My Life- My War- World War 2

Her mother dies soon after her birth, and Anni spends the first six years of her life in the care of her beloved ?Oma?. Not only this grandmother, but the whole village of Holzhausen near the town of Hoexter, provides her with a feeling of safety and caring. She feels a strong connection to Holzhausen for the rest of her life.

Completely unprepared, she is yanked out of these surroundings when it is time to enter school. Her father brings her to the city of Witten to meet family members whom she had not known about and who remain strangers. She has trouble adjusting to city life, and is happy when she can return to the village during vacation times, alas, never to stay for long. This conflict overshadows her whole life.

Then comes WWII, the horrific war started by the Nazis. It brings with it new losses for the long-suffering family, and is followed by the difficult years after the war with its many deprivations. But finally, there is hope. She meets her future husband, and despite initial conflicts because of their different religious denominations, she is finally able to start her own life with him. They dedicate their lives to social work with youth and the handicapped.

She writes short chapters about her difficult life with almost detached objectivity, describing the lives of many others whom she meets along her life?s journey. In few sentences, she sketches characters and events so well that they mange to capture the very spirit and essence of the times. Her almost poetic descriptions of village life become a monument to her beloved Holzhausen.

Rafael Nadal is one of the greatest players in the history of tennis. Most fans are aware of his double digit Grand Slam titles and his Career Golden Slam, but in order to truly understand Rafael Nadal, you must first understand where he came from. Rafael Nadal: An Unauthorized Biography explores Nadal's upbringing and details his breakthrough into professional tennis, all the way through his 2012 victories at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and the Barcelona Open. 

Nadal's exceptional talents have fans and critics alike wondering where his career will take him next. Inside, you will discover where it all started and learn why so many fans love Nadal so much.

From family to tennis to the future, all you need to know about Rafael Nadal is right here, right now, in the most up to date coverage of Rafael Nadal's life.

He lives like a Rock Star! His net worth is said to be well over $3 million and an his annual salary $75 million. Does he deserve it? When you consider he single handily turned a tv show into the biggest high profile recording and performing artist development agency on Earth... yes!

This is the rise and continual climb, of a man with a vision who obviously follows the Three Step Success System of "THINK, PLAN, EXECUTE!"

You'll get the behind the scenes scoop of Simon Cowell in a short and deliberate read.

GURKHAS
BETTER TO DIE THAN LIVE A COWARD

Contents
THE HISTORY OF THE GURKHAS : The Goorkhas of Nepal; The Kukri Knife; Burmese Gurkhas.
FAMOUS BATTLES & WARS : The Siege of Kalunga Fort; World War I - Mesopotamia; World War I - The Gallipoli Campaign; World War II - North Africa; World War II - Monte Cassino; World War II – The Battle for Imphal; The Falklands War.
THE BRAVE GURKHA : Kulbir Thapa; Lalbahadur Thapa; Agansing Rai; Thaman Gurung; Lachhiman Gurung; Rambahadur Limbu; Bishnu Shrestha; Dipprasad Pun.
THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY : The Gurkha Justice Campaign.

When we think of Gurkhas we think, not only, of brave soldiers fighting for Britain but also of a race of people. However, there is no such thing as a Gurkha in the ethnic sense – the word is, in fact, a corruption of Goorkha, a small town and one-time state in north-west Nepal.
Nepal has always been a religiously and ethnically diverse nation; the Rajputs and Aryans who arrived during the fighting against the Mongols brought Hinduism with them, while the rest of the country – represented by the Magar, Gurung, Limbu and Rai tribes of Mongolian origins – are generally of the Buddhist religion.
Prithvi Narayan Shah’s Able Army : The first soldiers whose ancestors would go on to be known as Gurkha soldiers were from a small but well-instructed and behaved contingent of troops raised by the leader of the Goorkha state, Prithvi Narayan Shah. Shah had watched and learnt from the Europeans who were infiltrating the Indian sub-continent in the first half of the 18th century, realizing that by following their standard of conformity and discipline he could overthrow other Nepalese chiefdoms that were dotted around his state. He and his Goorkha soldiers did just that, and by the time he died in 1775 they had conquered the majority of present-day Nepal.
For the next 30 years Shah’s successors followed in his glory and built up a fearsome state. Even though they were relatively small in comparison to the states that surrounded them, and rather archaic in terms of weaponry, they made up for it tactically and mentally. This meant they continued to make in-roads further and further into Nepal and closer to areas of British-occupied India. The East India Company had arrogantly attempted to get the tribe on side, but the Goorkhas knew that this was for the benefit of the British as opposed to themselves, therefore they refused to bow. 

Author Biography
Benita Estevez is a freelance writer who lives on the Sussex coast with her partner and son.  After studying English Literature & Media in Falmouth, Cornwall she worked in publishing for 10 years as an editor and production manager before deciding to view the industry from the author’s point of view instead. Through her mixed Spanish and English heritage, and her studies, she has a keen interest in the areas of post colonialism, world history and current affairs. She travels extensively for the sheer pleasure of experiencing somewhere new but also enjoys returning to places that hold the comfort of familiarity.  In her spare time she runs marathons and 10kms and balances this out by eating out – enjoying anything from street food in Guatemala to fine dining in London.

Great Escapes of World War II
Tom Dick and Harry to Stalag to Colditz

Contents
Introduction; The Laufen Six; Slawomir Rawicz: Hero or Hoaxer?; Airey Neave and Norman Forbes Escape from Thorn; Dulag Luft Tunnel; The Colditz Canteen Tunnel; The Theatre Bust: Airey Neave and Anthony Luteyn; The Medium-Sized Officer; Pat Reid Escapes from Colditz; The Wooden Horse; The Great Escape

More than 170,000 British prisoners of war were taken by German and Italian forces during World War II, enough men to populate modern-day St Lucia. Most were captured in a string of defeats in France, North Africa and the Balkans between 1940 and 1942. They were held in a network of POW camps stretching from Nazi-occupied Poland to Italy. On the whole, the Germans and Italians treated their British prisoners properly, but the rules of the Geneva Convention, set up to govern how POWs should be treated under law, was not always followed and some camps were more hospitable than others. By far the most harmful aspects of incarceration were physical debilitation caused by chronic food shortages, and boredom. Food scarcity was a problem across the board but, to some extent, this could be addressed by the Red Cross, who regularly sent food parcels to men in prison camps. Boredom, however, was a killer. Many prisoners had suddenly gone from being busily engaged in high-adrenalin combat situations to a prison camp, where their identity was stripped away and every aspect of their lives taken out of their control. A small proportion were driven mad. Others became hell-bent on escape.
Hollywood Myth : Hollywood has led us to believe that all our POWs were impassioned escapers. That is utterly untrue. The vast majority of prisoners were too physically weak, through meagre food rations and gruelling hard work, even to contemplate escape. They had already given everything they had to the war effort, and enough was enough. They figured that, if they could sit out the rest of the war in prison, keep their noses clean and their heads down, they may be lucky enough to see their families again.  Escape, on the other hand, was a highly dangerous undertaking. Very few successfully made it out of the camp and those who did ran a very real risk of being shot on sight. Often it involved months of hard work followed by long, gruelling journeys through enemy territory with very little or no food.  Many who eventually reached a neutral border were so exhausted by the time they got there that they lost concentration and wandered straight back into enemy hands.

Author Biography
Freya Hardy is a freelance writer. She regularly contributes to a number of national and international magazines. She worked as an editor for several publishers for eight years before deciding to view the publishing world from an author’s point of view instead. Fascinated by history she has a particular interest in 20th century history and World War II. She lives with her husband and twin daughters in East Sussex.