Fergus Mason

Just for a moment try to put every shopping trip you've ever made out of your head. Imagine a different world. Imagine that all the goods for sale are locked away in cabinets and to handle them, or even to examine them closely, you need to ask a shop assistant to open it up for you. Imagine that within seconds of entering a store a floorwalker approaches you and asks if you're planning to buy something - then, when you say "I'm just looking," rudely tells you to leave. Imagine any attempt to return faulty or unsuitable goods being met with ridicule, obstruction or a flat refusal to help you. Until the late 19th century people didn't have to imagine that; it was reality. For anyone alive today a visit to the average store back then would convince you that they didn't really want to sell you anything. The idea of customer service was an alien one. Stores sold things. If you wanted to buy them, fine. If you didn't they weren't really interested. Browsing was strongly discouraged and impulse buys were almost unheard of. Shopping was something you did when you had to. It certainly wasn't something anyone enjoyed. Then, in the late 1880s, one man came along and changed all that. His name was Harry Gordon Selfridge and this is the story of his life.

The story of music in the United States of America is a long and colorful one. With so many different nationalities blending together to form a single nation they've all added their own musical traditions to the mix, and the results have been remarkable. Probably the biggest single contribution has come from the African-American community. Rhythms developed from traditional African music have evolved into several new genres and influenced many more. From jazz to the blues, from hip-hop to hard rock, almost everything in popular music has its roots in the churches and music clubs of the American South. One of the most talented and determined performers of the 20th century, without a doubt, was James Brown. Born into appalling poverty in the rural south, the man who'd later be known as Soul Brother #1 showed musical ability at an early age. Unfortunately it looked like it would be squandered when he turned to a life of street crime, ending up sentenced to a lengthy prison term at the age of sixteen. A chance meeting and a willingness to work hard earned him a second chance - and he made the most of it.

★★★ In the shadow of every great man is a greater woman ★★★T. E. Lawrence is often credited with bringing diplomacy to the Middle East; in the shadows of every great man you will often find an even greater woman. In Lawrence's case, that woman's name was Gertrude Bell. In a time when women didn't go to school, Bell did; in a time when women didn't join the army, Bell secured a job at the Army Intelligence Headquarters in Cairo; she spoke Arabic, Persian, French and German. She knew the Middle Eastern terrain and culture better than almost any Westerner of her time. In a male driven world, Bell managed to become one of the greatest policy makers the world has ever known; without her, the Middle East might very well be a much different place, and her influence in the territory gave her the nickname "Queen of the Desert." This biography tells the extraordinary story of one of the most adventurous and fascinating women you will ever encounter.

In the American Revolution...they were there-there in the Civil War...the Boer War, The First World War... The Second World War... The Vietnam War-they were there in every single American war...in the Shadows; they are the American Sniper. This book goes way back to the origins-to the very first snipers to ever fight in an American war, and traces there roots throughout American history. Along the way it will trace their training and various weaponry.

On August 21, 1971, Black Panther leader, George Jackson, was shot dead while trying to escape from California's San Quentin Prison. Thousands of miles away, inmates of Attica Prison in New York hear the news and believe the death was a racially charged murder. On September 9, 1971, the unthinkable happens: prisoners riot and are able to completely overtake the prison. This is the remarkably true story-in gripping, page-turning detail

He plotted to kill Pope John Paul...to crash a plane into CIA headquarters...to blow 11 airliners flying from Asia to the United States. But it isn't the things that he plotted that he is known for--it's the one that was carried out: the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Today the attack is largely overshadowed by 9/11, but at the time it was one of the most memorable attacks on American soil. This book provides insight into Yousef life, his planning of the attacks, and, perhaps, one of the most bizarre twists of fates of any Islamic extremist: how he allegedly became a born again Christian while in prison.

★★★ Did the mafia kill JFK? ★★★Sam Giancana is one of the most famous gangsters in U. S. history, with rumored links to the CIA and President Kennedy. But was he really involved in the assassination attempt on Fidel Castro and the assassination of J. F. K.? This thrilling bio gives you all the details on one of America's most fascinating underworld figures.