A Dream Realised

'How can there be only one dedicated hospital in the country for our children?' When Madiba asked this question, he sowed the seeds of a challenge that would grow into a legacy. A seed may be small but its size is disproportionate to what it can become over time. The Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital was a project that seemed impossible when it was just an idea that started with ten people seated around a dinner table. As they discussed the state of healthcare in the country and shared their experiences, they realised that it was the children of Southern Africa who were the most disadvantaged by the lack of dedicated paediatric facilities. At the end of the evening a statement by the late Dr Nthato Motlana took hold and became the catalyst for a remarkable journey: 'I will speak to Nelson,' he said. With South Africa's first democratically elected president Nelson Mandela's backing, the board of the Children's Fund was inspired to take up the challenge to address this vital need. After years of global research and advice from experts in numerous different fields a Trust was formed to oversee the project and, critically, to set about raising the one billion rand it would take to build, equip and staff a state-of-the-art children's hospital. The stories behind the planning for, fundraising and building of the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital are inspiring, personal, and sometimes heart-breaking. It was a long and arduous journey, beset with difficulties, but the dedicated team's commitment and courage prevailed to create a living legacy that will truly impact the lives of children for generations to come. Today, the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital in Johannesburg is a proud testimony to a uniquely African story which honours the memory of a great statesman and celebrates the children for whom he cared so deeply.

I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull. He got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his trade, lived afterwards at York, from whence he had married my mother, whose relations were named Robinson, a very good family in that country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but, by the usual corruption of words in England, we are now called—nay we call ourselves and write our name—Crusoe; and so my companions always called me. I had two elder brothers, one of whom was lieutenant-colonel to an English regiment of foot in Flanders, formerly commanded by the famous Colonel Lockhart, and was killed at the battle near Dunkirk against the Spaniards. What became of my second brother I never knew, any more than my father or mother knew what became of me. Being the third son of the family and not bred to any trade, my head began to be filled very early with rambling thoughts. My father, who was very ancient, had given me a competent share of learning, as far as house-education and a country free school generally go, and designed me for the law; but I would be satisfied with nothing but going to sea; and my inclination to this led me so strongly against the will, nay, the commands of my father, and against all the entreaties and persuasions of my mother and other friends, that there seemed to be something fatal in that propensity of nature, tending directly to the life of misery which was to befall me.

This unique collection of Daniel Defoe's greatest adventure novels has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards. Novels: "Robinson Crusoe" – Defoe's most famous novel tells the story of a man's shipwreck on a desert island for thirty years and his subsequent adventures. "Colonel Jack" – Colonel Jack follows an orphaned boy from a life of poverty and crime to colonial prosperity, military and marital imbroglios, and religious conversion, driven by a problematic notion of becoming a "gentleman." "Captain Singleton" – an adventure story that covers a traversal of Africa and taps into the contemporary fascination with piracy. "Moll Flanders" – The titular heroine appears as a whore, bigamist, and thief, commits adultery and incest, and yet manages to retain the reader's sympathy. "Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress" – The novel follows the adventures of a young woman from wealth, to prostitution, to freedom. "The Consolidator" – In this satirical novel, which mixes fantasy with political and social satire, Defoe's narrator travels to the moon. "Memoirs of a Cavalier" – This novel is set during the Thirty Years' War and the English Civil War. It is presented as a military journal of the Wars in Germany and England. "The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" – The sequel to "Robinson" describes how Crusoe traveled back in Bedford. Biography: Daniel Defoe by William Minto Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), was an English writer, journalist, and spy, most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is noted for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, and he is considered one of the founders of the English novel.

A New Introduction to American Studies provides a coherent portrait of American history, literature, politics, culture and society, and also deals with some of the central themes and preoccupations of American life. It will provoke students into thinking about what it actually means to study a culture. Ideals such as the commitment to liberty, equality and material progress are fully examined and new light is shed on the sometimes contradictory ways in which these ideals have informed the nation's history and culture. For introductory undergraduate courses in American Studies, American History and American Literature.