Peter Smith

Oxford Brookes University Boat Club has risen from obscurity to being acclaimed as probably the best rowing club in the world, winning no less than 13 titles at Henley Royal Regatta in the last two years. With a historical overview, analysis, photographs and interviews, this book lifts the lid on how inspirational coaches Richard Spratley and Henry Bailhache-Webb have taken Brookes to the very top of rowing, with athletes (men and women) who now compete...

Convicted killers don't often ring their local newspapers from behind bars. Hard-nosed Canadian crime reporter Ben Ludlow took one such phone call which plunged his life into the blood-thirsty world of multiple murders. Soon other killers called him from behind bars. Before long he had a murderers' hot line going. Who was out there sparking these scary killers to call him? They themselves were evil monsters. They had each been convicted of bludgeoning...

The V 1, or Doodlebug or Flying-bomb came into use in June 1944 and, together with the V 2 Rocket, was Hitler’s final hope in face of the advancing Allied forces sweeping across Europe towards Germany. Of the 8,000 that were launched within the first 80 days, some 2,300 reached the London area where they caused more death and destruction to its population and buildings. As the front line moved eastwards, many of the ground-based launch ramps became...

The story of Icarus leaves us wishing to equip our children with the character and skills to navigate through life and change course when flying too close to the sun. In today's world, young adults face unprecedented distractions and instantly gratifying messaging that challenge anyone's ability to focus, decide and/or execute a game plan for launch. Students, parents, mentors, and mentees may find themselves disoriented. "Icarus 2.0, parachute included"...

Achieve optimal website speed and performance with this Wrox guide Effective website development requires optimum performance with regard to both web browser and server. This book covers all aspects of building and maintaining websites that deliver peak performance on all levels. Exploring both front-end and back-end configuration, it examines factors like compression and JavaScript, database performance, MySQL tuning, NoSQL alternatives, load-balancing...

Peter Godfrey-Smith is a leading philosopher of science. He is also a scuba diver whose underwater videos of warring octopuses have attracted wide notice. In this book, he brings his parallel careers together to tell a bold new story of how nature became aware of itself. Mammals and birds are widely seen as the smartest creatures on earth. But one other branch of the tree of life has also sprouted surprising intelligence: the cephalopods, consisting...

This is the story of the Royal Navy battle-cruiser H.M.S. Renown, a famous ship with a long and distinguished operational career. Originally built for the First World War she subsequently served in the post-war fleet and took royalty around the world. Modernized just in time for World War Two, she re-joined the fleet in September, 1939 and for the first two years of the war her speed and heavy gun armament made her one of the most important ships...

A comprehensive account of the origins, design, and history of the A-10A Warthog: "Highly recommended." -AMPS Indianapolis Includes photos The Fairchild-Republic A-10A Close Support aircraft has become a legend over its long front line life. Known as the Warthog due to her unusual appearance, this little aircraft has built up an awesome reputation in the specialized ground-attack role, where her accuracy and deadliness are widely recognized as the...

Minute-by-minute account of the offensive. Covers both the British attackers and the German defenders. Explains how and why the assault failed so badly.

The Blackburn Skua was the first monoplane to be designed and built for the Royal Navy in the 1930s. As a result of continued debate, it became a compromise between the Navy’s desire for a carrier-based dive-bomber and RAFs preference for a fighter. Despite being the first to shoot down a Luftwaffe aircraft in World War II, early operations in Norway found the type woefully inadequate as a fighter. As a dive-bomber, the Royal Navy put the design...