The Life That I Have

Download or read book The Life That I Have written by Leo Marks and published by Souvenir Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This poignant, haunting poem, originally written for the author's fiancée Ruth who died in a plane crash in 1943, was given to the SOE agent Violette Szabo as her code poem, before she was dropped into occupied France in 1944. It afterwards became famous through the film of her life, Carve Her Name With Pride, starring Virginia McKenna, and has been a source of inspiration ever since to those who have lost a loved one or are themselves facing death.Only in 1998, with the publication of Leo Marks' remarkable book about his works with SOE, Between Silk and Cyanide, did it become known that he was the author of this and many other poems used by SOE agents during World War II.Now one of the best loved poems in the English language, The Life That I Have is presented as a special illustrated gift book, with pencil drawings by the artist Elena Gaussen Marks, the author's wife. Her pencil sketch of Violette Szabo, based on a photograph, is also included.

Download or read book Violette Szabo written by Susan Ottaway and published by Lume Books. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Violette Szabo is one of the most extraordinary in the annals of World War II espionage and covert operations. This exceptional work has been written with the assistance of Violette Szabo's daughter, Tanya.

Download or read book Blue Horses written by Mary Oliver and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-10-14 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this stunning collection of new poems, Mary Oliver returns to the imagery that has defined her life’s work, describing with wonder both the everyday and the unaffected beauty of nature. Herons, sparrows, owls, and kingfishers flit across the page in meditations on love, artistry, and impermanence. Whether considering a bird’s nest, the seeming patience of oak trees, or the artworks of Franz Marc, Oliver reminds us of the transformative power of attention and how much can be contained within the smallest moments. At its heart, Blue Horses asks what it means to truly belong to this world, to live in it attuned to all its changes. Humorous, gentle, and always honest, Oliver is a visionary of the natural world.

Download or read book Between Silk and Cyanide written by Leo Marks and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-04-29 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1942, with a black-market chicken tucked under his arm by his mother, Leo Marks left his father's famous bookshop, 84 Charing Cross Road, and went off to fight the war. He was twenty-two. Soon recognized as a cryptographer of genius, he became head of communications at the Special Operations Executive (SOE), where he revolutionized the codemaking techniques of the Allies and trained some of the most famous agents dropped into occupied Europe. As a top codemaker, Marks had a unique perspective on one of the most fascinating and, until now, little-known aspects of the Second World War. This stunning memoir, often funny, always gripping and acutely sensitive to the human cost of each operation, provides a unique inside picture of the extraordinary SOE organization at work and reveals for the first time many unknown truths about the conduct of the war. SOE was created in July 1940 with a mandate from Winston Churchill to "set Europe ablaze." Its main function was to infiltrate agents into enemy-occupied territory to perform acts of sabotage and form secret armies in preparation for D-Day. Marks's ingenious codemaking innovation was to devise and implement a system of random numeric codes printed on silk. Camouflaged as handkerchiefs, underwear, or coat linings, these codes could be destroyed message by message, and therefore could not possibly be remembered by the agents, even under torture. Between Silk and Cyanide chronicles Marks's obsessive quest to improve the security of agents' codes and how this crusade led to his involvement in some of the war's most dramatic and secret operations. Among the astonishing revelations is his account of the code war between SOE and the Germans in Holland. He also reveals for the first time how SOE fooled the Germans into thinking that a secret army was operating in the Fatherland itself, and how and why he broke the code that General de Gaulle insisted be available only to the Free French. By the end of this incredible tale, truly one of the last great World War II memoirs, it is clear why General Eisenhower credited the SOE, particularly its communications department, with shortening the war by three months. From the difficulties of safeguarding the messages that led to the destruction of the atomic weapons plant at Rjukan in Norway to the surveillance of Hitler's long-range missile base at Peenemünde to the true extent of Nazi infiltration of Allied agents, Between Silk and Cyanide sheds light on one of the least-known but most dramatic aspects of the war. Writing with the narrative flair and vivid characterization of his famous screenplays, Marks gives free rein to his keen sense of the absurd and wry wit without ever losing touch with the very human side of the story. His close relationship with "the White Rabbit" and Violette Szabo -- two of the greatest British agents of the war -- and his accounts of the many others he dealt with result in a thrilling and poignant memoir that celebrates individual courage and endeavor, without losing sight of the human cost and horror of war.

Download or read book I Will Not Die an Unlived Life written by Dawna Markova and published by Mango Media Inc.. This book was released on 2000-10-15 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author and psychotherapist shares her journey of illness and recovery in this inspiring guide to living your life to the fullest. In I Will Not Die an Unlived Life, Dawna Markova recounts her incredible journey from being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness to finding deeper meaning in her life. Along the way, she guides readers toward discovering their own sense of value and purpose. When we feel lost, Markova points out, we can either continue to live habitual lives and resign our strength—or we can choose to follow our passions. Many of us have times of feeling stagnant and sapped of energy. Rather than judging these moments negatively, Dr. Markova reframes them as periods of rest for our passions. In doing so, she challenges us to slow down and stay in touch with ourselves. Poetic and inspiring, I Will Not Die an Unlived Life is a powerful reminder that it is never too late to live your life.

Download or read book Design the Life You Love written by Ayse Birsel and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2015-10-13 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An interactive journal that serves as a joyful, inspirational guide to building the life you've always dreamed of, using the principles and creative process of an award-winning product designer. Life, just like a design problem, is full of constraints -- time, money, age, location, and circumstances. You can’t have everything, so you have to be creative to make what you want and what you need co-exist. Design the Life You Love is a joyful, inspirational guide to building the life you’ve always wanted, using the principles and creative process of an award-winning product designer. Through four steps that reveal hidden skills and wisdom, anyone can design a life they love!

Download or read book It's Not Fair written by Melanie Dale and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hey, you. Are you debating whether to destroy something with your bare hands or curl up on the couch for a decade or two? This book will solve all of your problems. (Sheesh, that's aiming a bit high.) This book is a cup of hot coffee, a ginormous bar of chocolate, or the magical fairy that comes over and does your dishes while you lie in the fetal position clutching a fluffy pillow. Sometimes when life falls apart the only acceptable response is hysterical laughter. When things get so far gone, so spectacularly a world away from any plans you made or dreams you dreamed, you feel it bubbling up inside of you and you scream, "It's not fair!" And it isn't. Fair is an illusion, and life is weird. This book will help you laugh at life's absurd backhands. This book is an empathetic groan of our collective unfairnesses. You might want to throw it across the room, and you might want to hug it like your new best friend. This book is about us sitting down together in our shared mess, taking a deep breath, gripping hands, looking the hard stuff in its beady little eyeballs, and bahahahaaing at it. Life's not fair, but we can learn to love this life we didn't choose.