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Between 1540 and 1920 the English elite transformed the countryside and landscape by building up landed estates which were concentrated around their country houses. John Broad's study of the Verney family of Middle Claydon in Buckinghamshire demonstrates two sides of that process. Charting the family's rise to wealth impelled by a strong dynastic imperative, Broad shows how the Verneys sought out heiress marriages to expand wealth and income. In parallel, he shows how the family managed its estates to maximize income and transformed three local village communities, creating a pattern of 'open' and 'closed' villages familiar to nineteenth-century commentators. Based on the formidable Verney family archive with its abundant correspondence, this book also examines the world of poor relief, farming families as well as strategies for estate expansion and social enhancement. It will appeal to anyone interested in the English countryside as a dynamic force in social and economic history.
Originally published: Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway Books, 2000.
One detective's pursuit of truth and justice When a young woman's body is found in an alley, Jack Mallory takes on the case as the on-call detective. But before he can make a start, he is suddenly reassigned by his boss, Terrance Singleton, to the cold case of Timothy Waters, who had served 20 years in prison for the murder of Elizabeth Mitchell, the daughter of the then mayor. A review of his conviction has set him free and as a friend of the family, Singleton wants to make sure Mallory finds more evidence to put him back behind bars. But the case is complex and before long Mallory discovers that there is a lot more to it than meets the eye; family tensions, a witness run out of town and th...
In this rapturous memoir, writer and activist Laura Coleman shares the story of her liberating journey in the Amazon jungle, where she fell in love with a magnificent cat who changed her life. Laura was in her early twenties and directionless when she quit her job to backpack in Bolivia. Fate landed her at a wildlife sanctuary on the edge of the Amazon jungle where she was assigned to a beautiful and complex puma named Wayra. Wide-eyed, inexperienced, and comically terrified, Laura made the scrappy, make-do camp her home. And in Wayra, she made a friend for life. They weren't alone, not with over a hundred quirky animals to care for, each lost and hurt in their own way: a pair of suicidal, b...
When time is running out, every moment is precious... From the bestselling author The Summer of Impossible Things as featured in the ITV Zoe Ball Bookclub What would happen if your memory started to fade? When Claire writes her Memory Book, she knows it will soon be all her daughter and husband will have left of her. But how can she hold onto her past when her future is slipping through her fingers...? A Sunday Times bestseller and Richard & Judy Bookclub pick, The Memory Book is a beautiful novel of mothers and daughters, and what we will do for love. Over 300 5* reader reviews for this emotional uplifting novel: ‘It completely blew me away’ ‘One of the most strikingly beautiful stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading’ ‘So beautifully written, you can’t put it down!’ ‘Memorable and enriching’ ‘A book I will remember forever’ ‘Moving and quite simply stunning’