Last Sunset Of November

A comprehensive history of the Lahore Durbar, the glorious reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his exemplary organizational skills that led to forming of the formidable Sikh army and the fiercely fought Anglo Sikh wars. The Last Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Lahore Durbar recreates history of the Sikh empire and its unforgettable ruler, Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Shukarchakia dynasty. An outstanding military commander, he created the Sikh Khalsa Army organized and armed in Western style, acknowledged as the best in undivided India in the nineteenth century. Ranjit Singh’s death in 1839 and the subsequent decline of the Lahore Durbar, gave British the opportunity to stake their claim in the region till now fiercely guarded by Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army. Captain Amarinder Singh chronicles in detail the two Anglo-Sikh wars of 1845 and 1848. The battles, high in casualties on both the sides led to the fall of Khalsa and the state was finally annexed with Maharaja Duleep Singh, the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh put under the protection of the Crown and deported to England.

Set in Michigan, The Last Sunset chronicles the unexpected and heartwarming journey of Steve Hadley – a restless, cantankerous college student who discovers new meaning for both life and love through friendship with an 83 year old man. Told via insightful vignettes and anecdotes from both the old man’s distant past and the young man’s evolving present, the story seamlessly blends flashbacks and engaging narrative to form a compelling and provocative tale with surprising depth and many layers of meaning. In no small literary feat, the author successfully merges one character’s memories with another’s current life. “Real time” events in the story evolve and coincide with the memories of the past, with the trajectory of both stories ultimately leading to a similar destination. Ordered to complete 1000 hours of community service for a college prank, Steve is “sentenced” to serving his time at the Pioneer Manor Nursing Home in Evergreen, Michigan, run by Nancy Hackett, the head nurse, and her husband Barton Hackett, the Executive Director. It immediately becomes clear that Steve’s time at the nursing home will represent much more than he imagines, and that chance and destiny will be meeting at a surprising crossroads. When Steve pulls into the nursing home in his white mustang, patient Moses Bailey notices the young man and is immediately reminded of his of his own, distant youth – sailing and playing ice hockey in small-town Michigan. His fond reminiscing is interrupted by a pretty yet unassuming student nurse, Dawn McNally, the younger sister of Nurse Hackett. Bailey’s retrospection unfolds through detailed flashbacks, beginning with the summer of 1939, when the struggling artist becomes obsessed with Sarah, a striking, sophisticated woman interested in his paintings – but married to an older man. Enamored of the art and intrigued by the artist, Sarah sees in Moses everything she wishes she had in her own husband. The seeds of a problematic romance are planted as Moses prepares for his first exhibit. Steve’s love interest with Dawn has auspicious beginnings. After he accidentally knocks her to the floor while entering Moses’ room, Steve notices she limps, and believes he caused it. Dawn’s past is revealed as she remembers her childhood dreams of becoming a nurse, but beneath the dreams lies a murky, troubling childhood which drives her simmering anger and hostility toward Steve. The stories of Steve, Dawn and Moses unfold, as Dawn slowly warms up to Steve, and the flashback romance between Moses and Sarah takes shape, unfettered yet seemingly doomed by her unhappy marriage. As Moses deals with the guilt of loving another man’s wife, Steve comes to understand the tension and anger in Dawn, the by-product of a troubled childhood and an abusive father – the man who caused her slight deformity and limp. As the love between Steve and Dawn grows, her own insecurities fade, and her confidence grows. Events unfurl in rapid succession as Steve and Barton clash over his abuse of Dawn. As Steve and Dawn plan a “great escape” designed to fulfill Moses’ wish to see a sunset on lake Michigan one last time before he dies, the heartbreak of long-ago unfulfilled love emerges as Moses and Sarah endure separation bonded by an unshakeable yet forbidden love. As past and present converge, Steve and Dawn fulfill Moses’ wish, and his last sunset coincides with his remembrances of the happiness of his ultimate reunion and marriage to Sarah. When Moses later dies, the young couple returns to the beach to pay tribute to their friend. More than a recounting of fictional characters and events, The Last Sunset delves into deep issues of love, redemption and forgiveness. The almost spiritual connection between circumstance and destiny is revealed as pieces of a larger “life puzzle” fall into place, and the young ultimately learn from the old, and

Fully revised edition with updated information on the surviving members of the orca pod. In 2014, marine biologist Dr Natalie Sanders joined the crew of the research vessel Silurian to seek out Britain's West Coast Community of orca and study them before we lose them forever. Though this orca pod has delighted scientists and whale watchers for years, we still know relatively little about them, and what we do know comes mostly from citizen science and chance encounters. But what is abundantly clear is that pollution, entanglement, military sonar and climate change continue to have an enormous impact on whales and dolphins and other marine life throughout the world's oceans. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the marine world in this age of climate change. A captivating yet poignant account, it takes the reader from the Western Isles of Scotland to Vancouver Island and elsewhere. It also delves deep into the history of our relations with these beautiful and sentient creatures to explain what their loss means and how we can avoid similar tragedies in the future.

Valerie, a third book of poetry by Laurel Highlands Author and Poet William C Semo. When you ask what inspires poetry, it is the friendships of one's life. In this book a dedication of poetry to an old friend who recently passed, one who stood by him and believed in him through his many life struggles. Their friendship, unconditional, always pure and spiritual with a sweet ""I love you."" in parting with one another. ""It is the kind of poetry she liked, the kind she would read. Whether I would hand it to her or just leave it at her doorstep. The kind that I carry with me in my moleskins and whose meaning carries with us all into the hereafter. It is about her and many other things because the heart is all that matters in the end."" -William C Semo

Aden, 20 June 1967: two army Land Rovers burn ferociously in the midday sun. The bodies of British soldiers litter the road. Thick black smoke bellows above Crater town, home to insurgents who are fighting the British-backed Federation government. Crater had come to symbolise Arab nationalist defiance in the face of the world’s most powerful empire. Hovering 2,000 ft. above the smouldering destruction, a tiny Scout helicopter surveys the scene. Its passenger is the recently arrived Commanding Officer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Mitchell. Soon the world’s media would christen him ‘Mad Mitch’, in recognition of his controversial reoccupation of Crater two weeks later. Mad Mitch was truly a man out of his time. Supremely self-confident and debonair, he was an empire builder, not dismantler, and railed against the national malaise he felt had gripped Britain’s political establishment. Drawing on a wide array of never-before-seen archival sources and eyewitness testimonies, Mad Mitch’s Tribal Law tells the remarkable story of inspiring leadership, loyalty and betrayal in the final days of British Empire. It is, above all, a shocking account of Britain’s forgotten war on terror.

Living in a world circumscribed by up-to-the-minute news and electronic tools we barely master before they are out-of-date, we attempt to shield ourselves from environmental events which threaten to overturn our constructed reality. Naturally, in such fast-paced and topsy-turvy surroundings we watch the sky and earth for signs of regularity; looking to the changing seasons for hope and rejuvenation, and seeking out the voices of those who speak of constancy in the changes of the natural world. Hal Borland was such a voice. Every week, beginning in 1941, in the editorial pages of The New York Times he would speak of living on the land—this natural world we all try to understand. In this collection of 365 of his essays, arranged daily within the twelve months, he writes with a familiarity of the ways of the country that is at once humble and resiliently knowledgeable. In Sundial of the Seasons you will find page-long ruminations on such topics as “Fog” (“a unique blend of mood and weather“), “The Bumblebee” (“Bumblebees tolerate man, up to a point”), “Dandelions” (“Neither flood nor drouth seems to discourage it”), and “Fishing” (“The fish caught are only a lesser part of the catch”), all in celebration of the everyday events of life in the country. Begin each day with the gentle wit and wisdom of the person who, for nearly four decades, wrote his “outdoor editorials” in an engaging and inimitable fashion eagerly read by thousands.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer earned critical acclaim for its use of metaphor to explore the conflicts of growth, power, and transgression. Its groundbreaking stylistic and thematic devices, boldness and wit earned it an intensely devoted fan base--and as it approached its zenith, attention from media watchdog groups and the Federal Communications Commission. The grim and provocative evolution of the show over its final two seasons polarized its audience, while also breaking new ground for critical and philosophical analysis. The thirteen essays in this collection, divided into the perspectives of feminist, cultural, auteur and fan studies, explore the popular series' conclusion, providing a multifaceted examination of Buffy's most controversial two seasons.