David Craig

In the Clearances of the 19th century, crofts - once the mainstay of Highland life in Scotland - were swept away as the land was put over to sheep grazing. Many of the people of the Highlands and islands of Scotland were forced from their homes by landowners in the Clearances. Some fled to Nova Scotia and beyond. David Craig sets out to discover how many of their stories survive in the memories of their descendants. He travels through 21 islands in Scotland and Canada, many thousands of miles of moor and glen, and presents the words of men and women of both countries as they recount the suffering of their forbears.

It is no secret that the impact of painful events upon a life can change everything - priorities, relationships, attitudes, behaviors - at least for a while. But after the pain is gone, the debris is cleared away, and the fear has subsided, human beings inevitably attempt to renegotiate the desperation-based promises made to God in exchange for his divine intervention. Why does it take a potentially deadly illness or catastrophic event to get our attention? Why do we tend to disregard God's plan to use such circumstances to teach us valuable lessons? Why do we invariably forget the lessons, ignore the lessons, or simply fail to apply them to subsequent life experiences? IT'S OKAY TO FAIL THE TEST is the true story of one man's struggle to learn the many lessons God is trying to teach him without having to take the test again and again. After ten years of managing the threat of "death by cancer" this preacher's kid from Oregon ultimately recognizes that God will use whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to get and keep his attention. Twenty-five years after deserting his faith, abandoning his call to ministry, forsaking his relationship with God, and slumbering under the spell of self-sufficiency, the author is rudely awakened by the discovery of a large cancerous tumor growing in his throat. His unwillingness to believe that the doctor always knows best just because he's the doctor produces the startling revelation that what is often called a "terminal illness" can, in reality, be a "chronic disease". The discovery of the tumor also leads him to a re-examination of his relationship with God and the series of promises he made in exchange for his life. His quest to learn why the cancer returns on multiple occasions after obvious miracle healing produces an understanding that God does not always provide answers to our questions or an explanation for our circumstances. That God does indeed chasten those he loves. And that God most often wants us to trust him simply because he asks us to.

Over the past decade some £3 trillion - equivalent to £50,000 for every person in Britain - has been taken from us by the ruling elites. Half was wasted in a splurge of poorly-managed public spending in the 'boom', while the other half evaporated in the 'bust' - siphoned off by city bonuses, vaporised by a collapse in pension savings and extorted to bail out the banking sector. In their explosive new book, David Craig and Matthew Elliott trace where the money has gone and who has become richer as a result. They name and shame the 'guilty': the incompetent bureaucrats that fail to deliver the services the taxpayer deserves; the multitude of ineffective regulators and watchdogs; the politicians that have betrayed our democracy and enriched themselves; and the self-serving and arrogant city bankers. Moreover, they calculate the enormous debt that awaits the British taxpayer as a result of our rulers' avarice and economic mismanagement. Fleeced! charts the greatest impoverishment and tax swindle of the public in British history.

In this EU referendum year, it's time for people across Europe to look at what really goes on in Brussels in our name. It has been estimated that the EU costs us around £1,000 billion a year - an incredible £2000 for every man, woman and child in Europe. So what do we get for our money? Politicians and administrators selflessly working to bring us efficient government? Well-targeted regulations that promote economic prosperity? A safe and free society? A well-protected environment? Help for people in poorer countries? Or is our money being squandered by a self-serving euro-elite of unaccountable politicians and incompetent bureaucrats, or else devoured in a feeding frenzy of fraud and corruption where a few lucky insiders become unimaginably rich at our expense? And is the tsunami of regulation pouring out of Brussels in reality strangling industry, destroying jobs, restricting personal freedom, desecrating the environment and further impoverishing the developing world? Using their extensive network of insider sources, David Craig and Matthew Elliott smash through the secrecy and disinformation that are the Brussels hallmark to reveal what our European rulers are really getting up to. The result is a horrifying story of bureaucracy, hypocrisy and kleptocracy - and how we are all suffering as a result.

Over the last ten years, New Labour has boosted public spending by around a trillion pounds - that's £1,000,000,000,000 of our taxes - over £50,000 for every household in Britain. But what have we got for our money? Effective and responsive public services that are the envy of the world? Or the creation of a vast, self-serving bureaucracy that has presided over the greatest waste of money in British history? With so much money, a tsunami of extra cash, being thrown at public services - health, education, policing, defence, social services and public administration - there have been some successes. Nevertheless, the results of the Government's tidal wave of extra spending have been worse than pitiful. In department after department, it is the same sorry story - a triple whammy of incompetence, cover-up and cuts that have all but decimated public services, while those responsible have lavished money and honours on themselves. David Craig exposes the sometimes tragic, sometimes comic story of how New Labour's years of mismanagement have led to a bureaucratization of Britain that has squandered almost unimaginable amounts of taxpayers' money, caused irreparable damage to all our lives and rewarded the man responsible with the keys to Number 10.

The best journalists are masters at their craft. With a comma and a colon, a vivid verb and a colorful adjective, they not only convey important information but also create a sense of place and evoke powerful emotions. A compelling story can shape—for good or ill—the way a reader understands people, events, and issues. The Ethics of the Story examines the ethical implications of narrative techniques commonly used in journalism, not just literary journalism but also news and feature writing. The book draws on interviews with 60 talented journalists, including Pulitzer Prize winners, to offer practical advice about ethical choices in writing and editing. Much has been written about journalism ethics, but the discussion has often focused on spectacularly bad decisions—such as Jayson Blair’s and Jack Kelley’s use of fraudulent narrative—rather than the ethical dimension of day-to-day choices about the building blocks of journalistic storytelling. The Ethics of the Story fills a gap in current work on ethics, writing, and editing. It will enlighten any serious wordsmith with a story to tell.

In their crusade to modernise public services, New Labour are giving vast amounts of taxpayers' money to management and IT systems consultants. They are everywhere - the Inland Revenue, MoD, Education Department, NHS and Downing Street. But are these management wizards giving us schools and hospitals that will be the envy of the world, or are they just siphoning off billions that should have been spent on the frontline services? And the biggest and most expensive consulting catastrophe of them all may still be yet to come - up to GBP 30 billion taken out of patient care to pay for the new NHS computer system. Isn't it time to ask how our money is really being spent?

This novel, from a foremost expert on the Clearances, tells the story of Flo Campbell and her eviction from the family's island home, and all her subsequent struggles. The compelling storyline has terrific energy, from the Battle of the Braes and Flo's departure from the island to her travels and employment on Skye and beyond. Flo's spirit remains unquenched whether challenged by the faithlessness of lovers or the callousness of employers and she is a historical witness who embodies the undying memories of her Highland people. She spends much of her life in the lowlands of Britain and in this as in many ways she incarnates the crofters, fishermen, labourers and artists who spring from that epic northern terrain. This is a masterful portrayal of the perverse power and wretched consequences of the Clearances and how they transformed the lives of individuals, and also the power of a native landscape in a Celtic breast.

At last, an insider takes the lid off Management Consulting and reveals how too often this vast and secretive business has become a licence to siphon off almost unlimited quantities of clients' money. In this book the author shows that there can sometimes be truly great management consultancy. However, he also reveals how most of the worlds major management consultancies have become vast and incredibly profitable factories churning out thousands of almost identical "warm bodies", whose time must be sold to clients, whether clients have problems to be solved or not.

A terrific take on theatre singing by a master teacher. David Craig knows more about singing in the musical theatre than anyone in this country ä which probably means the world. Time and time again his advice and training have resulted in actors moving from non-musical theatre into musicals with ease and expertise. SHORT OF TAKING CLASSES THIS BOOK IS A MUST. ä Harold Prince

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