Hero Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown, who makes Biggles look like a wimp, tells his story. By Robert Hardman Published: 23:50 GMT, 6 May 2013 | Updated: 11:29 GMT, 7 May 2013 Making history: Eric Brown (pictured at home in Copthorne, Sussex) has flown more aircraft than anyone else in history, and was the first man to fly a jet on and off an aircraft carrier Eric Brown must rank as the most extraordinary airman alive.
Indeed, open his memoirs at any page and you are left asking a single question: how on earth did this modest Scotsman live to tell the tale? Fed up with politicians today? Just look at this rotten lot! PERILOUS QUESTION: THE DRAMA OF THE GREAT REFORM BILL 1832 BY ANTONIA FRASER. By Marcus Berkmann for MailOnline Published: 17:24 GMT, 16 May 2013 | Updated: 13:08 GMT, 17 May 2013 Marcus Berkmann Indecisive: King William IV We are terribly proud of our parliamentary tradition in this country.
The House of Commons: incorruptible, steeped in tradition, never afraid of looking ridiculous when the situation demands it. American Dreams, 1973: The Princess Bride by William Goldman. A camp on the Libyan coastline meant to train terror-hunters has instead become a haven for terrorists and al Qaeda.
A key jihadist leader and longtime member of al Qaeda has taken control of a secretive training facility set up by U.S. special operations forces on the Libyan coastline to help hunt down Islamic militants, according to local media reports, Jihadist web forums, and U.S. officials. In the summer of 2012, American Green Berets began refurbishing a Libyan military base 27 kilometers west of Tripoli in order to hone the skills of Libya’s first Western-trained special operations counter-terrorism fighters. Less than two years later, that training camp is now being used by groups with direct links to al Qaeda to foment chaos in post-Qaddafi Libya. In other words, Tantoush is now the chief of a training camp the U.S. and Libyan governments had hoped would train Libyan special operations forces to catch militants like Tantoush. This is particularly true for Libya. In March, Gen.
The Forgotten Reign of England’s Lesbian Queen. Big Pharma’s focus on blockbuster cancer drugs squeezes out cheaper treatments.
The result, one researcher says: ‘If we’re winning the war on cancer, we’re not winning that fast.’ Michael Retsky awoke from surgery to bad news. The tumor in his colon had spread to four of his lymph nodes and penetrated the bowel wall. When Retsky showed the pathology report to William Hrushesky, his treating oncologist, the doctor exclaimed, “Mamma mia.” “Michael had a mean-looking cancer,” Hrushesky remembers. Retsky didn’t need anyone to tell him his prognosis. An old codger's guide to life in the slow lane: TRAVELS WITH EPICURUS BY DANIEL KLEIN. Time Warped by Claudia Hammond: How time speeds up as you age but slows down when you're scared.
Emotions, health and age can dictate the day's speed in our mindsPsychologist says time passes faster if you're relaxed, not scaredTime passes twice as fast if with an amusing, not boring, personBBC's Claudia Hammond reveals findings in book Time Warped By Mark Duell Published: 05:04 GMT, 16 July 2013 | Updated: 08:51 GMT, 16 July 2013 As Albert Einstein once said, time only exists 'so that everything doesn't happen at once'.
But the problem of it passing too slowly or quickly has now been examined by a psychologist who looked at how our emotions, health and age can dictate the speed of the day in our minds. How to live for ever, one day at a time: EXTREMES BY DR KEVIN FONG. By Harry Ritchie PUBLISHED: 17:00 GMT, 4 April 2013 | UPDATED: 11:06 GMT, 10 April 2013 A man on a mission: Dr Kevin Fong Let’s start with three facts about this country 100 years ago that should give us all pause for sobbingly grateful thought.
One - 20 per cent of children died before the age of five. Dreams and Nightmares: Europe in the twentieth century. So much abuse has been heaped on the European Union in recent years that it is easy to forget that Europe and the EU are not the same thing.
Geert Mak reminds us of this fact. He is one of the most celebrated journalists and commentators in the Netherlands. Mak – widely read, multi-lingual and endlessly curious – considers the whole of Europe to be his home. He has won awards for his books in Germany, as well as in his native Holland, and been inducted into the Legion d’Honneur in France. Books: The Whole Horror. The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945 By Saul Friedlander (HarperCollins, 870 pp., $39.95)
Only the rich can afford to be truly middle class now: BROKE: WHO KILLED THE MIDDLE CLASSES? BY DAVID BOYLE. BROKE: WHO KILLED THE MIDDLE CLASSES?
BY DAVID BOYLE (Fourth Estate £14.99) By Roger Lewis PUBLISHED: 17:53 GMT, 9 May 2013 | UPDATED: 07:08 GMT, 10 May 2013 As you finish this book, the chances are you’ll want to commit suicide. Because all you will have been longing for and expecting is a way of life that’s ‘independent, peaceful, leisured, safe’, where you can remain in good health and can pass on civilised values to the grandchildren - and what happens? The Secret World of 'Garbagemen' - Heather Horn.
An anthropologist joins the ranks of the underappreciated sanitation workers of New York City.
The result? An eye-opening account of the mysterious and dangerous world of trash. New York City Sanitation Dept. workers collect bagged garbage on Feburary 8, 2011 following the Department's diversion to snow removal duties after a large storm (AP Images) Have you ever wondered about the secret life of your trash after you toss it into the dumpster, or after it has disappeared from your curb? Is God a plague? How the idea in my thriller turned into startling, and scary, scientific theory. In case you hadn’t noticed, atheism is having a moment. The sinister reason you can never resist a crisp: Source of junk food is revealed in new book. By John Naish Published: 01:25 GMT, 7 March 2013 | Updated: 08:01 GMT, 7 March 2013 Hooked: 'Bliss point' is how manufacturers describe levels of sugar, fat and salt in processed food that have us coming back for more.
This is a file picture of a young boy eating crisps Hear the words ‘bliss point’ and it’s easy to assume the discussion must be about sex. But when Michael Moss uses the phrase it’s somewhat less seductive. According to the award-winning investigative writer, ‘bliss point’ is how manufacturers describe levels of sugar, fat and salt in processed food that are so alluring they seem guaranteed to have us coming back for more. He spent more than three years investigating the science of junk food for his new book, Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. 12 Diseases That Altered History. What Are Dogs Saying When They Bark? [Excerpt]
Excerpt from The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think, by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods. Published by Dutton, a Member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. © 2013 Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods. Excerpted with permission from the publisher. All Rights Reserved. Mystique is a dog who lives at Lola ya Bonobo, [the wildlife sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo] where Vanessa and I study bonobos. During the day, she is sweet and demure, but at night she becomes a different animal. The 13th Sign: The History of the Zodiac. Admit it. You read your horoscope. If not on a regular basis, then at least when your sun sign presents itself to you, leaping out from your Facebook stream in a flashy, winking attempt to flag you down. “Pssst! Scorpio! Yeah, you! Half of the Facts You Know Are Probably Wrong. Passing the bucks: British author's 3,500 mile epic journey across the U.S. in pursuit of his own $10 bill. Genetically, you're as interesting as a grape THE VIOLINIST¿S THUMB BY SAM KEAN.
Hiroshima: A stain on human history: HIROSHIMA NAGASAKI BY PAUL HAM. HIROSHIMA NAGASAKI BY PAUL HAM (Bantam Press £25)
Book Blogopolis. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - Naomi Klein. Medieval Bookworm. Continuing with my new determination to write at least a little bit about all the books I’ve been reading … Deadshifted, Cassie Alexander This is the fourth book in the Edie Spence series. I’ve not reviewed any of these books previously on the blog, but this is a series I’ve been enjoying. Edie is a smart nurse who was thrust into the world of paranormal healthcare to save her brother. By this fourth book, she’s met her current boyfriend after a particular failure and she’s left the hospital where the first couple of books take place. We Need New Names, NoViolet Bulawayo I wanted to do a full review of this one, but given how seldom I actually get myself to write full reviews, I thought it was better to get my thoughts down as soon as I could. A Higher Call: A stricken Allied bomber, the German ace sent to shoot it down and a truly awe inspiring story of wartime chivalry.
A Higher Call by Adam Makos on Amazon.co.uk.