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A personal account of escaping persecution.

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Ruth's story: Ecaping the Nazis as war began | BBC Teach

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Codebreakers and Agent Sophie | Woeful Second War | Horrible Histories

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Frightful First World War Compilation | Horrible Histories

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All the things they don't tell you!

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Horrible Histories - The Measly Middle Ages | Compilation

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Some photos from the American West.

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the history of America fascinates me. it's been through so many different eras and it's still relatively young compared to other countries. the war of independence, the gilded age, the gold rush, the massive differences between North and south at one point. #indiascarlett5 #oldphoto #oldphotos #history #west #westamerica #wildwest #buffalobill #america #oldamerica 

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Women have always been part of our discoveries, they just haven't always been credited.

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#greenscreen I’ll be making a couple more for medicine & medical science and others #womensrights #parispaloma #toomuchlabour #foryou #womenshistorymonth #stem #science 

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The modern age of medicine!

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Modern Medicine | Secondary History - Medicine Through Time

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Individuals in the history of medicine.

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GCSE History: Every Key Individual in Medicine & Public Health (2018)

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A quick rundown of the history of the American West.

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GCSE History: American West | Timeline & Events (2020)

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Under a Painted Sky has 4,900 ratings and 1,114 reviews. Emily May said: I admit that there are some books I only read to satisfy my curiosity after I se...

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Not for everyone, and brutal in places.

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Revenge is worth its weight in gold. When her father i…

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Check out this list of fiction inspired by the American West. Sorted by age groups.

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A list of YA historical novels set in the American Old West, for readers of young adult fiction

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Written from personal experiences, the Little House series looks at life on the American frontier. Be aware that these were written at a time when racism towards the Indigenous Peoples and Black People was accepted.

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List of Little House on the Prairie books - Wikipedia

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The original Little House books were a series of eight autobiographical children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published by Harper & Brothers from 1932 to 1943. The eighth book, These Happy Golden Years , featured Laura Ingalls at ages 15 to 18 and was originally published with one page at the end containing the note, "The end of the Little House books."

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Luck of the Titanic book. Read 751 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Valora Luck has two things: a ticket for the biggest and most ...

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A collection of Stuarts shorts from Horrible Histories.

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All About the Slimy Stuarts 🏵 | Compilation | Horrible Histories

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A collection of Tudors shorts from Horrible Histories.

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Horrible Histories - The Terrifying Tudors | Compilation

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Available in the library.

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Available in the library.

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Titanic (Survivor) : Davies, Stephen: Amazon.co.uk: Books

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Personal account of the Titanic.

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Eva Hart interview on surviving the sinking of the Titanic (1993)

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Personal accounts from passengers.

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Titanic: The Facts Told By Real Survivors | British Pathé

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How Did the 'Unsinkable' Titanic End Up at the Bottom of the Ocean? | National Geographic

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Separate your fact from fiction!

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6 myths about the Middle Ages that everyone believes - Stephanie Honchell Smith

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Key points.

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Who were the claimants to the throne in 1066? (1/6) | History – The Norman Conquest

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A quick look at the Bayeux Tapestry.

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The Bayeux Tapestry - Seven Ages of Britain - BBC One

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Everything you could possibly want to know about one of the most famous recounts of 1066.

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VISITORS INFORMATION: The Bayeux museums are adapting to the strengthening of the VIGIPIRATE level at "Attack emergency". Therefore, the luggage lockers are closed. Large bags or heavy luggage are refused at the entrance to the 3 museums. Thank you for your understanding.

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Bayeux Tapestry - Visit of the Bayeux Tapestry - Bayeux Museum

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The Bayeux Tapestry, one of the 3 museums of Bayeux Museum, is a must-see in Normandy and tells the story of the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. It is listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World register.

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An upstart French duke who sets out to conquer the most powerful and unified kingdom in Christendom. An invasion force on a scale not seen since the days of the Romans. One of the bloodiest and most decisive battles ever fought. This riveting book explains why the Norman Conquest was the single most important event in English history.

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A classic film during Hollywood's height, looking at the battle between the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans, with a huge dollop of romance and swashbuckling.

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The basic plot:Ivanhoe tries to restore the throne to Richard the Lionhearted and away from his Evil brother John,who isn't very cool about that idea.

The praise:A big,glamorous,technicolor,adventure movie,(this is one of those films that's a movie,not a film).Suspenseful,action -packed plot has romance in terms of the jewish Rebbeca(Elizabeth Taylor),with thick jewish eyebrows,and the Lady Rowena(Joan Fontaine),a blonde.Just the right mix of perfectly staged ,suspenseful,action-packed raids,battles,jousts and trials,combined with romance,comic-relief, and Ivanhoe(Robert Taylor) himself. Miles of on location scenery.

The flaws:Too minor to quibble about.

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Ivanhoe: Directed by Richard Thorpe. With Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders. A knight seeks to free the captive King Richard and put him back on the throne.

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A classic poem written about one of King Arthur's knights of the Round Table.

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Description

The anonymous poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is considered one of the masterpieces of Middle English literature. It was composed in the West Midlands region of Britain at the end of the 14th century, but was copied out at the beginning of the 15th. The poem only survives in this single manuscript at the British Library - Cotton MS Nero A X.

Gawain is a story of knightly deeds, sexual enticement and wild landscapes. It tells the story of the young Gawain, who is a knight at the legendary court of King Arthur. The poem opens with a description of a Christmas feast at Camelot, the Arthurian court. During the feast a mysterious knight, with green hair and green skin, riding a green horse, arrives and challenges the assembled crowd to a bizarre game, which sets off a chain of events in which Gawain faces trials and temptations.

The first image you can see an illustration of the Green Knight holding his recently decapitated head.

What forms does the poem use?

The poem has a complex form: it uses internal rhyme, also known as alliteration - meaning the words in each line rhyme with each other. As well as this, it also uses a metrical form called the 'bob and wheel', where each stanza ends with a short half-line of only two syllables (the bob), followed by a mini-stanza of longer lines which rhyme internally (the wheel). The use of this complicated form over 2,500 lines of verse is a demonstration of the poet's mastery.

A miraculous survival

The manuscript is part of the collection of Robert Cotton (1570/71-1631) which, in the 18th century, was stored in the ominously named Ashburnham House. On 23 October 1731, a fire ripped through Ashburnham House and many manuscripts were destroyed. The famous manuscript was singed at the edges. Cotton MS Nero A X could easily have succumbed to the same fate, which makes Gawain and the other texts in the manuscript especially precious.

As well as Gawain, the manuscript includes three other poems, , Cleanness and Patience. They are all thought to have been written by the same author, who is often referred to as the ' Gawain poet' or the ' Pearl poet'.

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The anonymous poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is considered one of the masterpieces of Middle English literature. It was composed in the West Midlands region of Britain at the end of the 14th century, but was copied out at the beginning of the 15th.

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This might be fun to track down.

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Wulf the Saxon: A Story of the Norman Conquest

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Read 62 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. The story of a young thane who wins the favor of Earl Harold and becomes one of his retinue...

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Read 40 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Longlisted for the 2021 Carnegie Medal It is the year 454AD. The Roman Empire has withdraw...

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Trigger warnings.
Available in the library!

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Available in the library!

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Children's Fiction by Jewell Parker Rhodes

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Ghost Boys - Children's Fiction by Jewell Parker Rhodes

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Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey towards recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer, who grapples with her father's actions.

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Available in the library!

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Brown Girl Dreaming tells the story of my childhood, in verse. Raised in South Carolina and New York, I always felt halfway home in each place. In these poems, I share what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and my growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.
It also reflects the joy of finding my voice through writing stories, despite the fact that I struggled with reading as a child. My love of stories inspired and stayed with me, creating the first sparks of the writer I was to become.

Where it takes place:

Columbus, Ohio, Greenville, South Carolina and Brooklyn, New York.

Where I wrote it:

In all of those places but mostly in Brooklyn.

Why I wrote it:

I wanted to understand who my mom was before she was my mother and I wanted to understand exactly how I became a writer. So I started researching my life, asking relatives and talking to friends - and mostly, just letting myself remember.

Awards

National Book Award winner

NAACP Image Award winner (in the category of Outstanding Literary Work for Youth/Teens)

Coretta Scott King Author Award winner

Newbery Honor winner

Sibert Honor winner

Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist

New York Times Bestseller (for over 20 weeks)

ALA Notable

Bank Street College of Education's Claudia Lewis Award

New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book

Kids' Indie Next List (Autumn 2014)

Kirkus Best Book

Booklist Editors' Choice

Publishers Weekly Best Book

School Library Journal Best Book

Horn Book Fanfare

Bulletin Blue Ribbon

NPR's Great Reads List

TIME magazine Top 10 YA of 2014 List

CCBC Choice

NPR's Book Concierge's 2014 Great Reads List

NPR's The Diane Rehm Show's "Readers' Reviews" on-air book club pick

Notable Books for a Global Society (NBGS) 2015 winner

BookPage Best Children's Book

Amazon Best Book (in two categories: Children's Books and Nonfiction)

Buzzfeed Best YA Books of 2014

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

Bustle.com's Top 25 Young Adult Novels of 2014 list

Audio edition: ALSC Notable Children's Recording

Audio edition: E.B. White Read-Aloud Award Winner: Middle Grade

State Lists

Indiana's Young Hoosier Book Award

Washington D.C.'s Capitol Choices Master List

Georgia's Children's Book Award Finalist

Wisconsin's Just One More Page! Master List

Virginia's Jefferson Cup Overfloweth 2015 Master List

California's ACL 2014 Distinguished Books Master list

Maryland's Black-Eyed Susan Book Award 2015-2016 (nominee)

Kentucky Bluegrass Award 2016 (nominee)

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Middle Grade/Young Adult | Brown Girl Dreaming | Jacqueline Woodson

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Brown Girl Dreaming tells the story of my childhood, in verse. Raised in South Carolina and New York, I always felt halfway home in each place. In these poems, I share what it was

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Telling the story of an Irish immigrant during the Industrial age.

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Nory Ryan's family has lived on Maidin Bay on the west coast of Ireland for generations, raising a pig and a few chickens, planting potatoes, getting by. Every year Nory's father goes away on a fishing boat and returns with the rent money for the English lord who owns their cottage and fields, th...

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Check out the book (available in the library) or watch an adaptation. Dickens wrote about what he saw around him, particularly how the industrial era affected the poor.

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Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy's Progress is Charles Dickens's second novel, and was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and released as a three-volume book in 1838, before the serialisation ended. The story centres on orphan Oliver Twist, born in a workhouse and sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. After escaping, Oliver travels to London, where he meets the " Artful Dodger", a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin.

Oliver Twist contains an unromantic portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives, and exposes the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century. The alternative title, The Parish Boy's Progress, alludes to Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, as well as the 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, A Rake's Progress and A Harlot's Progress.

In this early example of the social novel, Dickens satirises the hypocrisies of his time, including child labour, domestic violence, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of working as a child labourer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own experiences as a youth contributed as well.

Oliver Twist has been the subject of numerous adaptations, including a highly successful musical play, , and the multiple Academy Award-winning 1968 motion picture. Disney also put its spin on the novel with the animated film called Oliver & Company in 1988.

The novel was originally published in monthly instalments in the magazine Bentley's Miscellany, from February 1837 to April 1839. It was originally intended to form part of Dickens's serial, The Mudfog Papers. George Cruikshank provided one steel etching per month to illustrate each instalment. The novel first appeared in book form six months before the initial serialisation was completed, in three volumes published by Richard Bentley, the owner of Bentley's Miscellany, under the author's pseudonym, "Boz". It included 24 steel-engraved plates by Cruikshank.

The first edition was titled: Oliver Twist, or, The Parish Boy's Progress.

Serial publication dates:

I - February 1837 (chapters 1-2)

II - March 1837 (chapters 3-4)

III - April 1837 (chapters 5-6)

IV - May 1837 (chapters 7-8)

V - July 1837 (chapters 9-11)

VI - August 1837 (chapters 12-13)

VII - September 1837 (chapters 14-15)

VIII - November 1837 (chapters 16-17)

IX - December 1837 (chapters 18-19)

X - January 1838 (chapters 20-22)

XI - February 1838 (chapters 23-25)

XII - March 1838 (chapters 26-27)

XIII - April 1838 (chapters 28-30)

XIV - May 1838 (chapters 31-32)

XV - June 1838 (chapters 33-34)

XVI - July 1838 (chapters 35-37)

XVII - August 1838 (chapters 38-part of 39)

XVIII - October 1838 (conclusion of chapter 39-41)

XIX - November 1838 (chapters 42-43)

XX - December 1838 (chapters 44-46)

XXI - January 1839 (chapters 47-49)

XXII - February 1839 (chapter 50)

XXIII - March 1839 (chapter 51)

XXIV - April 1839 (chapters 52-53)

Oliver Twist is born into a life of poverty and misfortune, raised in a workhouse in the fictional town of Mudfog, located 70 miles (110 km) north of London. He is orphaned by his father's mysterious absence and his mother Agnes' death in childbirth, welcomed only in the workhouse and robbed of her gold name locket. Oliver is meagerly provided for under the terms of the Poor Law and spends the first nine years of his life living at a baby farm in the 'care' of a woman named Mrs Mann, who embezzles much of the money entrusted to the baby farm by the parish. Oliver is brought up with little food and few comforts. Around the time of Oliver's ninth birthday, Mr Bumble, the parish beadle, removes Oliver from the baby farm and puts him to work picking and weaving oakum at the main workhouse. Oliver, who toils with very little food, remains in the workhouse for six months. One day, the desperately hungry boys decide to draw lots; the loser must ask for another portion of gruel. This task falls to Oliver himself, who at the next meal comes forward trembling, bowl in hand, and begs the master for gruel with his famous request: "Please, sir, I want some more".

A great uproar ensues. The board of well-fed gentlemen who administer the workhouse hypocritically offer £5 to any person wishing to take on the boy as an apprentice. Mr Gamfield, a brutal chimney sweep, almost claims Oliver. However, when Oliver begs despairingly not to be sent away with "that dreadful man", a kindly magistrate refuses to sign the indentures. Later, Mr Sowerberry, an undertaker employed by the parish, takes Oliver into his service. He treats Oliver better and, because of the boy's sorrowful countenance, uses him as a mourner at children's funerals. Mr Sowerberry is in an unhappy marriage, and his wife looks down on Oliver and misses few opportunities to underfeed and mistreat him. He also suffers torment at the hands of Noah Claypole, an oafish and bullying fellow apprentice and "charity boy" who is jealous of Oliver's promotion to mute, and Charlotte, the Sowerberrys' maidservant, who is in love with Noah.

Wanting to bait Oliver, Noah insults Oliver's mother, calling her "a regular right-down bad 'un". Enraged, Oliver assaults and even gets the better of the much bigger boy. However, Mrs Sowerberry takes Noah's side, helps him to subdue, punch, and beat Oliver, and later compels her husband and Mr Bumble, who has been sent for in the aftermath of the fight, to beat Oliver again. Once Oliver is sent to his room for the night he breaks down and weeps. The next day Oliver escapes from the Sowerberrys' house and later decides to run away to London to seek a better life.

London, the Artful Dodger and Fagin

Nearing London, Oliver encounters Jack Dawkins, a pickpocket more commonly known by the nickname the " Artful Dodger", and his sidekick, a boy of a humorous nature named Charley Bates, but Oliver's innocent and trusting nature fails to see any dishonesty in their actions. The Dodger provides Oliver with a free meal and tells him of a gentleman in London who will "give him lodgings for nothing, and never ask for change". Grateful for the unexpected assistance, Oliver follows the Dodger to the "old gentleman's" residence. In this way Oliver unwittingly falls in with an infamous Jewish criminal known as Fagin, the gentleman of whom the Artful Dodger spoke. Ensnared, Oliver lives with Fagin and his gang of juvenile pickpockets in their lair at Saffron Hill for some time, unaware of their criminal occupations. He believes they make wallets and handkerchiefs. He is also clueless about Fagin's lessons with the boys, whereupon he impersonates an English gentleman browsing shops, and the boys must pick everything from his pockets while staying out of sight. Oliver considers this a strange game. Fagin has Oliver in this training until he successfully picks everything off him. Fagin rewards Oliver with a shilling and orders him out on the street with Charley Bates and the Artful Dodger.

Oliver follows the pair to "make handkerchiefs", only to learn that their real mission is to pick pockets. The Dodger and Charley steal the handkerchief of an old gentleman named Mr. Brownlow and promptly flee. When he finds his handkerchief missing, Mr Brownlow turns round, sees Oliver running away in fright, and pursues him, thinking he was the thief. Others join the chase, capture Oliver, and bring him before the magistrate. Curiously, Mr Brownlow has second thoughts about the boy - he seems reluctant to believe he is a pickpocket. To the judge's evident disappointment, a bookstall holder who saw the Dodger commit the crime clears Oliver, who, by now actually ill, faints in the courtroom. Mr Brownlow takes Oliver home and, along with his housekeeper Mrs Bedwin, cares for him. While recovering, both Mrs. Bedwin and Mr. Brownlow notice how Oliver bears a striking resemblance to a painting of a woman who was the wife of a deceased friend of Mr. Brownlow's.

Oliver stays with Mr Brownlow, recovers rapidly, and blossoms from the unaccustomed kindness. His bliss is interrupted when Fagin, fearing Oliver might tell the police about his criminal gang, decides that Oliver must be brought back to his hideout. When Mr Brownlow sends Oliver out to pay for some books, one of the gang, a young girl named Nancy, whom Oliver had previously met at Fagin's, accosts him with help from her abusive lover, the robber Bill Sikes, and Oliver is quickly bundled back to Fagin's lair. The thieves take the five-pound note Mr Brownlow had entrusted to him, and strip him of his fine new clothes. Oliver, shocked, flees and attempts to call for police assistance, but is dragged back by the Artful Dodger, Charley, and Fagin. Nancy, alone, is sympathetic towards Oliver and saves him from beatings by Fagin and Sikes.

In a renewed attempt to draw Oliver into a life of crime, Fagin forces him to participate in a burglary. Nancy reluctantly assists in recruiting him, all the while assuring the boy that she will help him if she can. Sikes, after threatening to kill him if he does not cooperate, puts Oliver through a small window and orders him to unlock the front door. The robbery goes wrong and Oliver is shot by people in the house and wounded in his left arm. After being abandoned by Sikes, the wounded Oliver makes it back to the house and ends up under the care of the people he was supposed to rob: Miss Rose and her guardian Mrs Maylie.

Mystery of a man called "Monks"

The mysterious man Monks plots with Fagin to destroy Oliver's reputation. Monks denounces Fagin's failure to turn Oliver into a criminal, and the two of them agree on a plan to make sure he does not find out about his past. Monks is apparently related to Oliver in some way. Back in Oliver's hometown, Mr Bumble has married Mrs Corney, the matron of the workhouse where the story first began, only to find himself in an unhappy marriage, constantly arguing with his domineering wife. After one such argument, Mr Bumble walks to a pub where he meets Monks, who questions him about Oliver. Bumble informs Monks that he knows someone who can give Monks more information for a price, and later Monks meets secretly with the Bumbles. After Mrs Bumble tells Monks all she knows for a price, Monks takes the locket and ring proving Oliver's parents, which had once belonged to Oliver's mother, and drops them into the river flowing under his place. Monks relates these events to Fagin, unaware that Nancy is eavesdropping on their conversations and plans to inform Oliver's benefactors. Mr Brownlow returns to London, where Oliver sees him, and brings him to meet the Maylies.

Now ashamed of her role in Oliver's kidnapping and worried for the boy's safety, Nancy goes to Rose Maylie, staying in London. She knows that Monks and Fagin are plotting to get their hands on the boy again, and offers to meet again any Sunday night on London bridge. Rose tells Mr Brownlow, and the two then make plans with all their party in London. The first Sunday night, Nancy tries to leave for her walk, but Sikes refuses permission when she declines to state exactly where she is going. Fagin realizes that Nancy is up to something, perhaps has a new boyfriend, and resolves to find out what her secret is.

Meanwhile, Noah has fallen out with the undertaker Mr Sowerberry, stolen money from him, and fled to London with Charlotte. Using the name "Morris Bolter", he joins Fagin's gang for protection and becomes a practicer of "the kinchin lay" (robbing of children), and Charlotte is put with the girls. Fagin sends Noah to watch the Artful Dodger on trial, after he is caught with a stolen silver snuff box; the Dodger is convicted while showing his style, with a punishment of transportation to Australia. Next, Noah is sent by Fagin to spy on Nancy, and discovers her meeting with Rose and Mr Brownlow on the bridge, hearing their discussion of why she did not appear the prior week and how to save Oliver from Fagin and Monks.

Fagin angrily passes the information on to Sikes, twisting the story to make it sound as if Nancy had informed on him, when she had not. Believing Nancy to be a traitor, Sikes beats her to death in a fit of rage that very night and flees to the countryside to escape from the police and his conscience. There, Sikes is haunted by visions of Nancy and alarmed by news of her murder spreading across the countryside. He returns to London to find a hiding place and intends to steal money from Fagin and flee to France, only to die by accidentally hanging himself while attempting to lower himself from a rooftop to flee from a mob angry at Nancy's murder.

While Sikes is fleeing the mob, Mr Brownlow forces Monks to listen to the story connecting him, once called Edward Leeford, and Oliver as half brothers, or to face the police for his crimes. Their father, Edwin Leeford, was once friends with Brownlow. Edwin had been in a miserable marriage that produced Monks, only to have Monk's mother separate. Edwin had associated with an older gentleman who was friends to him and Mr. Brownlow, who had had two daughters, one who was a girl of seventeen and the other a toddler. Edwin fell in love with the elder daughter, Agnes, but their relationship had been secretive. Edwin had to help a dying friend in Rome, and then died there himself, leaving Agnes, "his guilty love", in England, whereupon she died after giving birth to Oliver. Mr Brownlow has a picture of Agnes and had begun making inquiries when he noticed a marked resemblance between her and Oliver. Monks had hunted his brother to destroy him, to gain all in their father's will. Meeting with Monks and the Bumbles in Oliver's native town, Brownlow asks Oliver to give half his inheritance to Monks to give him a second chance; Oliver is more than happy to comply. Monks moves to "the new world", where he squanders his money, reverts to crime, and dies in prison. Fagin is arrested, tried and condemned to the gallows. On the eve of Fagin's hanging, Oliver, accompanied by Mr Brownlow in an emotional scene, visits Fagin in Newgate Prison, in hope of retrieving papers from Monks. Fagin is lost in a world of his own fear of impending death.

On a happier note, Monks revealed that Rose was the younger sister of Agnes, and thus Oliver's aunt. She marries her sweetheart Harry Maylie, who gives up his political ambitions to become a parson, drawing all their friends to settle near them. Oliver lives happily with Mr Brownlow, who adopts him. Due to Noah's cooperation with the law during the pursuit of Fagin, he is granted immunity and becomes a paid, semi-professional police informer. The Bumbles lose their positions and are reduced to poverty, ending up in the workhouse themselves. All the members of Fagin's gang suffer unhappy endings, with one exception. Charley Bates, horrified by Sikes' murder of Nancy, becomes an honest citizen, moves to the country, and eventually becomes prosperous. The novel ends with the tombstone of Oliver's mother on which it is written only one name: Agnes.

Oliver Twist - an orphan child whose mother died at his birth; father is dead when Oliver's paternity is revealed.

Mr Bumble - a beadle in the parish workhouse where Oliver was born

Mrs Mann - superintendent where the infant Oliver is placed until age 9 who is not capable of caring for the "culprits" as she is self-centered and greedy.

Mr Sowerberry - an undertaker who took Oliver as apprentice

Mrs Sowerberry - Mr Sowerberry's wife

Noah Claypole - a cowardly bully, Sowerberry's apprentice

Charlotte - the Sowerberrys' maid, lover of Noah

Mr Gamfield - a chimney sweep in the town where Oliver was born

Mr Brownlow - a kindly gentleman who takes Oliver in, his first benefactor

Mr Grimwig - a friend of Mr Brownlow

Mrs Bedwin - Mr Brownlow's housekeeper

Rose Maylie - Oliver's second benefactor, later found to be his aunt

Mrs Lindsay Maylie - Harry Maylie's mother. Rose Maylie's adoptive aunt

Harry Maylie - Mrs Maylie's son

Mr Losberne - Mrs Maylie's family doctor

Mr Giles - Mrs Maylie's butler

Mr Brittles - Mrs Maylie's handyman

Duff and Blathers - two incompetent policemen

Fagin - fence and boss of a criminal gang of young boys and girls

Bill Sikes - a professional burglar

Bull's Eye - Bill Sikes's vicious dog

The Artful Dodger - Fagin's most adept pickpocket

Charley Bates - a pickpocket in Fagin's gang

Toby Crackit - an associate of Fagin and Sikes, a house-breaker

Nancy - one of Fagin's gang, now living with Bill Sikes

Bet - a girl in Fagin's gang, sometime friend to Nancy

Barney - a criminal cohort of Fagin

Agnes Fleming - Oliver's mother

Mr Leeford - father of Oliver and Monks

Old Sally - a nurse who attended Oliver's birth

Mrs Corney - matron for the women's workhouse

Monks - a sickly criminal, an associate of Fagin's, and long-lost half-brother of Oliver

Monks' mother - an heiress who did not love her husband

Mr Fang - a magistrate

Tom Chitling - one of Fagin's gang members, returned from abroad at the time of the murder

In Oliver Twist, Dickens mixes grim realism with merciless satire to describe the effects of industrialism on 19th-century England and to criticise the harsh new Poor Laws. Oliver, an innocent child, is trapped in a world where his only options seem to be the workhouse, a life of crime symbolised by Fagin's gang, a prison, or an early grave. From this unpromising industrial/institutional setting, however, a fairy tale also emerges. In the midst of corruption and degradation, the essentially passive Oliver remains pure-hearted; he steers away from evil when those around him give in to it, and in proper fairy-tale fashion, he eventually receives his reward - leaving for a peaceful life in the country, surrounded by kind friends. On the way to this happy ending, Dickens explores the kind of life an outcast, orphan boy could expect to lead in 1830s London.

Poverty is a prominent concern in Oliver Twist. Throughout the novel, Dickens enlarged on this theme, describing slums so decrepit that whole rows of houses are on the point of ruin. In an early chapter, Oliver attends a pauper's funeral with Mr Sowerberry and sees a whole family crowded together in one miserable room.

This prevalent misery makes Oliver's encounters with charity and love more poignant. Oliver owes his life several times over to kindness both large and small. The apparent plague of poverty that Dickens describes also conveyed to his middle-class readers how much of the London population was stricken with poverty and disease. Nonetheless, in Oliver Twist, he delivers a somewhat mixed message about social caste and social injustice. Oliver's illegitimate workhouse origins place him at the nadir of society; as an orphan without friends, he is routinely despised. His "sturdy spirit" keeps him alive despite the torment he must endure. Most of his associates, however, deserve their place among society's dregs and seem very much at home in the depths. Noah Claypole, a charity boy like Oliver, is idle, stupid, and cowardly; Sikes is a thug; Fagin lives by corrupting children, and the Artful Dodger seems born for a life of crime. Many of the middle-class people Oliver encounters-Mrs Sowerberry, Mr Bumble, and the savagely hypocritical "gentlemen" of the workhouse board, for example-are, if anything, worse.

On the other hand, Oliver for a workhouse boy-proves to be of gentle birth. Although he has been abused and neglected all his life, he recoils, aghast, at the idea of victimising anyone else. This apparently hereditary gentlemanliness makes Oliver Twist something of a changeling tale, not just an indictment of social injustice. Oliver, born for better things, struggles to survive in the savage world of the underclass before finally being rescued by his family and returned to his proper place-a commodious country house.

The 2005 film adaptation of Oliver Twist of the novel dispenses with the paradox of Oliver's genteel origins by eliminating his origin story completely, making him just another anonymous orphan like the rest of Fagin's gang.

Dickens makes considerable use of symbolism. The "merry old gentleman" Fagin, for example, has satanic characteristics: he is a veteran corrupter of young boys who presides over his own corner of the criminal world; he makes his first appearance standing over a fire holding a toasting-fork, and he refuses to pray on the night before his execution. The London slums, too, have a suffocating, infernal aspect; the dark deeds and dark passions are concretely characterised by dim rooms and pitch-black nights, while the governing mood of terror and brutality may be identified with uncommonly cold weather. In contrast, the countryside where the Maylies take Oliver is a bucolic heaven.

The novel is also concerned with social class, and the stark injustice in Oliver's world. When the half-starved child dares to ask for more, the men who punish him are fat, and a remarkable number of the novel's characters are overweight.

Toward the end of the novel, the gaze of knowing eyes becomes a potent symbol. For years, Fagin avoids daylight, crowds, and open spaces, concealing himself most of the time in a dark lair. When his luck runs out at last, he squirms in the "living light" of too many eyes as he stands in the dock, awaiting sentence. Similarly, after Sikes kills Nancy at dawn, he flees the bright sunlight in their room, out to the countryside, but is unable to escape the memory of her dead eyes. In addition, Charley Bates turns his back on crime when he sees the murderous cruelty of the man who has been held up to him as a model.

In the tradition of Restoration Comedy and Henry Fielding, Dickens fits his characters with appropriate names. Oliver himself, though "badged and ticketed" as a lowly orphan and named according to an alphabetical system, is, in fact, "all of a twist." However, Oliver and his name may have been based on a young workhouse boy named Peter Tolliver whom Dickens knew while growing up. Mr Grimwig is so called because his seemingly "grim", pessimistic outlook is actually a protective cover for his kind, sentimental soul. Other character names mark their bearers as semi-monstrous caricatures. Mrs Mann, who has charge of the infant Oliver, is not the most motherly of women; Mr Bumble, despite his impressive sense of his own dignity, continually mangles the King's English he tries to use; and the Sowerberries are, of course, "sour berries", a reference to Mrs Sowerberry's perpetual scowl, to Mr Sowerberry's profession as an undertaker, and to the poor provender Oliver receives from them. Rose Maylie's name echoes her association with flowers and springtime, youth and beauty while Toby Crackit's is a reference to his chosen profession of housebreaking.

Bill Sikes's dog, Bull's-eye, has "faults of temper in common with his owner" and is an emblem of his owner's character. The dog's viciousness represents Sikes's animal-like brutality while Sikes's self-destructiveness is evident in the dog's many scars. The dog, with its willingness to harm anyone on Sikes's whim, shows the mindless brutality of the master. Sikes himself senses that the dog is a reflection of himself and that is why he tries to drown the dog. He is really trying to run away from who he is. This is also illustrated when Sikes dies and the dog immediately dies as well. After Sikes murders Nancy, Bull's-eye also comes to represent Sikes's guilt. The dog leaves bloody footprints on the floor of the room where the murder is committed. Not long after, Sikes becomes desperate to get rid of the dog, convinced that the dog's presence will give him away. Yet, just as Sikes cannot shake off his guilt, he cannot shake off Bull's-eye, who arrives at the house of Sikes's demise before Sikes himself does. Bull's-eye's name also conjures up the image of Nancy's eyes, which haunt Sikes until the bitter end and eventually cause him to hang himself accidentally.

Dickens employs polarised sets of characters to explore various dual themes throughout the novel; Mr Brownlow and Fagin, for example, personify "good vs. evil". Dickens also juxtaposes honest, law-abiding characters such as Oliver himself with those who, like the Artful Dodger, seem more comfortable on the wrong side of the law. Crime and punishment is another important pair of themes, as is sin and redemption: Dickens describes criminal acts ranging from picking pockets to murder, and the characters are punished severely in the end. Most obviously, he shows Bill Sikes hounded to death by a mob for his brutal acts and sends Fagin to cower in the condemned cell, sentenced to death by due process. Neither character achieves redemption; Sikes dies trying to run away from his guilt, and on his last night alive, the terrified Fagin refuses to see a rabbi or to pray, instead asking Oliver to help him escape.

Nancy, by contrast, redeems herself at the cost of her own life and dies in a prayerful pose. She is one of the few characters in Oliver Twist to display much ambivalence. Her storyline in the novel strongly reflects themes of domestic violence and psychological abuse at the hands of Bill, who ultimately murders her. Although Nancy is a full-fledged criminal, indoctrinated and trained by Fagin since childhood, she retains enough empathy to repent her role in Oliver's kidnapping, and to take steps to try to atone. As one of Fagin's victims, corrupted but not yet morally dead, she gives eloquent voice to the horrors of the old man's little criminal empire. She wants to save Oliver from a similar fate; at the same time, she recoils from the idea of turning traitor, especially to Bill Sikes, whom she loves. When he was later criticised for giving a "thieving, whoring slut of the streets" such an unaccountable reversal of character, Dickens ascribed her change of heart to "the last fair drop of water at the bottom of a dried-up, weed-choked well".

Dickens has been accused of following antisemitic stereotypes because of his portrayal of the Jewish character Fagin in Oliver Twist. Paul Vallely writes that Fagin is widely seen as one of the most grotesque Jews in English literature, and the most vivid of Dickens's 989 characters. Nadia Valman, in Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution, argues that Fagin's representation was drawn from the image of the Jew as inherently evil, that the imagery associated him with the Devil, and with beasts.

The novel refers to Fagin 274 times in the first 38 chapters as "the Jew", while the ethnicity or religion of the other characters is rarely mentioned. In 1854, The Jewish Chronicle asked why "Jews alone should be excluded from the 'sympathizing heart' of this great author and powerful friend of the oppressed." Dickens (who had extensive knowledge of London street life and child exploitation) explained that he had made Fagin Jewish because "it unfortunately was true, of the time to which the story refers, that that class of criminal almost invariably was a Jew." Dickens commented that by calling Fagin a Jew he had meant no imputation against the Jewish faith, saying in a letter, "I have no feeling towards the Jews but a friendly one. I always speak well of them, whether in public or private, and bear my testimony (as I ought to do) to their perfect good faith in such transactions as I have ever had with them." Eliza Davis, whose husband had purchased Dickens's home in 1860 when he had put it up for sale, wrote to Dickens in protest at his portrayal of Fagin, arguing that he had "encouraged a vile prejudice against the despised Hebrew", and that he had done a great wrong to the Jewish people. While Dickens first reacted defensively upon receiving Davis's letter, he then halted the printing of Oliver Twist, and changed the text for the parts of the book that had not been set, which explains why after the first 38 chapters Fagin is barely called "the Jew" at all in the next 179 references to him.

Film, television and theatrical adaptations

Oliver Twist (1909), the first adaptation of Dickens' novel, a silent film starring Edith Storey and Elita Proctor Otis.

Oliver Twist (1912), a British silent film adaptation, directed by Thomas Bentley.

Oliver Twist (1912), an American silent film adaptation starring Nat C. Goodwin.

Oliver Twist (1916), a silent film adaptation, starring Marie Doro and Tully Marshall.

Oliver Twist (1919), a silent Hungarian film adaptation.

Oliver Twist (1922), silent film adaptation featuring Lon Chaney and Jackie Coogan.

Oliver Twist (1933), the first sound production of Dickens' novel.

Oliver Twist (1948), David Lean film adaptation starring Alec Guinness as Fagin.

(1961), Bengali film directed by Bijalibaran Sen which was based on this novel. The film stars Pahari Sanyal, Chhabi Biswas, Sombhu Mitra and Tripti Mitra.

(1968), British musical adaptation, winner in the Best Picture category at the 41st Academy Awards.

Oliver Twist (1974), an animated film co-written by Ben Starr.

Oliver Twist (1982), an Australian animated film.

Oliver & Company (1988), Disney full-length animated feature inspired by the story of Oliver Twist. The story takes place in modern-day New York City, with Oliver (voiced by Joey Lawrence) portrayed as an orphaned kitten, the Dodger as a street-wise mongrel (voiced by Billy Joel), and Fagin (voiced by Dom DeLuise) as a homeless bum who lives on the docks with his pack of stray dogs that he trains to steal so he can survive and repay his debt to loan shark Sykes (voiced by Robert Loggia).

(1996), an independent film based on Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist set in the gay underground sub-culture of New York City in the 1990s and starring Emmy Award, Tony Award, Grammy Award winner Billy Porter and Academy Award nominee William Hickey (actor) directed by Seth Michael Donsky.

Oliver Twist (1997), directed by Tony Bill and starring Richard Dreyfuss and Elijah Wood.

(2003), an independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist (2005), directed by Roman Polanski and starring Barney Clark and Ben Kingsley.

(2021) - Modern day version directed by Martion Owen, and starring Michael Caine as Fagin.

Oliver Twist, a 13 episode 1962 BBC serial directed by Eric Tayler, starring Max Adrian as Fagin and Peter Vaughan as Bill Sikes.

Oliver Twist, a 1982 TV movie directed by Clive Donner, starring George C. Scott as Fagin and Tim Curry as Bill Sikes.

Oliver Twist, a 12 episode 1985 BBC One drama directed by Gareth Davies, starring Eric Porter and Michael Attwell.

Oliver Twist, 1999 ITV drama adaptation starring Andy Serkis and Keira Knightley.

Oliver Twist, a five episode 2007 BBC One drama directed by Coky Giedroyc, starring Timothy Spall and Tom Hardy.

Saban's Adventures of Oliver Twist, a 52 episode animated American-French co-production that aired between 1996 and 1997, where the story is downplayed for younger viewers, where Oliver loses his mother in a crowd rather than being dead and the characters are represented by anthropomorphic animals. Oliver in this version is a young dog.

Escape of the Artful Dodger, an Australian TV series set as a sequel, where Dodger and Oliver are sent to the colony of Australia.

In 1838 Charles Zachary Barnett's adaptation, the three-act burletta Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress opened at the Marylebone Theatre in London .

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Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy's Progress is Charles Dickens's second novel, and was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and released as a three-volume book in 1838, before the serialisation ended. The story centres on orphan Oliver Twist, born in a workhouse and sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker.

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Available in the library!

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Read 285 reviews from the world’s largest community for readers. Inspired by a true story. It’s 1940, and Joseph has been packed off to stay with Mrs F, a …

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A gripping heart-in-your-mouth adventure told by Eve, a Tudor girl who sets out on a dangerous journey to change her life for the better.

Eve and her mother, who was stolen from her family in Mozambique as a child, from the Southwark slums of Elizabethan London to England's southern coast. When they hear from a Mary Rose survivor that one of the African free-divers who was sent to salvage its treasures is alive and well and living in Southampton, mother and daughter agree to try to find him and attempt to dive the wreck of another ship, rumoured to be rich with treasures. But will the pair survive when the man arrives to claim his 'share'?

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Detail

Author: Patrice Lawrence

Format: Paperback

Size: 128 mm x 198 mm

Pages:172

Reading age: 8 - 12 years

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A gripping heart-in-your-mouth adventure told by Eve, a Tudor girl who sets out on a dangerous journey to change her life for the better. Every purchase supports Shakespeare's Globe. Worldwide delivery

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Eliza Rose Camperdowne is young and headstrong, but she knows her duty well. As the only daughter of a noble family, she must one day marry a man who is very grand and very rich.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Adam of the Road is a novel by Elizabeth Janet Gray Vining. Vining won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1943 from the book. Set in thirteenth-century England, the book follows the adventures of a young boy, Adam. After losing his spaniel and minstrel father, Adam embarks on a series of escapades throughout medieval England. The book is illustrated by Robert Lawson.

Adam is an eleven-year-old boy who wants to be like his father, Roger, and to do so he tries to be the best minstrel in England. At the beginning of the story, Adam and his friend Perkin are in St Alban's Abbey, where they go to an old lady's house to visit Adam's dog, Nick. They return to their home at the monastery and go to the roadside to find Roger is coming back from his long journey as a knight's minstrel. Roger tells Adam that he is going to London to follow in the knight's train. Adam is allowed to come, but he must hurry because the knight leaves the next day. While on the road, Adam meets Margery, the daughter of the knight, in a beautiful carriage. In the morning, following a night of feasting and partying, Roger tells Adam he lost his warhorse, Bayard, in a bet with another minstrel named Jankin.

One night, while Roger and Adam are sleeping, Jankin steals Nick. Adam worries that Jankin will mistreat Nick. When Adam and Roger discover Nick is gone, they chase Jankin across England. When Adam sees Jankin in a crowded marketplace, he pursues him and is separated from Roger. Now Adam is separated from both Roger and Nick and he has to find both alone. Adam makes friends along the way and with their help, finds Nick with Perkin. Roger, Adam and Nick are eventually reunited in Oxford. Adam is offered a place at an Oxford college, but decides to be a minstrel, like his father and with his father.

While in England researching her biography Penn, Vining explored the Chiltern Hills. There she "found the inspiration that she later tapped" for Adam of the Road. Originally intending to write a collection of minstrel stories, "she became so captivated by the thought of the minstrels themselves that she cast aside her first inclination all together", and Adam of the Road resulted instead.

Adam of the Road received the 1943 Newbery Award for "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". At the time Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review for books of "remarkable merit", saying that Gray "writes so much better than most authors of juveniles (or for that matter most authors) that it is a delight to find a subject which is particularly suited to her pen... A good yarn, well told". The Saturday Review cited "adventures on the great high-roads and in the big country fairs and market towns", adding that the "swiftly-paced story makes history... fun".

Vining's careful handling of history continues to receive praise from reviewers. Children's literature expert May Hill Arbuthnot calls the author "a careful historian... her tales have all the authentic minutiae of everyday life long ago". According to 20th-Century Children's Writers, Adam is "not so much a young boy of the period... but... a means for interpreting the historical period". Children's Literature journal called the book "engaging and beautifully written", saying that "although over sixty years old, Gray's story... remains one that today's reader can relate to".

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Adam of the Road is a novel by Elizabeth Janet Gray Vining. Vining won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1943 from the book. Set in thirteenth-century England, the book follows the adventures of a young boy, Adam.

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The Crowfield Curse (Crowfield Abbey, #1)

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Read 409 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. An angel is buried behind the abbey! It's 1347, and Will, an orphan boy, lives and works a...

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A fictional account based on real events.

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Tariq Ali is a very well known left-wing historian of Pakistani origin based in the UK. The first four books of Ali's Islam Quintet tell the story of how Islamic Empires rose and fell in a non-Eurocentric manner. All the books are unrelated and can be read independently from the others. The fifth book, to be set in the modern world, is yet to be released.

Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree is set in Granada after the Re-Conquest by Ferdinand and Isabella. The Moors are defeated but not out. When Granada surrendered without a fight, the last Moorish bastion to fall to Ferdinand and Isabella, the Moors living there were promised the freedom to practice Islam, speak in Arabic and live as they had always done for generations. Archbishop Talavera who is responsible for Granada is a tolerant man who releases an Arabic-Latin dictionary and tries to win over the Muslims by the force of his argument. Yes, the Catholic Church does desire the conversion of all Muslims even then, but it is to be done in a peaceful manner. Talavera does not make much headway. And so, a few years after the re-conquest, Talavera is replaced by Archbishop Ximenes de Cisernos, a fanatic if ever there was one.

The book opens with a heart-rending scene in which Ximenes orders the burning off all books in Granada in order to destroy Moorish culture. The Moorish populace is shocked and sickened, but helpless. The books contain advances in medicine, science and astronomy that European Christians have no clue about. A few hundred medical books are kept aside by Ximenes who is aware of what he is doing. Individual acts by Christian soldiers save a few more books. But most books are burnt.

Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree revolves around the Hudayl clan, migrants from Damascus, who have lived in a village on the outskirts of Granada for many generations. The Hudayl's are portrayed as good, fun-loving people, with all the vices that ruling aristocracies normally possess. They drink, womanise and philosophise - not necessarily in that order. The only problem here is that the Moors are no longer in power. Also, the Inquisition is in full-swing in Granada. Ximenes uses every trick in the book to convert Muslims and Jews to Christianity. Many Jews convert, as do a few Muslims. However, Ximenes does not trust the converts. He knows that many have converted to save their lands. Such converts are persecuted by the Inquisition.

The Hudayls and other Moorish nobles are aware that their time is up. There is vain talk of an insurrection, but the Moors have gone soft and they are incapable of martyrdom. In all probability, this is an accurate description of all empires in their twilight. The Romans and the Mughals are unlikely to have been much different in their respective periods of decline. They make various plans, including a plan to assassinate Ximenes, but one does not see any action. However, towards the end, Ximenes puts them in a situation where they have no choice but to revolt. The revolt is doomed from the start, individual acts of bravery notwithstanding. As the history books tell us, the surviving Moors leave Granada for various places in northern Africa.

There are so many things about this book that I liked. Te begin with, Tariq Ali's non-Eurocentric approach means that the focus of the story is very much on the Moors and not on the Europeans. Ali uses Moorish names throughout. Therefore, Granada is Gharnata, Cordoba is Qurtuba, Spain is Al-Andalus, Seville is Ishbiliya and the like. The names give the reader a feeling of authenticity. Ali is a historian and story-teller par excellence, of a calibre not much inferior to William Dalrymple. In fact, sections of this novel showing how Moors, Christians and Jews lived together in harmony until Ximenes arrived in Granada reminded me of the White Mughals, whilst the bits about the decline of the Moors have a lot in common with the Last Mughal.

There is one aspect of the book that disappointed me. Ali's description of Moorish knights invariably shows them with red beards and blue eyes. It is well-known that the Moors in Spain were a mix of Berbers and Arabs who came in replenishing waves from Africa. For example, the Almoravids came to Spain in 1086 and they ruled an empire which extended well into sub-Saharan Africa. They were followed by the Almohades who arrived in Spain after conquering Libya. That being a case, it would have helped to have a few characters with swarthy features. I was actually looking forward to a few descriptions which showed a world where white skin was not a sign of superiority, a world where people of colour mingled on equal terms with those of fair skin. Unfortunately, this I did not find. In fact, there's a scene where the characters say (this is not necessarily Ali's view) that whilst Jews look different from the others, Moors and Christians look the same. True, there were Moriscos - Moors who had converted to Christianity and Marranos - Jews who had converted to Christianity, who must have been identical to the Moors and the Jews. And there were many Muwallads, native Christians who had converted to Islam. But to project a picture of a homogenous looking population is suspicious to say the least.

While reading this book and afterwards, the main question that struck me was, is this book an accurate depiction of Moorish Spain? Not only are the men highly educated creatures of pleasure, the women are not much far behind. For example, one of the daughters of the Hudayl clan is shown to be having sex with her betrothed a day before her wedding with the semi-approval of her parents. Later when the Moors revolt, the women fight alongside the men, and they fight to the death. Did the Moors of Spain subscribe to values that would be called 'modern' even in today's world? This is something I am not in a position to pass judgement on. However, I do wish that Tariq Ali had inserted a few citations of authority or directed his readers to his sources of information.

Also, in the various references which the Moorish nobles allude to their past history, the picture painted is a mainly rosy one. There is no mention of the persecution of Christians or Jews, though Wikipedia tells me otherwise. It is an accepted fact that Jews were treated better in Muslim Spain than in the rest of Europe, but that doesn't mean they were not persecuted. For example, in 1066, a Muslim mob slaughtered over 1,500 Jews in a single day, an event referred to as the Granada massacre. Islamic rules on blasphemy meant that the Christian faith could not be practiced freely most of the time. In the mid-10th century the great Al-Mansur started to lead expeditions into Christian territory. In 997 the Moorish army captured Santiago de Compostela. They destroyed the shrine and prisoners took the basilica doors and bells to Cordoba where they would be placed in the Mezquita. When the Christians re-captured Cordoba in 1236, they re-consecrated the mosque as the cathedral of Cordoba. Captured Muslims were made to carry the bells, stolen by Al-Mansur two centuries earlier, back to the cathedral in Santiago.

There are a few instances where the characters in this story talk of Moors fighting each other, but these references do not project a clear 3-D image. From what I know, infighting amongst Moors was rampant. For example, the ruler of Granada co-operated with Ferdinand in his capture of Moorish Seville in exchange for Granada's independence.

But hey! This is a work of fiction, and fiction is something to be enjoyed without too many questions being asked, isn't it?

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Book review: Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree by Tariq Ali

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Tariq Ali is a very well known left-wing historian of Pakistani origin based in the UK. The first four books of Ali's Islam Quintet tell t...

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Set in 1814 during the last River Thames Ice Fair, understand how the Empire grew and how the industrial age affected everyone.

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London, 1814. Beneath the frozen Thames, people are disappearing.

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Learn about the Witch trails during the reign of James 1st.

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Doctor Who - Series 11: 8. The Witchfinders

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The Doctor and friends encounter a witch trial and King James I in the 17th century.

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A full fact file on the two eras.

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Tudor History (1485-1603) and Stuart History (1603-1714) Tudor and Stuart Britain

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A website providing information on Tudor History (1485-1603) and Stuart History (1603-1714). Includes information on all the Kings and Queens, important people and event, links to websites of interest, books, pictures, and more.

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The UK had it's own bus boycott - do you know about it?

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Bristol marks 60 years of bus boycott protests

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Surviving protesters and city officials gather to mark 60 years since the pioneering protests.

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A quick introduction to one of the leaders of the Civil Rights movement in America.

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History | KS3 | Dr Martin Luther King - American Civil Rights leader | BBC Teach

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Watch a fictional version of Rosa Parks fighting the bus segregation.

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In Montgomery, Alabama, 1955, the Doctor and her friends encounter Rosa Parks.

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Collection of short stories about women and girls in the 1st World War.
Available in the Library.
Check out our short story shelf for more book collections set in the War years.

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Buy War Girls by Geras, Adèle, Burgess, Melvin, Doherty, Berlie, Hooper, Mary, Fine, Anne, Whyman, Matt, Breslin, Theresa, Nicholls, Sally, House, Rowena (ISBN: 9781783440603) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

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Set during the 1st World War, based on actual events.
Available in the Library.

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Lily has lots of worries. She's struggling to compete in her junior fell-running races and, worse, she's losing her gran to Alzheimer's. But then she discovers her great-great-grandfather's diaries from the First World War. Could his incredible story of bravery help her reconnect with her gran and even give her the inspiration she needs to push through and win?

Written for 9+ children
Published by Barrington Stoke
Available from your local library, bookshops and

Read Chapter 1 of Armistice Runner here
More Barrington Stoke's Press release about the book here.

Remembrance Day 2020

Assembly & Live Q&A more information

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Awards Latest ...

Thanks to your kind nominations, currently, Armistice Runner is on the :

The CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL
Nominations for 2020

shortlist for the UKLA Book Awards 2020

shortlist for Shrewsbury Big Book Award 2020

shortlist for Lancashire Fantastic Book Awards 2019-2020

shortlist for Derbyshire Schools' Book Award 2020

shortlist for the Nottinghamshire ELS Brilliant Book Award

longlist for the Steel City Book Club Awards 2020

longlist for Bury Grammar School Book Award 2020

longlist for Cumbria Schools' Library Service Secondary Spellbinding 2020 book award

I am thrilled that Armistice Runner was voted to win:

the older readers category prize at the FCBG Children's Book Awards!

the Bury Grammar School Book Award - Older Readers Category judged by all Yr 5 - 8 students across 4 schools

the Cheshire Schools Book Award

the KS3 James Reckitt Hull Children's Book Award 2019

the Tees Valley TVED Book of the Year 2019

winner of the Ysgol Bae Baglan Older Reader middle school Book Award 2020

and it has been :

reviewed for The Historical Association's Young Quill Award

shortlisted for the Year 5 Portsmouth Book Award 2019

shortlisted for Essex SLS Junior Book Awards for 2019

recommended on Book Trust's programme list 2019

recommended on Books for Topics 50 reads for Year 5

"A powerful intergenerational tale that honours the forgotten running heroes of November 11th 1918 and examines the devastating
impact of dementia on family relationships in the twenty‑first century."Ailsa Bathgate

Check out our gallery of school responses to Armistice Runner here

Resources

The Armistice Runner Challenge - a running and memory activity for schools Guidelines & certificate
Literacy & Dementia Literacy & Sport

Literacy & History
Cover Prediction Worksheets including:

Who, where, what, when, why etc ?

Predictions and why

Download here

The Fells : Vocabulary Picture by Kim Gibbins and worksheet

Download here
Poster
Download here

(More posters here)
Colouring
Draw a landscape to colour in for the Armistice Runner characters here: Lily (running today) and Ernest (a trench runner in the First World War) here.

(More posters here)

You could also use these to create character profiles ...
Extra resources produced and kindly shared by Mrs Forrest, Framwellgate School, Durham: Student Glossary Student workbook
Download here
Article
Download here

Please feel free to use these images for mapping your pupils ideas about the story, see this example

Another idea used by pupils at Greenbank School was to create these amazing "blackout poems" ...

See also ... Ten national and local opportunities that schools in the UK can take to mark the Armistice centenary this November. http://tompalmer.co.uk/10-ways-schools-can-mark-the-armistice-centenary-this-autumn/

"Armistice Runner is a wonderful story to use in the classroom to explore the history of World War 1. The narrative is compelling and perfectly pitched to bring the big themes of war to young readers without being either too frightening or too reductive. By linking the historical aspect of the story to a modern day character in a familiar setting and emphasising the relatable, human aspects of one soldier's experiences, Tom has skilfully crafted a way for young readers to connect with an event that could too easily seem a world away from them." BOOK FOR TOPICS

Find out more about ...

The First World War and the Armistice here

The inspiration for Armistice Runner here

(See also my First World War story Over the Line)
The story is based very loosely on our family's love of cross country and fell running and the champion fell runner of 100 y ears ago, Ernest Dalzell: researching Over the Line I became fascinated with the Armistice and how hundreds of thousands of men could collectively stop fighting at eleven a.m. after all they had been through. I read that there was no time to lay down communication wires, the allies had been advancing so quickly on the Germans. Runners were used to pass the news on. My daughter is a fell and crosscountry runner (as am I) and I wanted the story to come from the point of view of a girl like her and the other keen children who enjoy running cross country and on the fells. Knowing that many cross-country and fell runners went to fight in the First World War, the story started there. In the muddy fields, along with the parents and grandparents, stand the coaches. Volunteers who give up their time and use their passion to make it possible for millions of children to enjoy dozens of sports every week in the UK. Armistice Runner is dedicated to them.
Themes in this book : 1 The First World War
Today's grandparents are often portrayed in books as retired, cosy and very much hands-on with their grandchildren. Sadly, many more families today are coping with the heartbreaking affect dementia has on their older loved ones. I n Armistice Runner, "Armistice Runner was one of my standout reads of 2018." Scott Evans, The Reader Teacher I tried to capture the impact this has through Lily's warm relationship with her ailing gran.

More First World War Literacy Resources to accompany Over the Line , Wings: Flyboy and Armistice Runner (Posters, videos, playscripts and quizzes) downloadable from here.

Themes in this book : 2 Running

Themes in this book 3 : Dementia

"Thank you so much for dropping this in at my work! It's a beautiful start to a story! I can't wait to read the rest !" https://emilyloveslondon.com/

Videos
"an engaging, exciting and emotionally intense one that will appeal to anyone who enjoys reading about family relationships and how we're all tied to the history of our ancestors" letterpress project

"This is a thoughtful book and ideal for introducing children to the history of the First World War and would be an excellent prompt for discussion on a wide range of topics including dementia, loyalty and forgiveness." Alibrarylady.blog
Accolades

recommended on Book Trust's programme list 2019

recommended on Books for Topics 50 reads for Year 5

reviewed for the Young Quills Award

chosen by Former UK Literacy Association President, Teresa Cremin as her Book of the Year for 2018

Books for Topics September 2018 book of the month

School Reading List's October 2018 book of the month. "a gripping and tense account ... An uplifting story of adversity, this YA book is a pacey page-turner to read in one sitting"

Minerva Read's book of the week Autumn 2018

Reviews

"World War One remains a subject of fascination for readers of all ages, but Tom Palmer finds an original way in to the topic in this poignant new story ... Today and yesterday are seamlessly woven together in a story that will move readers in lots of different ways" ANDREA REECE,
LOVEREADING4KIDS

"The World Wars have provided many an author with fodder for their fiction and there are some truly brilliant books out there as a result. The best are the ones that take a slightly different angle and explore one of millions of individual lives that were affected by those conflicts. 'Armistice Runner' is one such book... The fact that a book with sports and war themes centres around a female character is also a plus point - too often these topics see males take centre stage... As with all truly great children's books it's one that adults will enjoy sharing too, potentially prompting grown-ups to share their own family's history and involvement with the World Wars with their children, thus preserving those stories for another generation." www.thatboycanteach.co.uk

Buy the Book

Visit my Amazon Bookshop here or buy Armistice Runner here

Contact me

E mail me here for signed copies and for more information about my books or use my contact form here.

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Lily has lots of worries. She's struggling to compete in her junior fell-running races and, worse, she's losing her gran to Alzheimer's. But then she discovers her great-great-grandfather's diaries from the First World War. Could his incredible story of bravery help her reconnect with her gran and even give her the inspiration she needs to push through and win?

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After the War, set just after the 2nd World War, following survivors of Auschwitz. Based a actual events.
Available in the library.

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Summer 1945. The Second World War is finally over and Yossi, Leo and Mordecai are among three hundred children who arrive in the English Lake District.

Having survived the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps, they've finally reached a place of safety and peace, where they can hopefully begin to recover.

Will life by the beautiful Lake Windermere be enough to bring hope back into all their lives?

To be published on 7 May 2020 by Barrington Stoke. (Apologies - this publication is slightly delayed from May in the interests of keeping publishers and printers safe. )
After the War is about the three hundred child concentration camp survivors who came to the Lake District nearly 75 years ago (who were known as the Windermere Boys). 10% of author royalties will be donated to the Lake District Holocaust Project.
Reserve a copy now at your local library, bookshops, pre-order on Amazon and Kindle.

Resources

Cover prediction worksheet here

Paper dolls here
VE Day reading comprehension here
Poetry Blackout challenge here

Films of the settings about research and writing After the War to come

For more resources and a free chapter in advance of publication please email admin@tompalmer.co.uk

If you want to know more about this book please use the form below. Please be patient. Our replies are not automated so you will get a personal reply.

Researching After the War

Read my blog about reading and writing history for the FCBG here.

Writing After the War

This year, I have been heavily researching and planning a new children's story, After the War.
Stage 1 Stage 3 Stage 2
I am very grateful to have the kind support of key witnesses, d from Trevor Avery and the Lake District Holocaust Project and from pupils at Grasmere Primary.

There are many stages to my writing "process" but here's an indication ...

If you are want to know more about how I write - often useful for teachers to show pupils - I have some short writing tips films here.

Useful links

www.worldjewishrelief.org/theboys - gives information about their role in the rescue and features some of the children's brief stories

www.worldjewishrelief.org/kindertransport - they were also instrumental in organising the kindertransport and this page has more information.

www.worldjewishrelief.org/archives - more information about the files they hold

Reviews

"How do people find the strength to endure the unendurable? How can they rebuild their lives after witnessing the very worst of what human beings can do to one another? How can love and friendship survive the horrific brutality of war and genocide? After the War tackles these huge questions by following the journey of three boys rescued from Nazi concentration camps at the end of the Second World War. After they are taken to Lake Windermere to recover, we see them struggle to come to terms with the loss of everyone they've ever known and to put the horrors of the camps behind them. This powerful story of a friendship forged in the worst of circumstances is ultimately a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit and a moving act of remembrance." AILSA BATHGATE

For more about what I am currently up to, follow my tweets or tweet me @tompalmerauthor
Thank you.
for my Sign up here newsletter for readers, teachers and librarians with exclusive extracts from forthcoming books, new resources, etc.

More about all my other books for children here

Visit my Bookshop

Email me here for more information or use my contact form here.

PRIVACY & COOKIES POLICY TERMS & CONDITIONS

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Summer 1945. The Second World War is finally over and Yossi, Leo and Mordecai are among three hundred children who arrive in the English Lake District. Having survived the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps, they've finally reached a place of safety and peace, where they can hopefully begin to recover.

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Borrow this from the library. Get some background of the era in a fictional tale.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ruby in the Smoke (1985) is a novel by the English author Philip Pullman. It went on to win the 1987 Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award. It was also adapted for television in 2006. This book is the first of the Sally Lockhart Quartet. It is followed by The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well and The Tin Princess. The book was also adapted for the stage at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2016.

A TV film adaptation written by Adrian Hodges and starring Billie Piper was produced by the BBC. It aired on BBC One on 27 December 2006 and on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery! as The Sally Lockhart Mysteries: The Ruby in the Smoke on 4 February 2007. The UK broadcast attracted 7.07 million viewers. It is notable as marking the TV debut of actor Matt Smith, who would later take over the role of the Eleventh Doctor in , in which Piper had previously featured.

All four Sally Lockhart books were expected to be adapted for television; however, as of January 2015 no information has arisen regarding an adaptation of The Tiger in the Well.

In the summer of 2016, a stage adaptation written and directed by Madeleine Perham was performed at The Pleasance during the Edinburgh Fringe after receiving Pullman's blessing. Running for the month of August in the King Dome venue, the performance was hailed as a critical success, with The Scotsman stating that the show was "a compelling tale, and full of surprises, moral ambiguities and people who are other than they seem". Jane Berg from Three Weeks awarded the show five stars, stating that the show "was one of the most enjoyable hours I've spent at this festival". Broadway Baby, the local reviews website, stated that the show "delighted in its Victorian setting" and was an "excellent piece of storytelling", going on to award The Ruby in the Smoke four stars.

The show was created by new theatre company Reprint Productions (now Escapade), with a cast of six who multi-roled the numerous characters in the show: Rebecca Lenihan, Sydney Austin, Tris Hobson, Martin Coates, Hamish Forbes and Madeleine Golding (who also served as producer and co-founder of Reprint).

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Ruby in the Smoke (1985) is a novel by the English author Philip Pullman. It went on to win the 1987 Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award. It was also adapted for television in 2006. This book is the first of the Sally Lockhart Quartet.

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Lady Mary by Lucy Worsley - drama set in the Tudor courts following the young Mary, daughter of Henry 8th.

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Check this out of the library!

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Buy Women and the Crusades by Nicholson, Helen J. (ISBN: 9780198806721) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

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Check this out from the library!

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God Wills It! - An Illustrated History of the Crusades

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A narrative history of the Crusades, relating the whole dramatic history of the movement which throughout much of the Middle Ages sought to establish Christianity in the place of its birth.

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Check out this book from the library.

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If you agree, we'll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie Notice. This includes using first- and third-party cookies, which store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. Third parties use cookies for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalised ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Click 'Customise Cookies' to decline these cookies, make more detailed choices, or learn more. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie Preferences, as described in the Cookie Notice. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy Notice.

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Christian Jihad: Two Former Muslims Look at the Crusades and Killing in the Name of Christ

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Buy Christian Jihad: Two Former Muslims Look at the Crusades and Killing in the Name of Christ by Caner, Ergun Mehmet, Caner, Emir Fethi (ISBN: 9780825424038) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

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Check out this guide from the library.

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If you agree, we'll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie Notice. This includes using first- and third-party cookies, which store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. Third parties use cookies for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalised ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Click 'Customise Cookies' to decline these cookies, make more detailed choices, or learn more. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie Preferences, as described in the Cookie Notice. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy Notice.

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The Illustrated History of the First Crusades

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This is a highly visual account of the early years of the crusades, with a detailed examination of the first, second and third crusades, and the taking of Jerusalem. This title brings to life a turbulent period of history, examining the religious fervour, motivations and ambitions of the crusadin...

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Need a complete overview? Check out the playlist.

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The Crusades: A Concise Overview for Students

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Need an overview?

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The Crusades 1095-1291 - European and Middle Eastern History

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A whole revision package on the Native Americans, including resources in the description box.

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GCSE History - American West: The Plains Indians

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Watch your way through key moments in the history of medicine.

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Medieval Medicine | Secondary History - Medicine Through Time

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Want to know more about Edward Jenner? Have a listen

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Professor Peter Millican will discover why milkmaids may be to central to the story of vaccination, how smallpox features in popular contemporary literature and what Napoleon thought of an English physician called Edward Jenner.

This episode is part of our History of Pandemics season - follow Professor Peter Millican as he talks to researchers from around the world about some of the devastating pandemics humanity has experienced. Peter and his colleagues will discuss ten major outbreaks: from the Plague of Athens to the West African Ebola outbreak, via the Black Death, Smallpox and Cholera, and ask how these outbreaks have shaped society, what we may be able to learn from them today, and where we might be heading? Find out more at https://bit.ly/TheHistoryOfPandemics

Futuremakers is created in-house at The University of Oxford, and presented by Professor Peter Millican, from Hertford College. The voice actor for this episode was Anna Wilson. The score for the series was composed and recorded by Richard Watts, and the series is written and produced by Ben Harwood and Steve Pritchard.

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Professor Peter Millican will discover why milkmaids may be to central to the story of vaccination, how smallpox features in popular contemporary literature and what Napoleon thought of an English physician called Edward Jenner.

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Want the gory side of medicine? Read on.

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We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie Notice. We also use these cookies to understand how customers use our services (for example, by measuring site visits) so we can make improvements.

If you agree, we'll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie Notice. This includes using first- and third-party cookies, which store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. Third parties use cookies for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalised ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Click 'Customise Cookies' to decline these cookies, make more detailed choices, or learn more. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie Preferences, as described in the Cookie Notice. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy Notice.

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Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine

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Mankind's battle to stay alive is the greatest of all subjects. This brief, witty and unusual book by Britain's greatest medical historian compresses into a tiny span a lifetime spent thinking about millennia of human ingenuity in the quest to cheat death. Each chapter sums up one of these battle...

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Medicine has always been from the view of man, for both doctors and patients - discover the truth.