#Blogtour The Swimmer of Auschwitz by Renaud Leblond

The Swimmer of Auschwitz - The Incredible True Story of the Olympic Hero Who Swam For His Life by Renaud Leblond. Published by Monoray, 14th August 2025. Blogtour courtesy of Random Things Tours.

About the Author

Alfred Nakache (1915-1983) was a Jewish French swimmer and water polo player. A member of the French team for the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympic Games, he also swam in the first post-war Summer Olympics in London in 1948. He is one of only two Jewish athletes to have competed in the Olympics after surviving the Holocaust.

Editor and writer, Renaud Leblond is the author of several books of history and investigation, including "Main basse sur le génome" (Anne Carrière, 2008), "Le Pouvoir des sectes" (Le Chêne, 2009) and "le Journal de Jules Rimet" (First Éditions, 2014). Passionate about sports, he founded the Jules Rimet Sports Literature Prize in 2012.

About the book

The extraordinary story of Olympian who was imprisoned in Auschwitz and survived to tell his story.

Alfred Nakache, a Jewish child from Constantine, never imagined that he would one day swim for France at the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, nor than he would achieve a world record, as he did in 1941. As a child he was petrified of the water and yet, somehow, through sheer willpower and determination, he rose to become one of the very best swimmers in the world. That was until 1943, when he was banned from the pool and in the same year, deported and sent to Auschwitz.

Not knowing if he would ever see his wife and daughter again, Alfred battled on, through the humiliation and the pain, even defying the guards by swimming in the water reserves of Auschwitz. Somehow - miraculously - he survived, swimming every day until the end of his life.

The Swimmer of Auschwitz is the unique, true story of a forgotten hero, told with remarkable power and simplicity.

Review

This story highlights the hypocrisy of nations, especially Germany, willing to reward their highly skilled people for sports, science, the arts and perhaps the worst of all the brave who served in previous wars for their countries. None of them were spared, and whilst one life isn't worth more than another, it is particularly concerning how one of us suddenly became one of them, the them becoming a scapegoat and target for everything wrong in the world.

Alfred Nakache was a highly regarded world record achieving Olympian. He swam and won for his country. The same country didn't think twice about carting Alfred, his family and many others off to the most convenient concentration camp. His skill, which ironically was once connected with his greatest fear, becomes the core of his survival. 

He is one of only two Jewish athletes who competed in the Olympics before and after the Holocaust. I think that in itself would have been incredibly difficult, painful and equally satisfying in a 'you will not and have not broken me' kind of way.

I maintain, and always shall, that books like these will always be important. Eye witness accounts, stories of survivors - remembering the often forgotten, nameless, displaced, disappeared, murdered, tortured, annihilated and those who emerged traumatised and alive from the well-planned genocide.

It's a fascinating and often painful read, which flits from past childhood, adulthood, pre and post Holocaust and the duration of Nakache's life in hell. Kudos to the author for adding where they are now or what happened to them notes at the end of the book.

Buy The Swimmer of Auschwitz at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Monoray; pub date 14 August 2025. Buy at Amazon com. 

#Blogtour The Children of Hiroshima by Sadako Teiko Okuda

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Children of Hiroshima: The True Story of How I Searched for my Family in the Ruins of the City by Sadako Teiko Okuda. Published by Monoray, 8th of May 2025.

About the Author

Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, in 1914, Okuda was teaching sewing on a small island some 35 miles off Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. Even from that distance, both her sight and hearing on her right side were permanently damaged. From 1960 and until her retirement, she taught home economics at a non-traditional high school in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.

About the book

‘The little boy did not cry or speak. He just stood there and stared at me intensely. With great effort I stood up and tested to see if I could walk with my injured foot. When I did, he came to stand even closer to me and, without saying a word, grabbed my little finger very tightly.’

Sadako Teiko Okuda was living in Osaki-shimo, an island off the mainland of Japan, when the bomb hit Hiroshima on the 6th of August 1945. There was a blinding flash and the window next to Sadako smashed, a shard of glass leaving a painful burn on her neck. Soon, news came that her niece and nephew who lived in Hiroshima were missing. There was only one thing she could do - leave the relative safety of the island and set off into the city to find them.

Over the following seven days Sadako roamed the ruins of the city, desperately searching for her family and coming across dozens of displaced children. With only water and a little medicine, she provided care, compassion and tenderness in the face of unprecedented tragedy. And in turn, they helped her to find hope in the very darkest of times. 

Told simply and powerfully in daily diary entries, The Children of Hiroshima is an extraordinary and deeply moving human story of loss, innocence and hope.

Review

A story retold using snippets from diary entries, memories noted, painful reminders, but equally an important historical reference from an eyewitness that needs to be remembered. These brief moments and encounters only graze the cusp of the tragedy and trauma Sadako must have seen and experienced. Indeed instead of drawing the focus to the physical horror there is an emphasis on human connection, the fragility of said connections and how one moment can make a difference.

To comfort, care and lay aside personal priorities - finding her relatives - to ensure strangers feel safer in their last minutes or hours. It speaks volumes of the compassion Sadako exhibited, but in equal measures of the lack of hope, the senseless destruction and the magnitude a nuclear event has on humanity.

Not spoken about as frequently as the Holocaust, however the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945 are not only one of the biggest tragedies of that time period, but also one that should also be noted as a key warning.

There is no real way to reconstruct, evaluate and recount the actual devastation that was caused by the nuclear bombs the US dropped on Japan. Without a doubt there is no way to justify what in reality was a test in real time on real victims or that the perceived threat justified dropping not one but two bombs of that magnitude.

The decades of destructive aftermath, consequences on an entire population. The result being the surrender of the Japanese and yet the taste of something akin to a war crime lingers. There is simply no justification then or now for using nuclear weapons. This was eighty years ago, one can only imagine the horror of a 21st century evolved nuclear event. Our political leaders and self-appointed dangerous dictators at the end of the switch, they are a danger to us all.

This book is not only a story that should be remembered, it's also a reminder of how violence and destruction is committed with such ease and a lack of foresight, especially when the perpetrator/s have zero repercussions and their country is so far away that they never encounter or suffer from the aftermath of these decisions.

Buy The Children of Hiroshima at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Monoray; pub date 8th May 2025 |  Paperback |  £8.99. Buy at Amazon.com.

#Blogtour The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour with Jude Dobson

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Last Secret Agent: The Extraordinary Story of a WW2 Spy in Her Own Words by Pippa Latour with Jude Dobson

About the Author

Pippa Latour - following the war, Pippa settled in New Zealand where she raised four children. For decades, Pippa told no one - not even her family - of her incredible feats during WWII. For seventy years, Pippa's contributions to the war effort were largely unheralded, but she was finally given her due in 2014 when she was awarded France's highest order of merit, the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Pippa was the last surviving F (France) Section Special Operations (SOE) agent from World War II.  

In the final months of her life, Pippa finally decided to tell her remarkable story, written with the assistance of award-winning historical documentary producer and writer Jude Dobson. Pippa died in 2023, at the age of 102. 

About the book

The Last Secret Agent, by Pippa Latour is the extraordinary untold story of Latour, who parachuted into occupied France in 1944 as an undercover agent and sent secret messages back to Britain.  

In June 1940, a covert new force - the Special Operations Executive (SOE) - was set up to wage a secret war. Its agents were tasked with sabotage and subversion behind enemy lines, and over the course of the next five years, 470 special agents would be sent into France. Only 26 female SOE agents, including Pippa, would return. 

Pippa had an extraordinary life – born in 1921 she lived in Congo, Kenya and France before eventually landing in London. In 1943, aged 23, she was parachuted into France, where she travelled around the occupied countryside, concealing her codes in a hair tie and her Morse key underneath her bicycle seat, and sending crucial information back to Britain in the lead-up to D-Day. More than once, she came frighteningly close to being discovered. For decades, Pippa told no one - not even her family - of her incredible feats. Now for the first time, her story can be told in full.  

It is an incredibly rare first-person story. Although there are several biographies of female WW2 spies, there are no other first-person memoirs of this kind. And as the last female WW2 SOE agent to die, Pippa's story will be the first and last to be told in this way. It is a rare and privileged glimpse into her life, and in many ways, it is Pippa’s last public service, her last contribution to freedom. It is a remarkable testament to a remarkable and brave woman. 

Review

I've said this before, it's important that witnesses tell their stories and future generations hear or read them. As survivors pass away it is paramount that we share history and experiences in order to understand the sacrifice, the loss and the harsh reality of war.

Pippa's story is an excellent example of trauma, and to some extent training, the habit of secrecy, and perhaps knowing that only someone who went through a similar experience can comprehend the truth and the secrets. Pippa's family being completely unaware of her bravery during the war and her contribution to the path of freedom, isn't an uncommon story and I wonder how many more people sit or have sat on life experiences without ever breathing a word of them to anyone.

The bittersweet ending is made sweeter by the beautiful homage Dobson pays to Pippa and her fellow comrades, which is made even more compelling by adding the details and names of the fellow agents. Cementing their names and fates on paper, that they may never be forgotten.

It's a beautifully crafted memoir woven together through conversations with a centenarian, her memories often brought forward to the present day by photos, objects, names and places. It's an excellent read, often a nostalgic and sometimes sad one, but at the forefront the courage, selflessness and sacrifice of these women and Pippa shines through.

Buy The Last Secret Agent at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Monoray: pub date 7 November 2024 |  hardback  |  £22. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour What Everyone Knows About Britain *(Except the British) by Michael Peel

It's my turn on the Blogtour What Everyone Knows About Britain *(Except the British) by Michael Peel

About the Author

Michael Peel first joined the Financial Times in 1997. Since then, he has been a foreign correspondent posted in West Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, and Europe. Peel's work has won awards, including from the UK Foreign Press Association and the US Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. He has also written for many other publications including the London Review of Books and TLS. He has appeared on the BBC, Sky and other broadcast media. Follow @Mikepeeljourno on X

About the book

How do you see Britain? That might depend on your point of view, and as long time British foreign correspondent, Michael Peel has come to understand, it can look very different from outside.

It's tempting to think of the UK as a fundamentally stable and successful nation. But events of the past few years, from Brexit to exposés of imperial history, have begun to spark fierce public debates about whether that is true. Is Britain, just a marginal northern European island nation, marked by injustices, corruption and with a bloody history of slavery, repression and looting?

And yet UK politics, media, and public opinion live constantly in the shadow of old myths, Second World War era nostalgia, and a belief in supposedly core British values of tolerance, decency and fair play. British politicians regularly exploit a damaging complacency that holds that everything will turn out okay, because, in Britain, it always does.

In What Everyone Knows About Britain, Michael Peel digs into the national consciousness with the perspective of distance to pull apart the ways in which we British have become unmoored from crucial truths about ourselves. He shows us that from many perspectives we are no different from other countries whose own national delusions have seen them succumb to abuses of power, increased poverty and divisive conflict.

The battle over Britain's narrative is the struggle for its future and its place in the world. So, how do we escape the trick mirror - and see ourselves as we really are?

Review

I have to say that Peel ends this books with a lot more positivity and confidence in certain aspects of the people in Britain than I have. I'm guessing it's better than assuming the worst. We are already on a steady path of exploitation via extremists for destructive purposes. Not sure the people in power have any grip on a possible a constructive role.

The truth is Brexit has decimated our role and previously steadfast position on the global landscape. Having negotiated ourselves out of the power position and into a minor role, we still expect the assumption of power by others. Equally it is worth noting that everything the concept was sold on has merely meant the people of Britain are having to put their hands in their pockets more often - for money and to keep quiet.

Also - just on a side note - perceiving the country as in a better position in regard to racial prejudice in comparison to other EU countries, it's a fallacy. Sounds great though, but it is blatantly disregarding the white supremacy bubbling in the guise of national pride. The difference compared to other EU countries is that they have stopped trying to hide the bigotry, racism and xenophobia. Groups and supporters growing bigger in direct correlation to a lack of governance, which brings us back to the extremists exploiting the narrative for destructive purposes. 

I really enjoyed the dissection, especially from someone who has the added bonus of seeing and experiencing from the outside. Britain is very insular, having a lengthy experience off the island is the only way to comprehend our strengths, weaknesses and what kind of impact our self-imposed Brexit rules are actually having. It's a great read, and one that will start many a conversation.

Buy What Everyone Knows About Britain at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Monoray; pub date 25 April 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Doctor of Hiroshima by Dr. Michihiko Hachiya

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Doctor of Hiroshima by Dr. Michihiko Hachiya.

About the Author

Dr. Michihiko Hachiya was Director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital when the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on the city. After the bomb, he continued as Director there for several years before taking on a teaching role at Okayama University Medical School. He retired in Okayama and passed away in the 1980s.

About the book

With what this poor woman had been through the sight of her crying tore at my heartstrings. What if something should happen to her; who would care for her little baby? To conceal the fear and terror in my heart I left her, trying to put up a cheerful front. But no one could conceal from her the ominous import of the dark spots that had appeared on her chest.

The Doctor of Hiroshima is the extraordinary true story of Dr Michihiko Hachiya, whose hospital was less than a mile from the centre of the atomic bomb that hit on that warm August day. Somehow, in immense shock and pain and extremely weak, the doctor and his wife manage to drag themselves to the hospital, where their horrific wounds are treated, and they slowly begin to recover. Tentatively, the doctor starts to reckon with the utter devastation of the bomb, and to investigate the strange symptoms afflicting his patients.

Told simply and poignantly through Dr Hachiya's daily diary entries, The Doctor of Hiroshima is the inspiring story of how a doctor and his patients fought to survive and rebuild their lives in the face of unimaginable loss.

Review

This translated diary of Dr Hachiya is a testament to why historical events must be underpinned by eyewitness accounts, they serve as testimony to events and tragedies that are otherwise skewed by the narration or third parties or people who write history - the victors. Ethically there are no winners in this scenario. 

The victors argue that the Japanese were so persistent, driven and strategic that this intervention was a necessity. Was it, or was it merely a power play that also gave a realistic measurement of true impact, devastation and potential? Guinea pigs, real data, the possibility of knowing how and when to use, and perhaps most importantly to ensure the world is aware of their cutthroat attitude and willingness to destroy humanity without any hesitation at all.

I'm not sure how anyone could read this and not have an ounce of compassion towards the victims. Were the Japanese guilty of heinous crimes, yes. Does that warrant the deaths of innocents, the impact of such a weapon leaving its mark on people for many decades - I think not.

Having such a remarkable in the moment transcript of the death toll, the injuries and being able to experience first-hand the importance of putting science above emotions in order to study the physical effects of radiation and exposure.

It's a book that delivers the truth on the ground, the shock and lack of comprehension at being at the core of such an atrocity, whilst simultaneously learning bit by bit what the true extent of the damage to persons, place and spirit would be and was.

Buy The Doctor of Hiroshima at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Monoray, pub date 29 Feb. 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour A Gypsy in Auschwitz by Otto Rosenberg

It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour A Gypsy in Auschwitz by Otto Rosenberg, as told to Ulrich Enzensberger and translated by Maisie Musgrave.

About the Author

Otto Rosenberg was born in East Prussia in 1927 and grew up in Berlin. He was 9 when he was sent to the Roma and Sinti camp in Marzahn, ahead of the 1936 Olympic Games, and 15 when he was sent to Auschwitz. He was then detained in Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps before being freed in 1945. 

In later years, Rosenberg was the chairman of the Regional Association of German Sinti and Romanies Berlin-Brandenburg and fathered seven children. He passed away in 2001.

Otto’s daughter, Petra Rosenberg, is the current Director of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma Berlin-Brandenburg.

About the book

Otto Rosenberg is 9 and living in Berlin, poor but happy, when his family are first detained. All around them, Sinti and Roma families are being torn from their homes by Nazis , leaving behind schools, jobs, friends, and businesses to live in forced encampments outside the city. One by one, families are broken up, adults and children disappear or are ‘sent East’.

Otto arrives in Auschwitz aged 15 and is later transferred to Buechenwald and Bergen-Belsen. He works, scrounges food whenever he can, witnesses and suffers horrific violence and is driven close to death by illness more than once. Unbelievably, he also joins an armed revolt of prisoners who, facing the SS and certain death, refuse to back down. Somehow, through luck, sheer human will to live, or both, he survives.

The stories of Sinti and Roma suffering in Nazi Germany are all too often lost or untold. In this haunting account, Otto shares his story with a remarkable simplicity. Deeply moving, A Gypsy in Auschwitz is the incredible story of how a young Sinti boy miraculously survived the unimaginable darkness of the Holocaust.

Review

Otto is a mere nine years of age when he and his family are ripped from the comfort of their community and forced to fight to survive in the Marzahn camp. A labour camp with no housing or facilities that was filled with Sinti and Roma. They were targeted with a similar frenzy as the Jews were, because of their alleged racial impurity.

This is the story of a young boy who managed to survive the most vicious and deadly of concentration camps. A child who lost his family and friends, and yet despite his age was brave enough to try and stand up for himself and others by joining a revolt against his captors.

It's not unusual for someone who has suffered extreme trauma to disassociate themselves from the events, which is why autobiographies and first-hand accounts can sometimes appear a little to be told or written with a lack of emotion. It's a coping mechanism, keeping the memories and distress at bay, whilst making sure loved ones and victims are never forgotten.

What's equally important is the intergenerational trauma - epigenetic trauma is fascinating and tragic. Imagine being so traumatised that it seeps into the very fabric of your being, your chemistry even. Post-war Holocaust generations are aware of this and the impact, despite often never being privy to the real details and finer details of said trauma.

It remains vital that the stories of Holocaust survivors are told and heard, regardless of whether they are alive or not. Documentation, eyewitness accounts and first-hand stories are pivotal, as the years pass and the younger generations are introduced to either a whitewashed version, alternative facts such as ludicrous denials or simply no information at all. 

I have read a lot of Holocaust accounts, and am simultaneously disappointed and disturbed that there are still so many facts and stories hidden in the folds of history. The Roma and Sinti persecution tends to stand in the shadow of the other persecuted groups. I think what really rattled my cage about Otto's account was recognising the bureaucracy of the German nation, which is still a foundation of their structure today. The bureaucracy that stops the nomad community from receiving their financial dues, ergo still oppressing them with the efficiency of the Nazi party. 

The way they meticulously transcribed everything, and as we can see in this book those records and the use of that data, become relevant and remaining so for many years afterwards. Also that the way these war criminals, and they are criminals, just slid into important roles in every industry in the post-war era. No punishment or accountability, instead the victims were victimised further by having to watch the guilty live without the burden of trauma, and what's worse they have to live with the murderers among them.

It's an important read - one that should be taught in school and one we should be telling and retelling, so Otto and his experience never fall foul of the system that forgets and history that swallows up the voices of so many innocents. I won't forget Otto, his family or his community.

Buy A Gypsy in Auschwitz at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Island House by Mary Considine

It's my turn on the Blogtour The Island House by Mary Considine. 'An unforgettable new memoir that will transport readers to the wilds of Cornwall and a remote island life.'

About the Author

Growing up in the flat landscape of Bedfordshire, Mary fell in love with Cornwall and the sea on her first visit as a small child. Distracted by the garlands of London, she spent the 90s writing and directing plays in the London and Edinburgh Fringe, and scriptwriting. 

Work included Angels, Time Out Critics Choice, The Other Half, commissioned by The Carlton Tv screenwriting initiative; and a short film The Hand Job, shortlisted for the Lloyds Bank/Channel 4 short film competition. 

The noughties were spent teaching drama in secondary schools in the hills of North Yorkshire and, in pursuit of her now husband, back in London, before realising her impossible dream of moving to St George 's Island in 2010.

About the book

Mary and Patrick's dream was to live in London, have 2.4 children, the nice house, the successful jobs. But life had other plans, and one traumatic year that all came crashing down.

bruised and battered, Mary finds herself pulled towards Cornwall and dreams of St George's Island, where she spent halcyon childhood summers. So, when an opportunity arises to become tenants of they renovate the old Island House, they grab it with both hands.

life in the island is hard, especially in winter, the sea and weather, unforgiving. But the rugged natural beauty, the friendly ghosts of previous inhabitants, and the beautiful isolation of island life being hope and purpose, as they discover a resilience they never knew they had.

Review

I think the sentence that resonated most with me was - he knows the island is calling. I think at the core of decisions to sever oneself from the societal norm and rat race, which may or may not go hand-in-hand with trauma, stress, burn-out or other great upheavals there can be an element of gut instinct. The instinct that tells us we need to readjust, re-evaluate and seek change.

The isolation seems to adhere to those lines, although in this case it can bring both peace and hardship. Imagine cutting yourself off from the extended world, where you often rely on nothing else but your own strength and stamina. Survival instinct kicks in, but perhaps also a resonance of forgotten ancestral genetic instincts.

I found the story, the memoir, quite fascinating. There must be plenty of people who think of going slightly off-grid and retreating in a way - I know I certainly have. However I am more realistic about being able to cope with the extreme situations, and reverting to more basic comforts. It's tough, albeit that fact is obscured by the scenery and the fantastical notion one has stepped back in time and staking a claim and place in the unknown. This imaginary fantastical notion of a fantasy life doesn't do justice to the people who actually do make these choices and live in isolated areas.

Buy The Island House at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Monoray; pub date 9th June 2022. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Octopus Books.

#BlogTour Trouble: A memoir by Marise Gaughan

It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Trouble by Marise Gaughan - a stunning literary memoir from an exceptional Irish writer and comedian.

About the Author

Marise Gaughan was born in Dublin in 1991, and began doing stand-up in the open mic nights of Los Angeles in 2016. Now living in London, she continues to perform in all the major UK and Irish clubs and festivals. 

Her award-winning debut show 'Drowning' premiered at the Dublin Fringe festival in 2018 and was awarded the Women's Irish Network Arts Bursary. Se presented a weekly radio segment on Ireland's lyric.fm during lockdown that the Irish Times called 'edgy, honest and funny'. This is her first book. Visit marisegaughan.com

About the book

Marise was nine when she first realised there was trouble, 14 when her Dad tried to end it all, and 23 when he finally succeeded.

In a turmoil of conflicting emotions Marise, the child who is left behind, runs - from Dublin to Amsterdam to Los Angeles, leaving a trail of sex and self-destruction in her wake. Until finally, she finds herself facing what she’s become in a California psych ward, a girl imploding through trying to make sense of her father’s suicide.

In this brave and powerful memoir Marise retells her unravelling, from child to adult, she strips back her identity and her relationship with her father, layer by layer, until she starts to understand how to live with him, years after he has gone.

Written beautifully, with wit and unflinching honesty, Marise has produced one of the most profound coming-of-age memoirs of recent years, a stunning new voice in Irish writing.

Review

If you read a lot of memoirs and biographies, then you will know the difference between a memoir written with boundaries and one without. Boundaries can mean holding back for friends, family or even yourself, and there can even be a certain level of dissociation. Then there are memoirs like this one that are so open, brusque and frank, that the reader can feel all ranges of the emotions acutely.

The author reveals her journey from childhood to young adult, and the impact her relationship with her father and his subsequent suicide has on her. Coming to terms with her anger, disappointment and lack of control over the his actions, takes its toll on her and the relationships she cultivates. It's sometimes a hard journey to comprehend that your parent may have trauma, mental health issues that lead to destructive coping mechanisms.

I had to remind myself that there is such a thing as cultural divide when it comes to the interactions between parent and child in this book - Irish banter is very much a thing unto itself. It makes snark look like high-profile sniping. In the context of this family it is also what the family feels comfortable with, where perhaps others wouldn't.

The author has no filter, which means it can often be crude, explicit and viscerally challenging. In the same breathe it is also extremely honest, which could mean the difference between someone taking something away from this or nothing at all. I thought it was exceptional - a deep dive that will hopefully lead to some peace and healing.

Buy Trouble at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Monoray, pub date 7th April 2022 | Hardback | £12.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Very Bad People by Patrick Alley

It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Very Bad People: The Inside Story of the Fight Against the World’s Network of Corruption by Patrick Alley, with a foreword by George Soros. 'Thrilling corruption exposé by co-founder of Global Witness.'

About the Author

Patrick Alley co-founded Global Witness in 1995 with Charmian Gooch and Simon Taylor. Since then Global Witness has become a global leader in its field. Patrick has taken part in over fifty field investigations in South East Asia, Africa and Europe and in subsequent advocacy activities.

Patrick conceived several of Global Witness’ campaigns and focuses on corruption, conflict resources, forests and land, and environmental defenders. He is a board director of Global Witness and is involved in the organisation’s strategic leadership. Alongside his two co-founders, Patrick received the 2014 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

Follow @paddy_alley on Twitter, Visit globalwitness.org

About the book

Three friends, Patrick, Charmian and Simon came together in 1993 with a joint obsession with the Cambodian civil war plus a big vision, a collective naivety, a shared anarchy, anger at injustice and a love of a good time. 

Setting up a tiny office above a junk shop in old Clerkenwell, and finding their first laptop in a filing cabinet they salvaged from a skip, they came up with an improbable scheme by which they planned to help bring down the Khmer Rouge by cutting off their funding from the illegal Thai logging trade and thus help bring the war to an end. Going undercover on the Cambodian border, with basic spy equipment, and risking their lives, against all the odds they pulled it off. Global Witness was born.

Global Witness is one of the world’s leading investigative organisations dedicated to rooting out corruption and environmental abuse around the world. Patrick Alley is co-founder of Global Witness and in his book Very Bad People: The Inside Story of the Fight Against the World’s Network of Corruption, Patrick exposes how warlords, kleptocrats, banks and governments work together to maintain a corrupt status quo, with global implications. Part memoir, part exposé, it shows us how the world really works.

Review

I'm not sure how anyone else will feel about this book after reading it, but I went away feeling disappointed at the level of destruction, depravity and greed that cements our world. In equal measures I am incredibly glad there are people like Patrick and his associates who are willing to do their bit to expose, change and throw a spanner in the machinery of these criminals - and make no mistake they are are criminals.

Simultaneously the book also puts quite a few political and historical events into perspective. The manipulations and the true core of certain skirmishes, genocides, conglomerates and heads of country and state, and their offspring - well it is an eye-opener. And if there was any doubt that Global Witness are making a mark - you only have to read the testimonials at the beginning of the book. If you're declared an enemy of the state by certain ruthless criminal political figures, then you know you're doing your job.

I think books like these should be part of political science, geography, history and the economic curriculum. Give new generations a true look behind the scenes. I'm sure the majority of people have no idea how few big companies run the world or that behind every conflict of a military nature there are always string-pullers with a hidden agenda. Money, profit, control, power - greed. It's a fascinating and important read - I highly recommend it.

Buy Very Bad People at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Monoray pub date 17 Mar. 2022. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Storm Upon Us by Mike Rothschild

'This is the real story of QAnon - what it is, what it means, and where it goes. And be warned - none of it is pretty.'

It's my turn on the BlogTour The Storm is Upon Us: How QAnon became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything by Mike Rothschild. A must read for the 21st century!

About the Author

Mike Rothschild is a journalist, author, and the foremost expert in this ever-changing QAnon conspiracy theory. He is a contributing writer for the Daily Dot, where he explores the intersections between internet culture and politics through the lens of conspiracy theories. As a subject matter expert in the field of fringe beliefs, Mike has been interviewed by the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and Yahoo - among many others. 

He is also a frequent speaker, and podcast and radio guest on the topic of conspiracy theories, including NPR’s weekly show “On the Media” and a Vice documentary. Rothschild has been  studying the QAnon phenomenon since early 2018, and was one of the first journalists not only to reveal its connections to past conspiracy theories and scams, but also to openly address its danger to the American public—and beyond. Follow @rothschildmd on Twitter

About the book

On 5th October 2017, President Trump made a cryptic off-the-cuff remark in the State Dining Room. He called this gathering of top-ranking military officials ‘the calm before the storm’ and refused to elaborate as journalist and politicos inquired further. But on the online message boards of 4chan, elaboration began all on its own. In the days that followed, an anonymous poster spun a yarn inspired by Trump’s remarks satisfied the deepest desires of MAGA-America. Did any of it come to pass? No. Did that stop people from clinging to every word they were reading, expanding its mythology and promoting the theory for years? No.

The first in-depth book on the QAnon phenomenon, The Storm is Upon Us is a guided tour through the conspiracies and cults that first fed the flowering of Q; its embrace by right-wing media and a complex of grifters, gurus, and eventually, former President Donald Trump; the rending of families whose loved ones became swept away by Q’s increasingly violent rhetoric; and ultimately, the storming of the Capitol on January 6, which revealed the full power of the venomous movement for all to see as it unfolded live on national television.

Review

QAnon and their movement are the new extremists. It is a radicalisation of thought and thought process resulting in the willingness to ignore all logic and commit crimes in the name of hive thinking. This is the bane of the 21st century and has been exacerbated in the last year and a half by the pandemic.

In combination with the movement of Q is the rise in the number of conspiracy theorists. Research studies have shown that people who believe in conspiracy theories make connections where non-believers don't. They see patterns, which then validates the theory, at least in their minds.

The rise of Trump, his ilk and their use of fake news, fake data and misinformation is similar to the way Brexit came to pass, through manipulation and false facts. It has created even more people who believe in the oddest of theories and also those theories that are based on a kernel of truth. When you throw the world into a situation of extreme stress, worry and panic it automatically increases the number of people seeking a solution and to ease their distress. It has created hoards of people willing to flock to the dark side - and it is the dark side.

It is a cult of thought. An extremist movement with the same type of hold as a terror organisation - when they act upon their theories they become domestic terrorists. The problem is they mistake their radicalisation for a revelation.

This should be standard reading material for everyone, trying to open eyes and minds one by one. It is hard when the world around us has become so scary that any safe haven is welcomed, even if it's a dangerous one. Kudos to Rothschild for saying it like it is.

Buy The Storm Upon Us at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Monoray pub date 22nd June 2021 | Paperback | 14.99. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at octopusbooks.co.uk

#BlogTour Deep Fakes and the Infocalypse by Nina Schick

 

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Deep Fakes and the Infocalypse: What You Urgently Need to Know by Nina Schick.

As a political advisor to select technology firms, Schick is at the forefront of trends emerging from the worlds of data science, machine learning and AI. In Deep Fakes and the Infocalypse, Schick tells us what we need to do to prepare and protect ourselves.

About the Author

Nina Schick is a political commentator, advisor and public speaker, specialising in how technology is reshaping politics in the 21st century. Most recently, her work has seen her focusing on the evolution of disinformation, and the fallout generated by election interference in the US (and around the world) since 2016.

Nina has advised global leaders including Joe Biden and Anders Fogh Rasmussen (the former Secretary General of NATO), through her research on next-generation disinformation and AI-generated deep fakes. She has also worked at the heart of historic campaigns, including on the presidential campaign, the Brexit referendum and with Emmanuel Macron.

Half German and half Nepalese, she speaks seven languages and holds degrees from Cambridge University and University College London. She divides her time between London, Berlin and Kathmandu.

Follow @NinaDSchick on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit ninaschick.org, Buy Deep Fakes and the Infocalypse

About the book

In Deep Fakes and the Infocalypse, Nina Schick warns us urgently of the impending information overload (known as the ‘Infocalypse’) and explains the dangerous political consequences of this Infocalypse, both in terms of national security and what it means for public trust in politics. Deep Fakes have been around for less than three years, to silence and for revenge and fraud. Government, business and society are completely unprepared.

Schick also unveils what it means for us as individuals, how Deep Fakes will be and are used to intimidate and to silence, for revenge and fraud, and how unprepared governments and tech companies are. 

The malicious use of Deep Fakes is not only a real threat for democracy but they take the manipulation of voters to new levels. With the impending US election, and with vast amounts of money being spent of social media, it is expected that Deep Fakes will become a huge story later this year - - AI generated fake content is here for good, and we will have to figure how to navigate a world where seeing is no longer believing.

Review

I think this is a book everyone should read, especially anyone engaging with social media or the media in general. Younger generations should be taught how information is manipulated to an extreme that decides political opinions, elections, actions and the landscape of how we receive and digest information. 

More importantly when you replace the word information with facts, how facts have become a nostalgic concept of the last century and how we are now governed by fakes news, deep fakes and misinformation steered by those who seek to determine their own narratives at the expense of others and the truth.

'We now exist in an increasingly dangerous and untrustworthy information ecosystem' - absolutely true. So the question is how do we awaken those in denial to this situation and how do we combat it going forward. Even now, despite clear evidence to the contrary, people are unwilling to accept that they have been and are still being deceived by deep fakes to sway their opinions and votes for instance. Sharing memes, gifs, pics and articles, which are constructed for the majority by foreign entities, who choose to intervene in the politics for example for other countries to gain control and manipulate world events.

The example of Estonia vs Russia is used quite successfully by Schick to demonstrate what is going on. What is hard to comprehend is the unwillingness of other, more powerful and well-equipped countries to accept this reality and do something about it. 

Perhaps it suits certain people too well, who are pulling their own strings behind the scenes. Cries of you are taking freedoms away, foundations of democracies are being threatened when you silence opposing views are heard, but that is an entirely separate issue. This is about power grabs. This an undercurrent of rebuilding what was lost and using doing so by any means possible.

Buy Deep Fakes on Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Monoray; pub date 6 August 2020 | £8.99 | Paperback. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Twins of Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor with Lisa Rojany Buccieri

It's a pleasure to take part in the last day of this fantastic BlogTour for The Twins of Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor with Lisa Rojany Buccieri.

About the Author
Eva Mozes Kor was a resident of Terre Haute, Indiana. Following her survival of Auschwitz, she became a recognised speaker, both nationally and internationally, on topics related to the Holocaust and social justice. Eva created the CANDLES organisation in 1985 to locate other Mengele twins and found 122 twins across the world. Ten years later, she opened the CANDLES Holocaust Museum to educate the public about the historic event she survived. A community leader, champion of human rights, and tireless educator, Eva has been covered in numerous media outlets and is the subject of a documentary, Forgiving Dr. Mengele. She passed away in 2019.

Find more books by Eva Mozes Kor on Amazon, on Goodreads, Visit The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ushmm.org and candlesholocaustmuseum.org, Buy The Twins of Auschwitz

Follow on Lisa Rojany Buccieri on Amazon, on Goodreads, Visit lisarojany.com

About the book
In the summer of 1944, Eva Mozes Kor and her family arrived at Auschwitz. Within thirty minutes, they were separated. Her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, while Eva and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man who became known as the Angel of Death: Dr. Josef Mengele. They were 10 years old.
The Nazis spared their lives because they were twins.
While twins at Auschwitz were granted the ‘privileges’ of keeping their own clothes and hair, they were also subjected to Mengele’s sadistic medical experiments. They were forced to fight daily for their own survival, and many died as a result of the experiments, or from the disease and hunger rife in the concentration camp.

Publishing for the first time in the UK in the year that marks the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation, The Twins of Auschwitz shares the inspirational story of a child’s endurance and survival in the face of truly extraordinary evil.

Also included is an epilogue on Eva’s incredible recovery and her remarkable decision to publicly forgive the Nazis. Through her museum and her lectures, she dedicated her life to giving testimony on the Holocaust, providing a message of hope for people who have suffered, and worked toward goals of forgiveness, peace, and the elimination of hatred and prejudice in the world.

Review
Eva Mozes Kor is or was a remarkable woman. She dedicated the majority of her life to educating the world on the horrors of The Holocaust, the loss of her family, and the experiences both and her twin sister Miriam were subjected to at the hands of Dr. Josef Mengele. She also made a lot of waves and created discussion because of her choice to forgive her tormentors and the Nazis. She was very vocal, and watching the documentary Forgiving Dr. Mengele will give more insight into this approach to taking back the power for herself and living with some semblance of peace.

Given the level of atrocities, the systematic and well-oiled machinery of murder, which was used to annihilate millions of children, women and men - it's perhaps hard to understand the willingness to forgive. Understandable however if viewed merely from each person and their own perspective. How they live and deal with that burden of pain, torment, memories, nightmares and the survivor's guilt, is not for anyone else to judge. In equal measures neither is the way others deal with the anguish, anger or the way the legacy of trauma has caused epigenetic changes to the genes of Holocaust Survivor's and their children.

Eva Mozes Kor was very clear on it being her personal path, but also one she hoped others could find peace with. I think it is important that survivors share their stories and journeys in an attempt to stop the past from repeating itself, especially given the rise of anti-Semitism in the 21st century. We are seeing fascists, far-right and Nazi parties with politically correct party names sit in governments throughout Europe. Hate crimes against Jews are on the rise, Swastikas and Juden Raus are scrawled on walls, and neo-Nazis march through the streets once again. That's why the eyewitness and survivor accounts are so important.

It's a poignant story that should be shared and retold.

Buy The Twins of Auschwitz at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Monoray: pub date 6 August 2020 | Paperback | £7.99. Buy at Amazon com.