Gretton Books – förlag

Charles Harwood was in the first group of American soldiers to arrive in France with the 1stAmerican Expeditionary Force in June 1917.In 1945 his son-in-law Robert Holmes returned from World War II having served with the 1st Division 26th Infantry Regiment in the Battle of the Bulge and in Germany.These memoirs have been edited for publication by Kathy Donneson, Charles Harwood''s granddaughter and Robert Holmes'' daughter./

Jane Principal''s father was murdered by a madman in 1812 and her mother re-married soon after. Jane and her husband moved to the depths of the countryside. In winter the tiny village was bleak and isolated. Jane''s difficulties were about to get much worse.Would history repeat itself? Justice? Revenge? Could Elijah Smith solve the mystery?/

The year 1809 was marked by major political, military, economic and social events. Many of these were unforeseen and unanticipated. They set the conditions for Britain''s industrial and social, rather than political, revolution. There were inquiries into corruption and bribery. Canning and Castlereagh as Cabinet Ministers allowed their enmity to escalate into a duel and result in their resignation from the government. As Prime Minister, Portland was seen to be past it. His replacement Perceval was thought mediocre. Parliamentary reform was possible because of the unstable tenor of the times. Some MPs sought to exploit this opportunity. Wellington''s victories in the Peninsula were sandwiched between the humiliation of Cintra and the debacle of Walcheren. George III required a second inquiry report on the former, but was said to have been misled on the latter. The Napoleonic war had economic and social ramifications, as well as political and military ones. Riots and strikes continued. Trends included increasing urbanisation and improvements to the welfare of workers.This book addresses the implications, describing the Regency, Britain''s assumption of a new place in the world and the impact of Robert Owen as trade unions and socialism developed. People still had hope, but they were aware of history. Their optimism was tempered by recent revolutions in America and France, by war in Ireland, by continuing concerns over Napoleon''s intentions, and by growing upheaval at home as the Industrial Revolution took hold. Expectations had changed, but would they be fulfilled? While people had drawn some lessons from the past, they were still in the process of adapting to the future. Change would be constant after 1809, so the search for stability was doomed. It was replaced by a preference for predictability. Evolution was a more attractive option than revolution. After all, the alternatives had been experienced. In this context it was between hope and history. See www.grettonbooks.co.uk/books-non-fiction/1809-2/

A satire, set against the background of adventures in the hospitality trade. In the quiet and timeless hamlet of Birton Sodbury, Hacker Black has re-built the reputation of the local pub. A new arrival, Euphony Blurr appears a thrusting and dynamic business woman, but her past includes a long period as a call-girl after being thrown out of a leading accountancy firm. She converts a derelict farmhouse into an up-market restaurant but clashes with the local authority and some of the long-standing village residents. The "old sods", as these residents describe themselves, see Euphony as a threat to their carefully guarded way of life. It looks like the restaurant could go belly-up – especially when the drunken chef writes off some customers'' cars in the yard ... See www.grettonbooks.co.uk/books-fiction/pas-de-deux/