Category Archives: Front Page

Front Page, history, livesinprint

An account of the achievements of John White, one of the true founding fathers of America
David Cuckson

9781911175643 John White was a man of vision. He was rector of the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset from 1605 until his death in 1648. Under his leadership, after a disastrous fire, the town was transformed into a model caring community, embodying his Puritan ideals. He then sought to export this model across the Atlantic, to what was becoming known as New England. He became the driving force behind the Dorchester Company and then the Massachusetts Bay Company, and he inspired many folk from Dorset and the surrounding area to emigrate and found a new Dorchester in Massachusetts. He also lived to see some of these early settlers go on to found what became known as Windsor in Connecticut. This is his story, and theirs, a story of new worlds at home and abroad.
Published: May 2017
Paperback: 98 pages
Price: £6,99
ISBN: 9-781911-175643
Available from Amazon
David Cuckson studied law and theology at the University of Cambridge. He has worked as a Congregational/ United Reformed Church minister and as a solicitor in local government and in private practice. He is now retired and lives in Dorchester.
Reader Reviews...
Front Page, livesinprint, Sport

In 1980, Boxer Walker was voted the best scrum half in the world
Mike Gardner

9781911175582 Boxer Walker was voted the best scrum half in the world in 1980. The incredible story of his life is in part, a social history of a half-forgotten era, when coal mines were the economic bed rock of close-knit communities across the north. He shines a light into what life was like in a claustrophobic Cumbrian pit deep below the Irish Sea and you will join him in the Workington Town dressing room when they beat mighty Wigan to win the Lancashire Cup for the only time in the club’s history. You will also find out about the great players and coaches who helped to burnish his rugged skills and why he was always a prized target for violent forwards, years before the slick presentation of the Super League by Sky TV with its HD quality pictures and video replays.
Published: May 2017
Paperback: 356 pages
Price: £15.00
ISBN: 9-781911-175582

£15.00 (+ £3 postage)
Number of copies:
Boxer’s story is full of highs and lows, including the day he was felled so heavily at the Recreation Ground, that a rumour spread around the terraces that the tackle had killed him. Always exciting, uplifting, poignant, revealing and ultimately triumphant, Boxer: The Life of a Cumbria Great is a towering story of one of Cumbria’s finest-ever home-grown players and of a sporting character almost without compare.
Reader Reviews...

Rugby League Express

In a warts and all account, Gardner doesn't shy away from the fact that Boxer Walker could mix it with the best, almost a prerequisite of a scrum half's armoury in an era when every number seven was a target for enforcers. The award-winning author has written a superb account of a glorious career and this book is a must-read for every rugby league fan.

Adrian Durham, Talksport presenter, journalist and author

Mike Gardner paints a clear and poignant picture of Boxer as he is today, wonderfully written. Overall I enjoyed the description of old school rugby league, as well as the spirit and strength of the game in Cumbria. The photographs are a joy - plenty of them, and capturing an era and an area. The picture of the steps early in the book is awesome! Congratulations, loved it! The author should feel very proud

Rugby League Journal

It is all part of Mike Gardner's skills as a writer in taking us behind the scenes to the 'dark and mysterious' areas of rugby league that the fan doesn't see but only those who played the game can reveal. His descriptive talents and way with words at times present the story in an novel-esque style

Front Page, nonfiction, Reference

Impact of natural factors on vegetation dynamics
Open University

9781911175353 Long-term monitoring of vegetation on Zalidovskie Luga meadow situated alongside the Ugra river in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, has been carried out from 1965 to 2012. Since 1997 the meadow has been part of the “Ugra” National Park, which was assigned the status of a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 2002. During the forty-eight years of monitoring, annual surveys on permanent plots were combined with surveys of haystack locations and adjacent control plots, with detailed observations of populations of particular plant species. A large amount of data has been collated allowing the impact of environmental factors to be assessed.
Published:Jan 2017
Paperback:204 pages
Price:£15.00
ISBN:9781911175353



Available from Amazon

Over the observation period, agricultural management altered more than once, ranging from single hay cut, hay cut followed by aftermath grazing, double hay cut, extensive grazing, and no management at all in recent years. The data illustrate the reaction of plant communities to these changes. The appendix contains data from 504 relevés recorded on twenty-two permanent observation plots over forty-eight years.

This book will be of interest of vegetation ecologists, conservationists and anyone involved in the management of European floodplain meadows.


Reader Reviews…



[/raw]

Front Page, history

History of medieval Weymouth and its evolution as a trading port.
James Crump

9781909644809 Weymouth is usually thought of as a ‘Georgian’ town, but this book shows how much of the physical appearance of the town was determined many years before the arrival of George III himself. It examines the parallel histories of the twin towns of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis from the eleventh century to the end of the sixteenth, charting their rise and subsequent decline. It explains how their early growth was based on the great medieval trades of wool and wine and how growth was influenced by their connections with France which developed particularly in the years of the Angevin Empire. Their later decline was caused by the disruption of these trades and by the ravages of war in the Channel, part of the great conflict with France known as the ‘Hundred Years’ War’. In the midst of this the population was overwhelmed by the catastrophe of the Black Death.
Published:7th July 2015
Paperback:112 pages
Price:£6.99
ISBN:9-781909-644717
 Available from Amazon
Pay with PayPal
£6.99 (+ £2 postage)
James Crump read modern history at the University of Oxford and taught school students, undergraduates and extramural classes for many years. Before moving to Dorset he has written on social and industrial history subjects mainly in northern contexts. He has been researching Dorset history for many years and is especially interested in the early history of towns.

Reviews...

belief, Front Page, history

The story of Father Ignatius’s community at New Llanthony Abbey
Hugh Allen

9781911175230 To the diarist Francis Kilvert, his near neighbour Father Ignatius (born Joseph Leycester Lyne in 1837) seemed ‘entirely possessed by the one idea’ of introducing his distinctive version of the monastic life into the mid-Victorian Anglican Church. Rejecting any suggestion that he should temper his grand ambition by meeting comfortably protestant Britain half way, Ignatius endured ridicule, harassment and regular episcopal embargo, but persevered until his dying day with what he believed was his individually God-given mission. Ignatius’s enduring memorial is ‘New Llanthony Abbey’, an eccentric, now partly ruined Gothic extravaganza at Capel-y-ffin, a remote upland hamlet on the Welsh border. Monks and nuns came and went – some evidently pursuing a genuine religious vocation but failing to find it there; others apparently from less worthy motives.
Published:July 2016
Paperback:504 pages
Price:£18.50
ISBN:9-781911-175230
Available from Amazon
Hugh Allen tells the story of Ignatius’s community from its origins in early 1860s East Anglia to its migration to Wales in 1870, its history through the following four decades (including the controversial 1880 Apparitions), and its demise after the founder’s death in 1908. He also describes the later history of the former monastery, home in the 1920s to the sculptor and typographer Eric Gill and for many years to the family of his eldest daughter, and brings the story up to date with information about the Father Ignatius Memorial Trust and the continuing appeal of New Llanthony as a place of pilgrimage. The author is a longstanding member of the Father Ignatius Memorial Trust.
Reader Reviews...

The Church Times
In the midst of the burgeoning religious fervour of 19th-century Britain, the tragic-comic figure of Joseph Leycester Lyne [Fr Ignatius] must surely represent the epitome of … the “virtuoso religion” of some of its more enthusiastic and eccentric characters. As such, a book like Hugh Allen’s has been lacking for a long time….. The whole work is forensically researched, meticulously referenced, and fluently written – a winning combination that makes it as enjoyable as it is useful – and the footnotes are often as interesting and informative as the main body of the text. Lyne was either a faithful thwarted prophet or a volatile pious lunatic. Perhaps he was a heady combination of both; but Allen leaves that judgement to the reader, and does so in a masterly fashion. This book has been well worth the wait.

William Davage, New Directions, December 2016
‘An enjoyable, constructive, detailed and compelling study … This is a substantial and significant book, well-researched, rooted in thorough archival sources and attractively, if weightily, presented … comprehensive in its scope, measured and considered in its judgements.'

News Letter of the Anglo Catholic History Society, Autumn 2016
Much meticulous research has gone into this substantial book … Hugh Allen has utilised a wide range of archive relating to Ignatius himself and the community and its associates across the whole the chequered range of its history … All in all this book is a fascinating compendium of information about a bizarre and ambiguous monastic experiment.

Front Page, history, nonfiction

From its infancy in the 1980s to its vibrancy today
Asia’s Financial Industry

9781911175414 The development of the financial industry in Asia has been a history of boom and bust. Over the past four decades, it has transformed from its infancy during the 1980s to the vibrancy today. Looking back at his career from a new joiner in the industry to regional executive with several custodian banks during this period, the author has captured in this book many interesting stories, episodes and events in this fascinating process of development, from the perspective of a custodian, to add some colourful dimensions to the financial history of the region.
Published:July 2016
Paperback:246 pages
Price:$16.5
ISBN:9-781911-175414
Available from Amazon
Based in Hong Kong, Lawrence Au is a seasoned professional who has been at the forefront of Asia’s financial industry for more than thirty years. A pioneer and thought leader in the securities services area, he has been instrumental in building several custodian banks' businesses in the region. Under his stewardship as the Asia Pacific head with BNP Paribas Securities Services and Northern Trust, he took the custody franchise of the two banks off the ground to become a leading service provider in the market. Lawrence frequently speaks at conferences and features in industry publications, and was named Custodian Leader of the Year 2012 by Asia Asset Management and Custodian Banker of the Year 2013 by The Asset. Lawrence was presented Lifetime Achievement Award by Asia Asset Management in 2016.
Reader Reviews...




Front Page, nonfiction

Why the orthodox approach to smoking cessation is flawed
Dr Gabriel Symonds

gs front cover In spite of knowing the risks, why do smokers keep smoking? They feel compelled to do it because of mild anxiety and nervousness – produced by the smoking itself. The long lists of awful withdrawal symptoms trotted out by orthodox smoking-cessation counsellors are largely untrue; most smokers when they quit do not experience such symptoms – unless they think they will! Understanding this is the key to successful quitting. In this ground-breaking book Dr Symonds exposes how the current approach of governments to the smoking problem is wrong-headed. It’s based on the idea that the way to reduce smoking prevalence is by so-called ‘tobacco control’ – strong health warnings and horrible pictures on cigarette packs, plain packaging, restrictions on where you’re allowed to smoke, increased cigarette taxation, etc.
Published:July 2016
Paperback:148 pages
Price:£11.95
ISBN:9-781911-175209
Available from Amazon
Though this has some effect, it doesn’t get to the heart of the problem. Tobacco doesn’t need to be ‘controlled’; it needs to be abolished. Further, for smoking-cessation the emphasis should shift away from nicotine products and drugs to being nicotine- and drug-free. More attention should be paid to evidence which shows the best way to stop smoking is – just stop. Many smokers achieve this on their own, and for those who need help, the Symonds Method is simple, quick and gimmick-free.
Gabriel Symonds is a British general practitioner working in Tokyo for more than thirty years. Now retired from full-time practice, he specialises in smoking cessation counselling using a unique simple method which has successfully helped hundreds of smokers to quit.
Reader Reviews...




Front Page, poetry, Uncategorized

A selection of poems about war – from the Boer War to the present day
Sir Michael Leighton

9781909644427 This is Sir Michael Leighton’s third book of poems to be published. It is a carefully arranged selection of poems about wars – from the Boer War to the present day. They express a strong sense of the waste that is war, but also an equally strong sense of the great inspiration that can be had from those who fought them on our behalf. His positive message is that we should cherish our heritage. The photographs and pictures from Loton Park and elsewhere are mostly published for the first time, and provide a vivid commentary.
Published:November 2015
Hardback:48 pages
Price:£12.50
ISBN:9-781909-644427
Sir Michael Leighton Bart., 11th Baronet of Wattlesborough and current resident of the magnificent Loton Park, on the Shropshire/Wales borders, 34th in descent of his family. He has for some years been an ardent conservationist, ornithologist, wildlife photographer and poet.
He has completed a film on his lifelong passion, the Red Kite, which has been aired on National television. He was instrumental in the re-introduction of this bird back to the Welsh Hills and has formed areas of his estate for wildlife conservation.
A keen motorsport enthusiast, Sir Michael was also responsible for the formation of the National Hill Climb event, which takes place during the summer months in the Deer Park.