After a decade of research, George Edmunds has finally unlocked the meaning of the mysterious cipher carved into the famous Shepherd's Monument in the grounds of the Shugborough Estate, Staffordshire, Lord Anson's ancestral home. Here, he reveals the mystery behind locating the Treasure hidden by a Spanish Captain-General.

Since Biblical times and throughout the Solomonic succession, Ethiopia's gold mines have continuously been in the respective rulers' hands. Therefore, raids on the gold shipments to the capital were always a significant problem. Marauding bandits known as 'Shiftas' had captured large amounts of modern firearms from the dissolving Italian military colonial forces in 1941, thus dramatically raising the risk of such transports. Most directly affected was the gold mine of Shakiso in the region of Sidamo. With the end of the war and the return of Emperor Haile Selassie, that goldmine was once again highly productive under the supervision of a new expatriate manager. As a result, the mine's yield increased, and the gold bullion shipments to Addis Ababa started again at regular intervals. With copious and regular plunder available, the raids of the 'Shiftas' became increasingly bold. A runway for airplanes near the mine seemed to be the answer. But that too was fraught with problems during the tropical rainy season—and air transport brought yet another problem when a pilot, moved by the love of a woman, decided to steal the bullion on his last flight. Long-forgotten fuel reserves on a former airfield of the Italians allow him a stopover to leave Ethiopia far behind and out of the authorities' reach. However, on that day, a front of thunderstorms between him and the fuel supplies rapidly developed. In this situation, doubts about the success of the hazardous venture seem appropriate.

Number 31 Squadron RAF will celebrate its centenary in 2015; a pivotal milestone for a Squadron engaged at the forefront of military activity for the past 100 years. With a number of events lined up to celebrate this important anniversary, former Commanding Officer of the Squadron, Ian Hall, has set himself the ambitious task of penning the Squadron's entire history, from formation right up to current-day activities. This lively and informative narrative is interspersed with first-hand accounts taken from interviews conducted with the men who made/make up the Squadron. The first twenty-five years of the Squadron's history were spent on India's North-West Frontier, hence the Squadron motto 'First in the Indian Skies'. During the Second World War, it was occupied mainly in the Middle East and North Africa, before moving to the Burma theatre for the remainder of the war. Upon returning to the UK in 1948, the Squadron performed communications duties until, in 1955, it joined the Cold War in West Germany, operating successively in reconnaissance and strike/attack roles. Operational deployment in recent years has seen the Squadron deployed during the Gulf War, the Iraq War, in Kosovo, and Afghanistan. With troops pulling out of Afghanistan in 2014, 31 Squadron have now completed a circular history, and there seems no better time than now to commit it to print.Each and every facet of this long and varied history is relayed in a style that serves to provide an account that is at once celebratory and objective when it comes to recording not only the facts of the various deployments but also the personal stories of the men behind the headlines.

Oceans Odyssey 2 presents the results of the discovery and archaeological survey of ten deep-water wrecks by Odyssey Marine Exploration. In the Western Approaches and western English Channel, a mid-17th century armed merchantman, the guns of Admiral Balchin's Victory (1744), the mid-18th century French privateer La Marquise de Tourny and six German U-boats lost at the end of World War II are examined in depth. From the Atlantic coast of the United States, the Jacksonville 'Blue China' wreck's British ceramics, tobacco pipes and American glass wares bring to life the story of a remarkable East Coast schooner lost in the mid-19th century. These unique sites expand the boundaries of human knowledge, highlighting the great promise of deep-sea wrecks, the technology needed to explore them and the threats from nature and man that these wonders face. Challenges to managing underwater cultural heritage are also discussed, along with proposed solutions for curating and storing collections.

Commodore (late Admiral) Anson's fatefaul circumnavigation of the globe in 1740, wherein Anson and his men encounter disaster, disease, and astonishing success, is the ground to The Golden Ocean. Here ia a tale certain to please not only admirers of O'Brian's work but also any reader with an adventurous soul.