Stephen Walker – författare

Irish Sunday Times BestsellerA true story of war, peace and friendship: a Nazi colonel and an Irish priestThe story begins in Rome at the outbreak of WWII, when ardent Nazi Herbert Kappler, SS Obersturmbanführer, and Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty would become adversaries in a real-life game of 'cat and mouse' of epic proportions. Hide and Seek chronicles the intimate and intensely personal war between them. A fiercely fought rivalry that would culminate in failed attempts by Kappler to kidnap and then murder his Irish opponent.In July 1943 Rome was bombed for the first time during the war. As the swastika flew above the city, it was a time of fear, and a moment of choice: collaborate and compromise, or resist and revolt. O'Flaherty decided to quietly resist and fight the new rulers.Dubbed 'Ireland's Oscar Schindler', he masterminded a large-scale operation from within the Vatican, to help Jews and escaped Allied prisoners on the run from the Nazis. He used a series of safe houses and church buildings and sheltered around 500 Jews in the Holy See, and it is believed that sanctuary was found for some 4000 Jews across Rome, and 4000 Allied escapees.After the Resistance killed 32 German soldiers in a bombing, Hitler was enraged, and declared that he wanted a revenge attack to "make the world tremble". He instructed Kappler to draw up plans. Eventually, 335 people would be executed in the Ardeatine Caves, a labyrinth of tunnels outside the city. The massacre would become the worst atrocity committed on Italian soil during WWII.Kappler's handiwork would remain secret until Rome was liberated by the Allies in June 1944. The Nazi Colonel was found guilty on all the charges relating to the caves massacre. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole. Amazingly, O'Flaherty would continue his relationship with Kappler, going to see his former rival in prison. The discussions of the two men would become intense and searching, and a friendship grew between them. In later life, after much soul-searching Kappler became a Catholic, and was baptised by the Irish Monsignor.

‘Thrilling … High-definition history: tight, thrilling and beautifully researched’ SUNDAY TIMES ‘This book is a triumph’ DAN SNOW 9.07 a.m., April 12, 1961. A top-secret rocket site in the USSR. A young Russian sits inside a tiny capsule on top of the Soviet Union’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile – originally designed to carry a nuclear warhead – and blasts into the skies. His name is Yuri Gagarin and he is about to make history. Travelling at almost 18,000 miles per hour – ten times faster than a rifle bullet – Gagarin circles the globe in just 106 minutes. While his launch begins in total secrecy, within hours of his landing he has become a world celebrity – the first human to leave the planet.Beyond tells the thrilling story behind that epic flight on its sixtieth anniversary. It happened at the height of the Cold War as the US and USSR confronted each other across an Iron Curtain. Both superpowers took enormous risks to get a man into space first – the Americans in the full glare of the media, the Soviets under deep cover. Both trained their teams of astronauts to the edges of the endurable. In the end the race between them would come down to the wire.Drawing on extensive original research and the vivid testimonies of eyewitnesses, many of whom have never spoken before, Stephen Walker unpacks secrets that were hidden for decades and takes the reader into the drama – featuring the scientists, engineers and political leaders on both sides, and above all the American astronauts and their Soviet rivals battling for supremacy in the heavens.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ‘A stunning book, among the most immediate and thrilling works of history I have ever read’ At 8:15am on August 6th 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. In an instant, the temperature at its core rose to millions of degrees. Sixty-thousand buildings were obliterated. A third of the city’s population died, by heat, by the blast, and by a terrible new weapon in the history of warfare: radiation.In this riveting account, Stephen Walker follows the stories of real people in the extraordinary weeks leading up to the explosion and in its aftermath. From the atomic engineer who armed the bomb in mid-air to the Japanese doctors treating thousands of burnt bodies on the ground. From the flight crews and scientists to world leaders and civilian victims. With intimate testimony and remarkable stories, this is the startling narrative behind the dawn of the atomic age.

One problem which continues to absorb social scientists is the way in which so much social deprivation stems from racial or class status. The discussion in this book is developed in two ways: firstly, careful attention is given to an examination of the way minority groups create and maintain collective identities and action. Secondly, the relationship between this movement and such topics as racism in schools, schooling, unemployment and West Indian involvement in sporting rather than academic activities is analysed, together with the nature of the educational experience of different class and gender groups.

Although the different contributions to this book range over a wide spectrum of substantive issues, they share a common interest. This is a concern to explore the ways in which notions of the relations between theory and practice, between belief and action, can be used to develop three kinds of sensitivity in the sociology of education. A sensitivity towards how school systems are created, maintained and made to function; towards developing a more refined, critical and constructive awareness of the reliability and validity of descriptions, analyses and explanations offered in this field of study; and a sensitivity towards the ways in which changes take place within the education system and how the insights and realisations generated in the discipline might be used to control such occurrences.

Originally written at a time of crisis in the education system of Britain – occasioned by cuts, contradictions and change - many of the issues discussed in this book are still relevant today. Debate in the book focuses upon an examination of the nature of the crisis, an exploration of the impact of the crisis upon school processes and upon the relationship between life in school and in the wider community, an investigation of the responses being made by pupils, teachers and educationalists to the day-to-day manifestations of the crisis and a consideration of how the current crisis is giving a particular poignancy to issues to do with the theories and methods employed in our study and interpretation of contemporary educational processes.

This volume considers how various sociological approaches to the exploration of the conditions of teachers’ might be co-ordinated so as to produce a more penetrating and reliable understanding of the main dimensions of teachers’ work. Three dimensions are selected for special attention: historical, institutional and interactional contexts in which teachers operate. In different way the papers in this collection explore the contribution such an investigation of these contexts can make to our understanding of wider educational concerns.

While the potential of agency is most frequently taken to be the power and freedom to act for oneself, for the architectural community this also involves the power and responsibility to act as intermediaries on behalf of others. Presenting current thinking from practitioners and scholars from around the world, this book asks for a more active relationship between the humanities, the architectural profession, and society. Considering issues of architectural research as an agency of transformation, this book explores how humanities research can better contribute towards understanding current architectural needs.

While the potential of agency is most frequently taken to be the power and freedom to act for oneself, for the architectural community this also involves the power and responsibility to act as intermediaries on behalf of others. Presenting current thinking from practitioners and scholars from around the world, this book asks for a more active relationship between the humanities, the architectural profession, and society. Considering issues of architectural research as an agency of transformation, this book explores how humanities research can better contribute towards understanding current architectural needs.

First published in 1983, Gender, Class and Education is a collection of papers that formed presentations at the Westhill Sociology of Education Conference in January 1982, and is the fifth such collection to emerge from the annual conference. The conference theme, ‘Race, Class and Gender’, was not only chosen because of its topicality, but also to provide a framework for debate between educational researchers and teachers. The papers focus on the reproduction of gender relations through education and provide important insights into how this process works, how it is resisted in schools and colleges, and the possibilities for radical intervention. This volume includes three teaching bibliographies on gender and education which were not presented at the conference, but were compiled specially for the book.

First published in 1983, Gender, Class and Education is a collection of papers that formed presentations at the Westhill Sociology of Education Conference in January 1982, and is the fifth such collection to emerge from the annual conference. The conference theme, ‘Race, Class and Gender’, was not only chosen because of its topicality, but also to provide a framework for debate between educational researchers and teachers. The papers focus on the reproduction of gender relations through education and provide important insights into how this process works, how it is resisted in schools and colleges, and the possibilities for radical intervention. This volume includes three teaching bibliographies on gender and education which were not presented at the conference, but were compiled specially for the book.

One problem which continues to absorb social scientists is the way in which so much social deprivation stems from racial or class status. The discussion in this book is developed in two ways: firstly, careful attention is given to an examination of the way minority groups create and maintain collective identities and action. Secondly, the relationship between this movement and such topics as racism in schools, schooling, unemployment and West Indian involvement in sporting rather than academic activities is analysed, together with the nature of the educational experience of different class and gender groups.

Originally written at a time of crisis in the education system of Britain – occasioned by cuts, contradictions and change - many of the issues discussed in this book are still relevant today. Debate in the book focuses upon an examination of the nature of the crisis, an exploration of the impact of the crisis upon school processes and upon the relationship between life in school and in the wider community, an investigation of the responses being made by pupils, teachers and educationalists to the day-to-day manifestations of the crisis and a consideration of how the current crisis is giving a particular poignancy to issues to do with the theories and methods employed in our study and interpretation of contemporary educational processes.

The critical tradition in accounting historiography has come to occupy a prominent place in the discipline’s academic scholarship. Some critical literature has confronted the responsibility of accounting and accountants in precipitating contemporary crises, such as the audit failures that spawned Sarbanes-Oxley and the world-wide recession. Certain contemporary issues have long histories, such as the difficulties encountered by women to break the glass ceiling in public accounting, and the suffering of indigenous peoples under the imperialistic yoke. Other episodes in accounting’s long history are seemingly more divorced from the present, but in reality they all have contemporary significance. Slavery in the New World, for example, although abolished more than a century ago, is still rampant in parts of the world, albeit less formally. Critical accounting historians feel it a duty to harken to the "suppressed voices" of the past, those groups of people who had no access to an accounting record – women, persons of color, indigenous populations, alienated proletarians, victims of governmental incompetence and graft, and many voiceless others. Critical Histories of Accounting: Sinister Inscriptions in the Modern Era draws on the foremost work in this developing literature, both that authored by the co-editors of this volume, and that written by others. Editors Richard K. Fleischman, Warwick N. Funnell, and Steve Walker have written extensively about "the dark side of accounting," gauging the complicity of those performing accounting functions in episodes in human history that are at worst evil and at best reprehensible. The editors have also hand-selected a series of historical and contemporary episodes that have been critically investigated by the wider accounting history community, preceded by a thorough introduction.

Peacemaker, politician, Nobel laureate: John Hume was a titan of Irish political history and a key architect of the Good Friday Agreement, bringing peace to Northern Ireland after decades of conflict. But who was the real John Hume? What motivated the former history teacher to reach beyond political lines? What sustained him during the bloody years of violence and how did he convince the IRA to end its long-running campaign? How did he persuade presidents and prime ministers to take risks and back his vision for Northern Ireland? How should John Hume be remembered? Stephen Walker combines over 100 interviews with many of Hume’s colleagues, critics and family members, with never-before-published interviews with Hume himself to present a comprehensive portrait of one of the most significant political figures in Northern Ireland and around the world.

In January 1998, documentary film-maker Stephen Walker began a search for four young, untried, untested, obsessive and possibly unhinged film-makers in their quest for fame and glory at the Cannes Film Festival. Over six months, he met literally hundreds of film-makers from all over the world. KING OF CANNES is his riotously funny account of those six months, a rollercoaster ride through the nether regions of the movie business which culminates at Cannes, the most important - and the most glamorous - film festival in the world.

Written for the traveler who needs information beyond what is provided in a general guidebook, Travel Resources: An Annotated Guide introduces the reader to comprehensive and specialized travel literature and resources. In this book, author Stephen Walker offers practical and accessible direction for anyone seeking detailed and valuable information on travel, while also instructing readers in ways to find information that may not be included in this guide.Organized by topic, each topic begins with information that is useful to new travelers so that anyone can begin with any topic without any previous knowledge of it. However, the book also goes further so as to provide information useful to the seasoned traveler. The wide variety of topics related to travel provide many new and possibly overlooked opportunities, even for veteran travelers, and the works included have been selected because of the depth with which each treats its subject matter, in order to ensure that each resource is of the quality that today's traveler demands.

The Routledge Companion to Accounting History presents a single-volume synthesis of research in this expanding field, exploring and analysing accounting from ancient civilisations to the modern day. No longer perceived as the narrow study of how a mysterious technique was used in past, the scope of accounting history has widened substantially. This revised and updated volume moves beyond the history of accounting technologies, accounting theories and practices and the accountants who applied them. Expert contributors from around the world explore the interfaces between accounting and the economy, society, culture and the polity. Accounting history is shown to offer important insights into such disparate phenomena as the evolution of capitalism, control of labour, gender and family relationships, racial exploitation, the operation of religious organisations, and the functioning of the state. Illuminating the foundation and development of accounting systems, this updated, classic book opens the field to a new generation of accounting scholars and historians around the world.

Education, Democracy and Discourse presents a commentary on democracy in education, and the macro- and micro-political discourses which permit and prohibit this. The key themes explored are: The struggle for democracy in schools and society, the relationships between the processes of schooling and the preparation of the workforce in advanced capitalist societies, the radical transformations of schooling as part of state modernization projects of the neo-conservatives, the neo-liberals and the third way, the creeping destruction of the professional status and culture of public sector workers such as teachers, nurses and social workers. Education, Democracy and Discourse addresses and develops crucial theories in sociology and in the sociology of education and will be of key interest to sociologists and Education Studies students.

The Routledge Companion to Accounting History presents a single-volume synthesis of research in this expanding field, exploring and analysing accounting from ancient civilisations to the modern day. No longer perceived as the narrow study of how a mysterious technique was used in past, the scope of accounting history has widened substantially. This revised and updated volume moves beyond the history of accounting technologies, accounting theories and practices and the accountants who applied them. Expert contributors from around the world explore the interfaces between accounting and the economy, society, culture and the polity. Accounting history is shown to offer important insights into such disparate phenomena as the evolution of capitalism, control of labour, gender and family relationships, racial exploitation, the operation of religious organisations, and the functioning of the state. Illuminating the foundation and development of accounting systems, this updated, classic book opens the field to a new generation of accounting scholars and historians around the world.

Although the different contributions to this book range over a wide spectrum of substantive issues, they share a common interest. This is a concern to explore the ways in which notions of the relations between theory and practice, between belief and action, can be used to develop three kinds of sensitivity in the sociology of education. A sensitivity towards how school systems are created, maintained and made to function; towards developing a more refined, critical and constructive awareness of the reliability and validity of descriptions, analyses and explanations offered in this field of study; and a sensitivity towards the ways in which changes take place within the education system and how the insights and realisations generated in the discipline might be used to control such occurrences.

This volume considers how various sociological approaches to the exploration of the conditions of teachers’ might be co-ordinated so as to produce a more penetrating and reliable understanding of the main dimensions of teachers’ work. Three dimensions are selected for special attention: historical, institutional and interactional contexts in which teachers operate. In different way the papers in this collection explore the contribution such an investigation of these contexts can make to our understanding of wider educational concerns.

This book, first published in 1985, argues that changes in the education system are closely bound up with wider social and political changes. It considers items within education such as developments in teacher assessment policy and changes in the control of education policy; and external items such as new directions in the management of the economy, of class relations and of the political system. Throughout, the book reflects a mood of growing frustration and anxiety shared by many teachers and educationalists which, the book argues, stems from a feeling that the education system is not being run as it should be. This title will be of interest to students of education and sociology.

This book, first published in 1985, argues that changes in the education system are closely bound up with wider social and political changes. It considers items within education such as developments in teacher assessment policy and changes in the control of education policy; and external items such as new directions in the management of the economy, of class relations and of the political system. Throughout, the book reflects a mood of growing frustration and anxiety shared by many teachers and educationalists which, the book argues, stems from a feeling that the education system is not being run as it should be. This title will be of interest to students of education and sociology.

The ability to learn is of crucial importance in human life, but understanding this ability has proved to be difficult. There have been many attempts to formulate scientific theories based on both animal experiments and human experience; and these have been applied to education and the treatment of psychological disturbance, with a certain amount of success. Originally published in 1984, this incisive guide to the research and its outcomes provides the background to one of the most debated topics in psychology today. Learning Theory and Behaviour Modification introduces the work of major figures, such as Pavlov and Skinner, which has strongly influenced theories in educational and clinical psychology, and formed the basis of the techniques known as ‘behaviour modification’. As well as giving examples of these techniques the author relates new ideas about the scope and limits of behaviour modification to recent changes in the views of learning theorists. How much can experiments on animals tell us about human psychology?

The ability to learn is of crucial importance in human life, but understanding this ability has proved to be difficult. There have been many attempts to formulate scientific theories based on both animal experiments and human experience; and these have been applied to education and the treatment of psychological disturbance, with a certain amount of success. Originally published in 1984, this incisive guide to the research and its outcomes provides the background to one of the most debated topics in psychology today. Learning Theory and Behaviour Modification introduces the work of major figures, such as Pavlov and Skinner, which has strongly influenced theories in educational and clinical psychology, and formed the basis of the techniques known as ‘behaviour modification’. As well as giving examples of these techniques the author relates new ideas about the scope and limits of behaviour modification to recent changes in the views of learning theorists. How much can experiments on animals tell us about human psychology?