Robert Coutts's Books

The Turning Point

1851--A Year That Changed Charles Dickens and the World

By: Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Turning Point

1851--A Year That Changed Charles Dickens and the World

By: Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

A major new biography that takes an unusual and illuminating approach to the great writer—immersing us in one year of his life—from the award-winning author of Becoming Dickens and The Story of Alice. The year is 1851. It's a time of radical change in Britain, when industrial miracles and artistic innovations rub shoulders with political unrest, poverty, and disease. It is also a turbulent year in the private life of Charles Dickens, as he copes with a double bereavement and early signs that his marriage is falling apart. But this formative year will become perhaps the greatest turning point in Dickens's career, as he embraces his calling as a chronicler of ordinary people's lives and develops a new form of writing that will reveal just how interconnected the world is becoming. The Turning Point transports us into the foggy streets of Dickens's London, closely following the twists and turns of a year that would come to define him and forever alter Britain's relationship with the world. Fully illustrated, and brimming with fascinating details about the larger-than-life man who wrote Bleak House, this is the closest look yet at one of the greatest literary personalities ever to have lived.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

369

Publisher

Knopf

Published Date

ISBN 10

0525655948

ISBN 13

9780525655947

Dickens, Death, and Christmas

By: Robert L. Patten

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Dickens, Death, and Christmas

By: Robert L. Patten

Marley was dead, to begin with." Why does the most beloved of Christmas books open with a death? What has death to do with Christmas and New Years, and with Dickens's Christmas books and stories over his entire life? Robert L. Patten weaves together Dickens's life, career, writings, journalism, travel, theatrical presentations, and religious convictions to offer a richly designed and entertaining narrative, fulsomely illustrated, of the manifold ways Dickensfigures the spirit and traditions of the winter holidays in Victorian England.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

369

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0192862669

ISBN 13

9780192862662

In Denial

The Stolen Generations and the Right; Quarterly Essay 1

By: Robert Manne

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

In Denial

The Stolen Generations and the Right; Quarterly Essay 1

By: Robert Manne

In this national bestseller Robert Mane attacks the right-wing campaign against the Bringing them home report that revealed how thousands of Aborigines had been taken from their parents. What was the role of Paddy McGuinness as editor of Quadrant? How reliable was the evidence that led newspaper columnists from Piers Akerman in the Sydney Daily Telegraph to Andrew Bolt in the Melbourne Herald Sun to deny the gravity of the injustice done? In a powerful indictment of past government policies towards the Aborigines, Robert Manne has written a brilliant polemical essay which doubles as a succinct history of how Aborigines were mistreated and an exposure of the ignorance of those who want to deny that history. "In Denial is not a book of history. It is a political intervention. By holding an influential section of the Right to account-Manne was exercising the kind of responsibility often demanded of public intellectuals." —Raimond Gaita "In complex intellectual conflicts, there will always be argument about whether the antagonists are committed to finding the truth or to winning the battle. This essay tells us that Robert Manne is intent on finding the truth." —Morag Fraser "In Denial is a work of both the head and the heart. It is carefully researched and powerfully expressed. It needs to be widely read." —The Hon. P.J Keating 6 April 2001 "Robert Manne has made an important contribution to the continuing debate and in doing so has helped launch a new and important venture." —Henry Reynolds

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

121

Publisher

Quarterly Essay

Published Date

ISBN 10

1921825006

ISBN 13

9781921825002

Funny Things Happened on My Way to the Cemetery

By: Hugh Robert MacDonald

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Funny Things Happened on My Way to the Cemetery

By: Hugh Robert MacDonald

Ever been chased by a jealous husband swinging an axe? Or had your shoelaces and socks chewed by a cheetah while you couldn't move? What about having a doctor pass out beside you while he was delivering your child? If your answers are no, then you are lucky. If you want to find out how someone survived these wild and crazy adventures, read this book! The light-hearted autobiography of Hugh MacDonald recounts the laughable and unusual adventures and misadventures of a budding concert pianist, a minister of one of Canada’s largest churches, a college professor, a radio talk-show host, a Paris tour guide, and a civil marriage commissioner. MacDonald tells of being carried down a main street in Montreal completely naked; walking a marathon with raw eggs squishing in his boots; being forced to eat beef stew, well-flavoured with cat hair; inadvertently buying 3,125 condoms in preparation for his wedding; being marooned and coming close to death in a Northern Ontario blizzard; and so much more! MacDonald winds these yarns into an interesting account of his long and varied life. This book can be read in one sitting, or you can savour it as bedtime reading, enjoying one or two funny stories each night. Either way, you can’t go wrong with this humorous telling of MacDonald’s life.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

257

Publisher

FriesenPress

Published Date

ISBN 10

146024642X

ISBN 13

9781460246429

What Fresh Lunacy is This?

The Authorized Biography of Oliver Reed

By: Robert Sellers

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

What Fresh Lunacy is This?

The Authorized Biography of Oliver Reed

By: Robert Sellers

Oliver Reed may not have been Britain's biggest film star - for a period in the early 70s he came within a hairsbreadth of replacing Sean Connery as James Bond - but he is an august member of that small band of people, like George Best and Eric Morecambe, who transcended their chosen medium, became too big for it even, and grew into cultural icons. For the first time Reed's close family has agreed to collaborate on a project about the man himself. The result is a fascinating new insight into a man seen by many as merely a brawling, boozing hellraiser. And yet he was so much more than this. For behind that image, which all too often he played up to in public, was a vastly complex individual, a man of deep passions and loyalty but also deep-rooted vulnerability and insecurities. Why was a proud, patriotic, intelligent, successful and erudite man so obsessed about proving himself to others, time and time again? Although the Reed myth is of Homeric proportions, he remains a national treasure and somewhat peculiar icon. Praise for other books by Robert Sellers: Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, and Oliver Reed: 'So wonderfully captures the wanton belligerence of both binging and stardom you almost feel the guys themselves are telling the tales.' GQ. Vic Armstrong: The True Adventures of the World's Greatest Stuntman: 'This is the best and most original behind-the-scenes book I have read in years, gripping and revealing.' Roger Lewis, Daily Mail. Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down: '...a rollicking good read... Sellers has done well to capture a vivid snapshot of this exciting time.' Lynn Barber, Sunday Times.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

427

Publisher

Constable

Published Date

ISBN 10

1472101146

ISBN 13

9781472101143

Urban Ecosystems

Understanding the Human Environment

By: Robert A. Francis,Michael A. Chadwick

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Urban Ecosystems

Understanding the Human Environment

By: Robert A. Francis,Michael A. Chadwick

With over half of the global human population living in urban regions, urban ecosystems may now represent the contemporary and future human environment. Consisting of green space and the built environment, they harbour a wide range of species, yet are not well understood. This book aims to review what is currently known about urban ecosystems in a short and approachable text that will serve as a key resource for teaching and learning related to the urban environment. It covers both physical and biotic components of urban ecosystems, key ecological processes, and the management of ecological resources, including biodiversity conservation. All chapters incorporate case studies, boxes and questions for stimulating discussions in the learning environment.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

231

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1136479694

ISBN 13

9781136479694

Great Expectations

The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens

By: Robert Gottlieb

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Great Expectations

The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens

By: Robert Gottlieb

This title discusses the strange and varied lives of the ten children of the world's most beloved novelist.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

258

Publisher

Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

0374298807

ISBN 13

9780374298807

Houseman's Law of Life Assurance

By: Robert Surridge,Noleen John,Brian Murphy

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Houseman's Law of Life Assurance

By: Robert Surridge,Noleen John,Brian Murphy

Unique in its depth of coverage and currency, Houseman's Law of Life Assurance has established a well-deserved reputation as an authoritative practitioner work on life assurance and is renowned for its practical insight into the workings of the industry. In addition to being fully updated to take account of new legislation and case law the new 15th edition also covers developments including: Significant structural changes to the UK regulatory framework since the 14th edition and in particular the creation of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority each with their own different statutory objectives; Creation of the PRA and the introduction of a new rulebook with a different structure for conveying regulatory guidance; Implementation of the Solvency II Directive which has made fundamental changes to the way insurers calculate their capital, invest their assets and govern their businesses; Changes to insurance law on misrepresentation and warranties and the new duty on consumers to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation and on non-consumers to make a fair presentation of the risk; New e-commerce chapter to reflect the growing importance of this distribution channel for life insurance products; Anticipated changes to the regime applicable to insurance distribution because of the Insurance Distribution Directive and rules relating to packaged insurance investment contracts, including the impact on remuneration of intermediaries; Changes to the UK compensation scheme for insurance policyholders.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

821

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1784514500

ISBN 13

9781784514501

Trudeau’s World

Insiders Reflect on Foreign Policy, Trade, and Defence, 1968-84

By: Robert Bothwell,J.L. Granatstein

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Trudeau’s World

Insiders Reflect on Foreign Policy, Trade, and Defence, 1968-84

By: Robert Bothwell,J.L. Granatstein

Pierre Trudeau and most of his contemporaries at home and abroad are now dead. This book offers reflections on Canadian foreign, trade, and defence policies from interviews conducted more than three decades ago with key policy makers, diplomats, and military officers in the Trudeau government and of that era. The interviews are informative and revealingly frank. There is much on the enormous difficulties in dealing with the United States, Europe, NATO, the Soviet Union, and Communist China in an era dominated by the Cold War. There are also personal insights into Trudeau himself – a man of great “esprit,” who initially seemed destined to change Canadian policy in a dramatic fashion. Over time, however, this was not to be, and his government policies reverted towards the norm. A unique resource, Trudeau’s World adds immeasurably to our understanding of the Trudeau era. It also has much to tell us about Canada and the world from 1968 to 1984.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

413

Publisher

UBC Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0774836407

ISBN 13

9780774836401

Charles Dickens in Love

By: Robert Garnett

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Charles Dickens in Love

By: Robert Garnett

Using hundreds of primary sources, Charles Dickens in Love narrates the story of the most intense romances of Charles Dickens' life and shows how his novels both testify to his own strongest affections and serve as memorials to the young women he loved all too well, if not always wisely. When Charles Dickens died in 1870, he was the best-known man in the English-speaking world - the preeminent Victorian celebrity, universally mourned as both a noble spirit and the greatest of novelists. Yet, the first person named in his will was an unknown woman named Ellen Ternan - only a handful of people had any idea who she was. Of his romance with Ellen, Dickens had written, "it belongs to my life and probably will only die out of the same with the proprietor," and so it was. She remained the most important person in his life until his death. She was not the first woman who had fired his imagination. As a young man he had fallen deeply in love with a woman who "pervaded every chink and crevice" of his mind for three years, Maria Beadnell. When she eventually jilted him he vowed that "I never can love any human creature but yourself." A few years later he was stunned by the sudden death of his young sister-in-law, Mary Scott Hogarth, and worshiped her memory for the rest of his life. "I solemnly believe that so perfect a creature never breathed," he declared, and he died over thirty years later still wearing her ring. Charles Dickens has no rival as the most fertile creative imagination since William Shakespeare, and no one influenced his imagination more powerfully than these three women, his muses and teachers in the school of love.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

338

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1639360182

ISBN 13

9781639360185

Kenya's Independence Constitution

Constitution-Making and End of Empire

By: Robert M. Maxon

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Kenya's Independence Constitution

Constitution-Making and End of Empire

By: Robert M. Maxon

Kenya's Independence Constitution: Constitution-Making and End of Empire, by Robert M. Maxon, is a narrative of the evolution of the constitution that was put into effect as Kenya's history as a colonial possession came to an end. It details the attempts of the colony's political elite and the British Colonial Office to find a constitutional means to move Kenya to the status of independent state. As this process moved forward, political ethnicity assumed central significance. This produced an environment in which demands for a federal constitution, popularly termed majimbo, came to dominate constitutional discourse. Deep disagreement among Kenya's political elite over this issue marked the remainder of the colonial period. That elite, now represented by the Kenya African National Union (KANU) and the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), advocated different constitutional paths to independence. KADU's demands for a majimbo constitution dominated discourse during 1962 and early 1963, but deep disagreement characterized the constitutional negotiations. This resulted in a constitution for self-government (introduced on June 1, 1963) that was regional in character but fell short of a federal system. Almost as soon as it came into existence, this constitution faced pressure for substantial change from KANU, the party that won the 1963 general election. As a result, the British government was forced to make alterations in what became the independence constitution. The latter proved a prelude to the destruction of majimbo a year later. Kenya's Independence Constitution provides the first in-depth description of the final stage of colonial Kenya's constitutional evolution. The book not only provides a detailed account of the process of constitution-making, including definitive treatments of the final two constitutional conferences of 1962 and 1963. Utilizing British and Kenya cabinet papers and secret intelligence reports never featured in earlier accounts, the narrative also destroys many of the myths that have long been associated with Kenya's decolonization, such as the alleged favoritism for federalism and support given by the colonial state and Colonial Office to KADU and the reasons for KANU's hostility to the self government constitution. It makes a particularly significant contribution by illuminating the genesis of KADU's majimbo policy and emphasizing the African agency involved. The book is most timely as the Kenya political elite struggles to find a new constitutional order to replace that which had its roots in the independence constitution.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

362

Publisher

Fairleigh Dickinson

Published Date

ISBN 10

1611470536

ISBN 13

9781611470536

Yes to Europe!

The 1975 Referendum and Seventies Britain

By: Robert Saunders

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Yes to Europe!

The 1975 Referendum and Seventies Britain

By: Robert Saunders

On 5 June 1975, voters went to the polls in Britain's first national referendum to decide whether the UK should remain in the European Community. As in 2016, the campaign shattered old political allegiances and triggered a far-reaching debate on Britain's place in the world. The campaign to stay in stretched from the Conservative Party - under its new leader, Margaret Thatcher - to the Labour government, the farming unions and the Confederation of British Industry. Those fighting to 'Get Britain Out' ranged from Enoch Powell and Tony Benn to Scottish and Welsh nationalists. Footballers, actors and celebrities joined the campaign trail, as did clergymen, students, women's groups and paramilitaries. In a panoramic survey of 1970s Britain, this volume offers the first modern history of the referendum, asking why voters said 'Yes to Europe' and why the result did not, as some hoped, bring the European debate in Britain to a close.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

525

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1108573037

ISBN 13

9781108573030

The Rise and Fall of Philanthropy in East Africa

The Asian Contribution

By: Robert G. Gregory

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Rise and Fall of Philanthropy in East Africa

The Asian Contribution

By: Robert G. Gregory

Robert G. Gregory challenges the apparent assumption that non-Western peoples lack a significant indigenous philanthropic culture. Focusing on the large South Asian community in East Africa, he relates how, over a century, they built a philanthropic culture of great magnitude, and how it finally collapsed under the ascendency of increasing state regulation and policies directed against non-African communities.Compelled by poverty to seek better oppurtunities overseas, most Asians arrived in East Africa as peasant farmers. Denied access to productive land and sensing economic opportunity, they turned to business. Despite severe forms of racial discrimination in the colonial society, they suffered few restrictions on their business enterprises and some became very wealthy. Gregory's historical analysis shows philanthropy as an important contribution, one that stemmed from deep roots in Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist culture. The sense of nonracial social responsibility cultivated social, medical, and educational facilities designed for all.This age of philanthropy terminated with the Asian exodus. The socialist and racial policies adopted by East African governments over the past few decades have virtually destroyed the foundation necessary for philanthropy as well as the distinct Asian cultural identity. Gregory's account of the East Asian's role in philanthropy deserves great attention and sober reflection.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

262

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1351475061

ISBN 13

9781351475068

Father-Daughter Succession in Family Business

A Cross-Cultural Perspective

By: Paul W. Thurman,Robert S. Nason

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Father-Daughter Succession in Family Business

A Cross-Cultural Perspective

By: Paul W. Thurman,Robert S. Nason

To whom does a father, retiring from his life as a successful entrepreneur, pass control of the business he has built? Once it would always have been his eldest son, but increasingly women are becoming involved in family firms having risen to positions of influence and leadership. Using revealing case studies from the daughters who succeeded their entrepreneur fathers in a wide variety of challenging situations, cultures and continents, Father-Daughter Succession in Family Business discusses the changes which have led to daughters gaining influence in more and more family businesses. It looks at the tensions this succession can produce between old notions of how men and women should behave, and the new style of leadership that often comes about when a woman takes the helm. This book will help consultants, business educators, and researchers, as well as those who are themselves involved in significant family managed enterprises to better understand why it can no longer be assumed in any part of the World that the first born son will take over the reins of the family business.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

336

Publisher

CRC Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1317136330

ISBN 13

9781317136330

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales

By: Robert Louis Stevenson

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales

By: Robert Louis Stevenson

This dark psychological fantasy is more than a moral tale. It is also a product of its time, drawing on contemporary theories of class, evolution and criminality and the secret lives behind Victorian propriety, to create a unique form of urban Gothic.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

248

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199536228

ISBN 13

9780199536221

Book's by Robert Coutts

The Turning Point

The Turning Point

Dickens, Death, and Christmas

Dickens, Death, and Christmas

In Denial

In Denial

Funny Things Happened on My Way to the Cemetery

Funny Things Happened on My Way to the Cemetery

What Fresh Lunacy is This?

What Fresh Lunacy is This?

Urban Ecosystems

Urban Ecosystems

Great Expectations

Great Expectations

Houseman's Law of Life Assurance

Houseman's Law of Life Assurance

Trudeau’s World

Trudeau’s World

Charles Dickens in Love

Charles Dickens in Love

Kenya's Independence Constitution

Kenya's Independence Constitution

Yes to Europe!

Yes to Europe!

The Rise and Fall of Philanthropy in East Africa

The Rise and Fall of Philanthropy in East Africa

Father-Daughter Succession in Family Business

Father-Daughter Succession in Family Business

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email