic and tactical requirements and new technology produced successive types of submarines. It is based largely on unpublished and previously classified official documentation, and to the extent allowed by security restrictions, also tells the operational story - HMS Conqueror is still the only nuclear submarine to have sunk a warship in combat, but there are many less well-known aspects of British submarine operations in the postwar era. Although some of the Cold War activities of British submarines have come to light in recent years, this book will be the first comprehensive technical history of the submarines themselves, their design rationale, and the service which operated them.

British Submarines

Variant: British submarines

Are you already a puzzle fan? Or do you want to find a new hobby? Have you ever wondered how to make your own jigsaw puzzles or simply broaden your puzzling hobby? Then here is a book for you! Whether you are an avid fan or a beginner, this book will equip you with everything you need to know about the much-loved jigsaw puzzle as well as how to make your very own creations. Whilst providing information on the history of puzzles, benefits of puzzles and even some puzzle trivia, this book will also provide you with a step by step guide to enable you to make your own puzzles. This could start with a simple cardboard puzzle cut by hand and lead to higher quality wooden puzzles cut with a craft knife or saw. Your puzzles can be whatever you want them to be and you will no longer be limited to those available in shops. Puzzling can quickly become an expensive hobby and being able to make your own should make it a more affordable one. The first of its type on the market, this book is set to show you everything you need to know and bring you into a whole new world of jigsaw puzzles!

Joy of Jigsaws

Variant: Joy of jigsaws

Tribals, Battles and Darings describes the three classes, each designed under different circumstances along destroyer lines but to general-purpose light cruiser form, from the interwar period through to the 1950s, and Alexander Clarke explains the procurement process for each class in the context of the needs and technology of the times. This is the first work to focus these three classes side by side, to examine their conception, their creation and their operational stories, many heroic, and to provide an insight into ship design, operation and culture. In doing so the book aims to contribute a better understanding of one of the most significant periods in the Royal Navy's history.

Tribals, Battles & Darings

Variant: Tribals, battles & darings

In a book of Porsche photography and engaging conversation, Lance Cole journeys through a personal passion for Porsche -one that many supercar enthusiasts share. Herein light falls on sculpted metal and paint - shiny and less shiny. Throwing off the conventions of Porsche purism, yet at the same time always respecting the origins of Porsche, and the status of the 911, this is a book that celebrates the engineering and the design language of Porsche amid its culture. From an "oily-rag" 356 to old 911s and new 911s, with a brief alighting upon other cars of the Porsche clan, this is an eclectic collection of enthusiasts "moments" captured across a British Porsche landscape.

Porsche Passion

Variant: Porsche passion

The Americans had considerable initial success when they launched their huge offensive against the Germans in the Meuse-Argonne in the last days of September 1918\. However, not everything went smoothly and the attack became bogged down, held up by the several lines of the Hindenburg System and logistical challenges. A major additional obstacle was the presence of batteries of German artillery on the high ground on the right bank of the Meuse, almost untroubled by any significant assaults by the allied forces. These guns created severe problems for the American commanders and their troops. Eventually sufficient resources were allocated for an American-French attack on the right bank, with the aim of removing the German artillery and pushing the Germans off the Meuse Heights, part of the renewed offensive on the Left Bank and the Argonne Forest. The action often took place over ground that had already seen ferocious fighting during the Battle of Verdun in 1916 and the French offensive of late summer 1917\. It also involved the very difficult achievement of getting large bodies of troops over the River Meuse and its associated canal. The terrain is rugged and, even then, quite heavily wooded. The American and French troops often had to fight uphill and in the face of German defences that had been developed over the previous twelve months. On the other hand, the quality of the defending troops was not high, as Germany faced so much pressure in other sectors, and included a significant number of  Austro-Hungarian troops. Popular opinion tends to be dismissive of the fighting quality of these Austrian troops who, in fact, performed well. The tours take the visitor over some beautiful countryside, with stunning views over the Meuse and the Woevre Plain. There are significant vestiges of the war still to be seen, including numerous observation bunkers and shelters as well as trenches. An unusual feature of the area are the traces of part of the Maginot Line, notably bunkers (some of which are very large) and the rail infrastructure to support it, sometimes making use of lines that the Germans built during the First World War. One of these tours follows the fate of Henry Gunther, officially the last American soldier to be killed in action in the Great War. There is substantial myth about Gunther; the facts surrounding his death are examined, as well as placing his last action on the ground. There is a tour dedicated just to him.

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