Beyond the Call (Paperback)

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.

Beyond the Call (Hardback)

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.

50 Facts You Need to Know – USA (Paperback)

A Tour Through the Real America

Stephen Fender

The Land of the Free is the country everyone loves to attack. But how much do you really know about the USA? “Hot Rods, Handguns and Huckleberry Finn” is a popular exploration of the real America. This is a country with 50 capital cities, few of which anyone can name; a nation with 65 million gun-owners and 35,000 gun deaths each year; a place where there’s one car for every adult, and where twice as many people claim to go to church as actually do. Burning the American flag, so the Supreme Court has ruled, is now a legitimate expression of free speech. One city in Kentucky elected a black Labrador as its mayor. The US produces a quarter of all CO2 emissions, and has a population rising twice as fast as the EU. German might have been the national language, and folk music tops the charts. Republican states especially are generous givers to charity, and they have a world-beating welfare state – the military. Vibrant, proud and yet critical, this is a hugely enjoyable tour of the world’s most powerful but least understood nation.

Stephen Fender was born in San Francisco and educated at Stanford and in the UK at Wales and Manchester. He has taught in the States, in Scotland at the University of Edinburgh, and in England at London and Sussex, where he was head of American studies from 1985 to 2003. He now lives in Dulwich, south London.

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30-Second Politics by Steven L. Taylor

You may be OK with standard stuff like Conservatism and Democracy, but do you really know what Patrimonialism is? And what about Oligarchy? Anarcho-syndicalism? Politics is, we are willing to bet, the most passionately argued-over subject m… Read more »

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50 Facts That Should Change the World (Paperback)

Jessica Williams

This is an updated and revised edition of Jessica Williams’ hugely praised international bestseller. Originally published in May 2004, it has sold in excess of 60,000 copies. This edition is updated throughout and includes a number of brand-new facts. In it, Jessica discusses how the world has changed since 2004, how readers have reacted to the book – and her experiences discussing the book on a prime-time Japanese TV show.

Jessica Williams is a journalist and television producer. She was born in Scotland but grew up in New Zealand. She now primarily works for the BBC and is a producer of the News 24 discussion programme, Hardtalk. She lives and works in East London. Her other book is How to Give to Charity (Icon, 2006).

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30-Second Philosophies by Julian Baggini

I Think Therefore I Am, Existentialism, Dialectical Materialism? The Socratic Method and Deconstruction? Sure, you know what they all mean. That is, you’ve certainly heard of them. But do you know enough about them to join a dinner pa… Read more »

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Fighting Fantasy ()

Steve Jackson

Ian Livingstone

A shrinkwrapped pack of ten titles from Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone’s peerless interactive game book series, Fighting Fantasy. The pack includes: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, The Citadel of Chaos, Deathrap Dungeon, Stormslayer, Creature of Havoc, City of Thieves, Bloodbones, Night of the Necromancer, House of Hell, Eye of the Dragon.

Steve Jackson is, with Ian Livingstone, the originator of the Fighting Fantasy series. Since Fighting Fantasy’s huge success, he has become a major figure in world of computer games, and was a founder of Lionhead Studios, the name behind Black & White. Ian Livingstone is the co-creators of the Fighting Fantasy series which has sold many millions of books throughout the world. He was also co-founder of the Games Workshop chain and has since become a prominent figure in the computer games industry at Eidos. Ian Livingstone awarded an OBE in 2006 for services to the computer game industry.

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Armies of Death by Ian Livingstone

One of Fighting Fantasy’s most innovative titles now in a brand-new edition. Can YOU defeat the nightmare army of the undead? Agglax the Shadow Demon is amassing an army of undead warriors to conquer Allansia. Having survived the perils of… Read more »

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5000-1: The Leicester City Story- Commemorative Edition (Hardback)

Rob Tanner

A regal blue-and-gold hardback edition – a keepsake for fans to commemorate Leicester City’s astonishing title-winning season and the year that followed.

On 2 May 2016 England’s football landscape was spectacularly and irreversibly altered as 5000-1 longshots Leicester City were crowned Premier League champions.

Not only did this incredible feat break the long-standing monopoly at the top of the table, it also propelled Leicester into the Champions League for the very first time.  

Relive this remarkable season with Rob Tanner, the Leicester Mercury’s chief football writer, from the great escape of 2015 to the curtain-closer at Stamford Bridge – now updated to include City’s summer of celebration and their fairy-tale run in Europe.

Rob Tanner is the Leicester Mercury’s chief football writer and has been Leicester City FC correspondent for the past eight seasons. He lives in Tamworth, Staffordshire.