A Bomber Command book with a difference. Rear Gunner Pathfinders is the story of the air war over Germany as seen from the small Perspex bubble of a 'Tail-End Charlie' rear gunner in a Lancaster. Flying firstly with 626 squadron, and later 156 Pathfinder squadron, Ron Smith flew 65 operations and recorded them with the intensity brought on by the isolation of being cocooned in his lonely gun turret.

Many people are surprised to learn that the city of Amarillo was actually founded twice. Originally settled by J. T. Berry in April 1887 and known as Oneida, the site of the town was located on such low ground that many residents feared it was susceptible to flooding. In 1888, one concerned resident named Henry B. Sanborn began buying land a mile east of the site as a potential place to relocate the town. In 1889, the town's fears came to fruition when heavy rains flooded the original town...

After the Civil War, state and national Prohibition galvanized in Atlanta the issues of classism, racism and anti-immigrant sentiment. While many consider flappers and gangsters the iconic images of the era, in reality, it was marked with temperance zealotry, blind tigers and white lightning. Georgia's protracted and intense battle changed the industrial and social landscapes of its capital city and unleashed a flood of illegal liquor that continually flowed in the wettest city in the Sout...

"Delve[s] into a colorful past . . . Stories of early taverns and saloons, religious zeal, prohibition and the roots of the current craft beer boom." — A tlanta Journal ConstitutionAtlanta is a unique southern city known for its vast diversity and fast-paced lifestyle. Rarely is it associated with a rich beer and brewing culture, but not for a lack of one. From Atlanta's first brewery in the 1850s to the city's Saloon Row and the ...

My purpose is to encourage and help anyone who feels stuck, who is not sure where they're going on this journey called life.For most of my 75 years, like so many of us, I have had self-doubts and fear of failure, and put myself in so many categories like 'I'm not very clever', 'I'm not good at many things' or 'Other people are smarter, born gifted at music, technology, public speaking and life in general'.A year ago, I published my first book – The Boxer: My Journey to Life...

When Ron suggested to his wife that he wanted to leave his well-paid job with the state government so that he could help people become fit and healthy, her reaction was, "Who the hell would pay you to do that?""I don't know," he replied. "But let's make it work."So began The Centre for Lifelong Health and Fitness in Mt Eliza, a pretty bayside community on the Mornington Peninsula, one hour south of Melbourne, Victoria.And so continued Ron's journey towards his own h...

You have asked questions that no lab can settle. Should you pull the lever if it saves 5 lives and ends 1. Is the person who wakes up with no memory of yesterday still you. Could your entire life be a simulation you cannot detect. This book puts 100 of those questions on the table, not to give you the answer key, but to train the muscle that finds answers under pressure.Each chapter is a short, vivid scene followed by the tug of war it creates in your mind. You step onto the footbr...

The title of Ron Smith’s new collection comes from Yeats’s observation that creators “must go from desire to weariness and so to desire again, and live but for the moment when vision comes to our weariness like terrible lightning, in the humility of the brutes.” The poems in The Humility of the Brutes move beyond Yeats’s journey, using precise language and memorable phrasing to push through skepticism and guide us toward the mystical as we struggle to understand our past and our p...

Scambusters! is a working manual senior citizens can use to defend themselves against the most common scams aimed at the elderly. It provides readers with a comprehensive approach to identifying scams in the making, and shows them specific prevention tools and how to use them.Inside, you'll find step-by-step instructions, helpful anecdotes, and references to dozens of consumer organizationals and government agencies devoted to thwarting swindlers. Weather buying mutual funds, repai...

From the Mediterranean to the American West, the poems in Ron Smith's new collection move across time and place to find reliable truths through personal observation. Beyond his own experiences Smith draws from the lives of notable and diverse figures -- Edward Teller, Edgar Allan Poe, Mickey Mantle, Ezra Pound, Robert Penn Warren, Jesse Owens, Leni Riefenstahl, and many others.Its Ghostly Workshop probes the fallibility of philosophy while strengthening the quest for certainty. Wond...

10th March 2015 is the 400th anniversary of the death by hanging of Scotland's only post-Reformation saint, John Ogilvie.St. Thomas' Church, Keith, have produced a book about St. John Ogilvie. He was born at Keith, and died in Glasgow. He had a short life, full of intrigue and mystery, as it was illegal to be a priest in those days, and he often travelled around in disguise. This book tells all that is known of his life and work, and is inspiring and informative.

St. Thomas' Roman Catholic Church in Keith, Banffshire Scotland, is a very attractive building with a fascinating history. The majority of the finance for the construction came from King Charles X of France, and the huge oil painting that is the altar piece was painted by the royal painter, Francois Dubois. Built in 1831, the Church sits on the highest point in Keith, and its copper dome is a landmark. This book provides a glimpse into the history of this magnificent church, the various pr...