Brian Hodgkinson – författare

This engaging poem depicts Winston Churchill as a hero, in traditional epic style and echoes the works of Homer and Virgil. The metre adds an emotional intensity to the events of 20th century history more usually found within Classical literature. The narrative covers the period from 1940, when Great Britain faced perhaps the greatest threat to its very existence as an independent nation: invasion and defeat by the rampant forces of Nazi Germany, to 1941 when the United States entered the war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In this acute crisis King George VI appointed a man whose reputation and earlier political success were questioned by many influential figures. Yet public opinion and some wiser men and women of substance, such as Lord Halifax, the alternative choice as Prime Minister at the time, determined the outcome. Their choice was thoroughly vindicated by the events that followed. His courage, boldness, rhetoric and inspiration united the country in its solitary stand against the might of the Luftwaffe and the potential landing of the dreaded Wehrmacht on British soil.Under his leadership the Royal Air Force defeated the Luftwaffe's attack, foiling Hitler's plans to invade England to the extent that he began to think instead of attacking his apparent ally, the Soviet Union, and to leave Britain to wither alone. Churchill knew that that he had only won a respite, but he set about to strengthen the country and to turn it from defence to aggression. The bomber force was developed, the army enlarged and re-equipped, the navy set to the task of eliminating German surface marauders and submarines. The population at large were motivated to make a supreme effort to resist the still extant threat to their whole way of life. Until Hitler attacked Russia, Britain stood alone, confronting a Europe largely controlled by the Nazis and their allies. To Stalin he offered full support: Hitler was the immediate threat to a civilised world. Only when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the USA into the war, did he realise that Germany - and Japan - were sure to be defeated. He had led the British people from the brink of utter disaster to the expectation of victory.

Why are so many trapped in poverty, when others are grossly well-off? Why are house prices continuously rising faster than inflation? Why do people so often find themselves in jobs that give them little sense of fulfilment? Why is a multi-national coffee shop franchise not actually making its money from coffee. These questions have confronted the UK economy for decades without resolution by governments of the right or left. It is the failure of economics, the author argues. Economists have long asserted that three factors of production, land, labour and capital, lie at the root of their subject. Yet in the development of the subject into theories and practical applications there has been a thorough analysis of labour and capital but a grievous omission of the factor of land. This is reflected in the minimal place it holds in modern textbooks, in popular discussion and political debate. Much of the argument about major issues, like industrial policy, the distribution of wealth and income and government policy reverts to a polarised struggle between two antagonists, labour and capital. The third factor, land, hides in the background unacknowledged yet exerting a major influence on the outcome of the whole economic process. What needs to change, the author argues, are deeply embedded features, which have generally been established for a very long time. They are principally the taxation system, the land tenure system, and the banking system. Review copies and media publicity is being sought as the subject matter of the book is very topical – the general recognition that the system isn’t working for all.

Tudor Paperwork: accounts revealing the trials and tribulations of church officials during the Reformation period.The Louth churchwarden's accounts are some of the county's most comprehensive surviving parish records. These continue in an almost unbroken sequence from the beginning of the sixteenth century, opening a panorama on the financial undertakings of a large and relatively prosperous parish church. The first published transcription, edited by Reginald Dudding, Rector of Saleby (1859-1937), covered the years 1500/1 to 1523/4 and recount the construction of the church's magnificent spire in considerable detail. The documents transcribed in this present publication date from 1527/8 to 1570/1 and comprise of two volumes now deposited in the Lincolnshire Archives. These, alongside the comprehensive parish registers commencing in 1538, illustrate the fiscal and social interactions between a local parish church and its parishioners. Importantly, although these texts are in hindsight historically significant, to the churchwardens of the period they were primarily a statement of the financial situation of the church; merely Tudor paperwork.

Based on the Second World War, this narrative poem, with its evocative drawings, captures the devastation of this global war and the dramatic events that took place. It is the author’s dedication to the courage displayed by men and women of every participating nation, but especially by those who fought for the ideals of freedom and justice against tyranny and humanity.This narrative poem seeks to give a comprehensive view of the most extensive and devastating war that has ever occurred. It deals with both the West, where fighting was prolonged in Europe, North Africa and on the sea, and also the Far East, where predominantly American forces fought the Japanese. The British role includes accounts of the Dambusters' raid and General Slim's campaign in Burma.The chronological narrative recounts major events, such as the fall of France, the battle of Britain, Hitler's invasion of Russia, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the battle of El Alamein, the fall of Italy, the Normandy invasion, far eastern naval battles, the final collapse of Nazi Germany and the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan. Its focus on military strategy, tactics and descriptions of battles is enhanced by details relating to the war conferences between the Allied leaders. Integral features of the war such as the atrocities against the Jews, the efforts of the French resistance and the Stauffenberg plot to kill Hitler are not overlooked.The inspiration that motivated the writing of the book was not only the courage displayed by men and women fighting for freedom and justice, but also the moral principle that drove the war to its conclusion in the defeat of the Nazis and the Japanese warlords; namely the belief that civilisation depends upon the defence of the traditional values of respect for law, representative democracy and, ultimately, upon love of one's neighbour.