All posts by Bob Fowke

Events

Gloucester History Festival

Colin Sharp, author of Button Gwinnett, Failed Merchant, Plantation Owner, Mountebank, Opportunist Politician and Founding Father, published by YouCaxton, will be talking on ‘Button Gwinnett and the American Declaration of Independence’ at St Mary & Corpus Christi Church, Down Hatherley, on Sunday 3 September at 3.00 pm as part of the Gloucester History Festival. Colin will be asking how a Gloucestershire man became the second signatory on the American Declaration of Independence and his talk will feature local historians and members of the Gwinnett family. He will also describe how Button’s parents’ tomb in Down Hatherley churchyard was recently restored.

www.gloucesterhistoryfestival.co.uk

books

Non-Violence

Nonviolent Resistance to the Nazis by George Paxton, published by YouCaxton, has been receiving consistently good reviews. 

Peace News (UK): ‘… a goldmine of information, fascinating stories and inspiration for peace activists, this book deserves a wide readership.’

The Ghandi Way (UK): ‘Here is a proverbial labour of love. Over many years, I suspect, George Paxton has compiled information on nonviolent resistance to Nazi-occupied Europe. There are many stories of individual resistance, hard here to summarise in the review, and indeed I think the best way we can demonstrate this exceptional courage is to tell as many of these stories as possible… Paxton has done us a great service in writing this book.’

Jewish Affairs (South Africa): ‘Paxton also boldly wrestles with the sensitive question of whether the Holocaust might have been averted has German Jews responded at an early stage of their persecution with nonviolent resistance.’

Satyagraha Foundation (Netherlands): ‘George Paxton… has collected an impressive amount of research and combined it into “a perspective on the Nazi era which is rarely put forward,” … The first two parts provide a treasure trove of information, but it is the last part where the book comes into its own. Here he discusses, among many other things, the potential of nonviolent resistance, what makes people potential resisters and rescuers, what makes countries more prone to nonviolent resistance, and what a Gandhian style of nonviolent resistance might have looked like.’

Events

Knighton and Knucklas Castle

In the Shadow of Knucklas Castle by Kate Maclean, published by YouCaxton, is being launched at the Gallery of Fine Art in Knighton, Shropshire, on 22 June at 6.00 pm. The  originals of the paintings reproduced in the book will be exhibited and also some pottery decorated with images of Arthur and Guinevere.

 

 

 

Events

Talksport, Hawksbee and Jacobs

Mike Gardner, author of Boxer, the Life of a Cumbria Great, published by YouCaxton, will be interviewed on Talksport during the 1 pm to 4 pm prime-time spot with Haawksbee and Jacobs in the next few weeks. Talksport is the country’s premier sport-radio channel with over a million listeners.

books

Douglas Walker Review in the Sun

Playing the Grey Man by Robert Moon has just been reviewed by Douglas Walker in the Sun newspaper. Among other things, the book describes corruption in the Scots police in fictional form. Robert is a former member of the SAS  and a former policeman and he felt compelled to write from his own experiences as a policeman, experiences that have left him critical of various aspects of policing in Scotland.

 

Events

Exmouth Book Launch

Louise Hocking & Bob Austen

The Seagull Hotel is Kirstine Richards’ account of how, in 1945, she and her German friend Gerdy, both war widows, opened a hotel in Exmouth that became famous for its high-quality cuisine and for the hordes of children who scrabbled in the extra-large sandpit in the front garden. It’s a charming account and YouCaxton are very pleased to have been  involved in the publication. The Exmouth launch was held last Saturday and the picture shows Dr Nick Richards, Kirstine’s son who discovered the manuscript, speaking to Louise Hocking, a great niece of the Exmouth boatman who taught Nick to row in the channel opposite the hotel many years ago.

Events

Duke of Gloucester

dukegloucvester

The Shrewsbury Drapers Company by Nigel Hinton is due to be published shortly by YouCaxton. It focuses both on the history of the Drapers Company and on the long slog undertaken by the Drapers to build new almshouses for the benefit of the town. Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Vice Patron of the Almshouse Association, will officially open Drapers’ Place, Horsefair, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury today.

Events

Arts Festival

YouCaxton Editor, Bob Fowke, will be talking about  the prophet Elijah and biblical history at Bishop’s Castle Town Hall, 2.00pm, Wednesday 22nd February.  His talk is titled Elijah and the Theft of God and looks at Canaanite religion in relation to ancient Israelite religion. He starts with Elijah, a prophet of the cult of Yahweh from the ninth century BC. Elijah’s chosen name meant ‘Yahweh is El’, although El was the senior god of the ancient Canaanites and father of their favourite god, Baal. Since Elijah caused the death of 450 of the priests of Baal, Bob asks, among other things, what Baal’s father would have had to say about it and why Elijah chose it as a name.