Lions Triumphant

When the British and Irish Lions set out for Australia in late May, they knew they faced a daunting task. Since the war, only four Lions sides had returned victorious, the last in 1997. In the modern era of professional rugby, some even questioned if the Lions concept still had a place. How could a mixture of of northern hemisphere nations come together and take on the might of one of the southern giants? Under coach Warren Gatland and captain Sam Warburton, the Lions of 2013 looked to overcome the doubters and to show they could still make the Lions roar. As captain, Warburton himself had to face questions over his form and fitness, but he emerged to lead his side to a stunning 23-21 victory in the first Test in Brisbane. The second Test was lost by the narrowest of margins, but the Lions bounced back to record an epic 41-16 triumph to seal the series. In this book, Warburton relives the entire Lions experience, from the moment he learned he had been chosen to captain the side to the time he got to raise the trophy at the end of the tour, and the huge welcome that greeted the squad when they returned home. Packed with insight and revealing details about the Lions preparations, this is the definitive inside account of one of rugby's greatest moments.

DIVPlayed out against the seething rivalry between Inquisition-torn Spain and Elizabethan England, The Lion Triumphant traces the linked fates of strong-willed Catherine Farland and Captain Jake Pennlyon /divDIV Called “The Lion,” Captain Jake Pennlyon is a fearsome and virile plunderer who takes what he wants, and his sights are set on Catherine Farland. Blackmailed into wedlock and haunted by memories of the gentle boy she was forbidden to wed, Cat vows to escape. Fate intervenes when she’s taken prisoner aboard a Spanish galleon . . . unaware that she’s a pawn in one man’s long-awaited revenge./divDIV /divDIVBeginning as Elizabeth takes the throne of England, and spanning the years until the legendary defeat of the Spanish Armada, The Lion Triumphant follows Cat’s journey from the thrill of a first passion to the ferocity of a mother’s love. Despite the twists of history, her fortunes—and her heart—will remain tied to one seductive buccaneer. /div

When the British and Irish Lions set out for Australia in late May, they knew they faced a daunting task. Since the war, only four Lions sides had returned victorious, the last in 1997. In the modern era of professional rugby, some even questioned if the Lions concept still had a place. How could a mixture of of northern hemisphere nations come together and take on the might of one of the southern giants? Under coach Warren Gatland and captain Sam Warburton, the Lions of 2013 looked to overcome the doubters and to show they could still make the Lions roar. As captain, Warburton himself had to face questions over his form and fitness, but he emerged to lead his side to a stunning 23-21 victory in the first Test in Brisbane. The second Test was lost by the narrowest of margins, but the Lions bounced back to record an epic 41-16 triumph to seal the series. In this book, Warburton relives the entire Lions experience, from the moment he learned he had been chosen to captain the side to the time he got to raise the trophy at the end of the tour, and the huge welcome that greeted the squad when they returned home. Packed with insight and revealing details about the Lions preparations, this is the definitive inside account of one of rugby's greatest moments.

Environmentalist, independent researcher and author, Gareth Patterson has spent his entire adult life working tirelessly for the greater protection of African wildlife and, more particularly, for that of the lion. Born in England in 1963, Gareth grew up in Nigeria and Malawi. From an early age he knew where his life's path would take him - it would be in Africa, and his life's work would be for the cause of the African wilderness and its wild inhabitants. His is an all-encompassing African story. From his childhood in West and East Africa to his study of a threatened lion population in a private reserve in Botswana to his work with George Adamson, celebrated as the 'Lion Man' of Africa, we witness Gareth's growing commitment to his life's mission. This is nowhere more evident than in his account of his life as a human member of a lion pride, experiencing life and death through its eyes, as he successfully rehabilitated three famous orphaned lion cubs back into a life in the wilds. At considerable risk to his own personal safety, he exposed the sordid canned lion 'industry' in South Africa, bringing this shameful practice to international attention. After moving to the Western Cape he took up the fight for the African elephant, notably the unique endangered Knysna population, and published his astonishing findings in his 2009 book The Secret Elephants. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the stressful nature of his work, Gareth suffered a massive physical and mental breakdown in his forties, which he discusses here for the first time with an openness that underlines his courage. Lesser men might have been broken, but his 'lion's heart' fought back and he ultimately overcame his illness. Gareth Patterson's long-awaited autobiography is a moving account of one man's single-minded dedication to the preservation of Africa's wildlife. It is also a stark reminder that if the human race does not want to lose Africa's priceless wild heritage, there is no time to waste. 'The lion is my totem animal, and this is the story of my life in Africa, for the lion.'

Here is a small part of my soul I pulled out and shaped like this It is still bleeding, but only a little It won't mess your hands much, And you can wash them after. For years Hugo and Nebula award winning writer Jo Walton has been writing poems and posting them online, first on usenet, then on livejournal, more recently on Patreon. Some have been collected in chapbooks and in Starlings, but most of them have just stayed online. Here at last is a comprehensive collection of her poems from 1996-2020 with table of contents and an index of first lines, and arranged in thematic categories, Love Pain and Death, New Myths For Old Gold, Red As Blood, By Their Spaceships Ye Shall Know Them, Shakespeare, The News, The Turning Year, and Whimsy. Some of the poems are fantastical, others are about everyday life, or politics. If there's one thing that links Walton's very different work it's the quality of "where did that come from?" Here we have a poem about lions becoming extinct after being persecuted by martyrs, one about Henry V's conquest of Constantinople, alongside one about a skydiver friend who died and fell up into the sky. These poems, written over decades, are quirky, unpredictable, and have excellent scansion.