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The story of General Freyberg's Divisional Protective Troop, so crucial to the success of the North African campaign in World War 2, is told for the first times by the one living participant. Churchill called Freyberg "The Salamander" and his Protective Troop was dubbed "The Salamander's Brood". Freyberg, whose military legacy has been questioned in recent years, could have won the Battle of Crete with a handful of working radios. After the early chaotic months in North Africa, Freyberg decided, over the opposition of other military commanders, to direct the 2nd NZ Division from a forward mobile tactical headquaters - his own tank, with a small protective troop of other tanks. Wounded for th...
What was it really like for the soldiers of 2 New Zealand Division in World War Two? How did they spend their time and how did they see their lives as servicemen, from training at home and sailing off to war, to setting up camp, relaxing off -duty, fighting in hostile environments and possibly being taken prisoner? This anthology is a personal selection of material describing the experiences of these men, almost all written from within its ranks. Colloquially known to its members as ‘The Div’, it was by far the major part of New Zealand’s Second Expeditionary Force, making it our main contribution to the war. Naturally it had a distinctly New Zealand character, and despite being caught...
In this survey Ian McEwan emerges as one of those rare writers whose works have received both popular and critical acclaim. His novels grace the bestseller lists, and he is well regarded by critics, both as a stylist and as a serious thinker about the function and capacities of narrative fiction. McEwan’s novels treat issues that are central to our times: politics, and the promotion of vested interests; male violence and the problem of gender relations; science and the limits of rationality; nature and ecology; love and innocence; and the quest for an ethical worldview. Yet he is also an economical stylist: McEwan’s readers are called upon to attend, not just to the grand themes, but also to the precision of his spare writing. Although McEwan’s later works are more overtly political, more humane, and more ostentatiously literary than the early work, Dominic Head uncovers the continuity as well as the sense of evolution through the oeuvre. Head makes the case for McEwan’s prominence - pre-eminence, even - in the canon of contemporary British novelists.
On the hottest day of the summer of 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie Turner, her childhood friend who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have been changed for ever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined at its start, and will have become victims of the younger girl's imagination. Briony will have witnessed mysteries, and committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.
A concise and accessible student guide to McEwan's popular novel.
"Charles Frieth, pre-eminent composer, conductor and prodigious womaniser, is preparing for a performance of one of his early works, and the world premier of Demonic Aubade. Obstinate and myopic, he is oblivious to the growing turmoil around him; his wife's poor health and dissatisfaction; the exhausted efforts of his secretary, and the disquieting diligence of his housekeeper, Maria. As the first performance draws near, the maestro is suddenly awoken to the chaos, and as Charles struggles to regain control of his life, a terrible tragedy begins to unfold" -- Back cover.
Charles Frieth, pre-eminent composer and conductor, is preparing for a performance of one of his works, Demonic Aubade. Obstinate and myopic, he is oblivious to the growing turmoil around him. As the performance draws near, the maestro is awoken to the chaos, and as Charles struggles to regain control of his life, a tragedy begins to unfold.
Two friends meet at the funeral of their former lover, who had many lovers and make a pact that affects the rest of their lives in ways they never imagined.
The first novel by the Booker Prize-winning author of Amsterdam. In the relentless summer heat, four abruptly orphaned children retreat into a shadowy, isolated world, and find their own strange and unsettling ways of fending for themselves.