If ever there was a regional UK city with the credentials to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham was always it. One in ten people in the city were born in an overseas Commonwealth country, and even more have family in member nations such as India, Jamaica and Pakistan. Many of these are descendants of the generation who arrived after the Second World War to find work during the city's manufacturing boom years.But, as Simon Wilcox discovers, the li...

The discovery of a Victorian map in a London antiques shop takes Simon Wilcox on a journey down the Thames: his mission a bit like that of those Victorian river scavengers, the mudlarks, to forage about on the shoreline for something of value.The mudlarks found old coins, and objects washed up from ships anchored in the London docks. Tramping down the Thames Path, catching the occasional boat, Simon finds fragments of history lurking just below the surface of the modern waterway.

Simon Fonthill, a fit 59-year-old, is visiting his farm in Northern Rhodesia when the Great War breaks out. With him, as always, is his wife Alice, but also his old comrade and former batman, 352 Jenkins, holidaying with them after the marriage of his two step-daughters in South Africa. Fonthill immediately cables his old boss Kitchener, the newly appointed Minister for War in the British Cabinet, offering his services in the fight against the Kaiser's Germany. However, ...

North West India, 1897. Simon and Alice Fonthill are travelling with their old friend Jenkins to Marden, India for an anniversary party with the Guides Corps. But when they are ambushed on their journey, they realise that the land may not be as peaceful as they first believed. Their suspicions are confirmed when they are told of fresh trouble from the Pathans and Simon is tasked by Viceroy Elgin to deliver a very important letter to the Amir in Kabul. With Simon in Kabul, the Pathans attac...

The British Empire has reached its probable apogee: so much of the world map is coloured red and the sun never set on its boundaries. But Lord Curzon, the ambitious Viceroy of India, has different views. Tibet, the mountainous region on the Raj's borders, irritates him: the Dalai Lama never replies to his letters and border disputes multiply.He decides to invade and recruits Simon Fonthill, veteran of so many of Queen Victoria's 'Little Wars', to lead 2000 men ove...

South Africa. Simon Fonthill, along with his wife Alice, old friend Jenkins, and tracker Mzingeli, is travelling across the continent to Pretoria to meet with General Kitchener. When their train is derailed by hostile Boer forces the quartet are forced to continue their journey on horseback, but are quickly targeted and surrounded by Boer commando leader General de Wet and his soldiers. Fonthill must rejoin the British military and prove his ability as a commander, as he...

The year is 1900 and once again China is plunged into barbaric chaos. The Boxers, a cult of young peasants who blame the foreign barbarians living in their country - particularly the missionaries - for the nation's ills, are rampaging through the country, killing foreigners. China's Dowager Empress - 'The Dragon Lady' - secretly encourages them.Into this maelstrom land former captain and army scout Simon Fonthill, his wife Alice and '352' Jenkins, Fonthill's former batman and truste...

Probably one of the least known characters in the passion narrative of Jesus is Simon of Cyrene. Very little is said or known about this man who briefly helped Jesus carry his cross. It isn’t known how long he trudged through the streets with Jesus or even if Simon and Jesus ever spoke to each other.What was going through Simon’s mind as he helped Jesus? What happened when he arrived at Golgotha? Did he stay or disappear back into the crowd, not wanting to look upon the horror? Mor...

Discover the self-care tips specifically designed for your Enneagram type with this simple yet illuminating guide from popular Enneagram expert Christina S. Wilcox.Many of us have used the Enneagram of Personality to understand ourselves on a profoundly intimate level. But despite what our Enneagram type reveals, it’s not always easy to know the best ways to take care of ourselves according to our unique personalities.In Take Care of Your Type, Enn...

Popular writer and artist Christina Wilcox uses her experience to teach others how to utilize the Enneagram to look outward, rather than inward. Learn to connect and support those from every position on the Enneagram, with Take Care of Your Friends: An Enneagram Guide to Interpersonal Relationships.The Enneagram is usually marketed as a tool for self-discovery, but it is so much more than that. The language the Enneagram offers us can restore friendships, ...

Discover the self-care tips specifically designed for your Enneagram type with this simple yet illuminating guide from popular Enneagram expert Christina S. Wilcox.Many of us have used the Enneagram of Personality to understand ourselves on a profoundly intimate level. But despite what our Enneagram type reveals, it’s not always easy to know the best ways to take care of ourselves according to our unique personalities.In Take Care of Your Type, Enn...

“I loved this book. It's one of those books that you just want to give to everybody.” **—Nancy Pearl on NPR’s Morning Edition“An astute, engaging debut” (Publishers Weekly), The Trouble with Goats and Sheep is a quirky and utterly charming tale of a community in need of reconciliation and two girls learning what it means to belong.**England, 1976. Mrs. Creasy is missing and the Avenue is alive with whispers. The neighbors blame he...