Secret Swindon explores the lesser-known history of the Wiltshire town of Swindon through a fascinating selection of stories, unusual facts and attractive photographs.

Explore the rich history of Swindon in this guided tour through its most fascinating historic and modern buildings.

Explore the secret history of Sunderland through a fascinating selection of stories, facts and photographs.

Orford Ness was so secret a place that most people have never even heard of it. The role it played in inventing and testing weapons over the course of the twentieth century was far more significant and much longer than that of Bletchley Park. Nestled on a remote part of the Suffolk coast, Orford Ness operated for over eighty years as a highly classified research and testing site for the British military, the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment and, at one point, even the US Department of Defence. The work conducted here by some of the greatest 'boffins' of past generations played a crucial role in winning the three great wars of the twentieth century: the First, Second and the Cold. Hosting dangerous early night-flying and parachute testing during the First World War, the ingenious radar trials by Watson Watt and his team in the 1930s, through to the testing of nuclear bombs and the top-secret UK-US COBRA MIST project, the 'Ness' has been at the forefront of military technology from 1913 to the 1990s. Now a unique National Trust property and National Nature Reserve, its secrets have remained buried until recently. This book reveals an incredible history, rich with ingenuity, intrigue and typical British inventiveness.

In Sperm Counts, Lisa Jean Moore offers the first comprehensive analysis of sperm, from its biological properties to its historical significance and cultural meaning. From masturbation to sperm counts, Moore offers a penetrating exploration of the importance of sperm to men and their sense of masculinity, explaining why many might consider sperm to be man's most precious fluid." "Drawn from fifteen years of research, Sperm Counts examines the many places that semen rears its head. Moore examines historical and scientific documents, children's "facts-of-life" books, forensic transcripts, commerce websites, pornographic films, and sperm bank brochures to offer a contemporary portrait of sperm.

From the early 1990s, allegations that servicemen had been duped into taking part in trials with toxic agents at top-secret Allied research facilities throughout the twentieth century featured with ever greater frequency in the media. In Britain, a whole army of over 21,000 soldiers had participated in secret experiments between 1939 and 1989. Some remembered their stay as harmless, but there were many for whom the experience had been all but pleasant, sometimes harmful, and in isolated cases deadly. Secret Science traces, for the first time, the history of chemical and biological weapons research by the former Allied powers, particularly in Britain, the United States, and Canada. It charts the ethical trajectory and culture of military science, from its initial development in response to Germany's first use of chemical weapons in the First World War to the ongoing attempts by the international community to ban these types of weapons once and for all. It asks whether Allied and especially British warfare trials were ethical, safe, and justified within the prevailing conditions and values of the time. By doing so, it helps to explain the complex dynamics in top-secret Allied research establishments: the desire and ability of the chemical and biological warfare corps, largely comprised of military officials, scientists, and expert civil servants, to construct and identify a never-ending stream of national security threats which served as flexible justification strategies for the allocation of enormous resources to conducting experimental research with some of the most deadly agents known to man. Secret Science offers a nuanced, non-judgemental analysis of the contributions made by servicemen, scientists, and civil servants to military research in Britain and elsewhere, not as passive, helpless victims 'without voices', or as laboratory and desk perpetrators 'without a conscience', but as history's actors and agents of their own destiny. As such it also makes an important contribution to the burgeoning literature on the history and culture of memory.

"I'm digging in the dirt Trying to find The places I got hurt" Peter Gabriel "Susan Gage died this morning" These words were to exile Tracy Saunders from paradise in Costa Rica in search of her life's meaning. Who were the people who had come together in the past to produce the person she barely knew as her "self "? The Indalo Quest is an odyssey of self-discovery which takes the writer back to her birthplace in Wiltshire in search of roots, to Granada in search of adventure, and finally to peace and understanding at her dying mother's bedside. "Intensely personal and poignant, and often uproariously funny, Tracy Saunders' book about travelling her way out of depression is sure to hit a nerve." Katie Mitchell, Authors and Publisher's Directory

" ... some of the papers presented at the 1st International Conference on Defence Sites: Heritage and Future held in Portsmouth"--Preface.

An affectionate look at the career of one of Britain's best-loved mural painters and the man responsible for several iconic designs attached to Richard Branson's Virgin brand.

The second book in the brand new Backshaw Moss series from million-copy bestseller Anna Jacobs Lancashire, 1930s. When her mother dies, leaving her an old sewing box and a clue to her father's identity, 22-year-old Maisie Bassett is determined to make a fresh start. Changing her name and moving to the small town of Rivenshaw, she finds a respectable job in a grocery store. But unwanted attentions from a man at her new church make life increasingly difficult - until the shy, handsome Gabriel Harte comes to her rescue. Then she receives an inheritance from a distant relative and her world is turned upside down. The home she's always dreamed of may finally be hers - if she can keep it safe from a grasping slum landlord. With Gabriel's help, can Maisie untangle the secrets of her past and secure her future? Curl up with this heartwarming read from the Queen of the Rural Saga - perfect for fans of Dilly Court, Rosie Goodwin and Katie Flynn *** Can't wait for more Anna Jacobs? Make sure you're not missing out with this list of first books in her other series: A Daughter's Journey (Birch End Series) One Quiet Woman (Ellindale Series) Salem Street (Gibson Family Series) A Time to Remember (Rivenshaw Saga) The Trader's Wife (Traders Series) Farewell to Lancashire (Swan River Saga) Pride of Lancashire (Music Hall Series) A Pennyworth of Sunshine (Irish Sisters Series) Our Lizzie (Kershaw Sisters) Readers love Anna Jacobs' Birch End Series! 'Amazing' - 5 STARS 'Thank you, Anna, for the pleasure you give in all your books' - 5 STARS 'Another brilliant, hard-to-put-down book' - 5 STARS 'Can't wait for the next instalment' - 5 STARS 'A real page turner, I can't wait to read the next one' - 5 STARS 'Another triumph for Anna Jacobs' - 5 STARS 'BRILLIANT READ' - 5 STARS