Future Harbours (Paperback)

Letters from President Mbeki

Thabo Mbeki

A collection of never-before-seen letters written by Thabo Mbeki surrounding Mbeki’s presidential years as well as reflections on the country and continent.

Future Harbours features a collection of letters both published and never-before-seen by former President of the Republic of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki. The letters cover a variety of themes and topics extending from Mbeki’s presidential years up to current day.

Mbeki has remained intricately linked to politics in South Africa and involved in governance and leadership across the African continent. His vision and that of his Foundation is to be a catalyst for the achievement of an African Renaissance. Together they seek to mobilise Africa’s progressive forces, support platforms for dialogue and reflection and to promote efforts for Africa’s political, social, economic, and cultural development.

This collection will feature themes on good governance and leadership across Africa; it will touch on the Mbeki administration’s controversial HIV/AIDS policy and its success in ‘putting South Africa back on the map’; and also reflect on South Africa’s foreign relations with countries like China, Russia and the United Kingdom.

Born and raised in Mbewuleni, Eastern Cape, South Africa, THABO MBEKI is a politician and son of Epainette and ANC stalwart Govan Mbeki. He served the Republic of South Africa as its second democratic president from June 1999 to September 2008. Mbeki continues to have an active hand in politics in the country and across the continent. The vision of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation is to be a catalyst for the achievement of an African Renaissance. It seeks to mobilise Africa’s progressive forces, support platforms for dialogue and reflection and to promote efforts for Africa’s political, social, economic, and cultural development.

The History of British Industry: The Birth of the Industrial Revolution 1700 – 1825 (eBook)

Peter Pugh

The History of British Industry is a magisterial new three-volume story of how the United Kingdom became the world’s first economic superpower – and how that crown slipped… 

Peter Pugh is a businessperson and business historian who has written more than 50 histories of companies from Rolls-Royce to Iceland. He is also the author of Introducing Thatcherism and Introducing Keynes. He lives by the sea in north Norfolk, and in Cambridge.

The Burglar Caught by a Skeleton (eBook)

And Other Singular Tales from the Victorian Press

Jeremy Clay

HOLIDAYMAKER FIGHTS OFF AFRICAN LION IN WELSH HOTEL ROOM MAN SWALLOWS MOUSE AND DIES WIFE DRIVEN MAD BY HUSBAND TICKLING FEET PALLBEARER KILLED BY COFFIN IN GRAVEYARD LIBERALS EAT DOG From the newspaper archives of the British Library, Jeremy Clay has unearthed the long-lost stories that enthralled and appalled Victorian Britain. Within these pages are the riotous farces and tragedies of nineteenth-century life, a time when life was hard, pleasures short-lived, and gloating over other people’s misfortune a thoroughly acceptable form of entertainment. Deliciously dreadful and deliriously funny, The Burglar Caught by a Skeleton will have you, one way or another, in tears.

Jeremy Clay is Features Editor at the Leicester Mercury. He is the author of two books, most recently Blokes with Balls (New Holland, 2005)

Beyond the Call (eBook)

The True Story of One World War II Pilot's Covert Mission to Rescue POWs on the Eastern Front

Lee Trimble

Jeremy Dronfield

As the Red Army advanced across Poland in 1945, thousands of freed Allied POWs – viewed by the Soviets as cowards or potential spies – were abandoned to wander the war-torn Eastern Front. In total secrecy, the OSS – wartime forerunner to the CIA – conceived an undercover mission to rescue them. The man they picked to undertake it was veteran Eighth Air Force bomber pilot Captain Robert Trimble. With little covert training, Trimble survived by wit, courage, and a determination to do some good in a terrible war. Alone, he faced up to the terrifying Soviet secret police and saved hundreds of lives, fighting his own battle against the trauma of war while finding his way home to his wife and child. Based on hours of testimony from his father, Beyond the Call is written by Trimble’s son and by British historian Jeremy Dronfield. It is a filmic, inspiring story of a hitherto unknown true hero.

LEE TRIMBLE was born in 1950, the son of Captain Robert M. Trimble. He worked in research and development on lasers, electronics and semiconductors, and was a scientific writer and reviewer for scholarly and professional journals.

JEREMY DRONFIELD – ‘a gifted, original writer’ (Sunday Telegraph) – is a novelist and historical biographer with a special interest in World War II aviation. Among his many books is the critically acclaimed The Alchemist’s Apprentice (Headline, 2001), described as a ‘captivating metaphysical mystery and an otherworldly love story’ by the Sunday Times.

Imagine That – Fashion (Paperback)

The History of Fashion Rewritten

Michael Sells

Would centuries of judicial rulings have reached different conclusions if wigs and robes had never been introduced to the courtroom? Could a different office dress code have removed the ‘glass-ceiling’ in business? Did the fashion industry fuel the football violence epidemic of the 1980’s? Fashion is far more than mere decoration. It has sparked fierce feuds between fans of both music and sport. It has also cemented the power of some the world’s most commanding organisations. Uniform and fashion trends have carried untold power throughout modern history, altering much more than just the way we look.

Michael Sells is a historian educated at the University of Chester. Captivated by history from a young age, he is especially interested in Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation and 1960s and 70s football. Outside of history, his passions include dystopian novels, animal sanctuaries and lower-league football. Born in the South East of England, he now lives in Cambridge and the Imagine That titles are his first books.