The Grand Duke's Last Chance

The Grand Duke's Last Chance
Author: Frank Heller
Publisher: Kabaty Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2022-12-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 8396426090
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On the island of Minorca some things never change: the sun shines, the breeze ruffles the Mediterranean, and the Grand Dukes are eternally in debt. Grand Duke Ramon XX doesn’t let his permanent state of near-bankruptcy interfere with the simple pleasures of life: a good lunch, a cigar and a glass of cognac. But trouble is on the horizon when the island is visited by a German businessman who will stop at nothing to get his hands on potential sulfur mines. At the same time, a moneylender in Paris threatens to expose a devastating secret, leaving Ramon on the verge of losing not only his beloved island, but his honor and reputation as well. It's not until he crosses paths with Mr Collin, gentleman thief and swindler, that a gleam of hope appears. But who is the mysterious and beautiful woman pretending to be Mr Collin’s wife, and does she hold the key to solving the Grand Duke's financial problems once and for all? Frank Heller was the first internationally famous Swedish crime writer. The son of a clergyman, to avoid arrest after a financial fraud he left Sweden for the continent. In desperate straits after losing the swindled money in a casino in Monte Carlo, he tried his hand at writing novels with immediate success, and produced forty-three novels, short stories and travelogues before his death in 1947. “A first-rate mystery thriller…A novel every one will enjoy” – The Sketch “A story of national bankruptcy, revolution and high adventure in the curious Grand Duchy of Minorca and elsewhere…It is all wildly impossible but none the less amusing on that account.” – Westminster Gazette

The Last Chance Library

The Last Chance Library
Author: Freya Sampson
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2021
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 059320137X
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A Good Morning America Buzz Pick A Library Reads Pick June Jones emerges from her shell to fight for her beloved local library, and through the efforts and support of an eclectic group of library patrons, she discovers life-changing friendships along the way. Lonely librarian June Jones has never left the sleepy English village where she grew up. Shy and reclusive, the thirty-year-old would rather spend her time buried in books than venture out into the world. But when her library is threatened with closure, June is forced to emerge from behind the shelves to save the heart of her community and the place that holds the dearest memories of her mother. Joining a band of eccentric yet dedicated locals in a campaign to keep the library, June opens herself up to other people for the first time since her mother died. It just so happens that her old school friend Alex Chen is back in town and willing to lend a helping hand. The kindhearted lawyer's feelings for her are obvious to everyone but June, who won't believe that anyone could ever care for her in that way. To save the place and the books that mean so much to her, June must finally make some changes to her life. For once, she's determined not to go down without a fight. And maybe, in fighting for her cherished library, June can save herself, too.

Austin: Second Chance Cowboy

Austin: Second Chance Cowboy
Author: Shelley Galloway
Publisher: Harlequin
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2012-10-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0373754256
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No man should look as good as Austin Wright. Especially when that man is a suspect in a string of burglaries. And, Sheriff Dinah Hart can't afford the distraction. Roundup's thieves are growing bolder and Thunder Ranch's prize stallion, Midnight, is still missing, putting the Harts' entire livelihood at risk. Dinah needs to focus, because she's worked too hard to earn the town's respect just to throw it away on a fling. Austin knows he's got a bad reputation. He's been following his father's self-destructive footsteps for far too long. Now he's finally ready to take the first step toward fixing his life, and convincing people, especially Dinah, that he's changed. But when Austin discovers an unexpected connection to Midnight's disappearance, will Dinah see him for the man he was, or the one he's trying to become?

To Free the Romanovs

To Free the Romanovs
Author: Coryne Hall
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2018-06-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1445681986
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The murders but also the exciting escapes of the wider Romanov family - the Tsar’s mother, siblings and cousins. Did George V let his cousin the Tsar and his family die?

National Heroes and National Identities

National Heroes and National Identities
Author: Linas Eriksonas
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 9789052012001
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This book investigates the concept of the heroic, questions what it is that makes the national hero an indispensable appendage to any possible interpretation of national identity, and asks why scholars stop short before coming to terms with this elusive phenomenon. It finds answers by following heroic traditions in Scotland, Norway and Lithuania from the early modern period to the twentieth century. The book argues that heroic traditions - prevailing trends in situating heroes in national history - owe much to the early modern state. Both national heroes and the nation state had been conceived with a similar moral political mindset that looked for new ways to identify sources for commonality. The confluence of political theory and Realpolitik attested to three classical types of polities, i.e. civitas popularis (democracy), regnum (kingship), and optimatium (aristocracy), as found at that time in Scotland, Norway and Lithuania respectively. The author shows the varied impact these patterns had on heroic traditions. The long record of national heroes in Scotland is explained as a vestige of the legacy of civic humanism, the continuing traditions of the heroic king-lines in Norway are seen as a result of long-standing absolutism, while the belated arrival of national heroes in Lithuania is excused by the country's aristocratic if at times oligarchic past.

The Grand Duke from Boys Ranch

The Grand Duke from Boys Ranch
Author: Bill Sarpalius
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2018-04-09
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1623496586
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As a boy in Houston, Bill Sarpalius, his brothers, and their mother lived an itinerant life. Bill dug food out of trashcans, and he and his brothers moved from one school to the next. They squatted in a vacant home while their mother, affectionately called “Honey,” battled alcoholism and suicidal tendencies. In an act of desperation, she handed her three sons over to Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch north of Amarillo. At the time, Bill was thirteen years old and could not read. Life at Boys Ranch had its own set of harrowing challenges, however. He found himself living in fear of some staff and older boys. He became involved in Future Farmers of America and discovered a talent for public speaking. When he graduated, he had a hundred dollars and no place to go. He worked hard, earned a scholarship from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and obtained a college degree. After a brief career as a teacher and in agribusiness, he won a seat in the Texas Senate. Driven by the memory of his suffering mother, he launched the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse in an effort to help people struggling with addiction. Sarpalius later served in the United States Congress. As a Lithuanian American, he took a special interest in that nation’s fight for independence from the Soviet Union. For his efforts, Sarpalius received the highest honor possible to a non-Lithuanian citizen and was named a “Grand Duke.” The Grand Duke from Boys Ranch is a unique political memoir—the story of a life full of unlikely paths that is at once heartbreaking and inspirational.