Forfatteren var britisk guvernør i Gibraltar 1978-1982 og har her skrevet om den berømte halvøs og dens befolknings historie fra de tidligste tider til vore dage.

'Rock Black', M. G. Sanchez's critically acclaimed short story sequence, takes us back to the late 80s and early 90s - a time when large quantities of tobacco were being smuggled from Gibraltar into Spain, the British government was threatening the colony with direct rule, and the Spanish authorities were subjecting the Gibraltarians to a concerted campaign of political harassment. Within its pages we find an almost anthropological gallery of types' reluctant tobacco smugglers, drunken English squaddies, small-town hedonists, Costa del Sol prostitutes, passing hippie travellers, as well as the constantly resurfacing figure of the jobless Gibraltarian teenager Peter Rodriguez. Described by Dr Rob Stanton (South University, Savannah, Georgia) as a necessary corrective after a prolonged period of silence, ' 'Rock Black' remains a powerful and original piece of fiction.

Adolf Hitler's failure to take Gibraltar in 1940 lost him the Second World War. But in truth the formidable Rock, jutting between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, was extraordinarily vulnerable. Every day, ten thousand people crossed its frontier to work, spy, sabotage or escape. It was threatened by Spain, Vichy France, Italy and Germany. After the USA entered the war, Gibraltar became General Eisenhower's strategic headquarters for the invasion of North Africa and the battle for the Mediterranean.

A history of Gibraltar.

A rip-roaring account of the dramatic four-year siege of Britain’s Mediterranean garrison by Spain and France—an overlooked key to the British loss in the American Revolution For more than three and a half years, from 1779 to 1783, the tiny territory of Gibraltar was besieged and blockaded, on land and at sea, by the overwhelming forces of Spain and France. It became the longest siege in British history, and the obsession with saving Gibraltar was blamed for the loss of the American colonies in the War of Independence. Located between the Mediterranean and Atlantic, on the very edge of Europe, Gibraltar was a place of varied nationalities, languages, religions, and social classes. During the siege, thousands of soldiers, civilians, and their families withstood terrifying bombardments, starvation, and disease. Very ordinary people lived through extraordinary events, from shipwrecks and naval battles to an attempted invasion of England and a daring sortie out of Gibraltar into Spain. Deadly innovations included red-hot shot, shrapnel shells, and a barrage from immense floating batteries. This is military and social history at its best, a story of soldiers, sailors, and civilians, with royalty and rank and file, workmen and engineers, priests, prisoners of war, spies, and surgeons, all caught up in a struggle for a fortress located on little more than two square miles of awe-inspiring rock. Gibraltar: The Greatest Siege in British History is an epic page-turner, rich in dramatic human detail—a tale of courage, endurance, intrigue, desperation, greed, and humanity. The everyday experiences of all those involved are brought vividly to life with eyewitness accounts and expert research.

Since ships first set sail in the Mediterranean, The Rock has been the gate of Fortress Europe. In ancient times, it was known as one of the Pillars of Hercules, and a glance at its formidable mass suggests that it may well have been created by the gods. Sought after by every nation with territorial ambitions in Europe, Asia, and Africa, Gibraltar was possessed by the Arabs, the Spanish, and ultimately the British, who captured it in the early 1700s and held onto it in a siege of more than three years late in the eighteenth century. The fact that that was one of more than a dozen sieges exemplifies Gibraltar’s quintessential value as a prize and the desperation of governments to fly their flag above its forbidding ramparts. Bradford uses his matchless skill and knowledge to take the reader through the history of this great and unique fortress. From its geological creation to its two-thousand-year influence on politics and war, he crafts the compelling tale of how these few square miles played a major part in history.

He was owned by two friends, who just happened to be two of the most famous men in world sport - Sir Alex Ferguson, the toolmaker's apprentice from the tough streets of Glasgow who became Britain's greatest-ever football manager, and John Magnier, the publicity-shy former senator of Ireland and patrician owner of the world's most successful breeding operation, Coolmore Stud. Even his own trainer, the Maestro of Ballydoyle, Aidan O'Brien, did not rate him as the stable's best hope for glory, but Rock Of Gibraltar proved to be that 'one in a million' racehorse who went on to set a world record by winning seven Group 1 races in succession, including two Classics, beating the mark set by the legendary Mill Reef 30 years ago. The Rock's jockey, Michael Kinane, christened him the 'ultimate racehorse', while Kinane's French rivals gave the horse another nickname - 'The Monster'. Yet, after all his extraordinary feats on the racecourse, Rock Of Gibraltar gained even greater fame after his retirement to stud, as Ferguson and Magnier fought over the horse's most valuable asset - his very genes. In this definitive account of Rock Of Gibraltar's life, we learn how the ultimate racehorse became the 100 million prize in a supposedly private but very public contest over stud fees that engulfed the world's most famous football club, Manchester United.

This book provides a detailed study of the attempts that have been made by Spain, to regain the sovereignty of 'the Rock', despite the wishes of the Gibraltarians.

Clive Finlayson, a native of the Rock and a trained ornithologist, presents a fascinating account of this region and its resident and transitory bird life. The Strait of Gibraltar is famous as a major point of passage for Palaearctic birds migrating between their European breeding grounds and their winter quarters in Africa. The first chapter of the book describes the area, which broadly defined includes the Coto Donana in the north and the Merja Zerga in the south, and the geographic and climatological characteristics which make it a suitable crossing place. In scope this book goes beyond the strict definition of the Strait and, following Irby's 19th Century work, examines the rich area where Europe meets Africa. The chapters which follow describe in detail the migration patterns of the principal passage species including their origins, destinations and overall numbers, showing how the precise conditions of weather and visibility affect the specific choice of route and timing of the crossing. The breeding and wintering bird communities are then considered and the ornithology of the entire region summarized. Whether or not you have ever witnessed the thousands of raptors, storks and other birds that may make this legendary crossing in a single day, this book will conjure the spirit of this extraordinary place. Delightful illustrations by lan Willis complete an important and entertaining book.

This in-depth study offers a new examination of a region that is often overlooked in political histories of the Bluegrass State. George G. Humphreys traces the arc of politics and the economy in western Kentucky from avid support of the Democratic Party to its present-day Republican identity. He demonstrates that, despite its relative geographic isolation, the region west of the eastern boundary of Hancock, Ohio, Butler, Warren, and Simpson Counties to the Mississippi River played significant roles in state and national politics during the New Deal and postwar eras. Drawing on extensive archival research and oral history interviews, Humphreys explores the area's political transformation from a solid Democratic voting bloc to a conservative stronghold by examining how developments such as advances in agriculture, the diversification of the economy, and the civil rights movement affected the region. Addressing notable deficiencies in the existing literature, this impressively researched study will leave readers with a deeper understanding of post-1945 Kentucky politics.