Thirteen Months To Go

The Empire State Building, a construction fear that to this day invokes awe and wonder, began as a contest between two industrial moguls who croved the status of constructing the tallest building in the world. The building was the center of a "race to the skies" competition between Walter Chrysler, of the Chrysler Corporation, and John Jakob Raskob, creator of General Motors, and coincided with the onset of one of the worst economic downturns in American history -- the Great Depression. Thirteen Months to Go encompasses the optimism and potential of 1920s New York. It is a wonderful tribute to the perseverance of New Yorkers and on amazing story of fortitude and ambition.

This Civil War history focuses on Prince William County, Virginia, where two of the war's greatest engagements were fought, thirteen months apart. The First and Second Battles of Manassas are described in profound detail but so are the lives of resident families as a cloud of despair hangs over their lands. The book captures the experiences of leaders and privates, the good and the bad, while revealing horrific accounts of civilian victims, largely undisclosed until the writing of this book.

In a society where love has been tainted and marriage destroyed by the ways of this world, Thirteen Months is the depiction of the ultimate love between a man and a woman, the way God intends it to be. In the face of unspeakable tragedy, every aspect of one couples adventures, both past and present, has forged the bond between them that will carry them into the center of Gods plan. As a physician finding himself in the heart-wrenching position of being totally and utterly helpless to save the love of his life, Don has no power to overcome this foe, save for his faith in God and the power of prayer. A romantic and deeply touching story, Thirteen Months seeks to inspire on every level. It reaches out not only to those finding themselves fighting for their lives, but for couples everywhere who desire more in their marriages and who need to see the fullness of love and depth of romance God desires for them.

Thirteen Months in Dixie tells a rollicking tale of adventure, captivity, hardship, and heroism during the last year of the Civil War—in the protagonist’s own words. After being hidden away for decades as a family heirloom, the incredible manuscript is finally available, annotated and illustrated, for the first time. Oscar Federhen was a new recruit to the 13th Independent Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery, when he shipped out to Louisiana in the spring of 1864 to participate in the Red River Campaign. Not long after his arrival at the front, a combination of ill-luck and bad timing led to his capture. Federhen was marched overland to Tyler, Texas, where he was held as a prisoner of war in Camp Ford, the largest POW camp west of the Mississippi River. Thirteen Months in Dixie recounts Federhen’s always thrilling and occasionally horrifying ordeals as a starving prisoner. The captured artillerist tried his hand at escaping several times and faced sadistic guards and vicious hounds before finally succeeding. But his ordeal was just beginning. The young soldier faced a series of challenges as he made his way cross-country through northeast Texas to reach Union lines. Federhen had to dodge regular Confederates, brigands, and even Comanches in his effort to get home. He rode for a time with Rebel irregular cavalry, during which he witnessed robberies and even cold-blooded murder. When he was recaptured and thought to be a potential deserter, he escaped yet again and continued his bid for freedom. Federhen wrote his recollections in lively engaging style not long after the war, but they sat unpublished until Jeaninne Surette Honstein and Steven Knowlton carefully transcribed and annotated his incredible manuscript. Numerous illustrations grace the pages, including two from Federhen’s own pen. Thirteen Months in Dixie is not only a gripping true story that would have otherwise been lost to history, but a valuable primary source about the lives of Civil War prisoners and everyday Texans during the conflict.

In a society where love has been tainted and marriage destroyed by the ways of this world, Thirteen Months is the depiction of the ultimate love between a man and a woman, the way God intends it to be. In the face of unspeakable tragedy, every aspect of one couple’s adventures, both past and present, has forged the bond between them that will carry them into the center of God’s plan. As a physician finding himself in the heart-wrenching position of being totally and utterly helpless to save the love of his life, Don has no power to overcome this foe, save for his faith in God and the power of prayer. A romantic and deeply touching story, Thirteen Months seeks to inspire on every level. It reaches out not only to those finding themselves fighting for their lives, but for couples everywhere who desire more in their marriages and who need to see the fullness of love and depth of romance God desires for them.

Ethiopians have not completely put that historical famine – of ‘Live Aid’ times – behind them and they struggle to understand or to keep up with the Western world, including their ever-advancing technology. Education there is seen as a key to success but balancing developments alongside embedded tribal and superstitious beliefs is not easy. At least now schools have moved from drawing in the dust under a shady tree, into purpose-built structures – with or without resources. It was into this environment Valerie was placed when, following the dramatic changes in her circumstances, she made her momentous decision to put her comfortable English life on hold and to replace it with a year in that developing country. At 58, not only did she use her life skills and teaching experience in the northern town of Mekelle, but she lived through a potentially dangerous political time. Valerie used in-country transport to visit some amazing places which included her medal-winning run in Addis Ababa! Partly to record every little detail but also to maintain some sort of sanity, she kept a detailed diary throughout that roller coaster year. This book gives the reader a combination of an entertaining personal read of diaried key events, alongside her own Ethiopian life with its water conservation, frugal diet, wind, dust and much more. Valerie records an honest and sometimes harrowing insight into the little-known everyday existence of Ethiopians.

A young woman sits by her father’s deathbed, lamenting her failure to keep a promise to him… A struggling writer walks every inch of the city in search of inspiration, only to find it is much closer than she imagined… A girl collapses from hunger at the side of the road and is rescued by the most unlikely of saviours... In this powerful, debut collection, Rania Mamoun expertly blends the real and imagined to create a rich, complex and moving portrait of contemporary Sudan. From painful encounters with loved ones to unexpected new friendships, Mamoun illuminates the breadth of human experience and explores, with humour and compassion, the alienation, isolation and estrangement that is urban life. Translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette. It is a phenomental, exacting collection. It's intense and intimate, and always bordering, with absolute control, on the subversive and erotic. It's also very funny - Rania Mamoun is an extraordinary talent.'- Preti Taneja, author of We That Are Young ‘A stunning collection, remarkable for its sweet clarity of voice and startling depictions of the marginalised and the destitute. With mastery, Rania Mamoun reaches straight into the heartbeat of her subject matter, laying bare humanity in all its tenderness and tenacity.’ – ‘A stunning collection, remarkable for its sweet clarity of voice and startling depictions of the marginalised and the destitute. With mastery, Rania Mamoun reaches straight into the heartbeat of her subject matter, laying bare humanity in all its tenderness and tenacity.’ - Leila Aboulela, author of Elsewhere Home