Owen Booth

A gloriously moving and entertaining, picaresque debut novel, about a young man’s sentimental education in late 19th-Century Europe; inspired by a real historical figure: ‘Captain’ Paul Boyton – the ‘Fearless Frogman’ ‘“But who among you might assist me on this adventure?” the Captain shouts. And then the Captain’s eyes fall on me, as was his plan all along, and he points me out, making sure just so’s everyone can see. “What about you, sir?” “Me?” “A strong young man to journey with me across the wild continent, to support me in my life-saving work, and take the name of his village to the farthest corners of civilisation – and paid a wage, of course!” “Of course!” everyone shouts.’ The 1880s are drawing to a close, and 14(-maybe-15)-year-old Daniel Bones fears that the prospects for him and his younger brother Will may be dimming with the century. For the motherless sons of a drunken blacksmith, life on a barren spit of land reaching into the Essex estuary holds little promise. Until one evening, from out of the water, there emerges the astonishing figure of Captain Clarke B: cigar-smoking daredevil adventurer, charlatan, casanova and inventor of the world-famous life-saving inflatable suit. As the Captain embarks on his ramshackle promotional tour of Europe, Daniel is sucked into his wake, on an adventure that will carry him through the waterways of the continent, encountering Kings and Princesses, wealthy widows, irate husbands, anarchists, arms dealers and shadowy power-brokers. It’s an education beyond Dan’s wildest imaginings, across countries undergoing the convulsions of all kinds of revolution, and one that will open his eyes, and his heart. But as he travels further into the dazzle of notoriety and the darkness that lies behind it, Dan’s promise to return and rescue Will seems ever harder to keep. For in the Captain’s world of smoke and mirrors it is all too easy to lose sight of who he is, or the man he ought to be…

Wise and funny, touching and true, What We’re Teaching Our Sons is for anyone who has ever wondered how to be a grown up. We’re teaching our sons about money; about heartbreak, and mountains, and philosophy. We’re teaching them about the big bang and the abominable snowman and what happens when you get struck by lightning. We’re teaching them about the toughness of single mothers, and the importance of having friends who’ve known you longer than you’ve known yourself, and the difference between zombies and vampires. We’re teaching them about sex, although everyone would be a lot happier if the subject had never come up… Meet the married Dads, the divorced Dads, the widowed Dads and the gay Dads; the gamblers, the firemen, the bankers, the nurses, the soldiers and the milkmen. They’re trying to guide their sons through the foothills of childhood into the bewildering uplands of adulthood. But it’s hard to know if they’re doing it right. Or what their sons’ mothers think… Wise and funny, touching and true, What We’re Teaching Our Sons is for anyone who has ever wondered how to be a grown up.

This volume presents primary sources, historical examination, and illustrations that explain the causes, strategies, and resolutions of the largest conflict in human history. Alongside the comprehensive narrative studying the major battles, powers, and people affected by World War II, over three hundred illustrations and graphics bear witness to real individuals, places, and moments on the battlefield. Fact boxes tell the stories of the political leaders on all sides. Dynamic maps display battles and movements of troops and fleets. These powerful primary sources and evidence combine to create a candid and expansive representation of the soldiers lives, the Holocaust, and the ways the world was transformed.