Town Histories

Tom Fort made his name as a writer with his bestselling travel narrative The A303: Highway to the Sun. He now focuses on matters closer to home by celebrating a quintessential cornerstone of any village in Britain - the shop - in this case a century-old hardware shop daughter-in-law bought eighteen months before the pandemic struck the UK to run herself in their beautiful Berkshire village, outside of Reading. The family's dream of developing the shop into one that would become the centre of village life certainly did come true, but for a very different set of circumstances.

Only a few people knew the girl who raised herself in the woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. With a coyote pup named Red and a crow, Heddi ate fish, mushrooms and berries and survived. In Keweenaw Stump Juice, it is now 1918. Prohibition causes upheaval. Lumbering wanes, WWI takes young men off to war, and Heddi matures. She is more comfortable in woodland isolation but allows a few relationships to develop. In the first part of the book, she learns to embrace Bizaan, Pete and Cookie, her lumberjack buddies. In the second part, she finds unlikely friendships with quirky characters like ...

This inspiring guide highlights the historical background of America, and is filled with personal stories and practical tips for you to easily begin making a difference immediately in your hometown politics, through a bottom-up approach....

A small Southern town. An herbal bakery. A wize old crone. A sexy newcomer. A dangerous stranger. And a young graduate student who's not ready for any of it. You're in need of A Sprinkle of Magick. In the small town of Wiccanton, North Carolina, the leaves are falling. Not much has happened in Thena's life up til now, but that is about to change. This girl without a mother is about to realize she's a witch with the power of precognition. The only trouble, she her visions of the future confuse and disturb her. When a dark stranger comes to town who seems to know all there is to know ...

August 1957. Lewis Aldridge, straight out of jail, stands alone at a Surrey railway station. He's returned to the village where he grew up: the village where, a decade earlier, tragedy tore his family apart, leaving him to a troubled adolescence without a mother and with a father he barely knew. Now, the only person who understands him is Kit, daughter of a bullying local businessman. Soon they realise that to forge their own futures, they must first confront the darkest secrets of their past.

Life is going well for Maria. Welcomed into the Saward family, she has secured herself a job as a maid for Queen Alexandra and is living with her family in a beautiful cottage on the Royal Sandringham estate. The luxuries and privilege associated with the royal family are a far cry from the poverty and suffering she endured before, though the royals, like the nation, are tightening their belts. But when a mysterious relative turns up, seemingly on the run from the law, Maria's new-found happiness could be under threat.

From Vietnam vet Ronald Wheatley, A Time for War features in-depth interviews with 65 veterans who served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as stories of veterans from the Revolutionary, Civil, and Cold Wars. These are enlisted men and women, officers and volunteers, connected by a small seacoast town located midway between Boston and Plymouth. A Time for War is a rigorous and moving exploration of what it means to serve in war, from the chaos of combat to the idealism that drives people to enlist.

The secret library is in the basement of a bombed building in a heavily shelled area of Darayya. Around it, shattered buildings that were once homes and offices lie in crumbling, treacherous piles. A desert of shattered grey concrete festooned with twisted metal and charred wires. Deep beneath this scene of frightening devastation lies the secret library. No signs mark its presence. Locals fear that Syrian government planes will bomb it if they know where it is.

Walking into her newly inherited freezer and finding a dead man, isn’t how she envisioned her new start. Pastry Chef Maggie Wilkerson hates everything about New York. The opportunity to start over comes with a surprise letter from a lawyer. She is given the Cuppa Cafe. Back in her hometown, she’s excited to get the cafe up and running again… …only to find she’s being framed for murder. And Sheriff Wakefield wasted no time making her the prime suspect. Maggie and Mindy, her high school rival, are desperate to prove her innocence before she gets run out of town by the very people ...

Connie Granger has escaped the devastation of her bombed out city home. She has found work in the Women's Timber Corps, and for her, this remote community must now serve a secret purpose. Seppe, an Italian prisoner of war, is haunted by his memories. But in the forest camp, he finds a strange kind of freedom. In each other they find the means to imagine their own lives anew, and to face that which each fears the most. But outside their haven, the world is ravaged by war and old certainties are crumbling.

Costretto all'esilio dal duca di Lu, Confucio disse: "Se la mia strada finisce, salirò su una zattera e mi lascerò portare verso il mare". E così Kongzi, settantaseiesimo discendente diretto del grande filosofo, fugge con la moglie incinta e la figlia quando la Squadra della pianificazione familiare entra nel villaggio per sterilizzare con la forza tutte le donne fertili e interrompere le gravidanze di quelle che hanno già un figlio.

"French, Flemish, English and German Towns" is a section of Lynn Thorndike’s History of Medieval Europe. In the late Middle Ages, new towns arose due to increased trade. In the north, there were Champagne, Bruges, Cambrai, and Utrecht. In England, local fairs gave rise to Winchester, Stourbridge, and Walsingham. In Germany, new towns sprung up in three regions: the Rhine Valley; southern Germany, and the northern coast where Bremen, Hamburg, and Lubeck were established.

In Summer over Autumn, Howard Mansfield sifts through the commonplace and the forgotten to discover stories that tell us about ourselves and our place in the world - in this case, Hancock, New Hampshire.