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A Nurse and Mother: My Life As A Post-war Nurse
by Evelyn Prentis'Matron smiled. It was the smile that one woman gives to another and not the chilly facial movement from Matrons of old. "Do you think you would be able to work 9 to 3.30?" For a moment I couldn't think at all. There seemed something not quite right in being paid for so little labour.'At the end of the Second World War, as husbands came back to Civvy Street their wives had the luxury of staying at home with the children. For a short while at least. Soon Evelyn realised she had to find part-time work to make ends meet, and to her astonishment she was offered part-time hours at her old hospital.The day-to-day job hadn't changed much, but she was now a nurse and mother. Whooping cough and measles could still kill a small child, and the early '50s polio epidemic left the whole country in shock.But the nurses worked hard, moaned incessantly about their aching feet and yet found things to laugh at, just as they did from the start of their training. If old soldiers never die, then neither do nurses.
A Nurse in Action: My Life As A Nurse During The Second World War
by Evelyn Prentis'We were quickly learning to live with war. We became very proficient at moving the patients who could walk quickly to the shelters when the sirens went. We were equally proficient at talking those who couldn't walk into believing that they would be safe where they were. Some believed us, others didn't.'Surprising Matron as well as herself, Evelyn Prentis managed to pass her Finals and become a staff-nurse. Encouraged, she took the brave leap of moving from Nottingham to London - brave not least because war was about to break. Not only did the nurses have to cope with stray bombs and influxes of patients from as far away Dunkirk, but there were also RAF men stationed nearby - which caused considerable entertainment and disappointment, and a good number of marriages ...But despite all the disruption to the hospital routine, Evelyn's warm and compelling account of a nurse in action, shows a nurse's life would always revolve around the comforting discomfort of porridge and rissoles, bandages and bedpans.
A Nurse in Time: My Life As A Trainee Nurse In The 1930s
by Evelyn Prentis'It must be stressed from the start that I was not a born nurse. Not every girl is. Not every nurse is either, however wholeheartedly she may throw herself into the project once she gets going. Born nurses can be easily recognised. They have a little something the others haven't got which never seems to desert them however desperate the circumstances may become'Desperate circumstances were something Evelyn Prentis had to get very used to when she began her life as a nurse. It was in 1934 that Evelyn left home for the first time to enrol as a trainee at a busy Nottingham hospital in the hope of £25 a year. A Nurse in Time is her affectionate and funny account of those days of dedication and hardship, when never-ending nightshifts, strict Sisters and permanent hunger ruled life, and joy was to be found in a late-night pass and a packet of Woodbines.
Nurse! Nurse!: A Student Nurse's Story
by Jimmy FrazierAs punishment for some youthful high jinks, 16-year-old Jimmy Frazier is made to volunteer in a London hospital. The experience shocks him, and he swears he will never set foot on a ward again.Two decades later, older but not a lot wiser, some strange twists of fate lead Jimmy back to hospital - but this time as a student nurse. Along with a motley crew of fellow students, Jimmy throws himself into the heart of the NHS. Whether caring for patients in children's hospitals, prisons, mental health facilities or post-surgical wards, Jimmy and his fellow students attempt to make a difference. On their way they are inspired by the angelic Super Nurse and the acid-tongued Mr Temple. But can they stick out the three years it takes to make the grade as a fully-qualified nurse...?
Nurse On Call: The True Story of a 1950s District Nurse
by Edith Cotterill'Never had I seen so many fleas! Startled by the daylight, they leapt in all directions, particularly mine. Quickly I peeled off her stockings and threw them on the fire, but by now the fleas had invaded her combinations. As for the fur coat, I shuddered to think ...'Training in a hospital in the 1930s, Edith Cotterill's long hours on the wards included encouraging leeches to attach to patients (a task much harder than you might think) and the disposal in the furnace of amputated limbs. Although hospital life did have its compensations - it was there during World War 2 an injured sailor who became her husband.After the birth of their two daughters, Edith returned to work in the 1950s as a district nurse. Whether she was ridding ageing spinsters of fleas or dishing out penicillin and enemas, Edith approached even the most wayward of patients with humour, compassion and warmth.
The Nurses: A Year of Secrets, Drama, and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital
by Alexandra RobbinsA New York Times bestseller. &“A funny, intimate, and often jaw-dropping account of life behind the scenes.&”—PeopleNurses is the compelling story of the year in the life of four nurses, and the drama, unsung heroism, and unique sisterhood of nursing—one of the world&’s most important professions (nurses save lives every day), and one of the world&’s most dangerous, filled with violence, trauma, and PTSD. In following four nurses, Alexandra Robbins creates sympathetic characters while diving deep into their world of controlled chaos. It&’s a world of hazing—&“nurses eat their young.&” Sex—not exactly like on TV, but surprising just the same. Drug abuse—disproportionately a problem among the best and the brightest, and a constant temptation. And bullying—by peers, by patients, by hospital bureaucrats, and especially by doctors, an epidemic described as lurking in the &“shadowy, dark corners of our profession.&” The result is a page-turning, shocking look at our health-care system.
A Nurse's Story: My Life in A&E During the Covid Crisis
by Louise CurtisMoving, honest and inspiring – this is a nurse’s story of life in a busy A&E department during the Covid-19 crisis.Working in A&E is a challenging job but nurse Louise Curtis loves it. She was newly qualified as an advanced clinical practitioner, responsible for life or death decisions about the patients she saw, when the unthinkable happened and the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The stress on the NHS was huge and for the first time in her life, the job was going to take a toll on Louise herself.In A Nurse’s Story she describes what happened next, as the trickle of Covid patients became a flood. And just as tragically, staff in A&E were faced with the effects of lockdown on society. They worried about their regulars, now missing, and saw an increase in domestic abuse victims and suicide attempts as loneliness hit people hard. By turns heartbreaking and heartwarming, this book shines a light on the compassion and dedication of hospital staff during such dark times
A Nurse’s War: A Diary Of Hope And Heartache On The Home Front
by Patricia Malcolmson & Robert MalcolmsonThe remarkable wartime diary of nurse Kathleen Johnstone ‘Warm, chatty and endlessly absorbing, this delightful diary brims with intelligence and humour.’ Wendy Moore, author of Endell Street: The Women Who Ran Britain’s Trailblazing Military Hospital
NYE: The Political Life of Aneurin Bevan
by Nicklaus Thomas-SymondsAneurin – Nye – Bevan was one of the pivotal Labour Party figures of the post-war era in Britain. As Minister for Health in Attlee's government, his role in the foundation of the National Health Service, the world's largest publically-funded health service, changed the face of British society forever. The son of a coal miner from South Wales, Bevan was a life-long champion of social justice and the rights of working people, as such becoming one of the leading proponents of Socialist thought in Britain. In this book, acclaimed author Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds provides the first full biography of Bevan in over two decades. Drawing on first-hand interviews as well as recently released sources, he provides a unique portrait of one of the great British statesmen of the twentieth century.
Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America (Studies in Industry and Society)
by Pap A. NdiayeWhat do nylon stockings and atomic bombs have in common? DuPont. The chemical firm of DuPont de Nemours pioneered the development of both nylon and plutonium, playing an important role in the rise of mass consumption and the emergence of the notorious "military-industrial complex." In this fascinating account of the lives and careers of Du Pont’s chemical engineers, Pap A. Ndiaye deftly illustrates the contribution of industry to the genesis of a dominant post–World War II "American model" connecting prosperity with security.The consumer and military dimensions of twentieth-century American history are often studied separately. Ndiaye reunites them by examining Du Pont's development of nylon, which symbolized a new way of life, and plutonium, which was synonymous with annihilation. Reflecting on the experiences and contributions of the company's engineers and physicists, Ndiaye traces Du Pont's transformation into one of the corporate models of American success.
NYPD Green: The True Story of an Irish Detective Working in one of the Toughest Police Departments in the World
by Luke Waters'Luke Waters had more than 20 years on the job. What he saw, what he heard and what he did will make you sit up, stay up and keep reading - and that's only what he can tell you.' - Ed Conlon, Bestselling Author of Blue Blood.Finglas native Luke Waters dreamed of following his grandfather and brother into An Garda Siochana, until, as for so many other Irish men and women in the 1980s, America beckoned. But Luke never lost sight of his dream and, in spite of the hurdles he had to overcome, in August 1993 he joined the ranks of New York's finest.As Waters rose through the ranks to become a homicide detective in one of the toughest places in the world, The Bronx, he would see the best and the worst: the heroism of fellow detectives, the ravages of crack cocaine, and the terrible fallout of 9/11. NYPD Green is a no-holds-barred account of the people and the cases, but also an insight into the dark side of a job where corruption and bravery often go hand in hand. The story of an Irishman made good, of the American dream, NYPD Green also pays tribute to one of the hardest jobs there is.
O Brother
by John NivenAN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE A GUARDIAN BEST MEMOIR OF 2023 A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023 AN iNEWS BEST BOOK TO GIFT John Niven’s little brother Gary was fearless, popular, stubborn, handsome, hilarious and sometimes terrifying. In 2010, after years of chaotic struggle against the world, he took his own life at the age of 42. Hoping for the best while often witnessing the worst, John, his younger sister Linda and their mother, Jeanette, saw the darkest fears they had for Gary played out in drug deals, prison and bankruptcy. While his life spiralled downward and the love the Nivens shared was tested to its limit, John drifted into his own trouble in the music industry, a world where excess was often a marker of success. Tracking the lives of two brothers in changing times – from illicit cans of lager in 70s sitting rooms to ecstasy in 90s raves – O Brother is a tender, affecting and often uproariously funny story. It is about the bonds of family and how we try to keep the finest of those we lose alive. It is about black sheep and what it takes to break the ties that bind. Fundamentally it is about how families survive suicide, ‘that last cry, from the saddest outpost.’
O, Louis: In Search of Louis van Gaal
by Hugo Borst David Doherty‘Am I so smart or are you so stupid?’ – Louis van GaalI started out wanting to write a book about Marco van Basten. I still do, but I dread the moment when I have to write something I know will make him unhappy. He’s not a man you wage war on. With Louis van Gaal it’s different: as a journalist he leaves you no choice. You’re not worthy of the name if you aren’t prepared to return fire when he starts yelling. Hugo Borst is an award-winning writer, journalist and TV pundit. He is also a close friend of Louis van Gaal. Well, he used to be. O, Louis is Hugo’s attempt to get to grips with this larger-than-life character. Full of outrageous stories and unintentionally hilarious encounters, Borst details his quest to understand the man and the breakdown in their friendship. He interviews an array of experts who each interpret the great manager from the perspective of their own field – a cleric, a politician, a psychiatrist, an impersonator, a theatre director, writers, poets and a trio of keen comic minds. Through these meetings as well as through his own encounters with Van Gaal, Borst is finally able to unlock the personality of this exceptional, talented, infuriating and even, occasionally, loveable man.‘This book will sell well. Everything that has my face on it sells well’ – Louis van Gaal
O My America!: Second Acts in a New World
by Sara WheelerShortlisted for the Dolman Travel Book AwardAfter reckoning with the ends of the earth in acclaimed books such as Terra Incognita and The Magnetic North, Sara Wheeler rediscovered America thirty-five years after her first Greyhound trip across the country. She returns in turbulent midlife to trace the steps of six women who fled various sorts of trouble in nineteenth-century England and went to the United States to reinvent themselves.Her travel companions include Fanny Trollope, mother of Anthony and author of the biting Domestic Manners of the Americans; the actress Fanny Kemble, who shocked the nation with her passionate first-hand indictment of slavery; the prolifically pamphleteering economist Harriet Martineau; the homesteader Rebecca Burlend, who had never been more than twelve miles from her Yorkshire village before she sailed to the New World; the traveller Isabella Bird, whose many ailments remained in check as long as she was scaling the Rockies; and the novelist Catherine Hubback, niece of Jane Austen, who deposited her husband in a madhouse and rode the brand-new rails to San Francisco.Tough-minded outsiders, these women’s truest qualities emerged in a country as incomplete and tentative as their native land was staid and settled. And they discovered second acts for themselves at a time when the world expected them to disappear politely. From the swampy heat of Georgia’s Sea Islands to the icy purity of the Cascades, Sara Wheeler finds their path, and her own.
The Oak Papers
by James Canton'A profound meditation on the human need for connection with nature' Peter Wohlleben This is a book about one man’s encounter with an ancient tree, the Honywood Oak. James Canton spent two years sitting with and studying the Honywood Oak. A colossus of a tree, it would have been a sapling when the Magna Carta was signed. Inevitably he needs to slow down in order to appreciate it fully, to tune in to its slower time frame, to connect with the ecosystem that lives around it, inside it and beneath it. He examines our long-standing dependency on oak trees, and how that has developed and morphed into myth and legend. We no longer build our houses and boats from them, use them to fuel our fires or grind their acorns into flour in times of famine; physically we don’t need them in the same way now. Or do we? The Oak Papers is a stunning, meditative and healing book about the lessons we can learn from the natural world, if only we slow down enough to listen.
Obama: The Historic Presidency in Photographs
by Pete SouzaThe definitive visual biography of Barack Obama's historic presidency, captured in unprecedented detail by his Chief White House photographer, presented in an oversize, 12"x10"exquisitely produced format, and featuring a foreword from the President himself.Pete Souza was with President Obama during more crucial moments than anyone else and he photographed them all - from the highly classified to the disarmingly candid. Obama: An Intimate Portrait reproduces more than three hundred of Souza's most iconic photographs in exquisite detail, some of which have never been published before. Souza's photographs, with the behind-the-scenes captions and stories that accompany them, document the most consequential hours of the Presidency alongside unguarded moments with the President's family, his encounters with children, interactions with world leaders and cultural figures, and more. These images communicate the pace and power of America's highest office and reveal the spirit of the extraordinary man who became President. The result is a portrait of exceptional intimacy and a stunning record of a landmark era in American history.'Precious historical documents . . . vividly human and often funny . . . these images tell the true story of a presidency that words have failed' Jonathan Jones, Guardian
Obama and America’s Political Future (Alexis De Tocqueville Lectures On American Politics Ser.)
by Theda SkocpolObama's 2008 victory, coming amid the greatest economic crisis since the 1930s, opened the door to major reforms. But he quickly faced skepticism from supporters and fierce opposition from Republicans. What happened? Skocpol surveys the political landscape to help us to understand Obama's triumphs and setbacks.
The Obama Presidency: Appraisals and Prospects
by Bert A. Rockman Andrew Rudalevige Colin CampbellIn the latest volume in this classic series, Rockman, Rudalevige, and Campbell once again bring together top-notch scholars, this time to take a comprehensive look at the first two years of Barack Obama’s presidency. Assessing Obama’s political strategy, as well as his administration’s successes and setbacks, chapter authors critically examine a presidency marked by continued partisanship, major policy battles, and continued global turmoil.
The Obamas: A Mission, A Marriage (Playaway Adult Nonfiction Ser.)
by Jodi KantorWhen Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, he also won a long-running debate with his wife Michelle. Contrary to her fears, politics now seemed like a worthwhile, even noble pursuit. Together they planned a White House life that would be as normal and sane as possible.Then they moved in.In The Obamas, Jodi Kantor takes us deep inside the White House as they grapple with their new roles, change the country, raise children, maintain friendships, and figure out what it means to be President and First Lady. Filled with riveting detail and insight into their partnership and personalities, and written with a keen eye for the ironies of public life and the realities of power, The Obamas is an intimate portrait that will surprise even those who thought they knew the President and First Lady.
Obedience, Struggle and Revolt
by David HareWhat is a political playwright? Does theatre have any direct effect on society? Why choose to work in a medium which speaks to so few? Is theatre itself facing oblivion? All frequent questions addressed to David Hare over the last thirty-five years, as his work has taken him from the travelling fringe to the National Theatre, from seasons on Broadway to performances in prisons, church halls and on bare floors.Since 1978, Hare has sought uniquely to address these and other questions in occasional lectures given both in Britain and abroad. Now, for the first time, these lectures are collected together with some of his more recent prose pieces about God, Iraq, Israel/Palestine and the privatisation of the railways.Bringing to the lectern the same wit, insight and gift for the essential for which his plays are known, Hare presents the distilled result of a lifetime's sustained thinking about art and politics. 'The foremost theatrical chronicler of contemporary British life.' New York Times 'Our best writer of contemporary drama.' Sunday Times
The Oberon Book of Queer Monologues
by ScotteeThe first collection of its kind, The Oberon Book of Queer Monologues chronicles over one hundred years of queer and trans performance.Combining classical and contemporary stage plays with spoken word and performance art, this anthology features over forty extracts from some of the most exciting stage works in the English-speaking world. It will be an essential tool for artists seeking monologues for auditions or training; a comprehensive guide through the hidden histories of queer theatre; and a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community.Curated by award-winning artist Scottee.
Obeying The Truth: Discretion In The Spiritual Writings Of Saint Catherine Of Siena
by Grazia Mangano Ragazzi
The Obits: The New York Times Annual 2012
by William McDonaldThe obits. It’s the first section many of us turn to when we open the paper, not to see who died, but rather to find out about who lived to discover the interesting lives of people who’ve made a mark.A new annual that collects nearly 300 of the best of The New York Times obituaries from the previous year, The Obits Annual 2012 is a compelling, addictive-as-salted-peanuts “who’s who” of some of the most fascinating people of the twentieth century. Written by top journalists each entry is a jewel, a miniature, nuanced biography filled with the facts we love to read, with the surprise and serendipity of life. There’s David L. Wolper, the producer of Roots—and the story of how he got his start purchasing film footage from Sputnik. The jazz singer, Abbey Lincoln, and her change from glamorous performer—she owned a dress of Marilyn Monroe’s—to civil rights activist (she burned the Monroe dress). Owsley Stanley, the quirky perfecter of LSD, who blamed a heart attack on the fact that his mother made him eat broccoli as a child. Patricia Neal—known by most as a movie star, but her real life, filled with tragedy, adversity, and incredible professional ups and downs, is almost a surreal play of triumph and tragedy. Arranged chronologically, like the obits themselves, it’s a deliciously random walk through the recent past, meeting the philosophers, newsmen, spies, publishers, moguls, soul singers, baseball managers, Nobel Prize winners, models, and others who’ve shaped the world.
Oblivion or Glory: 1921 and the Making of Winston Churchill
by David StaffordAn engaging and original account of 1921, a pivotal year for Churchill that had a lasting impact on his political and personal legacy After the tragic consequences of his involvement in the catastrophic Dardanelles Campaign of World War I, Churchill’s political career seemed over. He was widely regarded as little more than a bombastic and unpredictable buccaneer until, in 1921, an unexpected inheritance heralded a series of events that laid the foundations for his future success. Renowned Churchill scholar David Stafford delves into the statesman’s life in 1921, the year in which his political career revived. From his political negotiations in the Anglo-Irish treaty that created the Irish Free State to his tumultuous relationship with his "wild cousin" Clare Sheridan, sculptor of Lenin and subject of an MI5 investigation, this broad account explores the nuances of Churchill’s private and public lives. This is an engaging portrait of this overlooked yet pivotal year in the great man’s life.
The Observations of Gilles le Bouvier: A Medieval Herald’s View of Europe and its Neighbouring Lands
by Gideon Brough Sophie PatrickTranslated from the medieval French, this book is a landmark English-language version of the work of Gilles le Bouvier. As the senior herald to King Charles VII, the monarch on the French throne as they advanced to victory in the Hundred Years' War between England, France and their allies, Gilles le Bouvier was close to the king during a decisive, formative period in France's history, as well as being a well-known figure from the period. The Berry Herald's Impressions of Europe thus delivers a rare glimpse of a singular medieval worldview, offered through the constrained voice of a skilled diplomat carefully and occasionally sharing his opinions to audiences composed of his social superiors. During his lifelong career as a messenger and a diplomat in Charles's service, Gilles le Bouvier, known as The Berry Herald, travelled far and wide on his master's behalf. This translated work is a compilation of his observations as he moved around Western Europe, the Mediterranean states and the Black Sea region. Throughout the text, Gilles le Bouvier: * assessed or commented on the lands encompassed by his extensive travels* discussed the peoples he claimed to have encountered, from the honourable Turks to the 'bad Catholics' of southern Italy* surveyed the military capabilities of France's neighbours, allies, enemies and neutral states Expertly introduced and contextualised by Gideon Brough and Sophie Patrick, this book provides a compelling and unique historical source for understanding life in late-medieval Europe through the eyes of someone who lived it.